Gathering Data to Track Employer Metrics
Tools and methods used to track employer metrics, including data management systems that support informed decision-making and relationship-building.
Business Career Services Illinois
- Career Connect is the primary tool for tracking employer interactions, services, and outcomes.
This content is based on interviews or email correspondence with Deb Lawrence in 2024. This content was approved by the organization in March 2025.
Calumet Area Industrial Commission
- CAIC utilizes internal Excel spreadsheets to manage employer data and support organizational decision-making. In addition to these internal tools, the organization uses Career Connect and the Illinois WorkNet systems to track employer engagement activities across the broader workforce ecosystem.
This content is based on interviews or email correspondence with Jacob Carruthers in 2026. This draft content has NOT yet been signed off by the organization.
Cara Collective
- Cara collects data from employer feedback, job seeker evaluations, retention metrics, and hiring outcomes to monitor partnership impact.
- Metrics are tracked in Salesforce, using meeting notes, participant feedback, and structured dashboards for real-time updates across employer touchpoints.
- Employer satisfaction data is used to refine candidate matching and enhance support services.
This content is based on interviews or email correspondence with Tim Loeffler in 2025. This content was approved by the organization in March 2025.
Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership
- As referrals are made, BRED Specialists maintain a tracking spreadsheet that holds pertinent employer information, including the number of placements with employers, types of positions, if benefits were offered, and the starting wages for the position.
- Employer information is entered into Career Connect either by external organizations referring an employer to The Partnership or by BRED Specialists following an initial interaction with an employer.
- Specialists use Career Connect to view employer interactions with other organizations within the network to ensure alignment. If an organization has a prior relationship with an employer, The Partnership will connect with that organization to coordinate further activities with the employer. This practice encourages collaboration within the workforce ecosystem.
This content is based on interviews and/or email correspondence with Claudia Cattouse and Tonya Cody-Robinson in 2024. This content has NOT yet been signed off by the organization.
Chicago Federation of Labor Workforce & Community Initiative
- CFL primarily utilizes funder databases and systems to maintain records on employer interactions. CFL team members maintain records in spreadsheets and periodically upload or input data into the funder’s systems as needed and required.
- The decision was made to utilize the databases and systems that funders provide to eliminate duplicate entry with internal systems.
- Data is maintained and separated by funding opportunity and funder for streamlined reporting.
- CFL reports on 1-year retention of placed job seekers in full-time roles, as well as other requested metrics.
This content is based on interviews or email correspondence with Eileen Vesey in 2025. This content has NOT yet been signed off by the organization.
City Colleges of Chicago
- Olive-Harvey uses spreadsheets and other tools to maintain metrics on student placements, reporting on progress for students at the first 30, 60, and 90 days following course completion.
- Olive-Harvey maintains data from hiring events that enable reporting on placements and outcomes for students and other attendees.
This content is based on interviews and/or email correspondence with Joachim Borha in 2024 and 2025. This content was approved by the organization in March 2025.
City of Chicago Department of Family and Support Services
- DFSS uses ECM (Enterprise Content Management), Excel spreadsheets, and other reporting tools to monitor delegate agency outcomes, including demographics, geographic data, and employment metrics.
- All stages of employer engagement are tracked, from initial contact to placement and retention.
- Limited capacity exists to analyze or utilize employer-related data for relationship building.
This content is based on interviews or email correspondence with Lisa Hampton, Chadra Lang, and Mark Sanders in 2024. This draft content has NOT yet been signed off by the organization.
City of Chicago Department of Planning and Development
- Employer data is initially tracked using spreadsheets, with milestones like training start dates and grant amounts recorded.
- Once approved, engagement data is moved to a centralized city database for ongoing tracking.
This content is based on interviews or email correspondence with Lijia Evariz in 2024. This content was approved by the organization in March 2025.
Cook County Bureau of Economic Development
- The Bureau currently collects employer metrics and tracks touchpoints; however, limited data management systems restrict their ability to do so comprehensively.
This content is based on interviews or email correspondence with Michael Thompson in 2024. This draft content has NOT yet been signed off by the organization.
Corporate Coalition
- Employer engagement is tracked using a shared Excel-based recruiting tracker, updated live by both the Corporate Coalition and Cara Plus. This document records employer interactions, status updates, and key findings that come out during recruiting conversations for companies to join the cohort.
