Seven in Ten Businesses Made Bad Hire

Hiring the right person to fill a position can be a difficult decision to make, and a new CareerBuilder study shows the cost of choosing incorrectly can be high. Sixty-nine percent of employers reported that their companies have been adversely affected by a bad hire this year, with 41% of those businesses estimating the cost to be over $25,000. Twenty-four percent said a bad hire cost them more than $50,000.

According to the survey results, the price of a bad hire adds up in a variety ways. The most common are:

• Less productivity39%
• Lost time to recruit and train another worker39%
• Cost to recruit and train another worker35%
• Employee morale negatively affected33%
• Negative impact on client: 19%
• Fewer sale: 11%
• Legal issue: 9%

When classifying what makes someone a bad hire, employers reported several behavioral and performance-related issues:

• Employee didn’t produce the proper quality of work67%
• Employee didn’t work well with other employee: 60%
• Employee had a negative attitude59%
• Employee had immediate attendance problem: 54%
• Customers complained about the employee44%
• Employee didn’t meet deadline: 44%

The most common reason associated with a bad hire is rushing the decision process. Two-in-five hiring managers attributed a bad hire to pressure to fill the job opening:

• Needed to fill the job quickly43%
• Insufficient talent intelligence22%
• Sourcing techniques need to be adjusted per open position13%
• Fewer recruiters due to the recession has made it difficult to go through application: 10%
• Didn’t check reference: 9%
• Lack of strong employment brand8%

One-in-four employers (26%) stated they weren’t sure why they made a bad hire and said sometimes you just make a mistake.

CBIA’s Careerbuilder.com discount