KPI reports show the key numbers your team is accountable for, such as Submittals, Interviews, and Placements, so you can track progress each day, week, or month and see who is performing well and who needs support. KPI tiles can show a goal, a caption, and a comparison with the previous period, and ratio reports show how efficiently your team turns one step of the process into the next.
Goals, comparisons, trend lines, and drill downs are available on Business Plus and higher.
What is a KPI report?
A KPI report tracks the key metrics your firm uses to measure performance, such as Submittals, Interviews, and Placements. KPIs can cover a broad range of goals and needs, so choose the numbers that matter most to your team.
Reporting on this data lets you track efficiency across your team each day, week, or month. You can narrow the scope to compare week over week, so you can see who your top performers are and who still needs a boost.
Why do I need ratio reports in addition to KPI reports?
A KPI report shows how much activity happened, and a ratio report shows how well that activity turned into results. Ratio Reports compare one activity with another, so you can see efficiency and not only volume.
For example, your senior recruiter, Suzy, sends out 5 offers in a month, and your junior recruiter, Bob, sends out 15. Bob is not necessarily the harder worker. Ask what the conversion rate to placements was. Perhaps 4 of Suzy’s 5 offers ended in a placement, while only 2 of Bob’s 15 candidates signed on.
Ratios also help you plan. Suppose it takes an average of 50 candidates, 25 phone screens, 10 interviews, and 3 offers to make one placement. When you review a Job, you can see right away whether you are short on any of those numbers. If you are, you will likely need to build your pipeline to fill the Job on time.
💡 Pro Tip: Use the same time period for your KPI charts and your ratio charts, such as This and Month. The numbers then describe the same stretch of work and are easy to compare.
Where do I configure a report, a page, and a chart?
Reports have three levels, and each level has its own button. Settings at one level do not change the others.
The whole report. A report is a tab across the top of Reports, such as Activities or Candidates. Select the tab, and then select Configure Report at the top right, next to Export.
A page. Pages are the sub-tabs under the report name, such as Overview. Select the page, and then select the gear icon to the left of Filters to open Configure Page.
A single chart. Each chart has its own icons at its top right. The gear icon opens Configure Chart on the Settings tab, and the filter icon opens it on the Filters tab.
For all of the options at each level, see Configuring Reports, Pages, and Charts (and How Filters Work Together).
💡 Pro Tip: If you changed a setting and only one chart was affected, you most likely used Configure Chart. To change the whole page, use the gear icon next to Filters. To change the whole report, use Configure Report.
How do page filters and chart filters work together on a KPI chart?
Page filters and chart filters always work together as AND. The page filter is applied first, and any chart filter is applied in addition to it. A chart filter can narrow the results further, but it cannot show records that the page filter excludes.
For example, a page has a page filter of Owner is Jane, and one chart on the page has a chart filter of Created this month. That chart shows only records owned by Jane and created this month.
To see the page filters, select Filters on the page row. The Filters button shows how many page filters are active.
💡 Pro Tip: Use a page filter for anything every KPI on the page should share, such as a date range or an owner. Use a chart filter for anything only one chart needs, such as an Activity Type.
How do I build a KPI report for my team?
Add a chart to a page in Reports for each metric you want to track, and then add filters so the chart counts the right records and covers the period you review. Submittals and Interviews are tracked as activities, so build them from the Activities report and filter by Activity Type.
Open Reports and select the report tab you want to build on, such as Activities for Submittals and Interviews, or Placements for placements.
Select the page where you want your KPIs.
Select Add charts or tables to this page at the bottom of the page. The Add Charts or Tables window opens.
Under Available Charts and Tables, expand a record type, such as Activities, and select the chart you want. Choose a # of option for a single number, or an option such as Over Time or By Owner for a breakdown. The Preview shows the result.
Select OK. The chart is added to the page.
Select the filter icon at the top right of the chart. The Configure Chart window opens on the Filters tab.
Add a filter for Activity Type, and choose the interview activity types or the submittal activity types that your firm uses.
