“Sometimes, hired candidates do not quite meet the company’s expectations nor the objectives of the position. In 2013, 66% of recruiters in the United States admitted they had to face this situation. A bad hire comes with a cost, and can impact the entire structure of the company.”
What Is The Origin Of A Bad Hire?
During interviews, the person in charge of Human Resources can oversell the company and the available position. On the other hand, a candidate can be impressive during the interview, but deceiving afterwards.
- A misunderstanding between recruiters and candidates
En entretien, le chargé de ressources humaines peut avoir tendance à vanter l’entreprise et le poste. Un candidat, lui, peut être bon en entretien, mais se révéler être un piêtre collaborateur!
- A lack of preparation from the recruiter
38% of recruitment mistakes are due to an urgency to fill a position. In this case, recruiters may not be prepared enough (required skills and experience for the position) or they may not have received any relevant applications.
- Inadequate or nonexistent aptitude tests
According to the position and related responsibilities, aptitude tests have to be done to verify candidates’ skills. Due to a lack of time, these tests can be botched or even skipped. When this happens, recruiters have no guarantee that candidates are qualified for the job.
- Unverified referrals
Unverified referrals are another cause to bad hires. Candidates’ past experiences and projects can say a lot about their aptitudes. Checking the veracity of these referrals allows recruiters to identify any possible lies or overstatements from candidates.
Financial Impact
In addition to the employee’s salary, a recruitment mistake can lead to other significant costs: recruitment process, training, time invested by managers”¦ A bad hire could cost up to five times the amount of the employee’s salary, according to the National Business Research Institute. Plus, companies have to invest again in the recruitment of another employee.
The financial impact of a bad hire is significant:
For The Whole Company
The financial impact of a bad hire is important, but it is not the only consequence. When it happens, the entire company and its employees can suffer.
In work habits
Someone who is under motivated or incompetent for the job implies:
- A waste of time during the recruitment and training process
- A lack of productivity from the team and the person in charge of human resources
- Below average work quality, unachieved objectives
- Task division issues within the team, because other employees have to compensate the new employee’s lack of productivity, creating a work overload
In professional relationships
Bad hires also lead to the deterioration of employees’ relationships and well-being. The team has to compensate the new employee’s weaknesses, which can be a demotivating factor and a problem when it comes to meeting deadlines.
Human resources managers are also impacted because they have to fix the situation quickly and in the best way possible. They also have to minimize the impact of the bad hire on the production and the team’s well-being. Finally, they can be held responsible for this recruitment mistake and be prejudiced. A study from Chief Financial Officers even showed that almost a day per week of human resources managers is dedicated to the management of inefficient employees!
Eventually, a bad hire can have a negative impact on relationships between companies and their clients. In fact, clients appreciate long-term relationships, starting on a solid and positive base. If that is not the case, companies risk loosing their clients.
While companies are busy hiring and managing a wrong fit, the right candidates are hired by competitors. To avoid recruitment mistakes, it is important to analyze the CVs received, to ask the right questions and to check backgrounds!
Did you already have to face the consequences of a bad hire? Do not hesitate to tell us how you noticed it was a recruitment mistake and how you fixed it in the comment section!”
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