How to Calculate Quality of Hire in 4 Easy Steps

Welcome to the second edition of our Quality of Hire Fast-Track Blog Series!

Understanding what Quality of Hire is and how to measure it is key to building higher-performing teams and future-proofing your workforce. 

“Quality of Hire is the holy grail of recruiting.”
- Society for Resource Management (SHRM) -

Calculating Quality of Hire isn’t a one-size-fits-all undertaking, but there are some tried and true parameters that can help you set a baseline for your organization's QoH. You can measure Quality of Hire by the individual employee, across departments, by hiring cohort, by specific recruiter or candidate source, or organization-wide.

There are only a few simple steps to calculating your Quality of Hire. You’ll need at least two critical inputs, and three are better (think managerial retention, performance, and potential) but other inputs can be added and weighted to achieve the greatest accuracy for your specific use case. 

Getting Started With Calculating QoH

Here is the basic formula to calculate a Quality of Hire score:

Follow these four steps to arrive at QoH scores that can be used as a baseline and compared against for tracking and improvement purposes:

Step 1:

Use feedback surveys, performance reports, managerial rankings and KPI / goal results as reliable data sources to gather consistent scores that can be used in QoH calculations.

Step 2: 

Transform all input scores into an equivalent scale (preferably a percentage or a whole number on a scale of 1-10 or 1-100).

Step 3: 

Calculate by adding all of the scores together in a decimal format (80% would be .8), and divide by 3. Then multiply by 100 to arrive at the official QoH score.

Step 4:

Compare QoH scores to your own internal previous benchmarks as well as external benchmarks. The Crosschq Q Report showed that average Quality of Hire measures at 73.0, with top tier companies ranking in at an average of 81.4 and lower performing companies at an average of 58.9. 

Be honest about how your team is performing. If numbers seem wildly off, look at contributing factors, such as hire source, department leadership, or interviewing technique. In most cases, Quality of Hire can be improved over time. 

Tips for Achieving Accurate, Actionable QoH Scores

Your scores will only be as reliable as the data you use to make your calculations. Consider the following when selecting and weighting your inputs:

Calculating factors: 

You must use a minimum of two Quality Inputs, one of which must be retention or tenure, and the other a measure of performance (this can include an overall rating, re-hireability, or business outcomes such as quota attainment). 

Additional inputs: 

There is no maximum  number of inputs, so you may include as many as you feel are relevant, and adjust the denominator as necessary. Additional inputs you may wish to use include:

• Culture Add 
• Engagement / Enthusiasm 
• Influence 
• Potential 
• Managerial Retention 
  
  

Rating scales:

Since individual input types may be reported to HR on varying scales (percentages, scale of 1-5 or 1-10, etc.), each input/score will need to be transitioned to an equivalent scale before calculating QoH. 

Weighting and accuracy:

The stage of an employee’s lifecycle can affect measurement results. New-hire retention may be significantly more important during the first 12 months after hire, but will be outweighed by factors such as productivity in subsequent years. Pick the inputs that matter the most to your organization, and weight accordingly for best accuracy.   

Create a valid baseline: 

It’s better to start now with just a few inputs than to not start at all. Even a simple Quality of Hire baseline will let you compare your scores over time and track progress accordingly. You can add inputs and re-weight at any time. 

How Crosschq Can Help

Quality of Hire calculations can rapidly become complex. Crosschq’s Data Science team uses our proprietary data model to weight calculations based on your organization’s current priorities, and deliver accurate QoH scores based on employee tenure, department, hiring class or diversity group. 

Need help establishing Quality of Hire? Set up a time to run through a free demo today.  

Quality of Hire Fast-Track Series: Everything You Need to Know

1. 5 Game-Changing Insights Into Quality of Hire 
2. Quality of Hire Metrics & Trends to Track (this article)
3. Taking Action to Reap the Benefits of Quality of Hire
4.  Ignoring Quality of Hire: What Could Go Wrong? 
5.  Quality of Hire Metrics & Trends to Track