How HR managers can avoid costs of bad hires

Great candidates are becoming difficult to find in the marketplace these days and the costs of bad hires are an increasing problem for organizations. Therefore, it is imperative that HR managers avoid major pitfalls when it comes to recruitment.

A drawn-out hiring process

According to recent Robert Half study from Australia, around 50 percent of leaders in the HR sector admitted that the length of time required for the hiring process had increased compared to three years ago.

Moreover, among larger organizations, that figure goes up, and that figure rises to 66 percent among HR managers.

That figure is astounding considering all the technological advancements amongst other fields that have been made recently.

David Jones, Senior Managing Director at Robert Half APAC, said: “In a market where top candidates generally know their market value and often get multiple job offers, companies that act quickly once they found a match, have a definite advantage over competing employers.”

As such, HR managers should ensure that they have a set policy around the time in which it takes to successfully interview a candidate and the allocated offer time.

Overpromising on the role

With employee retention and turnover costs being big on executive team’s radars, one key thing to remember with roles is to not overpromise and underdeliver in said role.

Turnover costs to your business may vary by wage and role of employee.

Excluding executive and medical careers, recent research conducted by the Center For American Progress (CAP) found that for employment demanding very specific skills the median cost of turnover was 21 percent of an employee’s annual salary.

That’s a huge cost to your business if your new hire decides to leave the company.

Job descriptions should be well thought-out and not contain any surprises. You should also set clear expectations before the employee starts their new role.

Not performing proper due diligence

Failure to perform a background and police check this day and age can leave your workplace vulnerable. As mentioned above, the cost of a bad hire costs your business money. However, there are deeper problems involved if you fail to properly check the background of a candidate.

The 2016 PWC Global Economic Crime Survey stated that 46% of fraud comes from internal perpetrators – that’s people that your organization has hired.

While doing background and police checks can seem like a time-consuming task, it is an important part of the recruitment procedure. The key here is to make sure your organization partners with a provider that can ensure a speedy turnaround time.

Keep your candidates in the loop always

Communication is key in any organization and keeping your candidate in the loop is imperative. A simple email or follow-up phone call after an interview to keep them posted on where their application is at will suffice.

However, if your interview process is longer than usual or something unexpected occurs, you should be sure to keep the candidate updated with a phone call.

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DISCLAIMER: This article expresses my own ideas and opinions. Any information I have shared are from sources that I believe to be reliable and accurate. I did not receive any financial compensation in writing this post, nor do I own any shares in any company I’ve mentioned. I encourage any reader to do their own diligent research first before making any investment decisions.