Dive Brief:
- A new CareerBuilder survey found that 74% of employers admit having hired the wrong person for an opening. The cost to employers was $14,900 for every hiring error last year. Harris Poll conducted the online survey of 2,257 full-time hiring managers and HR professionals and 3,697 full-time workers from different industries and company sizes across the country.
- The survey also found that a bad hire costs employers on average nearly $15,000, while losing a good hire cost on average $30,000. Two-thirds of workers say they accepted a job offer only to realize later that the company was a bad fit; and 75% of the workers say they're loyal to their employers, but only 54% feel their company is loyal to them.
- Employers in the survey described a bad hire as someone who didn't produce quality work (5%); had a negative attitude (53%); didn't work well with others (50%); had immediate absentee problems (46%); or lacked abilities they claimed to have when hired (45%).
Dive Insight:
Recruiting tech has sought to solve the problem of bad hires for some time, but the real challenge is balancing the need for a robust, thoughtful recruitment program and the need to keep time-to-hire short. Recruiters can implement better aptitude tests and streamline the process as much as possible through tech, but the human element of recruiting can't be denied either — especially because such tests can be flawed.
Poor attitudes, low performance or bad behavior can be a drag on morale, so assisting (or, if nothing changes, firing) workers who exude negativity should be a priority. However, managers should be aware of stark or sudden changes in a new hire's behavior or attitude. A worker whose attitude goes from pleasant to unhappy seemingly overnight or whose exceptional performance nosedives isn't necessarily a bad fit. A talk with the worker might uncover a problem either in the workplace or their personal life that's affecting their behavior.
For those that do end up leaving, exit interviews can help an employer discern where and how the disconnect happened. HR should be especially interested if departing employees point to a toxic work environment, a boss's management style or unclear expectations.
