In our opening post, "The Ecosystem Mandate," we made the case that Talent Acquisition (TA) must evolve from a fragmented, task-based "Canal" into a strategic, system-based "Railroad."

But a new model cannot be measured with an old scorecard.

For decades, TA leaders have reported on the "3 Golden Metrics": Cost per Hire (CPH), Time to Fill (TTF), and Quality of Hire (QoH). On the surface, they seem logical. But in the context of a strategic ecosystem, they are not just outdated—they are actively misleading.

These metrics are isolated, task-based numbers that completely lack business context. They are the definition of "Vanity metric"—a one-off measurement that tells you nothing about the context.

Telling your CFO you have a "30-day Time to Fill" is meaningless. Did the business need the role in 10 days (you failed) or 60 (you succeeded)? Telling your CEO you have a "$5,000 Cost per Hire" is equally useless. Is that good or bad?

We need to adopt the language of the business: ratios.

Why ratios? Because numbers in isolation are meaningless. A striker who says "I scored a penalty" sounds good. A striker who says "I scored 1 and missed 9" is a liability. Only the 1:10 ratio can show the real picture.

To prove the value of our new Ecosystem, we must replace our isolated, task-based metrics with a new, C-suite-ready scorecard. This post defines the three new ratios that will serve as the core Playbook for the rest of our series.

1. Redefining Cost: From Cost per Hire (CPH) to Cost of Hire Ratio (CoHR)

The Old, Flawed Metric (Canal Logic): Cost per Hire (CPH).  For years, CPH has been the primary measure of TA efficiency. But as recruiting expert Dr. John Sullivan has argued, it's a flawed metric because it rewards the wrong behaviour. A relentless focus on lowering CPH encourages recruiters to cut corners, ignore quality, and underinvest in the very Infrastructure and Players needed to attract top talent.

A low CPH doesn't mean you're efficient; it could mean you're just cheap. A high CPH isn't inherently bad. A $100,000 executive search fee (a very high CPH) that lands a CEO who adds $50M in value is the best investment the company ever made. The isolated CPH number tells you nothing of value.

The New Ecosystem Metric (Railroad Logic): Cost of Hire Ratio (CoHR) The Cost of Hire Ratio (CoHR)  is far more than a simple TA metric; it is a critical measure of your organisation's TA maturity and strategic Return on Investment (ROI). It doesn't just calculate what you spend; it reveals how effectively you're leveraging your resources to acquire the talent needed to execute your business strategy.

• How it's defined: The CoHR is calculated by taking the Total TA Spend (including the salaries and overhead of your internal TA team, technology stack subscriptions, agency fees, advertising costs, and referral bonuses) and contextualising that number against the Overall TA Budget and Strategic Priorities.
• A High, Reactive CoHR proves you are stuck in a reactive loop, forced into expensive, last-minute sourcing from Job Boards or Agencies (using 3rd Party Data). A Low, Strategic CoHR proves you are operating efficiently, maximising the utility of your 1st Party (Proprietary) Data and activating AI Players for automation and Rediscovery (which we will cover in Chapter 3).
  
  

2. Redefining Speed: From Time to Fill (TTF) to Time to Hire Ratio (TTHr)

The Old, Flawed Metric: Time to Fill (TTF)  TTF, the classic stopwatch metric, is perhaps the most misused of all. It measures the days from req. approval to offer acceptance. TA teams wear a low TTF as a badge of honour, but it's another number without context.

A "fast" 30-day TTF is a catastrophic failure if the business needed that critical engineer in 10 days to save a project. The 20-day gap is a direct, multi-million dollar tax on revenue. TTF measures speed. It doesn't measure agility or alignment.

The New Ecosystem Metric (Railroad Logic): Time to Hire Ratio (TtHR).  The Time to Hire Ratio (TtHR)  is not just a stopwatch; it's a diagnostic tool that reveals the systemic health and operational agility of your entire business.

• How it's defined: The TtHR measures the duration from the moment a critical need is identified to the moment a high-quality candidate accepts the offer, measured against your Workforce Plan and strategic business velocity.
• A high TTHr is not a recruiting problem. It is a business problem. It is the "check engine light" for your organisation, signalling that your core Playbook and Infrastructure are broken. It’s a sign of a "Canal"—a single, blocked track. A low TtHR is the sign of a "Railroad"—a highly aligned organisation where the Playbook (like the Kick-off Meeting we will cover) ensures there are 10 different, efficient tracks to get to the destination on time.
  
  

3. Redefining Quality: From QoH (Quality of Hire) to QoHR (Quality of Hire Ratio)

The Old, Flawed Metric: Quality of Hire (QoH).  We have saved the most contentious and fundamentally broken metric for last. For decades, TA leaders have been trapped in an unwinnable debate over "Quality of Hire".

To solve this, the industry has tried to create complex, backward-looking formulas. The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) suggests models combining manager satisfaction and 90-day retention. Noted expert Dr. John Sullivan, who has called QoH the "Holy Grail" of recruiting, has proposed various models.

These models are well-intentioned, but they are fundamentally flawed for one simple reason:

Talent Acquisition does not control 90% of the inputs.

A candidate's actual performance in a role has far more to do with their onboarding, the support from their manager, the clarity of their goals, and the team's culture than it does with the recruitment process.

Holding the TA function accountable for a 12-month performance review is like holding the shipping department accountable for what happens to the product after the customer opens the box. It is measuring a function based on factors far beyond its control.

The New Ecosystem Metric: Quality of Hire Ratio (QoHR)  We must stop measuring what we cannot control. The Talent Acquisition Ecosystem demands a metric that is simple, defensible, and 100% accountable.

We propose a radical redefinition: The Quality of Hire Ratio (QoHR).

The TA function's job is to deliver a fully qualified, vetted, and committed candidate to the start line on the agreed-upon date. The Manager has confirmed that the candidate quality meets the required standard, and the candidate has joined. What happens after Day 1 is the responsibility of People Operations and Line Management.

• How it's defined: The QoHR is determined by one binary factor: Did the hired candidate start on Day 1? (Yes = 1, No = 0)
• This metric is brilliant in its simplicity.

1. It is 100% Accountable: It is a direct measure of the TA team's effectiveness. Did you close the candidate? Did you manage their objections? Did you keep them warm through the notice period?
2. It is Auditable: There is no subjective "satisfaction score." The candidate either started, or they didn't.
3. It Measures the Real Work of TA: This metric is the ultimate test of the human Player's most important skills: candidate engagement, influence, and closing. A high QoHR proves your team is not just finding talent, but securing it.

When your CHRO asks, "What's our Quality of Hire?" the old answer was a vague, indefensible number. The new answer is: "Our Quality of Hire Ratio  is 98%. 98% of the candidates we promised to deliver, we delivered. The system is working."

The New Scorecard for the New Ecosystem

These three ratios—CoHR, TtHR, and QoHR—form the new, interconnected C-suite scorecard. They are the essential Metrics for our Playbook for measuring the Ecosystem we introduced in Blog 1.0.

Now that we have defined the 'what' (the Ecosystem) and the 'how we measure' (the Ratios), our series will begin its deep dive into the 'who' and 'how we execute.' In our next post, we will introduce the Five Players  of the modern TA function.