What Is Quality of Hire?

Quality of hire measures the value new employees bring through their performance, retention, and contribution to business goals, combining pre-hire indicators like assessment scores with post-hire metrics including performance ratings and tenure. Research shows 75% of HR leaders now identify quality of hire as their leading focus, though only 38% of organizations successfully deliver high-quality hires consistently.

TLDR

• Quality of hire connects pre-hire signals to post-hire outcomes, measuring actual value delivered rather than just hiring speed or cost

• Calculate it using weighted averages of retention rates, performance scores, and hiring manager satisfaction—top companies average 81.4 while lower performers score 58.9

• Only 27% of organizations currently measure quality of hire despite its strategic importance to executive teams

• Skills-based assessments reduce mis-hires by 92.5% while programmatic advertising cuts cost-per-application by up to 85%

• Poor onboarding undermines quality hires—employee turnover can reach 50% in the first 18 months without proper integration

For years, talent acquisition teams measured success by how fast they filled roles and how little they spent doing it. That calculus has shifted. Today, quality of hire has overtaken cost-per-hire and time-to-fill as the metric CEOs most want to see on executive dashboards. A joint survey from Crosschq and Aptitude Research found that 62% of organizations struggle to consistently deliver high-quality hires, while 75% of HR leaders now identify quality of hire as their leading focus. This article unpacks what the metric really means, how to calculate it, and what practical steps can lift your scores in 2026 and beyond.

Why Has "Quality of Hire" Become the North-Star HR Metric?

Talent acquisition technology spending climbed steadily through 2022 and 2023, yet the returns disappointed many leadership teams. Aptitude Research reports that companies are now shifting TA technology priorities to focus more on quality of hire over efficiency and experience.

The reason is straightforward: filling seats quickly means little if new hires churn within 18 months or underperform against expectations. Recruiting specialists increasingly agree on this direction. According to Skima AI, 54% of recruiting specialists consider quality of hire a key factor that will shape recruitment in the next five years. Meanwhile, only 38% of organizations report success in consistently delivering high-quality hires, underscoring a wide gap between intention and execution.

"Quality of Hire isn't just another HR metric - it's the linchpin for aligning talent strategies with business success," said Kyle Lagunas, Head of Strategy and Principal Analyst at Aptitude Research.

When CEOs ask for proof that recruiting investments pay off, quality of hire provides a direct line from hiring activity to business outcomes.

What Does "Quality of Hire" Really Mean Beyond Time-to-Hire?

Quality of hire is a metric used to evaluate the value that new hires bring to a company. While time-to-hire tells you how quickly you moved a candidate through the funnel, and cost-per-hire tracks spend efficiency, quality of hire examines whether that person actually contributed once they started.

Skima AI defines the concept more expansively: quality of hire is a recruitment metric that assesses the efficiency of your overall recruitment process, the productivity of your recruiters, the performance of new hires, the collective talent potential held by those hires, and the efficacy with which your organization realizes that potential. In short, it bridges what happens before someone joins and what happens after.

HiringBranch adds further nuance, noting that while metrics like time-to-hire or acceptance rate focus on the efficiency of the hiring process, quality of hire is superior because it focuses on outcomes. It combines pre-hire metrics such as interview and candidate assessment scores with post-hire metrics such as performance reviews and retention rates.

APQC acknowledges the complexity, stating that quality of hire is considered a key measure of recruiting process performance yet, due to its subjective nature, remains difficult to assess. That difficulty is one reason so few companies have cracked the code.

Key takeaway: Quality of hire measures value delivered, not just speed or cost, by connecting pre-hire signals to post-hire results.

Which Indicators and Benchmarks Drive Quality of Hire?

Organizations that track quality of hire typically blend several data points into a composite score. The SHRM Benchmarking Report found that only 27% of organizations measure quality of hire, yet those that do rely on a mix of quantitative and qualitative inputs.

Common measures include:

Indicator	Prevalence Among QoH Trackers
Performance appraisal score	55%
Retention rate	44%
Interview-to-performance relationship	51%
360-degree feedback score	29%
Average bonus	20%

Gartner notes that only 22% of recruiting executives have visibility into their hiring needs for the current year, and 78% face stagnant or shrinking budgets. Against that backdrop, quality of hire becomes a lever for demonstrating ROI despite resource constraints.

