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Interactive Tool

Selection ROI Calculator

See the Economics

Move the sliders to see how pool size, selectivity, validity, and cost change the payoff.

Illustrative synthetic data. Generic defaults, not a client scenario.

Scenario inputs

Applicants per position 40

How many people apply for one open position.

Hired from the top 8

Hiring the top 8 of 40 applicants is a 20.0% selection ratio.

Salary basis $90,000

Used only to size the performance-value spread below (SDy).

Screening validity r = 0.50

How strongly the screen predicts later job performance.

Assessment cost per candidate $50

Cost to screen one applicant, applied across the whole pool above.

Expected outcome

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Expected gain per hire

—

Assessment cost, whole pool

—

Net value per hire

—

ROI multiple

—

Performance-value spread (SDy)—

Selection-ratio ordinate (zbar)—

Screening validity—

Gain = validity × SDy × zbar—

Three scenarios, not one point estimate

Validity moves ±0.10; SDy spans 30-50% of salary. Central matches the figure above.

Conservative — —

Central — —

Upside — —

Success-rate cross-check

A second, more conservative way to read the same lever: instead of a dollar figure, what share of hires clear a fixed performance bar, assuming half of an unscreened pool would clear it today.

Without screen 50%

With screen 78.2%

This page runs a small set of built-in arithmetic checks against published reference values, plus checks on the scenario and clamping math below, every time it loads. Open the browser console to see them pass.

Selection-Ratio Leverage

The more selective the process, the more each hire is worth.

Traces the same zbar ordinate across the full range of selection ratios.

Beyond the Point Estimate

One of three value channels, not the whole argument.

The dollar figure above prices only one of three real value channels.

Expected performance gain: the average lift in job performance from a more selectively screened group, priced above using validity, SDy, and the selection ratio.
Identifying high potentials: a valid screen also helps surface candidates likely to grow into larger roles, a benefit realized over years, not at the point of hire.
Avoiding high-risk hires: screening out candidates likely to derail, disengage, or create conduct risk.

SDy (the performance-value spread) is a configurable planning assumption, commonly set between 30% and 50% of salary depending on role complexity, not a fixed universal convention. The three scenarios above use that full range; the 40% figure in the primary calculator is one reasonable default, not the only defensible number.

Optional, and not priced here: a strong applicant who is not selected for this specific role is not automatically a loss. Where a pipeline exists, redirecting a strong non-selected applicant to another open role can recover some of that value instead of treating every non-selected applicant as a dead end.

Where the Math Comes From

Standard utility analysis, not a proprietary formula.

Both readings come from selection utility analysis, a long-established discipline.

Expected gain per hire uses the Brogden-Cronbach-Gleser equation: validity × SDy × the selection-ratio ordinate (zbar).
Success-rate cross-check uses the Taylor-Russell model: hires clearing a fixed bar, with and without a screen.
Every default on this page is a generic planning assumption, not a measurement from any client engagement. Change any slider to match your own numbers; the math updates instantly and nothing here is calibrated to a specific organization.