Let me ask you something: Do you know if the people you hired last year were any good? Not "did they stay," not "did hiring managers seem happy," but actual data on whether they're high performers?

If you hesitated even a little, you're in good company. 89% of talent acquisition professionals agree that measuring quality of hire is essential. But only 25% report high confidence in their ability to actually measure it.

That's a fancy way of saying: Everyone knows they should track this, but almost nobody does. Let me show you how.

Why Quality of Hire Actually Matters

Quality of hire is consistently ranked as the most valuable recruiting KPI, yet less than 40% of organizations track it consistently. Here's why that's a problem:

The cost of bad hires is brutal:

• US organizations spend an average of 20% of an entry-level salary to replace employees
• For executives? More than 200% of salary
• First-year attrition averages above 20% across industries
• Each bad hire costs an average of $18,000 in lost productivity and rehiring expenses

When you don't measure quality of hire, you're flying blind. You don't know if your recruiting process is working—you just hope it is.

The Framework: How to Actually Measure Quality of Hire

McLean & Company released a practical framework in 2025 that finally makes this measurable. Here's how to implement it:

Phase 1: Preparing to Measure (Do This First)

Step 1: Define Your Scope Don't try to measure quality of hire for every role immediately. Start with:

• High-volume roles (most hiring activity)
• Hard-to-fill roles (biggest pain points)
• Business-critical roles (biggest impact)

Pick 2-3 role types and nail the measurement. Then expand.

Step 2: Establish Success Criteria What does "good" look like for this role? Work with hiring managers to define success:

• Performance metrics: What outcomes define success in this role within the first 6-12 months?
• Behavioral indicators: What behaviors correlate with high performance?
• Cultural fit markers: What values/work styles lead to retention and satisfaction?

Make these specific and measurable. "Good culture fit" is useless. "Collaborates effectively across teams, measured by peer feedback scores" is useful.

Step 3: Select Post-Hire Metrics Choose 4-6 metrics that you'll actually track. Here are the most common:

Performance Indicators:

• Manager performance ratings at 90 days, 6 months, 12 months
• Achievement of role-specific KPIs or goals
• 360-degree feedback scores
• Promotion rate compared to peers

Retention Indicators:

• 90-day retention rate
• 12-month retention rate
• Voluntary vs. involuntary turnover
• Time to productivity (how long until fully ramped)

Cultural/Engagement Indicators:

• Employee engagement survey scores
• Peer feedback ratings
• Manager satisfaction ratings
• Internal mobility rate (promoted or transferred)

Pick metrics you can actually collect without creating new bureaucracy. If you need to implement five new systems to track something, it's too complicated.

Phase 2: Measuring and Improving (The Execution)

Step 4: Create a Quality of Hire Scorecard Build a simple scorecard that tracks your chosen metrics:

Sample Scorecard for Engineering Hires:

| Metric | Target | Q3 2025 Actual | Status | |--------|--------|----------------|--------| | 90-day retention | 95% | 88% | ⚠️ Below | | 6-month performance rating (avg) | 4.0/5 | 4.2/5 | ✅ Above | | Time to productivity | 60 days | 72 days | ⚠️ Below | | Manager satisfaction | 4.5/5 | 4.6/5 | ✅ Above | | 12-month retention | 85% | 81% | ⚠️ Below |

This instantly shows where you're strong and where you need to improve.

Step 5: Analyze by Hiring Source Break down quality metrics by where candidates came from:

Example Analysis:

| Source | Avg. Performance Rating | 12-Month Retention | Quality Score | |--------|------------------------|-------------------|---------------| | Employee referrals | 4.4/5 | 92% | 🏆 Best | | LinkedIn sourcing | 4.1/5 | 83% | Good | | Job board applicants | 3.7/5 | 71% | Below target | | Recruiting agency | 3.9/5 | 79% | Acceptable |

This tells you where to invest more resources. If referrals consistently produce top performers, double down on your referral program.

Step 6: Identify Patterns and Correlations Look for patterns in your data:

• Do candidates from certain universities perform better?
• Does interview performance correlate with job performance?
• Are faster hires better or worse performers than slower ones?
• Do candidates who ask certain questions in interviews stay longer?

These insights let you optimize your screening process. If you discover that candidates who complete take-home assignments have 30% higher performance ratings, you know that assessment is valuable.

