The costs of hiring the wrong person can linger beyond their time of employment.<\/p>\n
Is your new hire underperforming? Are your current employees feeling disgruntled or uneasy? Perhaps you\u2019re beginning to see signs that you\u2019ve hired the wrong person.<\/p>\n
If you have hired the wrong person, you\u2019re not alone. Hiring the wrong person is common, although, definitely unfavourable. The costs of hiring the wrong person can set your business back at least 30% of the new hire\u2019s annual salary. On top of that, indirect costs can linger way beyond the new hire\u2019s time of employment.<\/p>\n
Here are the costs of hiring the wrong person and what to do next.<\/p>\n
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Besides the costs initially involved in hiring this person, you\u2019ll end up forking out more time and resources to hire someone else to fill this unsuitable candidate\u2019s position. This includes:<\/p>\n
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Your customers and key stakeholders have expectations about the products and services they receive from your business. Therefore, your employees must uphold certain standards in the work they produce. If your new hire is underperforming or lacks engagement, your customers will receive less than desirable products or services from your business. Negative experiences are more easily recalled by customers and more likely to be spread by word-of-mouth than their positive experiences. In other words, your brand equity is at stake.<\/p>\n
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To make up for the new hire\u2019s underperformance, existing employees may work harder to compensate in order to meet team KPIs. Over a long period of time, this will burnout your employees and establish resentment towards the new hire. Both of which lead to higher absenteeism, higher turnover, and lower productivity.<\/p>\n
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An underperforming employee poses to lower the bar for current employees. Your current employees may see the new employee get away with subpar performance and believe that it is also acceptable for them to deliver work of the same standard.<\/p>\n
Also, for every new hire, different people in the business need to set aside time to onboard and run inductions to help the new hire settle in. In addition to that, someone needs to train the new employee. This means your current employees will have less time to complete tasks they were initially assigned to do.<\/p>\n
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While training can improve employer and employee relations, if the new hire is unfitted for the position, training is a waste of time for everyone. If you hire another person, your current employees will need to spend more time running the same training again.<\/p>\n
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When fitting a new employee into the team, managers spend a great deal of time coordinating, planning, and communicating to ensure things run smoothly. They also spend time training and getting to know the new hire to understand what managerial style works best. This is time wasted if the new hire isn\u2019t right for the job.<\/p>\n
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Resentment towards the new employee can damage workplace culture. Employees may begin to speak poorly of the new hire and create a cycle of negativity.<\/p>\n
Low engagement from the new employee may influence current employees to also be less engaged. This will lower your business\u2019s overall productivity.<\/p>\n
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Give the new hire a chance to understand your concerns before jumping to the common resolution of letting them go. Be direct about your concerns and try to find solutions together. Give the new hire at least a few months to show progress and put a clear training schedule in place.<\/p>\n
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Sometimes, the new hire may be unsuitable simply because the role is not right for them. If you believe the person is a great culture fit but possibly unfit for the role, consider other parts of the business that may suit the new hire better and may benefit from having someone like them join their team.<\/p>\n
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Ensure you are making rational decisions by weighing up the pros and cons. What value has this employee added to your team and business? What has become harder or easier since their start? At the end of the day, your decision to keep or let the employee go will be well-informed.<\/p>\n
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Letting the new hire go should not be your first option. Terminating someone irrationally could open an unfair dismissal case. However, acting too slowly will only increase the damage caused by the new employee. Consider the points we\u2019ve mentioned above before terminating employment.<\/p>\n
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Sometimes, the worst experiences are the best learning curves. What did you learn from hiring this employee that will lower your chances of making the same mistake? Could you have reached out to different networks? Did you need someone who had more technical skills? Did you find that the new role was actually unsuitable for the team?<\/p>\n
You may reconsider unsuccessful applicants. If you had trouble choosing between two candidates at the end of the previous process, you now have the chance to revisit and reassess their suitability.<\/p>\n
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Common mistakes that lead to hiring the wrong employee include:<\/p>\n
To avoid hiring the wrong person, check out our\u00a0 guide for writing attractive job descriptions <\/a> \u00a0and\u00a0 improving your selection process <\/a> .<\/p>\n \u200b<\/p>\n