- Meeting notes from employer interactions are stored in a shared drive, allowing both organizations to access discussions and decisions. These notes provide additional details beyond the recruiting tracker.
This content is based on interviews or email correspondence with Steph Dolan in 2025. This content was approved by the organization in April 2025.
Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity
- DCEO uses the Illinois Employment Business System (IEBS) to manage and track data for all rapid response services. This restricted state system documents all WARN Act correspondence and rapid response activity, ensuring a coordinated effort among state and local partners. Although DCEO serves as the primary point of contact and facilitator for rapid response activities, all partners who provide services have access to EBS to ensure a coordinated effort. This allows the DCEO to act as a single point of contact for the employer, preventing them from having to manage separate conversations with multiple agencies.
- DCEO is working on updating EBS to include a business service tool that will provide grantees and business services providers with a centralized resource to track business engagement activities.
- The updated system will include a needs assessment form. The system updates are expected to help eliminate employer fatigue by providing a centralized view of all engagement with an employer across various workforce providers and entities. The system will be in place for DCEO grantees.
This content is based on interviews or email correspondence with Kelly Lapetino in 2025. This content has NOT yet been signed off by the organization.
Harper College
- Harper College uses Salesforce as its CRM system for tracking employer engagement.
- Employer agreements, student performance records, and hiring commitments are stored in electronic folders for long-term documentation.
- Spreadsheet tracking is used to document employer referrals, sources of employer outreach, and ongoing communications.
This content is based on interviews or email correspondence with Besa Sadiku in 2024. This content was approved by the organization in March 2025.
Hire360
- Hire360 utilizes Salesforce to document all interactions with employers and job seekers. The system has been customized to meet the organization’s needs.
- Custom reports can be provided to employers that include details on project updates and hiring data.
This content is based on interviews or email correspondence with Jay Rowell in 2026. This content has been approved by the organization in 2026
Illinois Division of Rehabilitative Services
- Engagement, referrals, and outcomes are documented in WebCM.
- Quarterly reports on successful placements, areas needing improvement, industry, employer, location, job role, and pay rate are prepared.
- Data is collected for federal reporting and internal performance evaluation.
This content is based on interviews or email correspondence with Biswa Phuyal in 2025. This content was approved by the organization in March 2025.
Mayor's Office for People with Disabilities
- A database is used to document job seekers’ interviews, placements, and referrals.
This content is based on interviews or email correspondence with Lauren Hooberman in 2024. This content was approved by the organization in March 2025.
MxD
- MxD uses a mix of accessible data tools and advanced platforms to monitor employer metrics. The organization collects employer feedback through Microsoft Forms and tracks individual learner data using Excel.
- MxD implemented a customized learning management system sourced from the provider Absorb. The system has significantly improved MxD’s ability to collect high-volume data and generate comprehensive reports. The platform functions as an informal CRM, allowing MxD to provide employers with detailed insights regarding the specific training their staff has completed.
This content is based on interviews or email correspondence with Angela Accurso in 2025. This content has been approved by the organization in 2026
Northern Illinois University Workforce Policy Lab
- Employer interactions are logged in Illinois WorkNet’s Navigator Tool, which integrates Dun & Bradstreet data.
- Weekly metrics are reviewed to track employer engagement.
This content is based on interviews or email correspondence with Jennifer Foil in 2025. This draft content has NOT yet been signed off by the organization.
Per Scholas
- Salesforce serves as the primary tool for tracking employer data, managing contacts, and recording notes to support informed decision-making and relationship-building.
This content is based on interviews or email correspondence with Kelsey Briggs-Dineen in 2025. This content was approved by the organization in March 2025.
Pyramid WorkWise Alliance
- Employer engagement and outcomes are tracked using a customized Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platform.
- Data collected includes placement rates, retention statistics, and employer satisfaction scores.
- Quarterly analytics reports are prepared to identify trends and areas for improvement.
This content is based on interviews or email correspondence with Kelly Brown in 2025. This content was approved by the organization in March 2025.
RiseKit
When employers complete information in the RiseKit software, the data is saved to HubSpot. This allows RiseKit to track detailed data about position needs and placement outcomes.
This content is based on interviews and/or email correspondence with Josh Glantz in 2024 and 2025. This content was approved by the organization in March 2025.
scaleLIT
- Airtable, a database platform that organizes and tracks employer interactions and key metrics, is used for managing employer interactions and tracking metrics.
