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How to Measure Candidate Potential With Assessments

Most HR department talent recruiters have a laid-out plan for how they'll hire candidates. But hiring shouldn't just be to fill the vacant positions. 

According to some studies, it involves aiming to get candidates that will provide the most benefits for the organization and the highest ROI.  

How to Determine Quality of Candidates?

As a talent acquisition professional, it's up to you to create standards and measures to ensure your quality of hire. There are many ways to determine quality of candidates, including hiring manager satisfaction surveys, and more. Below is a list of some of the metrics to measure high quality candidates. 

Quality hiring involves:

  •  considering the candidate's performance
  • contribution to the company
  • capability to see through its needs
  • potential for growth and development

It can be difficult to measure candidate quality with such a broad scope, so it's best to break down what you'll measure.

[Read More: Candidate Assessment Methods]

How to Measure Candidate Quality Pre-Hire

Measuring the quality of your candidates shouldn't wait till after they're on board. To ensure the people you employ are likely to be great employees, you need to start assessing them as early as from the candidate sourcing phase.

This knowledge enables you to make better hires and gives you solid data to work with. Digital pre-hire solutions like Crosschq 360 digital reference checks and Crosschq Recruit,  100% opt-in candidate referrals, are some of the tools you can use to source and evaluate potential candidates.

See Which Candidate Assessment Methods Ensure Quality

You can also use the following methods to assist you:

Measure Qualitative Candidate Potential

This type of candidate evaluation method is not easily measured, but it's essential to help you discover whether you’re evaluating good quality candidates. It's more reliable if you or your recruiters have a better experience with the hiring process. 

You can ask yourself the following questions to know your candidate:

  • Is the candidate in demand? If they're receiving counteroffers, it would only be logical to assume they're good at what they do.
  • Did they come highly recommended?
  • Do top performers know about them?
  • How long are they normally on the market? (The best go quickly.)
  • Are they award-winners?

Measure Quantitative Candidate Potential

This method is a tangible way of knowing whether your candidate will be a great addition to your organization. It's best suitable if you're worried about your own qualitative biases. 

The quantitative candidate evaluation method involves data points like:

  • The candidate's score on assessment and aptitude tests. It involves measuring specific skills that demonstrate their abilities.
  • Passive candidate conversion rates. Although hard to find and engage with, they're high quality. How many are you hiring over time?
  • Referral rates. It means quality by association. A high referral rate equals a high-quality candidate.
  • Time to hire

Check out the Best Candidate Assessment Tools and How to Use Them Well

How to Measure Candidate Quality Post-Hire

After you've recruited the candidates you want and they're on your team, you can now measure their value

Here are four key areas you can look at:

  • New Hire Performance Metrics

When your candidates are on board, you should give them some time to adapt to the new job. However, their performance should improve as they continue to be on your team. 

You can measure this with a ranking score. It means ranking the new hires for comparison. You can also measure an average bonus percentage of an employee's pay or an error rate.

  • Turnover and Retention Rates

Turnover is checking how long your candidates last in the company. It takes a long time to track this, but you should notice a trend of new candidates and their longevity in careers.

  • Performance Ratings and Reviews

Although this can be a biased measure since the reviews can be subjective, it's still a way of knowing the quality of your candidates. You can introduce performance-related measurements that are strict.

  • Hiring Manager Satisfaction Ratings

Although this is also a subjective assessment, it can yield valuable data. It enables department managers to express what they feel about a candidate. They give information on the competence and performance of a new hire.

To achieve your organization's goals and objectives, every company must develop measures for evaluating candidates. By incorporating the best actions, you gain insight into a candidate's full potential. 

To get the best pre-hire insights from Crosschq about your candidates, schedule a demo.

Debra Carney

by Debra Carney

Director of Marketing

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