Recruitment strategy template with a worked example

Recruitment strategy template

A recruitment strategy sets out how many people an organization needs to hire and when, where it will find them, and how it will select and win the ones it wants. It is owned by the head of talent acquisition and agreed with the finance lead and the operational leaders who will manage the new hires.

Horizon: 1 year4 priorities · 11 outcomes

Use this template

What this recruitment strategy template includes

ContextThe situation, the challenges to solve, and what is deliberately left out.
Hiring planThe roles to fill, by function and timing.
Employer value propositionWhy a strong candidate should choose this employer.
Sourcing channelsWhere candidates come from and what each channel costs.
Selection processThe steps a candidate goes through and who is involved.
Candidate experienceThe standards every candidate should receive.
Priorities and measuresThree to five priorities, each with an owner, outcomes with a baseline and target, and the initiatives behind them.

Recruitment strategy example

A complete recruitment strategy for a fictional organization: home healthcare provider delivering personal care, skilled nursing and therapy from 14 branches in two states.

Worked exampleRecruitment strategy

Organization	Home healthcare provider delivering personal care, skilled nursing and therapy from 14 branches in two states (1,800 staff)
Ambition	Hire 960 caregivers, clinicians and branch staff in 2027, fast enough and well enough that no referred patient is turned away for lack of staff.
Horizon	1 year

Context

Where we are and what we are choosing

The workforce is 1,150 home health aides, 310 registered nurses, 110 licensed practical nurses, 95 therapists and 135 branch staff. Aide turnover is 64% and nurse turnover 27%, so most of the 880 hires made last year were replacements. An aide waits a median of 34 days between applying and working a first shift, and 31% of those who accept an offer never start. There are 47 open nurse vacancies, and a nurse role takes 71 days to fill. Staffing agencies supply 9% of hires but take 54% of external recruiting spend. Branches declined 12% of referred cases last year because no one was available.

Challenges

Aide candidates apply to several employers at once and take the first job that gives them a start date. Our screening, clearance and orientation steps run in sequence and take five weeks.
Nurse hiring depends on agencies at $9,400 a hire, because hospital nurses do not know what home health work involves or that it pays comparably.
Nearly four in ten new aides leave within 90 days, so recruiters refill the same positions and branches never get ahead of demand.

We will focus on

Speed for aides: application to first shift in 14 days, with clearance steps run in parallel.
Referrals and local training programs as the main sources, since hires from both stay longer than job board hires.
Direct nurse recruiting built on a clear offer: one patient at a time, daytime hours and a manageable caseload.

We will not

Sign-on bonuses for aides. They draw candidates who leave after the payout; the money goes to referral bonuses paid at 90 days and to paid orientation.
International nurse recruitment. Licensing and visa steps would run past the end of 2027, which puts any hire outside this plan.
A new-graduate nurse residency. Home visits are unsupervised and we lack preceptor capacity until vacancies fall, so one year of clinical experience stays a requirement.

Hiring plan

Function	Roles	Hires	By when
Personal care	Home health aides and personal care aides	760	About 190 a quarter through Q4 2027
Skilled nursing	Registered nurse case managers and visit nurses	100	60 by Q2 2027, the rest by Q4 2027
Skilled nursing	Licensed practical nurses	40	Q3 2027
Therapy	Physical, occupational and speech therapists	25	Q4 2027
Branch operations	Schedulers, intake coordinators and clinical managers	35	14 for two new branches by Q2 2027, the rest by Q4 2027

Employer value proposition

What we offer	For aides: a guaranteed 30 paid hours a week for anyone available full time, paid travel time between clients, clients within 20 minutes of home, and tuition support toward a nursing license. For nurses: one patient at a time, daytime hours, charting finished in the home on a tablet, and a caseload capped at 25 patients.
What we ask	A reliable car and a clean driving record, comfort working alone in someone's home, same-day visit documentation, and one weekend in three. Reliability matters most: a missed visit leaves a client without care.
Proof	Client satisfaction is 91%. Sixty-eight percent of full-time aides already work 30 hours or more, and 46 aides have started nursing school through the tuition program since 2023. Aides hired through a colleague's referral have 81% retention at 90 days, against 62% overall.

