Hiring a new employee can be an expensive process – especially when within a few weeks or months you realize they were a bad hire. The costs of advertising the position, allocating staff resources, time spent interviewing, relocation, training and on-boarding can make one bad hire can turn into a very expensive mistake. A survey by CareerBuilder determined “41% of companies surveyed estimated a bad hire cost them $25,000.” This doesn’t include the impact one bad hire can have on morale of your team, your company’s culture or even worse your client relationships. Read on for a few of our tips to prevent a bad hire and a resource to help you calculate the cost on one.
- Know your company’s culture so you can find someone that fits within it.
- Take a look at your best people – what qualities, skills or characteristics do you they share? An assessment of your best people can give you a starting point to contrast against a potential hire.
- Check references. Many are happy enough to see a list of references but don’t check them. Even if the person has been prepped you may still glean additional information you wouldn’t have had otherwise. More info usually means better decisions.
- Take your time. When you are busy, it can be easy to rush to fill the seat. Take a deep breath, talk to your team about how to manage the workload and take the time to vet the right person.
- Build a true job description. Don’t pull a generic description – think about the minor and major skills and qualities you need in your new employee so it will be easier keep your focus during the interview process.
- Improve the company’s communication, on-boarding and training. It may be possible what looks like a bad hire is a misplaced employee – maybe they’re better suited for a different position within the company.
Interior Talent specializes in finding talent custom matched to your team – our thorough process can avoid the tricky and pricey situation of a bad hire and help you find a star.