The hiring process is a complicated one which also involves a lot of risks. You have a pool of candidates to choose from, most of which are qualified and experienced. However, meeting all the criteria sometimes does not mean that every candidate would be a good fit for the position.
If a bad hire takes place, the costs and effects could be multifold. The development and retention of the said employee then become void. If a person is a bad fit, they’re probably going to cost your company a lot of time and effort. Read on below for just some of the costs incurred by a bad hire:
- Negative Impact On The Team
If one employee is messing up, the efforts of the whole team are put at risk. The signs of a bad hire could be their consistently negative attitude; their underperformance; or an inability to click. All of this could have a very dampening effect on any team, no matter how motivated they are.
After a bad hire comes onto the scene, you may notice that their team members constantly have to deal with what they have left undone. They may also have to cover for him, and be forced to tolerate his worrisome work habits.
Thus, a bad hire would not just be ruining his own reputation, but exhausting his team and making them resentful. Employee morale and happiness would be on a downward turn. As a result, quality of work and productivity would also go down. Some truly valuable employees may even threaten to quit if things get too much to bear.
- Drive Away Customers
The most common sign of a bad hire is that he would not be aware of what he is supposed to do. He may want to slack off as much as possible or truly be incapable of doing the job. He may have bluffed his way here or just not be motivated enough to make an effort.
Hence, bad hires look for shortcuts and ways to avoid work whenever possible. If they are placed in customer service, the results could be devastating. Customers sometimes require a lot of attention, and they all demand a certain level of respect. If the bad hire ignores or disrespects the customers, they may very well take their business elsewhere.
When a company loses old customers, it’s not enough to look for new ones. New customers cost a lot in terms of building up a reputation and rapport. Old customers are established and are hence a valuable asset. However, a bad hire could definitely drive these customers away and thereby tarnish the good name of the company.
- Wasting Time
Every sincere manager would spend some time on managing the performance of the employees under them. However, a bad hire would show little progress but waste a lot of time for a manager. Thus, a manager would find himself being forced to listen to complaints and disciplining the bad hire. This takes valuable time away from proper coaching, training, and employee development.
The bad hire would force all the attention on himself and leave the potentially excellent employees neglected. The manager would further have to force the bad hire to meet the lowest possible quotas and expectations every single time. This would exhaust all the resources at the company’s disposal and take away time for other projects.
For instance, a manager could spend hours coaching a bad hire about the importance of coming in on time. They may have to take disciplinary action for this, after a lot of lectures and problems solving meetings. Once the issue seems to be under control, the bad hire by start acting up in other ways. They may start taking longer breaks, missing deadlines, and leaving early.
- Ruining Reputation
A bad hire definitely ruins his own reputation. However, the manager who hired him is likely to be called out as well. This is especially true if the manager himself has a record of deciding upon bad hires for the company.
As a result, the hiring manager could end up losing his job if there are too many bad experiences. He may be sincere, but his decision-making skills are not on point.
Wrap-Up…
The hiring process, hence, should not be taken lightly at any point. A proper filter system and testing process should be in place to select the absolute best candidate. It is much better to hire the right person the first time around rather than spending time on trying to make a bad hire fit. If it’s the wrong time of the year, a bad hire could also prove impossible to replace.
However, hiring managers should keep in mind that firing a bad hire is infinitely better than holding on to them. The turnover costs could be covered late, but letting the wrong person stay on could incur more and more costs on a daily basis.
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