Sourcing channels

Channel	Share of hires	Cost per hire
Employee referrals	18% today, 30% target	$650
Job boards	46% today, 36% target	$1,150
Careers site and organic search	14% today, 13% target	$250
Staffing agencies	9% today, 3% target	$9,400
Rehires and former employees	7% today, 8% target	$150
Aide training programs and nursing schools	6% today, 10% target	$400

Selection process

Step	Who	Target time
Application review and text screen	Recruiting coordinator	1 business day
Phone interview	Recruiter	Within 3 days of applying
Branch interview and skills check	Branch clinical manager	Within 6 days of applying
Conditional offer	Recruiter	Same day as the branch interview
Background check, license verification and health screening	Compliance coordinator	5 business days, run in parallel
Orientation and first shift with a preceptor	Branch scheduler and clinical manager	Day 14 for aides, day 21 after acceptance for nurses

Candidate experience

Response time	Every applicant gets a text within one business day with a decision or a link to book a phone interview. Recruiters answer candidate messages the same day, including a Saturday morning rota.
Feedback	Anyone interviewed hears the outcome within two business days. Candidates who fail the skills check are told which skill and are invited to reapply after 60 days.
Offer process	Offers are made verbally at the end of the branch interview and confirmed in writing that day, with pay rate, guaranteed hours and an orientation date. Orientation is paid and runs every week in every branch, and the recruiter stays the contact until the first shift.

Priorities and measures

Priority 1Owner: Head of Talent Acquisition

Get aides from application to first shift in two weeks

Aides take the first job that offers a start date, and ours takes 34 days. A third of accepted offers are lost in the gap between offer and first shift.

Outcome	Baseline	Target	Due
Median time from aide application to first shift	34 days	14 days	Q3 2027
Accepted aide offers that reach a first shift	69%	88%	Q4 2027
Applicants contacted within one business day	59%	95%	Q2 2027

Initiatives

Start background checks and health screening at conditional offer, not after paperwork
Run paid orientation weekly in every branch in place of the monthly regional session
Add text screening and self-booked interviews to the applicant tracking system
Give each branch a standing requisition for aides so hiring does not wait for a vacancy

Targets are illustrative. Adapt them to your baseline before you start.

Priority 2Owner: Clinical Recruiting Manager

Fill nursing vacancies without agencies

Forty-seven nurse vacancies limit how many patients each branch can admit. Agencies fill them at $9,400 a hire and absorb more than half of external recruiting spend.

Outcome	Baseline	Target	Due
Average time to fill a registered nurse role	71 days	45 days	Q4 2027
Open registered nurse vacancies	47 vacancies	25 vacancies	Q4 2027
Hires made through staffing agencies	9%	3%	Q4 2027

Initiatives

Assign two recruiters and the sourcer to nursing roles only
Offer ride-along days so hospital nurses can see a day of home visits before applying
Publish pay ranges, caseload cap and weekend rota in every nurse job posting
Limit agency use to roles open more than 60 days, approved by the chief nursing officer

Targets are illustrative. Adapt them to your baseline before you start.

Priority 3Owner: Director of Branch Operations

Hire aides who stay past 90 days

Thirty-eight percent of new aides leave within 90 days, and each one costs a second hire. Referred hires and training program graduates stay longer, yet supply only a quarter of hires.

Outcome	Baseline	Target	Due
New aides still employed after 90 days	62%	76%	Q4 2027
Hires from employee referrals	18%	30%	Q4 2027
Hires from training programs and nursing schools	6%	10%	Q4 2027

Initiatives

Pay a $600 referral bonus split between the 30-day and 90-day marks
Sign clinical placement agreements with eight aide training programs and four nursing schools
Use a realistic job preview video and a scheduling availability check before the phone interview
Match each new aide's first clients within 20 minutes of home and confirm hours before the start date

Targets are illustrative. Adapt them to your baseline before you start.