Add a date filter, such as This and Month.
Select OK.
Remember that any page filters also apply to the chart. If the chart shows fewer records than you expect, check the Filters button on the page row.
💡 Pro Tip: Built-in reports, such as Activities, Candidates, Jobs, Placements, and Compliance, have no owner, so only Administrators can change them. If you cannot save changes, select Configure Report and then Save a copy of report as to build your KPIs on your own copy.
💡 Pro Tip: Choose a By Owner option when you want to compare recruiters on the same metric. Choose a # of option, presented as a Single value, when you want one number that your whole team can see at a glance.
How do I control how inactive users appear on a KPI chart?
Use the Inactive Users setting in Display Options on the page. It controls how charts that group by a person, such as Owner, Created By, or Assigned To, show people whose accounts have been deactivated. Charts without a person grouping, and data tables, are not affected. The setting applies to every chart and pivot grid on the page, whether or not a quick filter is applied.
Select the page.
Select the gear icon to the left of Filters to open Configure Page.
Select Display Options.
Under Inactive Users, choose one of the following:
Group them together collects deactivated people into a single “Inactive users” entry.
List them by name shows each deactivated person, marked inactive.
Leave their records out removes their records from the charts on this page.
Select OK.
Deactivated people keep the records they owned, so their work still counts toward every total under the first two options. Those two options change only how the people are named on the chart. Leave their records out is different, because totals will be lower than the records behind them, and a report of open work will under-report it. Records owned by someone who was deleted outright are always shown and labeled, whichever option you choose, because nothing owns them until they are reassigned.
💡 Pro Tip: For recruiter KPIs, choose Group them together or List them by name so your totals include the work of recruiters who have left. Choose Leave their records out only when you want the page to reflect current users alone.
How do I show a goal on a KPI tile?
Present the chart as a Single value and enter a number in Goal / Target. The tile then shows the percentage of the goal that the number has reached, with words and colors for hitting or missing it.
Select the gear icon at the top right of the chart. The Configure Chart window opens with the Settings tab selected.
Under Presentation, select Single value.
Enter your target in Goal / Target. For example, enter 10 for a goal of ten placements.
Optional: Enter words in Words to show when the goal is hit and Words to show when the goal is missed, such as “Goal reached!” and “Below target.”
Optional: Enter a short phrase in Caption under the number to add context.
Select OK.
With a goal of 10 and a number of 3, the tile shows “30% of 10.” The words and the percentage appear in orange when the goal is missed and in green when the goal is hit. For all of the tile settings, see Configuring KPI Tiles and Goals.
💡 Pro Tip: Match the goal to the period. If your goal is ten placements a month, add a date filter for the current month so the number and the goal cover the same period.
How do I compare a KPI with the previous period?
Select Compare with the period before and add a date filter to the chart. The tile then shows how the current period changed from the period before. The comparison does not appear unless the chart has a date filter.
Select the gear icon at the top right of the tile.
On the Settings tab, select Compare with the period before.
Select the Filters tab and add a date filter, such as This and Month.
Select OK.
An increase appears in green, such as “+1 vs the period before.” A decrease appears in red, such as “-50% vs the period before.” If the numbers are the same, the tile shows “no change vs the period before.” A tile filtered to This and Month compares the current month with the month before.
How do I track a KPI where a lower number is better, such as time to fill?
Clear A higher number is better news on the tile. A number at or below the goal then counts as hitting it. The option is selected by default, which is correct for metrics such as placements, submittals, and calls.
Select the gear icon at the top right of the tile.
On the Settings tab, clear A higher number is better news.
Enter your Goal / Target, such as the longest time to fill that you accept.
Select OK.
For help building time-based reports, see Time in Stage, Time to Close, & Time to Fill Reporting.
💡 Pro Tip: Check this setting for every time-based metric. If it is left selected for time to fill, a tile can show a missed goal when your team is doing well.
How do I see the records behind a KPI number?
