Improving Fill Rates vs. Chasing Automation:
What Actually Drives Results
Improving Fill Rates vs. Chasing Automation:
What Actually Drives Results?
The recruitment industry has embraced automation with enthusiasm, almost to much for my liking. There was a period there in 2021/22/23 where all one ATS would talk about ad nauseam and make you believe is that without automation you would fail. Of course it was just a commercial play and one that many agencies took hook, line and sinker.
Automation comes in many guises, from AI-driven sourcing tools to automated outreach platforms, the projected promise is clear: do more with less. But while these tools may improve recruiter efficiency (and cost you an arm and a leg for the privilege) , they often fail to deliver where it matters most, filling more roles.
This raises a simple question: if automation makes us faster, why aren’t more jobs being filled? Seriously, why?
Efficiency without effectiveness is a dead end
Automation can help you send more emails, filter more CVs, and track more touchpoints. But none of that guarantees a better outcome. You can be highly efficient and yet still be ineffective.
Here’s what automation won’t fix:
- A vague or poorly qualified job brief
- A disengaged hiring manager who won’t give feedback
- A consultant who doesn’t explain timeframes or manage expectations
- A process with no ownership or follow-up
- A role that was never aligned with market reality
- A candidate who drops out because they feel ghosted or unsure
- A client who keeps changing the goalposts mid-process
- A consultant who avoids difficult conversations and loses control of the process
These are the reasons placements fall over. Not the number of emails sent. Not how quickly a CV is parsed.
What the data says about actual performance
Recruiter Insider has analysed thousands of roles, breaking down the behaviours that lead to successful placements. The results are clear:
- Consultants in the top quartile of fill rate performance score significantly higher on communication, expectation management, and process clarity
- These same consultants are not necessarily using more automation than their peers
- The biggest uplift in fill rates comes from improving consultant behaviours, not speeding up admin tasks
In fact, consultants with weaker scores in these behavioural areas often work more jobs with more tools and achieve less.
What Recruiter Insider does differently
Rather than focusing on volume or speed, Recruiter Insider focuses on what works.
We track:
- Where in the hiring process drop-off occurs
- Which skills correlate to filled vs. unfilled roles
- How each consultant's feedback scores map to commercial outcomes
It’s not about replacing the recruiter. It’s about making them better.
With Recruiter Insider, agencies can:
- Identify consultants who are underperforming and why
- Coach targeted behaviours that directly affect fill rates
- Prioritise roles with higher conversion likelihood based on real-time experience data
Why automation alone falls short
Nearly all automation tools operate at the input level. They make it easier to do more outreach, schedule more interviews, or generate more activity.
But activity isn’t the bottleneck. In most agencies, the bottleneck is conversion, roles that get worked but never filled, candidates who drop out late, or clients who don’t move fast enough. All in all it's time, time wasted or time miss used.
That’s not an automation issue. It’s a process issue. A behavioural issue. A leadership issue.
Automation promises to free up time and do more with less, but if that time is spent doing the same things poorly what have you really gained?
The real solution: Insight-led performance
To genuinely improve fill rates, you need:
- Visibility into what’s happening in the hiring journey
- Accountability tied to behaviours, not just numbers
- Insight to coach, guide, and correct in real time
That’s what Recruiter Insider delivers. And that’s why agencies using it consistently report:
- Higher fill rates
- More predictable outcomes
- Reduced wasted effort across the team
Last thoughts...
Automation has a role to play, but it’s not the driver of results.
If your agency wants to fill more roles, don’t start with tools. Start with insight. Find out where things are breaking down, coach the right skills, and manage the process with intent.
Use automation to support that. Not replace it.
Recruiter Insider puts the focus back where it belongs: improving performance that leads to outcomes.
More filled jobs. Less guesswork. Better results.
