When it comes to recruiting metrics, most companies rely on “time to hire,” retention rates, and other numbers that don’t necessarily show the overall picture of your company’s talent needs. While it’s great to show executives that you were able to fill “X” number of roles in “X” amount of time, if those new hires are quickly leaving, obviously there’s an issue with your hiring practices.
Michail_Petrov-96 / iStock / Getty Images Plus
Randstad Sourceright recently released its 2018 Talent Trends Report, and one of the top trends was improving the quality of talent vs. the quantity. Randstad Sourceright explains that “time to hire” and retention rate metrics don’t necessarily show how well new hires have performed in the role, nor do they provide feedback on ways to improve the effectiveness of your recruitment efforts.
Since quality now trumps quantity, how can you effectively measure the quality of a candidate? Randstad Sourceright offers these five tips for enhancing talent quality:
1. Track Results
To start measuring the quality of your hires, you need to start tracking the results of your hires. For example, Randstad Sourceright suggests conducting surveys and follow-ups to capture how well new hires are performing. Randstad Sourceright also suggests tracking the ongoing performance of the new hire to determine long-term results.
2. Clearly Define Quality
Randstad Sourceright says that defining quality of hire may differ from how your HR managers define the topic, but in order for your company to make improvements, all your talent leaders need to be on the same page about what it is they’re looking for in a candidate. Randstad Sourceright advises that you “reach a consensus on what the organization values and which metrics matter.”
3. Benchmark Your Best Performers
Obviously, you want all your workers to be your “best” performers; however, in order for that to happen, you need to know what it is that makes your top talent the best at what they do. Randstad Sourceright suggests looking into the traits and qualities of your best workers and hone in on those when looking at the skills of a new hire. By benchmarking what makes your “best” workers the absolute best, you’ll be able to spot those traits in a candidate almost immediately.
4. Don’t Overlook Prehire Quality
When it comes to enhancing your talent quality, Randstad Sourceright suggests you ask yourself the following questions:
- Are you recruiting from the right talent pool?
- Are hiring managers focusing on the right skills for the role?
- Are there gaps in the recruiting process that are detrimental to getting top talent?
Once you’ve taken these questions into consideration, you’ll be better equipped to spot a quality candidate.
5. Engage Hiring Managers
The final tip Randstad Sourceright offers for enhancing the quality of your hires is to engage with your hiring managers to determine if the new hire is meeting the hiring manager’s expectations. Randstad Sourceright also says that the hiring manager can also play a part in making sure the new hire succeeds.
Sue Marcus, Executive Vice President of RPO North America, leaves us with this final thought:
“Companies should more actively monitor quality of hires because ultimately it will lead to better business results. It’s probably surprising that many organizations don’t measure this, but to excel in today’s competitive environment, it’s a must-do activity.”
For more information, or to view the full findings of the Randstad Sourceright report, click here.