Drill downs are not available on Single value tiles, which is how KPI tiles are presented. To see the records behind a KPI number, add the same measure as a second chart, presented as Bars or Columns, with the same filters, and then select a value in it. Drill downs are available on Business Plus and higher. See Using Report Drill Downs.
How do I limit what each recruiter sees on a team KPI report?
Report owners can lock a report’s quick filters so that users who cannot edit the report see only their own data. This lets you share one team report while each recruiter sees their own numbers. Adding owners is available on Business Plus and higher.
To add an owner, follow these steps.
Select the report’s tab, and then select Configure Report.
Select Sharing and ownership.
Under Owners, search for and add the users who should maintain the report.
Select OK.
For the steps to lock the quick filters, see Reporting - Quick Filters. For more about owners and sharing, see Who Can View, Edit, and Schedule Reports.
How do I share or export a KPI report?
You can export a single chart or an entire page to PDF, PNG, CSV, or Excel, and you can schedule charts to be sent by email. See Exporting Reports for export steps.
To schedule an email, select the page, select the gear icon next to Filters to open Configure Page, and then select Configure Scheduled Email. Your role needs Scheduled Report Emails set to Allowed. For all of the steps, see Schedule Sending Reporting Chart emails.
💡 Pro Tip: Export the page as a PDF before your weekly team meeting, or schedule the chart email so the numbers arrive on the same day each period.
Troubleshooting
Why do I not see goals, comparisons, trend lines, or drill downs?
These features are available on Business Plus and higher. Goal, comparison, and caption settings also appear only when the chart is presented as a Single value. Select the gear icon on the chart, and then select Single value under Presentation.
Why does my KPI chart show fewer records than I expect?
Page filters and chart filters work together as AND, and the page filter is applied first. A chart filter cannot show records that the page filter excludes. Select Filters on the page row to see which page filters are active, and then check the Filters tab on the chart.
Why did my KPI numbers change?
Date ranges follow the time zone in your User Preferences, or your organization’s time zone if yours is not set, including daylight saving time, so records land in the correct period. A record that was previously counted in the wrong period is now counted in the right one, which can cause small changes in historical counts. See How Reports Handle Dates, Time Zones, and Inactive Users and Why Did My Report Numbers Change?.
Why does my chart grouped by Owner show an “Inactive users” entry or people marked inactive?
Records owned by deactivated users stay in your totals, and charts that group by a person show those users according to the Inactive Users setting in Display Options. Select the gear icon next to Filters to open Configure Page, select Display Options, and choose List them by name to see each person, or Group them together to see one “Inactive users” entry. Records with no owner also appear in charts grouped by Owner. Totals can be higher than before because records that were previously left out are now counted.
Why can I not save changes to a KPI chart or report?
Only a report’s owners whose role has Full report permissions, and Administrators, can save changes. Built-in reports have no owner, so only Administrators can change them. Select Configure Report and then Save a copy of report as to keep your own copy, or ask an Administrator to add you as an owner. See Who Can View, Edit, and Schedule Reports.
Why does my KPI tile show 0 when I expect a number?
The filters may match no records. Select Filters on the page row to check the page filters, and then open the Filters tab on the chart to confirm the date filter covers the period you expect. Date ranges follow your time zone. If the filters are correct and the tile still shows 0, contact Support.
What to share if it still does not work: a screenshot of the tile and its Settings and Filters tabs, a screenshot of the page filters, the report and page names, the metric you are tracking, the goal you entered, and the number you expected to see.
Key takeaway
KPI reports track the numbers your team is accountable for, such as Submittals, Interviews, and Placements, and ratio reports show how well that activity turns into placements. Submittals and Interviews are built from the Activities report with an Activity Type filter. To build a KPI tile, add a chart presented as a Single value, set a Goal / Target, and add a date filter so the tile can compare the current period with the period before. Page filters and chart filters always work together as AND, with the page filter applied first, so check both when a number looks wrong. Goals, comparisons, trend lines, and drill downs are available on Business Plus and higher.
What's Next?
Explore these articles to build on your KPI reports.