The Cost and Effort of a Bad Hire

Unfortunately, there is no red flag to be waved in front of a Hiring Manager when a bad candidate walks into an interview. With each new hire comes the risk of an employee that could waste your time, efforts, and most importantly your money. The average cost of a bad hire is two to three times the person’s salary. Poor hiring decisions are going to cost you a lot of money. Although this may seem like an exaggeration, if you factor in the costs of recruiting, prescreening, interviewing, onboarding, lost productivity, and training, it adds up quickly.

Every Hiring Manager hopes to avoid these costs but there is no specific way to ensure each new employee will be the right one. To help alleviate the risk, we have provided you with ways to avoid bad hires and reduce the repercussions.

Test Run

Give the candidate a few situational scenarios they would need to overcome in a role. It’s better to hear how they would handle themselves during the interview stage rather than when the challenge is actually presented. If they were to choke under pressure in an interview, it’s incredibly likely they would during the job.

Domino Effect

A bad hire’s effect on company culture will last long after he or she leaves the team. Poor performers create low morale for the other employees. Bad habits can spread throughout the company like wildfire and can create employee turnover. Research shows bad hires lead to 80% of turnover. To combat this, invest time and resources to distinctly define the proper standards and expectations of each employee and their required duties.

Do Your Due Diligence

Take advantage of every opportunity to explore the candidate’s past. Background and reference checks are the best way to get insight into how a person will perform in a work environment. Investigating why they left their past employers and checking out their social media accounts are a few ways that can help you get a better idea of what type of employee they are.

Take Action

If tasks and responsibilities are not being met within the first week or two, it’s time to take action. Although an adjustment period for each new employee is understandable, a good hire would know how to prove themselves straight out of the gate. Anyone who isn’t performing to your organization’s standards is costing you money. Give regular performance reviews and base your firing decision on the facts and employee reviews. Ask yourself, if the job isn’t getting done at the start, will it ever get done?

If you haven’t thought about working with a staffing agency, you should consider how they will help solve your hiring issues and concerns. Staffing agencies help reduce the risk of a bad hire because they are the ones who prescreen and vet the candidate,  to lessen the amount of time an in-house person has to invest in the process. They will provide you with valuable information about the applicant before you decide to make any hiring decisions. Staffing agencies also offer temp-to-hire services which allow you to hire a candidate for a short assignment/time to see if they’re a good fit and vice versa. If it’s a good match, you can easily hire that candidate full-time and if not, you can simply ask for a new candidate to fill the role.

The simple mistake of hiring the wrong person can cost you time, stress, money, and in the worst-case scenario your business. Be patient in your search. The right employee is out there, you will regret not waiting for them while cleaning up the mess of a mis-hire.

 

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