Priority 4Owner: Chief Operating Officer

Staff branches ahead of patient demand

Branches declined 12% of referred cases last year for lack of staff. Hiring to forecast demand by branch, not to vacancies as they appear, is how recruitment protects revenue and care.

Outcome	Baseline	Target	Due
Referred cases declined for lack of staff	12%	6%	Q4 2027
Authorized aide hours left unfilled	9%	5%	Q4 2027

Initiatives

Build a quarterly hiring forecast by branch from referral volume, authorized hours and expected turnover
Review open requisitions and declined referrals with each branch director every two weeks
Staff the two new branches 30 days before they accept patients

Targets are illustrative. Adapt them to your baseline before you start.

Blank recruitment strategy template

The same structure with a prompt in every field. Copy it, or download it as a Word or Excel file.

Your planRecruitment strategy

Organization	[Describe your organization in a few words, with its size]
Ambition	[One sentence on where you want to be at the end of the plan]
Horizon	[How long the plan runs, for example 12 months]

Context

Where we are and what we are choosing

[Where things stand today: the facts that make this strategy necessary]

Challenges

[A problem the strategy has to solve]
[A problem the strategy has to solve]

We will focus on

[Something you are choosing to concentrate on]
[Something you are choosing to concentrate on]

We will not

[Something you are deliberately leaving out]
[Something you are deliberately leaving out]

Hiring plan

Function	Roles	Hires	By when
[Function]	[Roles]	[Hires]	[By when]
[Function]	[Roles]	[Hires]	[By when]
[Function]	[Roles]	[Hires]	[By when]

Employer value proposition

What we offer	[Your what we offer]
What we ask	[Your what we ask]
Proof	[Your proof]

Sourcing channels

Channel	Share of hires	Cost per hire
[Channel]	[Share of hires]	[Cost per hire]
[Channel]	[Share of hires]	[Cost per hire]
[Channel]	[Share of hires]	[Cost per hire]

Selection process

Step	Who	Target time
[Step]	[Who]	[Target time]
[Step]	[Who]	[Target time]
[Step]	[Who]	[Target time]

Candidate experience

Response time	[Your response time]
Feedback	[Your feedback]
Offer process	[Your offer process]

Priorities and measures

Priority 1Owner: [Role accountable for this priority]

[Name the priority in a few words]

[Why this priority matters now, in one or two sentences]

Outcome	Baseline	Target	Due
[Metric you will track]	[Where it is today]	[Where it should be]	[When]
[Metric you will track]	[Where it is today]	[Where it should be]	[When]
[Metric you will track]	[Where it is today]	[Where it should be]	[When]

Initiatives

[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]
[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]
[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]
[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]

Priority 2Owner: [Role accountable for this priority]

[Name the priority in a few words]

[Why this priority matters now, in one or two sentences]

Outcome	Baseline	Target	Due
[Metric you will track]	[Where it is today]	[Where it should be]	[When]
[Metric you will track]	[Where it is today]	[Where it should be]	[When]
[Metric you will track]	[Where it is today]	[Where it should be]	[When]

Initiatives

[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]
[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]
[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]
[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]

Priority 3Owner: [Role accountable for this priority]

[Name the priority in a few words]

[Why this priority matters now, in one or two sentences]

Outcome	Baseline	Target	Due
[Metric you will track]	[Where it is today]	[Where it should be]	[When]
[Metric you will track]	[Where it is today]	[Where it should be]	[When]
[Metric you will track]	[Where it is today]	[Where it should be]	[When]

Initiatives

[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]
[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]
[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]
[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]

Priority 4Owner: [Role accountable for this priority]

[Name the priority in a few words]

[Why this priority matters now, in one or two sentences]

Outcome	Baseline	Target	Due
[Metric you will track]	[Where it is today]	[Where it should be]	[When]
[Metric you will track]	[Where it is today]	[Where it should be]	[When]

Initiatives

[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]
[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]
[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]

How to adapt it

01
Build the hiring plan from growth plus expected turnover by role. In high-turnover roles, replacement hires will outnumber new positions several times over.
02
Write the value proposition separately for each main candidate group, and include what the job asks of people as well as what it offers.
03
Record share of hires, cost per hire and 90-day retention for every sourcing channel. A cheap channel whose hires leave is expensive.
04
Time each selection step today, then set a target per step and name one person accountable for it.
05
Set candidate experience standards you can audit, such as response within one business day, and report against them monthly.
06
Agree with operations how demand is forecast, so recruiters hire ahead of need and not after a vacancy opens.