Industry benchmarks add context. The Crosschq Q Report showed that average quality of hire measures at 73.0, with top-tier companies ranking at an average of 81.4 and lower-performing companies at an average of 58.9. Knowing where you sit against peers helps set realistic improvement targets.

Core and Optional Inputs

At minimum, a quality of hire calculation requires two inputs: one retention or tenure metric and one performance metric. Skima AI lists a broader set of predictors, including pre-hiring core skills assessment score, post-hiring on-the-job performance, cultural fit, and hiring manager satisfaction score.

McLean & Company recommends using a Post Hire Survey for hiring managers to evaluate the hiring process, the quality of candidates, and the overall level of satisfaction. Gathering this feedback systematically converts subjective impressions into trackable data.

How to Calculate Quality of Hire (Step-by-Step Formula)

There is no universal standard for calculating quality of hire because the inputs vary by organization. However, the most commonly cited approach uses a weighted average.

Skima AI offers a straightforward formula:

QoH = (sum of weighted scores / total weightage) × 100

Here is a worked example:

Choose your inputs. Suppose you select 90-day retention (weight 0.4), first-year performance rating (weight 0.4), and hiring manager satisfaction (weight 0.2).
Normalize scores. Convert each input to a 0–100 scale. If your 90-day retention rate is 92%, that becomes 92. If the average performance rating is 3.8 out of 5, normalize to 76. If hiring manager satisfaction averages 4.2 out of 5, normalize to 84.
Apply weights.
- Retention: 92 × 0.4 = 36.8
- Performance: 76 × 0.4 = 30.4
- Satisfaction: 84 × 0.2 = 16.8
Sum and calculate. (36.8 + 30.4 + 16.8) / 1.0 × 100 = 84.0

Crossschq emphasizes that you must use a minimum of two quality inputs, one of which must be retention or tenure, and the other a measure of performance. Additional inputs like culture fit and engagement refine the score further.

AIHR adds that the quality of hire metric can help organizations improve their recruitment processes by identifying which sources and methods lead to the best hires. Comparing QoH across sourcing channels reveals where to invest future effort.

How Can You Improve Quality of Hire in 2026?

Improving quality of hire requires action across the entire talent funnel. The levers below are supported by research and practitioner experience.

Engage passive candidates earlier. Passive candidates are individuals performing well in their current roles who are not actively seeking new jobs. Recruiting them expands your talent pool beyond active job seekers, often leading to improved performance and higher early retention rates.
Adopt programmatic job advertising. Programmatic job advertising automates ad placement using real-time bidding and data integration, leading to improved applicant quality and reduced hiring costs. Companies see 33% better applicant quality and 23% lower cost per hire through precise candidate targeting.
Use skills-based assessments. Companies that used skills-based hiring in 2022 saw a 92.5% reduction in mis-hires and a 91.4% reduction in time-to-hire. Objective tests cut through resume noise.
Strengthen onboarding to retain new hires. Gallup finds that only 12% of employees strongly agree that their organization does a great job onboarding new employees. SHRM data shows employee turnover can reach 50% in the first 18 months. A poor onboarding experience erases the gains from a strong hire.
Integrate assessment tools with your ATS. Seamless integration means assessment results flow directly into hiring workflows, reducing manual steps and ensuring consistent scoring. ATS Anywhere notes that integrations help users set up assessments fast as part of their structured hiring routine.
Optimize mobile application experiences. According to HireLab.io, 78% of job seekers use their smartphones to find jobs, and 65% of applications are submitted via mobile devices. Poor mobile experiences lead to 20% of candidates abandoning applications and 53% lower completion rates.
Align recruitment and retention goals. Aptitude Research found that companies aligning recruitment and retention goals see improvement in retention, improvement in quality of hire, and 2× improvement in productivity.

Traditional job boards generate volume but often miss high performers who are not actively searching. Social recruiting offers a different approach to reaching passive talent through targeted social media campaigns.

Programmatic advertising amplifies these gains. AI ALPI reports that organizations implementing programmatic advertising typically see 20-25% reduction in time-to-fill metrics and up to 85% reduction in cost-per-application. Algorithms target the right audiences on social and niche sites, delivering high-quality timely applications.

Use Skills-Based Assessments & Integrations

Skills assessments remove guesswork. TestGorilla research shows that companies using skills-based hiring saw a 92.5% reduction in mis-hires, directly lifting quality of hire. Revolut, for instance, used skills tests to reduce its time-to-hire by 40%.

