The Cost of Hiring the Wrong Employee

 

 

As a manager, you’ve probably had this happen: you’ve hired someone you want to believe can do the job. After all, they were the best out of everyone you interviewed, and it took a long time to find them.

 

Long enough for your company’s profits to dip because no one was in that position, and because you and your staff were busy looking for a replacement and other things got put on the back burner.

 

The new hire’s decent at the job, and you’re sure that once they learn the ropes, they’ll be great. The fact that they’re new is a plus, in a way — you don’t have to pay them what their predecessor made, and therefore your company’s saving money in the long run, right?

 

Wrong !

 

If you were to stop and add up what your company lost during the search process, and while your new person is getting a toehold in the organization, you’d be lucky to break even.

 

There are many hidden costs attendant to the termination and hiring cycle, including revenue losses, outlays of extra cash, and man-hours spent in various recruiting duties by all levels of staff – especially for small businesses.

 

Here’s a list of the typical ones — though it’s always prudent to expect the unexpected, and look at this list as conservative and by no means comprehensive.

 

 

Losses of Revenue:

Lost knowledge, experience, customers, and network of person leaving

Lost productivity for each week the position is vacant

Lost productivity during learning curve of new hire and those helping them

 

 

Added outlay costs:

Paycheck of the person filling in

Investment in training the leaving employee

Severance pay, continuing benefits, and unemployment compensation for the leaving employee

Advertising for the new position in classifieds and on job boards

Background checks, drug testing, and assessments for short-listed candidates

 

 

 

Man-hours expended on extra recruiting tasks:

Exit interview and payroll processing for the leaving employee

Sorting through resumes by administrative staff and management

Sourcing candidates through networks

Responding to job inquiries

Interviewing by multiple managers

Orientation and training including time and materials

Training tasks by the new hire’s immediate supervisor

Processing new hire for payroll and benefits

 

 

These costs will be true for any employee, whether a perfect, good, or bad fit with your organization. However, they increase when a new hire fits poorly with the position and organization.

 

Let’s say the worst has happened, and you’ve hired someone who is simply a bad fit. They’re either going to realize it first and leave, or you’re going to realize it first and terminate them.

 

Either way, you have to start the whole process over again, and risk losing even more revenue. Whether they leave on their own or are terminated, there are costs associated with processing them out. If they qualify for unemployment and collect for a long period of time, those costs are extended. It’s also important to keep in mind that turnover costs are even higher when you’re filling managerial and sales positions.

 

Hiring a weak team member may result in a loss of morale among other team members. Reputation can weaken as customers grow aware that the company is operating at less than peak performance. All these lead to loss of revenue.

 

Let’s say there’s a happy ending — your new hire learns the ropes and eventually becomes as good at their job as their predecessor. You still have a loss of productivity during the learning curve even with the best of all possible outcomes.

 

Depending on the position and the hire, that loss can be equivalent to three to 12 months of salary and benefits. The cost of hiring the wrong employee is substantially greater than the cost of hiring a more productive new person, even at a higher salary. The most effective solution is to stop this problem before it starts by using an outside recruiter who can assess your needs and efficiently fill your position with a perfect match.