When it comes to measuring the success of recruitment efforts, ‘quality of hire’ stands out as a crucial metric. After all, the goal of any hiring process is to bring in top-notch candidates who can contribute to an organization’s success. However, evaluating candidate quality is often subjective and challenging to quantify, making it one of the most elusive but essential recruitment metrics. Data analytics can be a game-changer when it comes to measuring the quality of hire as well as providing actionable insights and strategies for organizations to optimize their hiring process.
What is Data-Driven Recruiting?
Data-driven recruiting is a recruitment approach that leverages data and analytics to inform and optimize hiring decisions. In today’s competitive job market, organizations are shifting towards evidence-based decision-making in the hiring process to ensure the best possible candidate quality.
Data-driven recruiting can increase efficiency by providing insights into the most effective sourcing channels, identifying top-performing candidates, and predicting candidate fit for specific roles. Data can even help recruiters reduce biases that may influence subjective decision-making, leading to more objective and merit-based evaluations.
This ultimately contributes to improving the overall quality of hires and aligning talent acquisition efforts with your organization’s goals and success.
Why Quality of Hire Matters
Quality of hire is a critical factor that significantly impacts an organization’s success. Poor hiring decisions can have detrimental effects on an organization’s bottom line, resulting in wasted resources, lost productivity, and increased turnover. Low-quality hires can also negatively affect team morale, customer satisfaction, and overall organizational performance.
By leveraging data analytics tools and evidence-based decision-making, organizations can make more informed hiring choices, resulting in:
1. Higher Retention Rates
80% of employee turnover is down to poor hiring decisions.
2. Increased Productivity
One McKinsey study found that high performers were 8x more productive than average.
3. Better Overall Business Performance
Bad hires can cost businesses up to $240,000 in lost productivity, revenue, and increased costs.
Data-driven recruitment lets organizations align their talent acquisition efforts with their strategic goals, resulting in a positive impact on their bottom line and long-term success.
How Data Analytics Can Improve Hire Quality
Data analytics tools can be invaluable in gathering and analyzing candidate data to measure and optimize candidate quality. By identifying key performance indicators (KPIs) specific to the quality of hire, such as retention rates, job performance, and cultural fit, organizations can track and assess the success of their hires.
You can also use data analytics to assess and optimize various stages of the hiring process, from sourcing to onboarding. By leveraging data, recruiters can identify patterns and trends that impact candidate quality, allowing for informed decision-making and continuous improvement of your hiring process.
Track these 5 key metrics to determine the quality of hire:
1. Time-to-Fill
A prolonged hiring process may indicate challenges in finding the right candidate, potentially leading to compromises or rushed decisions. A quicker hiring process may suggest efficiency but may also result in lower-quality hires. Monitoring time-to-fill can help organizations strike a balance between speed and quality in their hiring efforts.
2. Sourcing Effectiveness
Monitoring which sourcing channels yield the highest-quality candidates mean organizations can focus their efforts on those channels, leading to more successful hires. Analyzing sourcing data can also highlight areas where improvements can be made, such as diversifying sourcing channels or refining recruitment strategies, ultimately enhancing the overall quality of hires.
3. Candidate Fit
Candidates who possess the right skills and experience, and who align with the values and culture of the organization are more likely to succeed in the role, be engaged, and contribute positively to the organization’s success. Tracking candidate fit helps ensure that candidates who are the best fit for the organization are selected, resulting in higher-quality hires.
4. Retention Rate
High retention rates indicate that candidates are successfully integrating into the organization and staying with the company, which is a key indicator of their quality. Monitoring retention rates can identify any issues early on and allow for adjustments to the hiring process to ensure better candidate quality and long-term success within the organization.
5. Performance Appraisal Data
By evaluating an employee’s performance against established goals and expectations, organizations can assess the effectiveness of their hiring decisions. Performance appraisal data can identify areas where a new hire may require additional support or development and inform future hiring decisions to ensure higher-quality hires who can meet performance expectations and contribute to the organization’s success.
Tools and Techniques for Data-Driven Recruiting
Partnering with an RPO (Recruitment Process Outsourcing) provider makes it easier to track key metrics that indicate the quality of hire. At Pierpoint we can leverage our expertise in data analytics to measure and optimize your recruitment efforts, resulting in improved candidate quality, higher retention rates, and better hiring outcomes for your business.
When you partner with Pierpoint you also gain access to data-driven recruiting tools, technologies, and techniques that can help you attract and retain high-quality candidates such as:
- Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) and Human Resources Information Systems (HRIS) for collecting and analyzing candidate data
- Predictive analytics to identify top-performing candidates
- Machine learning algorithms to screen resumes and assess candidate fit
- Social media analytics to gain insights into candidates’ online presence
- Training and upskilling HR and recruitment teams in data analytics
- Combining data insights with human judgment for effective decision making
Talk to one of our consultants to discuss how Pierpoint’s RPO solution can help your business reach the best possible candidates. Book a call with our solution experts today.

Jen is an experienced content marketer specializing in recruitment. Driven by a genuine passion for writing, she provides insightful, accurate and engaging content for the recruitment community across a wide range of topics and industries. Her strengths lie in producing SEO-optimized blogs, landing pages, website copy, newsletters, thought leadership and social media designed for a wide array of brands, expertly capturing brand tone, vision and mission.
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