Understanding Quality is Key to Success In Hiring

What Does Quality of Hire Mean?

Hiring can be tricky. If we take time to think through the right person for the right seat, there are so many factors to consider. We may think of hard and soft skills, past experience, and job-specific requirements. While these factors are important, defining and measuring quality is crucial to having the right person in the right seat.

Quality of hire can include: 

• Job performance 
• Retention 
• Employee engagement 
• Time to Productivity/Ramp up time 
• Cultural fit 

The Value of The Quality of Hire Indicator 

Some notable formulas include these factors in a quantifiable way. An example of this is the quality of hire index: 

Job Performance + Time to Productivity (ramp up time) + Employee Engagement + Cultural Fit / 4 (Or the number of indicators) 

Hiring manager satisfaction can be an important factor, but often not included in the measuring quality hire calculations. Although there is not one size fits all approach to hiring, many companies will look at common indicators to evaluate quality of hire.

Job Performance 

The job performance of an employee compared to pre-hire expectations is a popular quality of hire metric. For most companies, new hire performance criteria is the gold standard measuring quality of hire. Managers can review performance data over time to determine how well a new hire has been able to exceed performance expectations. There are a variety of ways to measure job performance, including tying performance to role specific measurable outcomes.

Retention (New Hire Turnover) 

Turnover metrics are tougher to quantify since there can be other factors impacting retention. Measuring turnover is an essential quality of hire indicators. According to a recent article by Forbes, the average replacement cost to a company of just one employee can range from one-half to two times their annual salary. Thus, it is in a company’s best interest to reduce new hire turnover by prioritizing retention in quality of hire measurements. Keeping your best people and giving them room to grow is essential. The courageous candor that is fostered within regular one-on-one meetings will clue you into what your people want and leads to deepened employee engagement. 

Employee Engagement 

Employee engagement is an important indicator of an organization’s quality of hire. Measuring new hire satisfaction is an opportunity to track employee engagement and an important feedback loop to improve the onboarding processes. In addition to employee engagement surveys, there are other objective ways to measure employee engagement including participation and attendance in company-related events, team feedback, and levels of involvement in collaborative projects. When team members know where they are, what is expected of them, and how they can achieve what is before them, and they have defined growth opportunities, they are more likely to be engaged, and will help engage those around them. It’s a win-win.

Time to Productivity (Ramp up Time) 

Quality of hire means that the value an employee provides is more than the cost to hire, train and develop a new hire for the specific role they were hired for. Ramp up time, or time to productivity is one quality of hire indicator that helps hiring managers qualify how well a new hire meets post hire expectations. Time to productivity is an indicator of the time it takes for an employee to reach an adequate level of productivity. Having the right person in the right seat means having someone capable of reaching full productivity. We utilize the Predictive Index to help us gain insight into projected ramp up times through their Cognitive Assessment. 

Cultural Fit 

While sometimes a bit more controversial, cultural fit can be included in quality of hire calculations.  According to an article by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), companies that leverage ‘culture fit’ best do so by tying culture to objective measures that are mappable like specific skills, abilities, values and motivators.  

The danger in using culture fit as an indicator is that you can introduce biases in your hiring practices.  This will actually undermine a company’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives. Rather than culture fit, some organizations prefer aligning new hires to metrics that favor a value fit. One article stated that the effect of value fit on innovation was due to team members identifying more strongly with the team. This led them to be more accepting of diverse ideas and approaches while accomplishing the same goal. Quality of hire calculations that factor in value fit as an indicator can lead to healthy innovation and team integration. 

One of our favorite questions to ask is, what is motivating you to explore this opportunity. Gaining an insight into what drives someone is a good predictor of future engagement and success. We like to follow up this question by asking about a candidate’s core values. This is helpful in gaining more understanding of the candidate’s motivations. These questions are part of our Heart process in our Head, Heart, Briefcase model. Used in conjunction with Predictive Index’s behavioral assessment which looks at a candidate’s approach to the way they work, communicate, manage, respond, and engage, you’ll be able to see what is going to be both helpful for both the candidate and also the team they may be joining. The goal is to put the right person in the right seat, into a position that will play to their strengths and enable them to have the best chance of flourishing. 

From Measuring Quality of Hire to Application  

Understanding how these indicators can collectively work together can help you evaluate the success of a new hire. The quality of hire calculation measures the value an employee provides against the cost to hire, train and develop the new hire for a specific role.  

Perhaps you’re an executive, hiring leader or an HR professional looking to revamp your hiring process. Understanding the principal, methods and calculation of quality of hire is critical for long term organizational success. We use a data-driven approach to look at employee alignment, and sustainable solutions for your company’s hiring needs. We know that for hiring to be successful it’s critical that the work determines the skills needed. 

At Titus Talent, we are committed to finding the right seats for the right people through our unique hiring process, which decodes the whole person. In addition to our distinctive hiring solutions, we offer training. Our 4-phase hiring process will prepare you with the innovative framework and tools needed to hire 4 performance and hire 4 management. We put the right people in the right seats, at any level of your organization to ensure quality of hire.