This content is based on interviews or email correspondence with Becky Raymond in 2024. This draft content has NOT yet been signed off by the organization.
SERCO
BSRs use Career Connect to track the employer information. The BSR team also maintains master spreadsheets with employer information, such as the name of the company, contact person, and other details.
This content is based on interviews or email correspondence with Ana Granados in 2025. This content has NOT yet been signed off by the organization.
Skills for Chicago
- In 2024, Skills for Chicago implemented a customized Salesforce system to track all community partner information and the status of all referrals. The system is being expanded to allow community partners to access the system to view status reports instantly, which replaces the old manual process of sending monthly spreadsheets. Additionally, representatives use Tableau to visualize and analyze the employer metrics that are gathered.
This content is based on interviews or email correspondence with Bridget Altenburg in 2025. This content was approved by the organization in February 2026.
Women Employed
- Women Employed utilizes a variety of tools to track employer metrics. To respect constraints on data sharing, the organization collects data through surveys, allowing partners to share information at their discretion while maintaining privacy.
- Internal program tracking is managed through Excel spreadsheets and Airtable, providing the team with flexibility for project-specific data needs.
- Additionally, the Women’s Entrepreneur Hub captures and maintains program data.
This content is based on interviews and/or email correspondence with Tara Driver in 2026. This content was approved by the organization in May 2026.
World Business Chicago
- WBC tracks employer engagement through Salesforce.
- A new initiative in 2025 will focus on tracking employer engagement by sector, hiring needs, and workforce program participation. The goal is to develop a more data-driven approach to employer outreach.
This content is based on interviews or email correspondence with Tana Francellno in 2024. This draft content has NOT yet been signed off by the organization.
Year Up United
● Year Up utilizes structured data collection tools to track intern progress and technical development. This includes weekly check-ins and formal performance evaluations where managers provide specific feedback on an intern’s growth, ensuring they are meeting the expectations of the role and the program.
● Beyond intern performance, the organization surveys employer partners to gather feedback on their overall experience with the program. These surveys assess the quality of engagement with Year Up staff and the effectiveness of the partnership.
● Year Up monitors metrics such as placement and retention rates to measure long-term impact. The organization maintains direct engagement with alumni for at least four months post-graduation to track career outcomes, while offering lifetime support through a dedicated alumni programming network.
● All data is captured and analyzed using Salesforce and Tableau.
This content is based on interviews and/or email correspondence with Jennifer Mitchell in 2026. This content was approved by the organization in June 2026.
Youth Job Center
- As a general rule, YJC ensures that team members interact with no more than two data systems. Salesforce is the universal hub for data. The platform has been customized to store available jobs, referrals, and placements. WIOA-focused team members use Career Connect as their secondary system, while other team members use an internal financial tracker for reporting financial outcomes.
- YJC is connected to auxiliary job boards that allow the organization to track where an applicant is in the recruitment process. From there, team members share that information with employers during the monthly (or periodic) discussions.
- RiseKit is another platform that YJC utilizes. RiseKit is a third-party system that leverages AI to review resumes and suggest roles based on a client’s profile. Once a client applies, the platform connects the client, YJC, and the employer in a single communication thread to facilitate the relationship. YJC also captures these connections in its Salesforce database.
- YJC uses LinkedIn as a primary way to engage with employers, recognizing that this is a major hub of activity and engagement for employers.
- Data is aggregated and presented in key documents like the Strategic Plan or Annual Report, which are distributed to employers and are available for all.
- Periodically, the organization conducts employer and client surveys, sharing the results through flyers or additional promotional materials with employer partners to demonstrate the impact of the collaboration.
This content is based on interviews or email correspondence with Trevor Trieschmann in 2025. This content has NOT yet been signed off by the organization.
Points of alignment
This section provides an overview of practices that are similar across organizations.
- Several organizations utilize a Client Relationship Management (CRM) system or a database to manage employer data, while others maintain spreadsheets to organize employer information.
- Career Connect is a centralized information management system managed by The Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership that many organizations use to track referrals, interactions, and events.
- Organizations track employer metrics to inform internal decision-making and to gauge effectiveness.
- The metrics that are tracked vary by organization. Common metrics include placement rates, retention statistics, and employer satisfaction scores.
- Employer metrics may be tracked to demonstrate compliance with funding requirements.
