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- It matters but few measure it well: in LinkedIn's Future of Recruiting 2025, 89% of talent acquisition professionals said measuring quality of hire will become more important, yet only 25% felt highly confident they could.
- Most teams use performance ratings (66%), new-hire retention (60%) and hiring manager satisfaction (44%).
- Formula: average the component scores for a cohort of hires. A worked example is below.
- There is no reliable universal benchmark. Your own trend by role, source and recruiter is the number to watch.
What is quality of hire?
Quality of hire (QoH) is a measure of the value new employees bring once they start: how well they perform, whether they stay and whether their managers are glad they were hired. Speed and cost metrics such as time to fill and cost per hire tell you how efficiently you hired. Quality of hire tells you whether it was worth it.
How do you calculate quality of hire?
Pick the components you can measure reliably, turn each into a score out of 100, and average them for a group of hires (a cohort), such as everyone hired into one role in a quarter:
Quality of hire = (performance score + retention score + hiring manager satisfaction score) ÷ 3
Each component is scaled to 0–100. Add or remove components, or weight them, but keep the formula the same across cohorts so you can compare.
Here is an illustrative example for 20 customer support hires made in one quarter. The figures are made up to show the maths.
| Component | Raw figure | How it's scaled | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Performance | Average first review rating 3.6 out of 5 | 3.6 ÷ 5 × 100 | 72 |
| Retention | 18 of 20 still employed at six months | 18 ÷ 20 × 100 | 90 |
| Hiring manager satisfaction | Average survey score 4.2 out of 5 | 4.2 ÷ 5 × 100 | 84 |
| Quality of hire | (72 + 90 + 84) ÷ 3 | 82 |
On its own, 82 means little. Its value comes from comparison: the same role last quarter, candidates from a referral versus a job board, or hires who passed a skill assessment test versus those who didn't.
Which metrics should go into quality of hire?
| Component | Share of TA teams using it (LinkedIn 2025) | When you have it | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Job performance rating | 66% | First review, often 3–6 months | Ratings vary by manager; use the same scale |
| New-hire retention | 60% | 90 days, 6 and 12 months | Separate resignations from terminations |
| Hiring manager satisfaction | 44% | A short survey at 60–90 days | Keep it to two or three questions |
| Probation outcome | Not in the survey | End of probation | Common in India; simple pass or extend |
| Ramp-up time | Not in the survey | When the hire reaches target (calls, sales, tickets) | Best for roles with clear output measures |
What is a good quality of hire score?
There is no reliable industry benchmark, because every company builds the score from different components and rating scales. Use your own history: set a baseline from the last two or three cohorts for each role, then aim to raise it. Two thresholds from Hirin.ai's recruitment analytics metric definitions can help as starting points; they are Hirin's guidance, not industry data:
- Quality of Hire index (probation outcome, early performance rating and six-month retention blended into one index): healthy above 80.
- Early attrition (hires who left within six months): healthy under 10%. It is the clearest sign that the hiring bar or the brief was wrong.
How do you track quality of hire?
- Agree the definition. HR, hiring managers and finance agree on the components, scales and weights, and write them down.
- Tag every hire at offer. Record role, source, recruiter or agency, and screening and assessment scores, so you can compare later.
- Collect on a schedule. A manager survey at 60–90 days, probation outcome, first performance rating and retention at six months.
- Calculate by cohort. Group by role and quarter. Avoid reading much into groups of fewer than ten hires.
- Compare and act. Which sources, recruiters, tests and interview steps produce better hires? Change one thing and watch the next cohort.
- Review quarterly. Share the results with hiring managers alongside time to fill and cost per hire.
See quality of hire next to speed and cost
Hiring metrics with clear definitions, owners and healthy ranges, by role, source and recruiter.
How do you improve quality of hire?
- Better briefs. A proper hiring manager intake meeting agrees what good looks like before sourcing starts.
- Structured interviews and work-related tests. In Sackett and colleagues' 2022 meta-analysis, structured interviews (.42) and job knowledge tests (.40) predicted performance far better than unstructured interviews (.19).
- Honest job previews. Shifts, targets and pay discussed upfront reduce early exits.
- Follow the offer through to joining. Track the offer-to-joining ratio; a hire who never joins scores zero.
- Use data to tune screening. 61% of TA professionals in LinkedIn's survey believe AI can improve how quality of hire is measured. Linking screening and assessment scores to later outcomes is where that starts.
What are the limits of quality of hire?
It arrives late: six-month retention tells you about hiring decisions made half a year ago. Performance ratings reflect the manager as well as the hire. Small cohorts swing wildly. And a good score doesn't prove which step caused it; onboarding and management matter as much as selection. Use it as one signal alongside speed, cost and candidate experience, and be careful about using it to judge individual recruiters on small numbers.
Frequently asked questions
What is the formula for quality of hire?
A common version is (performance score + retention score + hiring manager satisfaction score) ÷ 3, with each component scaled to 0–100 and averaged across a cohort of hires. You can weight components or add others, such as probation outcome, as long as you keep the formula consistent.
When should you measure quality of hire?
Collect hiring manager feedback at 60–90 days, then performance, probation and retention at six months. Some teams add a 12-month check for senior roles.
Is quality of hire the same as retention?
No. Retention is one component. Someone can stay but underperform, or perform well and leave for a promotion elsewhere. Combine retention with performance and manager feedback.
How can staffing agencies measure quality of hire?
Agree with each client what feedback they will share, typically probation outcome, retention at 90 days and six months, and a short satisfaction rating. Report it per client and role alongside fill rate and time to submit.
The formula and tracking steps describe common practice; the worked example uses made-up figures to show the maths. Survey and research figures were checked against their sources on 12 October 2026 and are not Hirin results. Hirin thresholds come from Hirin.ai's published metric definitions as of October 2026.
- LinkedIn, Future of Recruiting 2025: 89% say measuring quality of hire will become more important; 25% highly confident they can measure it; 61% believe AI can improve measurement; components used: performance ratings 66%, new-hire retention 60%, hiring manager satisfaction 44%.
- Sackett, P. R., Zhang, C., Berry, C. M. and Lievens, F. (2022), Revisiting meta-analytic estimates of validity in personnel selection, Journal of Applied Psychology.
- Hirin.ai, recruitment analytics metric definitions (Quality of Hire index, early attrition).
Vikas Agarwal
Vikas Agarwal is the founder of Hirin.ai, a powerful AI Recruitment Software powered by AI Agent - Zena, redefining how companies find and assess talent. With years of experience leading digital product innovation, he brings a sharp focus on solving real hiring challenges. Vikas likes to talk about AI, recruitment tech, and the future of work.