Day 1:
As the hiring manager making the hiring decision, you walked into the office and started to introduce to everyone the supposedly next superstar that will bring your organization to greater heights.
Day 365:
This “superstar” falls way below expectation.
Regretful and disappointed at yourself for the bad hire? This isn’t uncommon, statistics have shown that successful hiring is only found in 20% of new hires. What are the repercussions of bad hiring decision?
#1 Team Dynamics Affected
We can’t really escape from human interactions at work, especially when most of us are working in teams. Just like how germs can be easily spread around in office, it’s the same for the negativity of a bad hire. Sub par work done by the “superstar” has to be covered by someone else in the team and this results in additional workload for others. Good employees might start to nurse a workplace grievance and thus affecting the overall morale of the team. Let’s not talk about them leaving the organization, it is actually possible.
“Good employees might start to nurse a workplace grievance and thus affecting the overall morale of the team.”
#2 Impact on External Stakeholders
If the “superstar” was in a client-facing role, their lack of capabilities or poor attitude might result in loss of accounts or broken relationships with these clients who might have been your long-term precious assets. Word of mouth is still a strong marketing strategy for most organizations today, however it can bad fire on you as well. Bad performance by the “superstar” might garner bad reviews and these could hinder future business opportunities. We ought to keep in mind that such damaged reputation can’t be easily reversed.
#3 Financial Cost
Let’s take a time machine and go back to the moment when you first realize the existence of this “superstar”. You spent time and activated resources to search and interview this “superstar” to fill the gap in your organization. Time and money were spent even before the hire even stepped into the organization. How about the cost of induction programmes? The cost of reduced productivity and turnover? The cost of losing clients and reputation? According to a CareerBuilder study, on average the cost of bad hire for an entry or mid-level position is estimated to be around $7,000 to $10,000. On the other hand, the cost of bad hire of a managerial level position typically goes beyond $40,000. Wow.