Step 7: Create Action Plans Based on Findings Data without action is just interesting numbers. Turn insights into changes:

Example Action Plans:

Finding: Retention is 15% lower for hires made under time pressure (filled in under 3 weeks)

Action: Implement minimum 4-week hiring timeline for all roles; push back on "urgent" requisitions that rush the process

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Finding: Candidates who meet the full team during interviews have 25% higher performance ratings

Action: Make full team interviews mandatory for all finalist candidates

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Finding: Hires from employee referrals have highest retention and performance

Action: Increase referral bonuses from $500 to $2,000 and promote program monthly

The Metrics You Should Actually Track

Here are the 23 recruiting metrics that matter in 2025, organized by category:

Essential Quality of Hire Metrics:

1. Performance ratings at 90 days, 6 months, 12 months
2. 90-day and 12-month retention rates
3. Time to productivity
4. Manager satisfaction scores
5. Cultural fit assessments

Supporting Metrics That Inform Quality:

6. Source of hire effectiveness (which sources produce best hires?)
7. Interview-to-offer acceptance rate (are you losing good candidates?)
8. Offer acceptance rate overall
9. New hire turnover in first year
10. Cost per hire by quality tier

Don't track 50 metrics—track 5-7 that actually predict success.

The Uncomfortable Truths About Quality of Hire

Let me be real with you about what measuring quality of hire actually reveals:

Truth #1: Speed and Quality Are Often Inversely Related Companies that rush hiring to "fill seats quickly" consistently hire lower-quality candidates. Fast hiring feels good. The regret comes later.

Truth #2: Your "Gut Feelings" Are Probably Wrong Data consistently shows that structured interviews and assessments predict performance better than unstructured interviews. But recruiters and hiring managers love their gut feelings.

When you measure quality of hire, you'll probably discover that the candidates your hiring manager "just knew were right" aren't actually your best performers.

Truth #3: Your Best Source of Hire Isn't What You Think Most companies assume certain sources produce better candidates without ever checking. Measure it and you might discover:

• That expensive recruiting agency isn't delivering
• Your employee referral program produces your best hires but gets the least attention
• LinkedIn sourcing beats job board applicants by 40% on performance ratings

Truth #4: You're Probably Overpaying for Low-Quality Sources When you calculate cost-per-quality-hire instead of just cost-per-hire, the math changes dramatically.

Job boards might be "cheap" at $200 per hire, but if 60% of those hires leave in the first year, they're actually expensive. Referrals might cost $2,000 per hire, but if 95% stay and perform well, they're a bargain.

How to Get Started This Week

Don't overthink it. Start simple:

Week 1:

• Pick one role type to measure (start with highest volume or hardest to fill)
• Define 3-4 success criteria with hiring managers
• Identify 4-6 metrics you can actually track

Week 2:

• Build a simple scorecard (Excel or Google Sheets is fine)
• Gather baseline data for recent hires (last 6 months)
• Calculate averages by hiring source

Week 3:

• Present findings to stakeholders
• Identify 2-3 clear patterns or insights
• Create action plans to improve lowest-performing areas

Month 2:

• Implement changes based on findings
• Continue tracking metrics for new hires
• Expand measurement to second role type

You don't need fancy software or PhD-level analytics. You need consistent tracking and the discipline to act on what you learn.

The Bottom Line

89% of recruiters know quality of hire matters. 25% know how to measure it. That gap exists because measuring quality of hire requires:

1. Defining what "good" looks like (subjective, requires collaboration)
2. Tracking metrics over time (requires discipline)
3. Analyzing patterns (requires curiosity)
4. Making changes based on data (requires courage)

Most recruiting teams get stuck at step 1. Don't be most recruiting teams.

Start measuring. You'll discover things about your hiring process that surprise you. Some will be uncomfortable. Some will be obvious in hindsight. All of them will make you better at recruiting.

And honey, when first-year attrition costs an average of $18,000 per bad hire, you can't afford to keep guessing.

Sources:

• Jobylon: Quality of Hire - The KPI You Need to Measure in 2025
• McLean & Company / Morningstar: Closing the Hiring Gap - Measuring Quality of Hire Framework
• iProspectCheck: 23 Recruitment Metrics Every Employer Should Track in 2025
• Top Echelon: 2025 Metrics for Recruiters to Measure Success
• Metaview: Recruitment Analytics - Hiring Metrics Talent Teams Should Track in 2025