How to run it

A plan only works if it is reviewed on a rhythm. This is the cadence the example assumes.

Check-in	Outcome owners update progress and confidence weekly.
Review	Priority owners review outcomes and unblock initiatives monthly.
Reset	Leadership revisits priorities and targets quarterly.

Tability keeps this cadence for you. Each priority becomes an objective, each outcome a key result with its baseline and target, and each initiative a tracked task. Owners get a check-in reminder and the plan shows what is on track.

Track this plan in Tability

Still comparing tools? See the 10 best strategy software tools.

Common mistakes

Planning for growth hires only and ignoring turnover, which leaves the team permanently behind.
Judging channels by cost per hire or application volume without looking at who is still employed after 90 days.
Running clearance, paperwork and orientation one after another when they could run at the same time.
Selling the role in the job posting and leaving out the hard parts, which moves the turnover from the interview stage to the first month.

Questions, answered.

What should a recruitment strategy include?

It should include a hiring plan by function and timing, the employer value proposition, sourcing channels with share of hires and cost for each, the selection process with owners and target times, and candidate experience standards. Add measurable outcomes such as time to fill, offer acceptance and retention of new hires at 90 days.

What is the difference between a recruitment strategy and a hiring plan?

A hiring plan is one part of a recruitment strategy. The plan lists which roles will be filled, how many and by when. The strategy adds how the organization will find, select and win those people: its offer to candidates, its channels, its process and the standards it holds itself to.

How do you calculate cost per hire?

Divide total recruiting cost by the number of hires in the same period. Include external costs such as job advertising, agency fees, referral bonuses and background checks, and internal costs such as recruiter salaries and systems. Calculating it per channel as well shows where spend is out of proportion to hires.

What is a good time to fill?

It depends on the role and the labor market, so compare against your own history and against how fast competitors move. Hourly frontline roles can be filled in two to three weeks, while licensed clinical or specialist roles take considerably longer. What matters is whether candidates accept other offers while waiting.

How do you measure quality of hire?

Use retention at 90 days and one year as the base measure, since a hire who leaves early was not a good hire. Add the hiring manager's rating at 90 days and, where available, a performance measure for the role such as attendance or productivity. Track all three by sourcing channel and by recruiter.

Recruitment strategy template

Get the Word file

What this recruitment strategy template includes

Recruitment strategy example

Context

Hiring plan

Employer value proposition

Sourcing channels

Selection process

Candidate experience

Get aides from application to first shift in two weeks

Fill nursing vacancies without agencies

Hire aides who stay past 90 days

Staff branches ahead of patient demand

Blank recruitment strategy template

Context

Hiring plan

Employer value proposition

Sourcing channels

Selection process

Candidate experience

[Name the priority in a few words]

[Name the priority in a few words]

[Name the priority in a few words]

[Name the priority in a few words]

Get the Word file

How to adapt it

How to run it

Common mistakes

Questions, answered.

What this recruitment strategy template includes

Recruitment strategy example

Get aides from application to first shift in two weeks

Fill nursing vacancies without agencies

Hire aides who stay past 90 days

Staff branches ahead of patient demand

Blank recruitment strategy template

[Name the priority in a few words]

[Name the priority in a few words]

[Name the priority in a few words]

[Name the priority in a few words]

How to adapt it

How to run it

Common mistakes

Questions, answered.

Related templates

HR strategy template

Talent management strategy template

Compensation strategy template