A bad hire is the gift that keeps on giving. Even after the door has been shut behind the problem employee, the financial and emotional tolls continue to mount. This is seriously bad business! According to a Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM) survey, a bad hire can cost up to five times his/her annual salary. For U.S. businesses, this adds up to an estimated 300 billion dollars a year.
For a small business, the damage is significant. Financial and personnel costs for new hires can tax a small HR department. Think of the time and money it takes to advertise, identify, and interview potential candidates. Now add the costs of background checks, references, training, mentoring, and reviewing performance of questionable hires. Don’t forget the emotional and monetary toll of termination, costs like COBRA, unemployment, and potential litigation. Finally, a bad employee can demoralize otherwise engaged employees and leave a negative impression.
Don’t make the mistake of believing that replacing a bad hire is a normal and acceptable cost of doing business.
5 tips for how to hire the right employee--the first time:
- Know your organization - the culture, the work ethic, and define who would be a good fit.
- Prepare a specific and thorough interview to be conducted by more than one person for perspective and completeness.
- Be patient and don’t settle for the first reasonable candidate.
- Check references like you mean it--don’t take the easy way out or structure the call as a confirmation of your preliminary decision.
- Working with a specialty recruiter can end up saving headaches and money.
The people who work for a company are its greatest resource. Time and care will build a winning team. Do you know what it takes to build the right team and hire the right people? This is what TeamPeople is good at and passionate about. We build successful media teams across the globe by finding the right hire for that specific role, team and organization.
