A bad hire can be very costly for employers.  According to a new CareerBuilder survey, companies lost an average of $14,900 on every bad hire in 2017.  Nearly three in four employers (74%) say they've hired the wrong person for a position.

"It's important to note that there's a ripple affect with bad hires. Disengagement is contagious — poor performers lower the bar for other workers on their teams, and their bad habits spread throughout the organization," said Rosemary Haefner, chief human resources officer at CareerBuilder. "The best thing hiring managers can do is put in the time and effort on the front end to make sure they have the best available pool of applicants for every job opening. And, just as importantly, have good procedures in place for evaluating candidates."

Bad hires affect business negatively.  37% of employers cited reduced productivity, 32% reported lost time to recruit and train another worker, and 31% stated that the quality of work was compromised.

So what exactly makes a bad hire?  Employers in the CareerBuilder survey stated:

·        Candidate didn't have all the needed skills, but thought they could learn quickly: 35%

·        Candidate lied about his/her qualifications: 33%

·        Took a chance on a nice person: 32%

·        Pressured to fill the role quickly: 30%

·        Had a hard time finding qualified candidates: 29%

·        Focused on skills and not attitude: 29%

·        Ignored some of the warning signs: 25%

·        Lacked adequate tools to find the right person: 10%

·        Didn't do a complete background check: 10%

·        Didn't work close enough with HR: 7%

Employers in the survey described a bad hire as:

·        The worker didn't produce the proper quality of work: 54%

·        The worker had a negative attitude: 53%

·        The worker didn't work well with other workers: 50%

·        The worker had immediate attendance problems: 46%

·        The worker's skills did not match what they claimed to be able to do when hired: 45%

But employers aren't the only ones making bad decisions. Two in three workers (66%) say they have accepted a job and later realized it was a bad fit.  While half of these workers have quit within six months, more than a third (37%) have stayed in an unhappy situation – leading to a less engaged workforce. Workers who stated that they had taken a job only to realize it's a bad fit stated their reasons for being unhappy as:

·        Toxic work culture: 46%

·        Boss' management style: 40%

·        Job didn't match what was described in the job listing and interviews: 37%

·        Lack of clear expectations around the role: 33%

All of this data shows how important it is to reveal the organization’s true culture during the interview process, give a clear explanation of the job duties and expectations, and perform complete due diligence before making a hire, including checking references and verifying resumes.

While the cost of hiring the wrong person can be high, the cost of letting a good worker go is even higher. According to employers, the average cost of losing a good hire was $29,600 this year. And while 75% of workers say they're loyal to their current employer, only 54% say they feel their company is loyal to them.  31% say they are likely to change jobs in the next year.

The cost of a bad hire is significant and can affect the team, the manager, and the entire organization. Taking the time to do a broad search and doing your due diligence in selecting employees is well worth the effort.

Source: CareerBuilder