BAD HIRE – COST EFFECT

A single bad hire costs an organisation millions. Is this only a statement or does it mean what it says.

Hiring starts with a plan which works out the requirement in different departments and sub departments. Advertisements prepared and published. Resumes/CVs etc. received, sorted, sifted and then shortlisted. The tests, interviews etc. are planned with venue selection, accommodation details and so forth. Panels for tests/interviews are nominated to be present at the selected venue(s). For the time these activities are on, the individuals involved are off from their desks. You may take a day or a few days in testing and interviewing (depending upon the number of positions/candidates). Finally you hire and proceed with the onboarding procedures (documentations/medical fitness/orientation etc.)

The whole process takes a couple of months and quite a lot of efforts. Now see if amongst the hires we have committed a “one bad hire”, how that is going to cost us.

That bad hire will obviously be bad at work or attitude or uptake so the position he filled, virtually remains unfilled. It will cause demotivation amongst the colleagues and the subordinates besides being an irritant to the superiors. This will result into low output comparing to the expenses. What if that bad hire is an engineer placed in charge of a plant and due to his incompetence the plant shuts down?

Now start calculating the cost from preparation of hiring plan till the orientation and the impact on other employees and the reduced output. It goes into million, if not the millions.

Recommendation is to be rude in following the merit, the operating procedures, the Job description and analysis of the expense factor. Organisations following the vision and values hardly sink but the ones who do not follow the core values seldom sale smooth.

Open as always for comments and valued critique.