Why (and How) to Measure Quality of Hire

Why (and How) to Measure Quality of Hire

By Kelly Peters

As they prioritize maximizing efficiency and cutting costs, teams trying to meet the need for speed in hiring can rush the recruitment process. But this "find anyone" strategy ignores a key element of recruitment: candidate quality. Making a bad hire - someone who ends up being a poor performer - can cost a company thousands of dollars, not to mention losses in morale and productivity. Finding the right person means attracting an employee who will be able to contribute to the company's success. So how can an organization be sure it's hiring the right employees?

Meet the holy grail of recruiting metrics: quality of hire (QoH), the value a new hire adds to a company based on his or her contribution to its long-term success. Tracking QoH is key to building a recruitment process that attracts and retains top talent.

Measuring this metric can be tricky, however, because the results are shaped in large part by how an organization defines "quality." One survey of small- and mid-sized businesses across different industries yielded interesting findings about how some companies track their own QoH.

Only 64 percent of survey respondents said they currently measure the quality of their hires, whereas 36 percent don't track this metric at all. Because they aren't measuring QoH, many hiring teams have no idea how their current recruitment process influences company success.

At the same time, most companies aren't getting a complete view of their candidates' quality. Tracking QoH is a process that should start as soon as candidates enter the recruitment funnel and continue throughout the employee life cycle. Yet only 20 percent of respondents said they're monitoring this metric at the earliest point of the recruitment process, before candidates are hired (and 58 percent of respondents said they start measuring QoH only at the 90-day mark!).

To most companies, the need to track posthire metrics (such as performance and productivity) is obvious. But they often don't realize that considering QoH before an offer is made is just as important. By using prehire metrics (such as assessment scores and engagement) to track QoH as soon as candidates enter the recruitment funnel and continuing throughout their employment, companies can achieve a comprehensive assessment of their hires.

Track QoH is key to a team's future success in recruitment. Here's how any organization can create and use its own formula to measure QoH:

1. Define quality

Talk with company leaders to define what employee success means to the organization. Which values and competencies do the leadership and the team as a whole prioritize? Make a comprehensive list of employee success criteria, then narrow it down to four or five key data points that include both prehire and posthire metrics (such as preemployment assessment scores, time to hire, ramp-up time, and productivity).

2. Quantify each criteria

Assign a value to each chosen criteria based on its importance to the organization. Select point values and weights for each item in order to calculate a comprehensive QoH score.

3. Establish a timeline and collect feedback

Once an employee has been on the job for anywhere between two and six months, send managers a survey to measure their impression of the new hire thus far. Have them rate the new hire according to certain criteria and point values. Pair these surveys with regular performance reviews that assess and rate the same criteria.

Track results to prove recruiting ROI

Track QoH scores throughout the employee life cycle. Review them monthly to start, using the individual scores to calculate an overall score. This calculation should be an average of the success criteria and should follow this formula:

success criteria 1 + success criteria 2 + success criteria 3 + success criteria 4


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Sample calculation

preemployment assessment scores + time to hire + ramp-up time + productivity


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With a custom formula in hand, start tracking scores for each metric, for each employee, and for the organization as a whole. Use the results to identify trends in the company's recruitment process and to demonstrate its ROI to leadership.

When assessing these scores to glean the most actionable takeaways, considering the follow questions:

Individual piece of criteria

  • Are there individual criteria where we're consistently scoring low? If so, are these prehire or posthire?
  • Are there ways to adjust the process to target higher-scoring candidates in this area?

Individual employee

  • Is this employee consistently missing the mark on certain criteria?
  • Is this person's comprehensive QoH score trending significantly up or down?
  • Can the organization provide this team member with resources to improve his or her score in certain areas?

Organization as a whole

  • How has the company's QoH score changed over time, and what external factors may be affecting this?
  • Are certain departments or teams scoring higher or lower than others? If so, how can the company adjust its recruitment practices to standardize overall QoH?
  • Do certain stages in the process prompt lower scores?

Quality of hire is a critical metric for determining the success of a company's recruitment strategies, which in turn help shape the organization's long-term health and prosperity. Once company's truly understand this, it can develop and implement strategies for measuring - and improving - its quality of hire.

About the author:

Kelly Peters is a communications and content manager at JazzHR (www.jazzhr.com), where they're on a mission to make recruiting and hiring easy, effective, and scalable no matter what growth looks like at your company. The Jazz Performer Platform doesn't just help your company grow, it can help your recruiting process grow up, putting you on the path to hiring "Performers Only."