Danger! 66% of US firms were negatively impacted by a mis-hire last year!

According to a recent CareerBuilder Survey,

66 percent of U.S. companies were impacted by a bad hire last year. And 27 percent of U.S. firms reported that a single bad hire cost more than $50,000.

Ouch! As recruiters, we hear horror stories about executives who couldn’t do the job they were hired for at all. Or worse: They stepped in and confidently proceeded to tear a department or entire company apart.

Of course, most mis-hires are less dramatic in their effects. A person comes on board who does a mediocre job, and the company is constantly faced with the difficult decision of whether to keep waiting for an improvement or to cut their losses.

Mis-hires are also demoralizing for colleagues and subordinates. Often the person is liked but others–but just can’t do the job. Will people understand why the new hire is already cleaning out his or her desk? Whether they do or not, management looks bad.

No single measure can prevent mis-hires 100%. As your recruiter, however, we have a range of effective tools we use to prevent the vast majority of them. One of the most important things we at Key Corporate Services do for those clients that engage us is behavioral interviewing. We work with our clients to carefully craft an interview that will reveal the presence (or lack) of behaviors necessary for success on the job. In fact, we even do the first round of interviewing, allowing you to focus on only the best, most qualified candidates.

Mis-hires are costly and embarrassing for all concerned. Prevention is definitely worth the extra effort in the hiring process!

Matt
The Key Corporate Services Blog Team