When a corporation hires someone only to realize later that they aren’t a good fit for the organization, it’s frustrating for everyone. Unfortunately, it does happen, and as a result, it can cause problems for all parties involved. Understanding how something like this happens will help you avoid future difficulties. Continue reading to learn how you avoid making the incorrect hire.
What Exactly Constitutes a Bad Hire?
Any new team member who you hire and later regret is a bad hire. However, in the field of human resources, a “bad hire” is someone who exhibits a number of undesirable characteristics as detected by the cautionary flags given below:
- Failure to carry out the duties mentioned in the job description
- a lack of dedication or ambition to succeed
- Giving the hiring team erroneous or misleading information about their history, talents, and other qualities
Poor recruiting techniques may result from the position just not being a suitable fit rather than any of these contributing aspects. Even if a candidate performs well in the interview and on the test, they may lack an important personality trait required for the position. For example, if some of the candidates were chosen for marketing or sales positions, they would be less active than necessary. You won’t know until you try in some cases.
What Would It Cost You to Replace a Bad Hire?
A poor recruiting selection is expected to cost a business at least 30% of the salary paid during the first year of employment. When the initial cost of hiring the employee is considered, which is expected to be more than $4,000 by industry experts, it is easy to imagine that you would face significant financial troubles.
Poor hiring decisions, on the other hand, aren’t necessarily motivated by money. The following are the tangible implications of a poor hiring decision that affect everyone, including your HR staff and current top performers:
- Productivity decreases when the entire onboarding process (including training, evaluation, and other phases) must be redone to find the right fit.
- Customers or clients who had a negative encounter and were compelled to interact or deal with this recruit
- Dealing with an unskilled new hire was a waste of time that could have been spent on other things.
- The hiring procedure or information made public about the hire harmed the brand’s reputation.
It is not uncommon for the full extent of the damage created by hiring the incorrect person to take some time to become apparent. An earthquake’s impacts can linger for weeks, months, or even years, depending on the circumstances. In some circumstances, you may not even be aware of an issue until the poisonous individual has left the picture.
Advice on How to Avoid Making Poor Employment Decisions
Past recruiting disasters can be learned from and corrected in some cases to avoid particularly egregious or obvious failures in the future. Some of these circumstances could be avoided by increasing the number of interviews, background checks, or trial hiring periods. However, designing and applying such strategies can be time-consuming, which is why an application tracking system (ATS) is frequently employed to screen out as many bad apples as feasible.
An applicant tracking system (ATS) allows you to keep track of which applicants have been screened and which have not. It can also assist you in tracking each applicant’s progress during the recruiting process. Furthermore, an ATS can assist you in customizing your recruiting process to better meet the demands of your firm.
A good defense is the best offense when it comes to recruitment. You may assist your firm in avoiding several of the frequent mistakes that contribute to disastrous hires by using an ATS.
Here are some things to think about as you travel.
Take a Broad View of the Situation
One or two bad hirings will not establish a pattern over time. If, on the other hand, you observe that a growing number of your new hires fall short of your expectations, your hiring process may be flawed. This is most likely how you select candidates for available positions or conduct interviews in your firm. You should also evaluate your present team’s level of participation as well as your understanding of the corporate culture.
Consider Both Skill And “Right Fit.”
While they may appear to be exceptional on paper, they may lack the interpersonal or collaboration abilities you desire. You should not make your decision just on a résumé, no matter how great it is; there are other aspects to consider. Make certain that you are not only employing people for their presentation skills but also for their potential for future advancement. Before hiring someone, double-check this. Managers, in particular, must show a desire to further their education and professions, even if they are more than capable of doing so while employed.
Interview a Few Potential Candidates
Avoid putting all of your eggs in one basket if at all possible. When the start date is so close, you should not only consider other candidates but also totally commit to someone who may turn out to be the wrong match for the job. Even if some candidates have a somewhat lower level of education or experience than required by the job description, hiring more than one candidate for a position may be in your best interests.
Take Advantage of the Services of a Recruiting Firm
If these additional hiring procedures appear to be too much for your team to handle alone, consider contracting out some of the work. Using a flexible recruitment firm can help you ease some of the more difficult components of the hiring process. It is also a good alternative for anyone who values fair hiring methods, consistent recruiting practices, and less bias. Click here to visit our Comeet team to learn how we can help you prevent costly recruiting blunders in the future.