A quality of hire report card can help a company get to where it wants to be (business results) by reflecting on where it started (hiring processes). In this case, a new employee’s performance becomes the crux of the matter. But few companies truly understand what performance means to them. With so many pegs in the wheel, they tend to overlook how employees do their work as long as the work gets done.
Knowing the function of each employee and how well they perform requires deliberate effort. It takes a bit of reflection on leaders’ part to zero in on what results employees produce that are valued by the company.
Identifying desired outcomes is important because they become the building blocks of the quality of hire report card. Drawing in as much information as possible about employees and the environments in which they’re hired is also critical to effectively assessing hires.
The four cornerstones of an effective quality of hire report card are:
- Market Data: Understanding the labor market and keeping abreast of macro-level trends not only creates a baseline for comparing workers, but allows companies to prepare for future hiring. For example, it’s not uncommon for companies to experience changes in quality of hire when unemployment rates drops. A smaller labor pool can force companies into being less selective on hiring choices.
- Psychographic Data: To learn more about employees, companies must look beyond resumes and
demographics. Personality, values and lifestyles tell just as much, if not more, about an employee. For instance, the distance in which applicants live from the office could make a difference when gas prices skyrocket. Culture and environment can improve the likelihood of someone performing well or staying with the company. - Pre-Employment Test Data: Organizations have used screening tools to align people and jobs for thousands of years. From bio-data questions to behavioral interviews and simulations, assessments are a company’s best for predicting post-hire performance. Plus, the test data is still valuable after a person is hired. When combined with actual performance data, companies can analyze the assessments’ effectiveness in determining employee success.
- KPIs: Fully grasping the desired traits and actions of employees is critical to deriving key performance indicators. KPIs focus on specific outcomes of a job that are important to the company as a whole, like sales, customer satisfaction and productivity. It’s how we measure employee success. Performance metrics vary depending on the industry, and are most useful when they are specific to a company. At a minimum, KPIs should be quantifiable and reflect the company’s overarching goals. A contact center, for instance, might consider an employee’s handle time, customer satisfaction, adherence to processes, and save rate in its evaluation.
