Finding the right person for a role often feels like a mix of art and science, but for modern people leaders, the 'science' part is becoming increasingly non-negotiable. While hiring speed and cost-per-hire are easy to track, they don't tell you if your new starter is actually making a difference to your bottom line or team culture.
For years, HR teams have been measured on efficiency. How fast can we fill a seat? How little can we spend doing it? Whilst these metrics are helpful for budget management, they are essentially 'vanity metrics' if the person hired leaves within six months or fails to meet performance expectations. This is where the quality of hire metric comes into play – it shifts the focus from how fast you hire to how well you hire.
The challenge is that 'quality' is subjective. What a sales manager considers a quality hire might be vastly different from what a software engineering lead values. Without a standardised way to measure this, we are essentially flying blind, relying on gut feel rather than data. We need to move towards a model that looks at the long-term value an individual brings to the organisation, rather than just the successful completion of a probation period.
Before you can measure quality, you need to define what it looks like in your specific context. Generally, the quality of hire metric is a composite score that takes several factors into account. Most organisations look at a combination of performance ratings, cultural fit, and retention. By aggregating these, you get a clearer picture of whether your recruitment process is identifying the right talent.
We recommend starting with three core pillars: pre-hire assessments, 360-degree feedback during the first year, and objective performance data. When you align these, you start to see patterns. For instance, you might find that candidates who score highly on certain work personality traits consistently become your top performers. Understanding these correlations is the 'holy grail' of strategic HR.
At Compono, we believe that the foundation of a quality hire starts with deep intelligence. By using our People Intelligence Platform, you can gain insights into how a candidate's natural work preferences align with the actual requirements of the role, ensuring a higher probability of success from day one.
Because there is no single 'standard' formula, many people leaders feel overwhelmed. However, a simple and effective way to calculate it is by using a weighted average. You might assign a value to 'Performance Score' (out of 100), 'Cultural Fit Score' (out of 100), and 'Time to Productivity' (out of 100). The formula looks something like this: (Performance + Fit + Productivity) / 3.
To get a broader organisational view, you can calculate the 'Overall Quality of Hire' by taking the average score of all new hires over a specific period. This allows you to see if your hiring standards are improving or slipping over time. It also provides a great benchmark for evaluating the effectiveness of different sourcing channels – for example, do your employee referrals result in a higher quality of hire metric than job boards?
Remember that this metric is a moving target. A hire that looks great at three months might struggle at twelve. That is why it is vital to track this data consistently over the first year of employment. It turns your recruitment process into a continuous loop of feedback and improvement, rather than a one-off transaction.
One of the biggest predictors of a high quality of hire metric is the alignment between an individual's natural work personality and the tasks they perform. Research shows that high-performing teams have a balanced mix of work activities. If you hire a 'Pioneer' for a role that requires 'Auditor' levels of detail and routine, the quality of that hire will likely suffer, regardless of the person's skills or experience.
When we understand how people naturally prefer to work – whether they are 'The Campaigner' who sells the dream or 'The Coordinator' who makes the plan – we can place them in environments where they are most likely to thrive. This alignment naturally leads to higher engagement and better performance outcomes. You can explore your own tendencies by looking at your work personality to see how these traits manifest in a professional setting.
By integrating personality assessments into the top of your hiring funnel, you aren't just looking for 'experience' – you are looking for 'fit'. This proactive approach drastically reduces the risk of a 'bad hire' and ensures that your quality of hire metric remains high across the board. It is about moving from reactive hiring to strategic talent matching.
The benefits of mastering the quality of hire metric extend far beyond the HR department. High-quality hires stay longer, reducing the massive costs associated with turnover. They also contribute more quickly to team goals, boosting overall productivity and morale. When you consistently hire high-quality talent, you build a 'culture of excellence' that attracts even more top-tier candidates.
Furthermore, this data gives HR a seat at the executive table. When you can demonstrate that a specific hiring strategy increased the quality of hire metric by 15%, you are speaking the language of the business – ROI. It transforms recruitment from a cost centre into a value driver. You are no longer just 'filling roles'; you are building the future capability of the organisation.
To truly scale this, you need a system that handles the heavy lifting of data collection and candidate ranking. Compono Hire allows you to select the specific work personality you need for a role and automatically scores candidates in real time, giving you the intelligence needed to make high-quality decisions every time.
A 'good' score is relative to your industry and previous benchmarks. Generally, if you are using a 100-point scale, a score above 80 indicates a high-quality hire who is meeting or exceeding expectations across performance and fit.
We recommend measuring at the 6-month and 12-month marks. This provides enough time for the 'honeymoon period' to end and for the employee's true performance and cultural alignment to become apparent.
Yes. Tracking quality of hire by recruiter or sourcing channel is a powerful way to see which parts of your recruitment engine are delivering the best long-term results, rather than just the most volume.
Absolutely. High-quality hires are by definition better aligned with the role and the company culture. This alignment is a primary driver of employee engagement and long-term retention.
Start small. Choose one department and begin tracking probation pass rates, manager satisfaction scores, and 6-month retention. Use these as your initial data points to build your first quality of hire formula.