The outsourcing of the recruitment process to an external partner gives organisations immediate access to best practice in the market and the skills and experience of dedicated professionals. Which, of course, should mean that the quality of hires made through such an arrangement should be better than those made in any other way. But how do you actually know if the right recruitment decisions are being made? And given the wide range of factors that can affect the performance of an employee once they enter a business, from corporate culture to line manager ability, is it really possible to assess measure quality of hire in any meaningful way?

At the last meeting of the Ochre House Network, an extended think tank made up of over 650 major employers such as GE, Lilly and Microsoft, delegates came to the conclusion that, while measurement can be a daunting challenge it’s by no means and impossible. And these were the concrete suggestions that they came up with:

1) The ratio of candidates selected for interview by line management to the number submitted by the sourcing team

2) The number or percentage of exits per annum on a year by year basis

3) The allocation of bonuses at the end of a recruit’s first year

4) Comparison of capabilities at interview, on hiring, after three months and after one year

5) Asking line managers whether they would re-hire a recruit after three months and after a year

6) Sustained high performance over a three year period – it’s unrealistic to expect high performance within the first six to nine months

7) Monitor whether a recruit is tagged ‘high potential’ within an agreed time period

However, let me voice a few words of caution. Measuring quality of hire is obviously essential to make sure that organisations are building the right talent resources and getting best return on investment. However it’s important that the recruitment process doesn’t get bogged down in too much administration, stopping those at the coal face of talent acquisition doing their jobs properly. And it’s also vital that organisations don’t become obsessed with making the ‘perfect’ hire. What counts is that they get the best possible person available at the right time and in the right place. Aiming for the best is obviously always a good thing, but tempering expectations with realism is what gets the job done at the end of the day.