Why You Need to Quantify ROI
HR leaders who can quantify the return on their technology investments get more budget, more stakeholder buy-in, and more strategic influence. Yet many teams adopt video interviewing without ever measuring its impact. This guide gives you a concrete formula and worked example.
The ROI Formula
ROI = ((Total Benefits − Total Costs) / Total Costs) × 100
Simple in theory. The challenge is accurately capturing all benefits and costs. Here is how.
Step 1: Calculate Total Costs
Include all costs of the video interview platform:
- Subscription fee: e.g., StormInterview at €79/month = €948/year
- Implementation time: Hours spent setting up the platform × hourly cost. Most modern platforms take 1 to 2 hours to set up.
- Training time: Hours to train hiring team × hourly cost. Typically 1 to 2 hours.
- Ongoing administration: Monthly maintenance time × hourly cost. Typically minimal.
Example total cost: €948 + (4 hours × €40) + (4 hours × €40) + (12 hours × €40) = €1,748/year
Step 2: Calculate Direct Time Savings
The largest benefit category:
- Scheduling elimination: Hours spent scheduling per hire × number of hires × hourly cost. Benchmark: 2 hours/hire (Cronofy, 2025 shows 75% time savings).
- Screening time reduction: (Old screening time − new screening time) per hire × number of hires × hourly cost. Benchmark: 50% reduction (ZappyHire, 2024).
- Reduced interview rounds: If async screening eliminates one interview round, calculate: time per round × number of candidates × hourly cost of interviewer.
Example (50 hires/year):
- Scheduling: 2 hrs × 50 × €40 = €4,000
- Screening: 5 hrs × 50 × €40 × 50% = €5,000
- Reduced rounds: 1 hr × 150 candidates × €60 = €9,000
- Total time savings: €18,000
Step 3: Calculate Tool Consolidation Savings
If the video interview platform replaces separate tools:
- Assessment tool: €300/month = €3,600/year
- Scheduling tool: €50/month = €600/year
- Total: €4,200/year
Step 4: Estimate Quality-of-Hire Improvement
This is harder to measure but substantial:
- Reduction in bad hires: If structured interviews reduce bad hires by even 10%, and each bad hire costs 30% of annual salary...
- Example: 50 hires × 10% bad hire rate × 10% improvement × €50,000 salary × 30% = €7,500/year
Step 5: Calculate ROI
Total benefits: €18,000 + €4,200 + €7,500 = €29,700
Total costs: €1,748
ROI = ((€29,700 − €1,748) / €1,748) × 100 = 1,599%
A 16x return on investment. Even if your estimates are conservative and you halve every number, the ROI is still 8x.
Present It to Leadership
Frame the business case around three numbers: annual savings, payback period (usually under 1 month), and ROI multiple. Lead with the most conservative estimate, it is still compelling.
StormInterview at €79/month makes the math easy. Start a free trial.