Understanding The Cost of a Bad Hire


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The hiring of new employees comes with many costs to your bottom-line throughout the onboarding process. When your chosen candidate turns out to not be the best fit for the job, the consequences go further than wasted training expenses. It is important to calculate the long-term price you will pay after making a bad hire. From damaging your brand’s reputation to hampering productivity or endangering employee safety, many variables can affect your budget when an employee doesn’t match your expectations or needs.

What Are the Signs of a Bad Hire?

While it may feel great to have filled that vacancy in your team, what happens if your new hire isn’t settling into a role as expected? After bringing a new employee into your workplace, you should remain involved throughout their adjustment period to ensure the transition goes smoothly.

Sometimes, this early stage of onboarding hits a few bumps, or you notice warning signs that your choosing this individual was not the best.

Some common red flags that signal you may have made a bad hiring decision are:

● They do not possess the skills they claimed to have and are struggling in their new role.
● They do not, or will not, try to build relationships with their coworkers.
● They have a consistently pessimistic attitude.
● They are regularly late or call off frequently.

Don’t risk not finding out about your employee’s work or criminal history that could negatively impact their job performance. Consider performing an online background check once you have sent a job offer to be sure you are hiring the right person for the job.

How Bad Hires Affect Your ROI

The process of finding and then onboarding a new employee costs approximately $4,000, according to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). This is a significant expense that involves a lot of time and resources, and that is only for the initial phase of filling a vacant job role.

Consider some of the additional factors below that can add up fast when you are dealing with a poor hiring situation:

Bad Hiring Choices Increases Turnover Rates

Making a bad hire won’t only cost you money, but possibly some of your most reliable employees, as well. Positive morale and job appreciation can plummet in your workplace when an employee performs poorly or exhibits a negative attitude. This can lead to burn out and misgivings among staff members, causing them to pursue their careers elsewhere.

Teamwork Falls Apart After A Poor Hiring Decision

Your business depends on your workgroup to collaborate well to achieve maximum productivity. When teammates cannot work side by side due to problems with a new employee, this can affect everything from problem-solving to overall performance, which hits your bottom-line hard.

Bad Hires Hurt Brand Reputation

New hires that underperform in client-facing roles can harm your brand reputation in a heartbeat. With online reviews quickly becoming the number one go-to for decision-makers, you must have the right person taking care of customer needs. A bad hiring choice will also shrink your talent pool since job seekers are looking for attractive workplaces with opportunities and healthy team relationships. It only takes one adverse experience in either of these areas to start a domino effect of negative impacts on your ROI.

Online Background Checks Reduce Bad Hiring Risks

Also, request a personal history screening once you have made a job offer. Does this new team member have the education and licensing necessary to qualify? Is there any past criminal history or dangerous behavior that puts your current employees at risk? As members of the Professional Background Screening Association (PBSA), Pre-employ offers a nationally-recognized online background check service that is easily accessible online to help you make healthy hiring decisions.

Evaluate Your Hiring Decisions Today

Bad hiring can be devastating financially and productively, so it’s important to take the right steps to minimize your risk of making the wrong decision during your job search. Consider including personality and skills assessments as part of your application process, in addition to a comprehensive online background check. It is vital to know if your candidate can fit into the role you need them to fulfill.

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