What is the Quality of Hire metric?

Quality of Hire (QoH) is a metric used to assess the effectiveness of hiring decisions, typically measured through the performance, engagement, and cultural fit of newly hired employees. Simply put, it's a data-driven approach to evaluating the value new hires bring to an organization.

Why Quality of Hire matters

Measuring Quality of Hire allows organizations to make better-informed hiring and talent development decisions. By tracking this metric, your company can:

Evaluate recruitment effectiveness and identify which stages of the hiring process need improvement – for example, by comparing retention rates across various sourcing channels.
Align selection strategies with real business needs by eliminating irrelevant candidate evaluation criteria – such as removing competency tests that don't correlate with on-the-job performance.
Enhance onboarding and employee integration processes based on measurable outcomes – for instance, reducing time-to-productivity by introducing mentoring sessions.
Lower turnover costs by improving candidate–organization fit – for example, analyzing common personality traits or values among employees who stay longer than 12 months.
Boost engagement and retention by identifying potential issues early – such as low onboarding eNPS scores or poor attendance during the first weeks on the job.
Strengthen HR’s strategic role by reporting actionable data rather than just headcount – for example, presenting Quality of Hire as part of the ROI on recruitment investments.

Key factors affecting Quality of Hire

Several factors can impact your Quality of Hire score, including:

Effectiveness of the recruitment process – The better designed and executed the hiring process, the higher the likelihood of bringing in a candidate who delivers real value. Key contributors include the quality of sourcing channels, thorough pre-screening, role fit, and alignment with the company culture.
Quality of onboarding – A well-structured onboarding process helps new hires reach full productivity more quickly, increases engagement, and supports smoother team integration. A weak or inconsistent onboarding process can quickly undo the results of a strong hiring decision.
Cultural and team fit – Even highly qualified candidates may struggle if they don't feel they belong or if their values clash with the organization's culture. Such misalignment can affect performance, job satisfaction, and long-term retention.
Management style and relationship with the supervisor – Clear communication, regular feedback, and early support from a manager contribute significantly to a new hire’s success. A lack of these elements often leads to frustration and decreased engagement.
Development opportunities and access to the right resources – Even the most promising hire won’t reach their full potential without the proper tools, knowledge, or growth opportunities. Without access to these resources, performance suffers.
Business context and shifting expectations – Changes in company strategy, structure, or priorities can affect how a hire is evaluated over time. A person who was a great fit at the time of recruitment may later face misaligned or evolving expectations.
Clarity of goals – Unclear job responsibilities or shifting expectations make it difficult for new hires to succeed and adapt to their role. Discrepancies between the job description and actual responsibilities often lead to disappointment on both sides.

How to calculate Quality of Hire

There’s no universal formula for calculating Quality of Hire, as it’s a composite metric made up of multiple quantitative and qualitative data points. Organizations develop their own models based on business goals, available data sources, and role-specific factors. Let’s take a look at some examples.

Suppose Company XYZ wants to assign a numerical value to Quality of Hire using three criteria:

Performance rating based on manager feedback after 3 months. The employee received a score of 80 out of 100, indicating they meet most expectations and handle assigned tasks effectively.
Engagement score from satisfaction surveys or 360° feedback. The employee scored 70 out of 100, demonstrating solid engagement with room for improvement in certain areas.
Retention after 6 months. The employee remains with the company, so they receive a full score of 100 out of 100 – indicating positive retention.

Based on this data, the company calculates Quality of Hire using a simple formula:

QoH = (Performance + Engagement + Retention) / 3

Which gives us: QoH = (80 + 70 + 100) / 3 = 83.3

A score of 83.3 suggests the employee has integrated well into the organization, successfully completed onboarding, and demonstrates high engagement. From both an HR and a managerial perspective, this would be considered a successful hiring decision.

