Dive Brief:

• Forty-eight percent of employees in a Feb. 12 Yoh survey said they think their organizations have the best talent. The Harris Poll of 1,000 full- and part-time U.S. workers found that 8% of respondents think their employer has talented people but not enough for them to perform their jobs well.
• In other survey results, older workers, men and college graduates were more likely to think their companies have the most talented people. And 8% of respondents said they don't know what the level of talent and skills is like at their company.
• "These survey results suggest that without proper levels of talent throughout an organization, companies will have difficulty getting its employees working at their full potential," Yoh President Emmett McGrath said in a media release. "Only by investing fully in filling talent gaps and improving an organization's overall talent can today's businesses keep up in what has become an increasingly competitive landscape."

Dive Insight:

The results of the Yoh poll make the case for why quality of hire matters even in a tough market. A JazzHR survey found that while 64% of respondents said they measure quality of hire, more than a third said they don't track quality at all. To remedy the problem, JazzHR recommended that employers identify what "quality" means to them; quantify the criteria for each job; collect hiring data; and track the quality of hires to determine the return on investment.    

Measuring quality of hire is more important now than ever, as a Kronos report revealed. The study of 234 HR leaders found that in a competitive labor market, hiring has become costlier and more time-consuming, prompting many of them to change their recruiting strategies. The study also found that employers are raising starting pay for both hourly and salaried positions to keep up with the market. 

As employers struggle to attract and retain quality talent, many find that learning and development (L&D) must be part of their effort to create a high-quality workforce internally, rather than depend solely on hiring. Experts like Ujjwal Gupta, co-founder and COO of BenchPrep, previously told HR Dive that employers must make employee development a priority, adding that L&D should be discussed in communication channels throughout an organization.