Talent & Growth presented by The Animo Group

How To Measure Quality Of Hire With Caitlin Ingham, Jonathan Durnford-Smith & Joey Koksal

Wed Jul 19 2023

Quality of HireMeasuring Quality of HireRetentionOnboarding ProcessImproving Hiring Process

Description

The episode discusses the subjective and elusive metric of quality of hire. It explores guidelines for measuring quality of hire, including technical knowledge, cultural alignment, motivation, commitment, adaptability, and strong work ethic. The panel emphasizes the importance of retention in early-stage companies and aligning employees with business objectives. The onboarding process is highlighted as crucial for employee success and includes setting clear expectations and objectives. Measuring quality of hire involves considering factors like contract duration, performance reviews, feedback from managers and peers, and probation periods. The episode also covers improving the hiring process through tools, guidance, and a democratic approach. Key insights include creating a persona for candidates and involving talent acquisition earlier in the hiring process.

Insights

Quality of hire is subjective

Quality of hire varies from company to company and includes factors like technical knowledge, cultural alignment, motivation, commitment, adaptability, and strong work ethic.

Retention is important in early-stage companies

In the early stages of a company, retention is crucial due to limited resources and the potential impact of losing key employees.

Onboarding process is crucial for employee success

A comprehensive onboarding experience helps create a positive impression, increases motivation, and improves retention rates.

Measuring quality of hire involves multiple factors

Measuring quality of hire requires considering contract duration, performance reviews, feedback from managers and peers, and probation periods.

Improving the hiring process

Providing the right tools, guidance, and process map is crucial for success in hiring. A democratic approach, consistent evaluation scorecards, and removing bias promote fairness. Clear metrics of success and coaching for promotion cases are important.

Key insights

Creating a persona for candidates and involving talent acquisition earlier in the hiring process can lead to quality hires. Prioritizing time to hire and time to fill metrics over rushing to fill vacancies may be necessary.

Summary

Transcript

Introduction

00:00 - 06:34

Quality of hire is a subjective and elusive metric that differs from company to company.
The panel discusses guidelines for measuring quality of hire in your business.
Jonathan Dernford-Smith is a portfolio talent partner at Oxford St. James, with experience in recruiting at DeepMind and Quantum Black.
Caitlin is the talent acquisition manager at Loonio, emphasizing the importance of cultural fit and value contribution in hiring.
Joey Cooksoul is the Global Technical Decision Manager for EB-Box, dealing with all aspects of talent acquisition.
The audience is encouraged to ask questions and provide commentary on this subjective topic.

Measuring Quality of Hire

06:23 - 13:33

Quality of hire includes technical knowledge, cultural alignment, motivation, commitment, adaptability, and strong work ethic.
Defining quality of hire is challenging due to subjective factors and performance outcomes.
Measuring quality of hire can be done through performance reviews and leadership effectiveness.
The definition of quality of hire varies depending on the size of the business, department, and manager.
Implementing training and structured processes helps ensure a consistent understanding of quality of hire.
Longevity and consistent progression are factors to consider in defining quality of hire.
Quality of hire can be measured at different stages: interview process, probation period, and growth potential over time.

Retention and Business Objectives

13:12 - 20:15

In the early stages of a company, there is pressure on retention because there are fewer resources and losing key employees can be detrimental.
As a company grows larger, retention becomes less important and acquisition becomes the focus.
Business objectives play a role in assessing the quality of a hire, especially in departments like sales where performance is more easily measurable.
Implementing clear responsibilities and KPIs in contracts can help align employees with business objectives and improve quality of hire.
Creating a quality environment for employees is also important for ensuring their success.

Measuring Quality of Hire

19:49 - 27:06

Measuring the quality of hire is challenging and requires considering factors like contract duration, performance reviews, feedback from managers and peers, and probation periods.
Passing the probation period or staying with the company for at least six months can be indicators of a quality hire.

Onboarding Process

26:42 - 33:37

Delivering a poor onboarding process to a candidate increases the likelihood of them leaving within the first three months, impacting the quality of hire.
The onboarding process is crucial for retention rates and overall employee experience.
A comprehensive onboarding experience helps create a positive impression and increases motivation.
Performance evaluations should be structured to provide meaningful insights for both the company and the candidate.
Companies should clearly communicate expectations and objectives to candidates during pre-onboarding.
Setting measurable deliverables in the first 30, 60, and 90 days helps guide new employees' progress.
Clear objectives are essential for candidates to understand what is expected of them in their first few months.
Onboarding can be done virtually, but onsite onboarding allows for better engagement and understanding.

Measuring Quality of Hire

33:12 - 40:39

Virtual onboarding can be effective, but onsite onboarding is preferred
Assign one person to be responsible for onboarding to ensure accountability
Collect performance review ratings over time to understand employee performance
Consider different measurements for managers and individual contributors
Exercise caution when using algorithms and equations to measure retention rates
Feedback from managers and teams is crucial in assessing manager performance
Use tools like Lattice for feedback and recognition
Common pitfalls in measuring quality of hire include lack of proper onboarding, objectives, guidance, and tools
Providing clear guidelines and process maps is essential for success

Improving Hiring Process

40:17 - 47:36

Giving the right tools, guidance, and process map is crucial for success in hiring.
A democratic approach to hiring can help ensure fairness and inclusivity.
Using a consistent scorecard for evaluation can reduce bias in the interview process.
Removing gender pronouns from feedback and anonymizing CVs can promote fairness.
Managers should raise cases for promotion based on clear evidence and expectations.
Clear metrics of success in a role can prevent arguments during performance reviews.
Managers should be able to coach employees to gather evidence for promotion cases.
Cultural fit is an important consideration in hiring at Lunio.
Organizations need to balance quality of hires with the pressure to fill vacancies quickly.
Intake meetings are crucial for aligning expectations and understanding what is needed in a hire.

Key Insights

47:20 - 52:05

Creating a persona and understanding exactly what you're looking for in a candidate leads to quality hires.
Companies should involve talent acquisition (TA) or people functions earlier in the hiring process to avoid wasted time and iteration.
TA should be part of the discussion around the problem, not just told the solution.
To achieve quality hires, it's important to prioritize time to hire and time to fill metrics over rushing to fill vacancies.
Compromising on other metrics may be necessary to ensure another metric, such as quality of hire, flourishes.