Measure total cost per hire (paid + agency + labor hours). Brand impact shows up as less spend and fewer hours per accepted offer.

Build a simple cost model: paid media + job boards + agency fees + recruiter hours + hiring manager hours (approx). Baseline by role family. After improvements (higher reply rates, better apply quality, stronger closes), you should see fewer paid boosts, fewer agency reqs, fewer interviews per hire, and fewer offer restarts—lowering total cost per accepted offer. Track “cost per accepted offer” and “cost per start” if you have start-date fallout. The goal is unit economics: becoming choosable reduces the cost of acquiring talent.