This strong result can serve as a benchmark for future hiring. For example, if the company’s average Quality of Hire is around 65, it may be useful to analyze this case more closely. Reviewing the selection process, onboarding experience, or sourcing channel may reveal factors that contributed to the success, and help replicate it in future hires.

Now let’s look at Company ABC, which uses the following evaluation criteria:

Time to full productivity. This employee received a score of 40 out of 100 due to a slow ramp-up period. Even after several weeks, they had not reached the expected level of independence in their role.
Cultural fit. The team and manager observed collaboration challenges, such as a lack of flexibility, low participation in team activities, or misalignment with company values. The employee scored 50 out of 100 in this area.
Absenteeism during the first 3 months. Frequent absences led to a score of 30 out of 100, as they disrupted both the employee’s onboarding and the team’s day-to-day operations.

The Quality of Hire score is calculated the same way:

QoH = (40 + 50 + 30) / 3 = 40

A score of 40 indicates poor Quality of Hire. The employee struggled to adapt to the role and the team, failed to meet expected performance levels, and their frequent absences made integration even more difficult.

This case suggests the recruitment process may have lacked effective tools to assess cultural fit or readiness for the work environment. It’s also a signal to evaluate the onboarding process and the support provided. For instance, was the onboarding plan tailored to the candidate’s experience level? Did it include enough check-ins with the manager? Insights from this type of analysis can help prevent similar issues in the future.

Best practices for measuring Quality of Hire

To ensure that the Quality of Hire metric truly supports better HR decision-making (and doesn't become just another line in a report), consider the following best practices:

Define clear, measurable criteria for each role or group of roles. These should reflect your organization’s realities and remain consistent and comparable over time.
Draw from multiple data sources. Use a combination of manager feedback, employee satisfaction surveys, retention rates, absenteeism, onboarding eNPS, and more. The broader your data perspective, the more complete your assessment will be.
Avoid relying solely on subjective evaluations. Aim to combine qualitative insights with quantitative metrics – such as performance indicators, time-to-productivity, or attendance records.
Adjust the weight of each metric based on business context. For example, if retention is a priority at your current stage of growth, consider giving it more influence in the overall score.
Track Quality of Hire over time. Conduct evaluations at 3, 6, and 12 months post-hire to better understand long-term impact and identify trends.
Compare results across departments and roles. Variations may highlight challenges in specific teams or reveal where strong hiring practices are already in place.
Involve managers in the evaluation process. As the people with the most direct insight into employee performance and fit, their input helps make the data more accurate and actionable.

How to use PeopleForce HR platform features to improve your Quality of Hire

If you want to improve your Quality of Hire, you need tools that bring together data from different areas of HR. A platform like PeopleForce helps you understand what’s working, what needs improvement, and where processes may be losing efficiency. Here's how to leverage these features:

Automatically collect data across all hiring stages – pre-screening, recruitment, onboarding, and beyond. Everything in one place, with no manual reporting required.
Customize metrics and reports to fit your organization’s structure. Build indicators that align with your business goals.
Use clear, intuitive dashboards to monitor individual and team performance and track progress over time.
Strengthen collaboration between employees and managers through 1-on-1 meetings. Schedule recurring check-ins, document key takeaways, and track each employee’s development.
Analyze the performance of your sourcing channels using the built-in ATS or integrations with external tools such as Greenhouse.
Effectively evaluate new hires by launching automated surveys and review forms to gather insights on performance and fit.
Manage retention and development planning. Identify early signs of disengagement and support skill growth within the same platform.
Leverage data from pulse surveys and 360° feedback to gain a more complete picture of Quality of Hire, not just based on job performance.

Quality of Hire reflects decisions made throughout the entire employee lifecycle. Treat this metric as a diagnostic tool – it can help you identify which parts of your HR processes need attention. With the comprehensive support of an HR platform like PeopleForce, you’ll be better equipped to turn data into meaningful actions in the areas that matter most to your organization.

Quality of Hire (QoH)