Why Quality of Hire Matters & How to Measure It [Infographic]

Why quality of hire matters image

Key Points about developing a quality of hire strategy:

  • Hiring quality employees from the start can help you streamline the recruitment process and reduce turnover costs. 
  • Choose a few quality of hire indicators and measure them consistently to find the employees who will bring lasting success to your organization. 

83% of HR professionals struggle to recruit suitable candidates. Luckily, a quality of hire strategy can make this process easier. Measuring quality of hire can help you find employees who will mesh well with your organization and contribute to your long-term success. It can also lower turnover costs, boost retention rates, and streamline the recruiting process. 

The following tips can help you start to measure quality of hire and create a strategy that promotes employee engagement and retention.

Quality-of-Hire-4-Key-Factors-Infographic

What is quality of hire?

Quality of hire measures the lasting value a new hire brings to your organization. This often combines the employee’s individual success with the success they bring to your organization as a whole. 

Before you can measure a candidate’s quality of hire, you need to assess your current workforce and set quality of hire standards. Once you determine the factors you’ll use to measure quality of hire, you can then use your strategy to find the most suitable candidates. 

What factors determine quality of hire?

The factors you use to measure quality of hire will vary depending on your business, but consider:

  • Retention
    • How long do new hires stay with your company? Do they leave after just a few months?
  • Employee Satisfaction
    • Are your employees engaged and satisfied with the work they’re doing? 
    • Try issuing anonymous surveys to better gauge employee engagement. 
  • Productivity & Performance
    • How well are your new hires performing? How long does it take them to reach full productivity? 
    • In addition to performance reviews, use well-defined benchmarks like number of products sold or quality projects completed to create a measurable standard.
  • Recognition 
    • Have your new hires received any awards, raises, or other forms of recognition?

After you outline your general quality of hire indicators, determine indicators for each specific role. Different positions require different skill sets and abilities, so take into account:

  • Personality Fit
    • What are the personalities and work styles of the current team members? How will your new hire mesh with these existing personalities? 
  • Skills 
    • What skills do people in this role typically need to succeed? Is there a skill or area of knowledge that the current team is lacking? 
  • Management
    • How do the team leaders manage? Will your new hire be able to thrive under this management style?

While quality of hire and the indicators you use to measure it may differ for each position, consistency is key. Strive for objectivity and unbiased decision-making as much as possible. To hold every candidate to the same standard, you can:

  • Track the same scoring criteria for each candidate
  • Ask each candidate the same interview questions (once you’ve tested the questions and determined which ones work best)
  • Work with an HRIS to ensure every candidate goes through the same steps in the recruitment process  
  • Use pre-hire assessments and background checks with a qualified provider like Verified First 

What questions can help me uncover a candidate’s quality of hire?

Once you’ve decided which indicators to use, asking the right questions during the interview can help you determine a candidate’s quality of hire. This is especially helpful for metrics that are more difficult to measure, like personality fit. 

Remember to test different question options to find the ones that work best. A few questions to get you started include: 

  • Tell me about a time you didn’t get along with a coworker. What did you do and what was the result?
  • What are the top 3 things that would entice you to switch jobs?
  • How do you learn?
  • If you were a type of animal, what would you be and why?
  • Can you make something with this paperclip? 

The last two questions will test your candidate’s ability to think on their feet. You’ll be able to see how they react to an unusual situation and how long it takes them to act.

How do I calculate quality of hire?

To numerically measure quality of hire, you can use one of several formulas. The simplest one looks like this:

(Indicator 1 Score + Indicator 2 Score + …) / # of Indicators = Quality of Hire

To use this formula, you’ll have to quantify the indicators you’re using – a scale out of 100 tends to be easiest.

Example: You score your candidate based on three indicators: retention, productivity (determined by number of sales), and personality fit. The candidate scores 100, 84, and 90, respectively. Your quality of hire equation will look like this:

(100 + 84 + 90) / 3 = 91.3

Once you determine what a “good” number is for your organization, you’ll have a better benchmark to gauge new candidates and hire one who’s the closest fit. 


SentricHR’s all-in-one HRIS streamlines your recruiting process, helping you score candidates based on their interviews, pre-hire assessments, and other indicators. With our Verified First integration, you can even conduct background checks directly on our platform. Contact one of our product experts today to put your quality of hire strategy into action!

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The Sentric Team

The Sentric Team

At Sentric, we help businesses make people management easier with industry-leading technology and standout support.

Sentric HR & Payroll Insights

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