Posted by Cat Carlos | Nobody Likes a Bad Apple! | PeopleViews – The PeopleClues blog
Few things strike more fear in an HR manager’s heart than making a bad hire.
And for good reason; bringing a bad fit or bad character applicant into your work culture can have significant financial consequences in lost productivity and potential replacement costs. That’s without factoring in the increased risk of a devastating negligent hiring lawsuit.
Consider these statistics:
-69% of employers reported that bad hires lowered their company’s productivity, hurt morale and resulted in legal issues.
-41% of employers estimate that a bad hire costs them, on average, more than $25,000 and;
-25% said it costs more than $50,000.
(* According to a Career Builder Study)
Equally threatening is the effect that a bad hire can have on company culture. When one employee is disruptive or indifferent, it can result in a compromised and sometimes toxic working environment.
Bad hiring is an HR nightmare
Working in the background-screening field, we see our fair share of nightmare applicants; candidates posing as deceased 130 year olds, claiming to be from made-up countries, and even on the run from the law.
Fortunately, a professional background check can reveal a lot of red flags and prevent employers from making hiring mistakes.
But every week, we hear about one of those previously mentioned negligent hiring lawsuits. This occurs when a company fails to do their due diligence to properly screen a dangerous employee. This individual usually has a checkered past, but is still employed in an unsuitable position where they can (and do) hurt people.
The average cost of a negligent hiring suit is over a million dollars, an amount that can easily destroy a small or medium size business.
How to avoid the risk: optimize your hiring process
To avoid bad hiring, HR should act as an active and intelligent force in the hiring process. What does this mean?
- First, HR should implement a clear and effective hiring strategy and strong communication between everyone involved.
- The next step is to create a consistent and agreed-upon job description and an equally clear idea of an ideal candidate fit. Then, you need to plan how to incorporate the position into your company culture (which should also be clearly defined).
- The interview process is next, where you must parse your candidate’s abilities and values and reconcile them with your company vision.
It’s shocking how rarely these common sense strategies are actually practiced. Too often, a hiring process is impaired by miscommunication, disorganization and a lack of focus.
So how can you avoid bad hires; or at least a good start?
- Improved communication.
- Consistent institutional strategy.
- Intelligent value-based candidate review.
- An integration of creative ideas into a stable construct.
- The ability to evaluate and modify your hiring process.
via Nobody Likes a Bad Apple! | PeopleViews – the PeopleClues blog.