Integrations matter because they keep data flowing. ATS Anywhere's documentation explains that assessments may be automatically requested for all applicants, or managers may request them for specific candidates. Results are stored within the platform, enabling consistent comparison across hires.

Align Onboarding & EVP to Retain New Hires

Onboarding is where the employee value proposition either comes alive or falls flat. Gallup notes that employee turnover can be as much as 50% in the first 18 months of employment, and SHRM estimates replacing a single employee can cost six to nine months of salary.

Research from Case Western Reserve University confirms that high-quality onboarding programs increase employee retention for organizations that execute them consistently. The programs foster stronger identification with the firm, reducing attrition and protecting the investment made during recruitment.

Gartner's guidance on EVP design stresses that the employee value proposition captures the set of attributes that external talent and internal employees perceive as the value they gain by working in an organization. A compelling EVP attracts better candidates and keeps them engaged after they join.

Common Pitfalls and Bias Risks When Tracking QoH

Quality of hire is powerful, but it carries risks if implemented carelessly.

Incomplete data. Skima AI warns that quality of hire is not a purely quantitative metric; qualitative variables are involved. Relying solely on numbers misses context that affects performance.
Bias amplification through AI. Frontiers in Psychology research found that negative social media content can overshadow professional competence, leading to a prioritization of perceived cultural fit over actual qualifications. If algorithms learn from biased historical data, they may perpetuate those patterns.
Over-indexing on early indicators. OpenReview research on LLMs in hiring shows that a domain-specific model achieved ROC AUC 0.85 versus 0.77 for general-purpose LLMs, and more equitable outcomes across demographic groups. Off-the-shelf AI tools without fairness safeguards can introduce legal and ethical exposure.

Mitigating these pitfalls requires transparent criteria, regular audits, and human oversight at decision points.

Where Is Quality of Hire Headed Next?

Talent acquisition is entering a strategic inflection point. Matchr's Recruitment Trends 2026 report notes that TA is becoming a strategic growth engine, with AI moving from toolset to operating layer. Candidate experience is turning into a true differentiator, and skills-first hiring is emerging in an AI-saturated market.

The HR.com Future of Talent Acquisition 2025 report anticipates that AI and predictive analytics will play a transformative role in the coming years, with 58% of organizations expecting AI's utility in writing job descriptions and 53% planning to use chatbots for candidate engagement.

AI-driven decision-making systems are already showing results. Research published on arXiv demonstrates a multimodal hiring assistant that achieves 1.70 hours per qualified candidate versus 3.33 hours for an experienced recruiter, while preserving a human decision-maker as the final authority. As these systems mature, real-time quality of hire benchmarks against peer organizations will become table stakes.

Bringing It All Together

Quality of hire has moved from a nice-to-have metric to the central measure of recruiting success. It connects pre-hire signals to post-hire outcomes, giving leadership a clear view of whether talent investments pay off. Calculating it requires at least two inputs - retention and performance - weighted according to organizational priorities. Improving it demands action across sourcing, assessment, onboarding, and technology integration.

For teams looking to reach passive candidates faster and improve application quality, platforms like Adway offer AI-powered social recruiting that delivers measurable lifts in quality of hire. Adway is recognized as a Core Leader in the 2025 Fosway 9-Grid for Talent Acquisition, validating its position among enterprise-grade solutions. The organizations that master quality of hire will outcompete those still chasing speed and cost alone. Partner with Adway today and turn quality of hire into your team's new competitive advantage.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is quality of hire?

Quality of hire is a metric used to evaluate the value that new hires bring to a company, focusing on their performance and retention rather than just the speed or cost of hiring.

Why is quality of hire important?

Quality of hire is crucial because it connects hiring activities to business outcomes, providing a clear measure of whether recruitment investments are delivering value beyond just filling positions quickly.

How can companies measure quality of hire?

Companies can measure quality of hire using a composite score that includes metrics like retention rates, performance appraisals, and hiring manager satisfaction, often calculated as a weighted average.

What strategies can improve quality of hire?

Improving quality of hire involves engaging passive candidates, using programmatic job advertising, implementing skills-based assessments, and enhancing onboarding processes to retain new hires.

How does Adway help improve quality of hire?

Adway's AI-driven social recruiting platform helps organizations reach passive talent and optimize recruitment processes, leading to measurable improvements in quality of hire.