Let’s face it: Recruiting new employees is not cheap. And recruitment mistakes are not
something that happens rarely: 74% of employers admit they’ve hired the wrong person
for a position. That’s almost three out of every four employers.
More research findings on the costs of a bad hire:
- The average cost of a bad hire is 30% of that hire’s annual salary.
- A single bad hire costs companies an average of $14,900.
- For some companies the cost of a bad hire can be as high as $240,000.
- The average cost to hire an employee is $4,425.
- It generally takes at least six months for companies to break even on new hires.
And these alarming numbers don’t even take into account the “invisible” costs resulting
from a bad hire. Other impacts like lost productivity, disruption to workflow, poor employee
morale, and decreased retention can be just as damaging to your bottom line and overall
business success.
How do bad hires happen?
- A lack of time and resources
- Unstructured interviews
- A biased hiring process
- A lack of a coherent hiring strategy
- Culture mismatches
- Unorganized onboarding
Many factors can impact the quality of the recruitment process and result in mis-hires—an
underutilization of onboarding practices, too much focus on processes and paperwork, or a
lack of technology that automates and organizes it.
How to improve your hiring process and avoid bad hires:
- Creating a solid job description: A well-crafted job description is the foundation of any successful hiring process. Defining clear roles and responsibilities helps to eliminate any misunderstandings or misalignments.
- Moving efficiently through the hiring process: It’s important to make the process as smooth, quick, and frictionless as possible; otherwise, your ideal candidate could choose a company that acts faster.
- Conducting structured interviews: A standardized interview process is critical to ensure consistency and fairness. Interviews should assess both technical and soft skills and include a clear evaluation rubric to score candidates objectively.
- Skills testing and assessments: Hiring methods such as technical skills assessments, job simulations, psychometric testing, and situational/behavioral testing help provide valuable insights into a candidate’s abilities and compatibility with the role and company.
- Embracing diversity and inclusion: Incorporating DEI in your hiring process positively impacts employee engagement, retention, performance, and innovation. When candidates (and existing employees) feel represented and valued, there is stronger motivation to collaborate and perform in their roles.
- Utilizing automation tools: Leveraging HR technology helps streamline recruitment efforts. Tools for workflow automation, background/reference checking, and video interviewing can help alleviate administrative tasks and speed up the hiring process.
Bad hires are avoidable, but you need the right strategy.
Hiring success starts with getting the right candidates through the door—and that starts
with the right strategy.
Evaluate your current hiring process: Is it delivering the right candidates the first time
around, or is it creating a costly problem in the long-term for your business? Take the time
to examine your recruitment efforts, and determine where improvements can be made.
