As a hiring manager, it’s never fun to realize you’ve made a bad hire. Whether your new employees misrepresented themselves, didn’t fit in with your team, or was simply a poor worker, the consequences of making this poor hiring decision can be immense. Recently, CareerBuilder released data from a survey of over 2,400 hiring managers and human resource professionals revealing exactly what those consequences are and the most common reasons why employers make a bad hire.
Effects of a Bad Hire
The consequences of making a bad hire have been discussed for years. Sixty-nine percent of employers reported their companies have been adversely affected by a poor hiring decision this year, with 41 percent of those businesses estimating the cost to be over $25,000. Twenty-four percent said a bad hire cost them more than $50,000.
But according to this recent data, these are the most common effects of a bad hire on your company:
- Less productivity – 39 percent
- Lost time to recruit and train another worker – 39 percent
- Cost to recruit and train another worker – 35 percent
- Employee morale negatively affected – 33 percent
- Negative impact on clients – 19 percent
- Fewer sales – 11 percent
- Legal issues – 9 percent
Characteristics of a Bad Hire
We make references to “bad hires” or “mis-hires” often. But what actually constitutes a bad hire in today’s terms? Fortunately, CareerBuilder was wondering the same thing. Here’s what employers had to say:
- Employee didn’t produce the proper quality of work – 67 percent
- Employee didn’t work well with other employees – 60 percent
- Employee had a negative attitude – 59 percent
- Employee had immediate attendance problems – 54 percent
- Customers complained about the employee – 44 percent
- Employee didn’t meet deadlines – 44 percent
Why Companies Make Bad Hires
Ultimately, now that we know the impacts of a bad hire and how to spot one, how can we avoid hiring a bad fit in the future? The most common reason associated with a bad hire is rushing the decision process (43%). Two-in-five hiring managers attributed a bad hire to pressure to fill the job opening, while 22 percent cited insufficient talent intelligence as the reason. Check out the rest of the list to see additional reasons for making a poor hiring decision:
- Sourcing techniques need to be adjusted per open position – 13 percent
- Fewer recruiters due to the recession has made it difficult to go through applications – 10 percent
- Didn’t check references – 9 percent
- Lack of strong employment brand – 8 percent
If we’re being truthful, most of these reported poor hiring decisions were made due to flaws in an employers hiring process or staffing limitations. The good news though is this is something we can work on and fix in the future.
How do you plan on revising your hiring process this year? What was the cause of most of your bad hires in the past? Share your thoughts in the comments section!
