Why it's so important to hire the right person?
With the global pandemic affecting many businesses and their operations, it reinforces the importance of hiring the right candidate for the job. Mentioned previously in the ‘How much hiring the wrong person is costing your business’, there is a heavy price to pay when you employ the wrong type of professional.
Now that more of the UK workforce is working remotely, it then gives employers another factor to consider – does the potential employee show the right skills to be a success working from home?
At RHL Recruitment, we have spoken to a variety of employers with most saying that at some point in their career they have recruited the wrong person. Reasons why it was a bad recruit include overselling their experience and skills in the interview, to not being able to get on with colleagues which can hamper the team’s productivity. In fact, a study in 2018 identified that in the UK one in seven employers realise they have made a mistake within a new employee’s first week on the job.
If a salary is starting at £42,000 per annum, then it can cost the employer up to £132,015 if the employee is not up to standard. Yes, it sounds like an absurd figure, but when you add up the training, productivity, salary, and other costs the figure starts to become more believable.
Assuming the new employee earns £42,000, the points below breakdown the costs:
Wasting resources to train
Training for an employee on £42,000 could cost up to £1,500. Obviously depending on the company, it can depend on whether the training is outsourced or done in-house. Although internal training could be seen as more cost-efficient approach – the reality is that the new employee will depend on colleagues to help supporting them, leading to lower productivity from the whole team, just so the staff member gets up to speed.
Salary cost
It can cost up to £28,000 to pay for wasted salary if you realise within the first few weeks that the employee is not right for the job. You might not have to pay the full salary if you find out early enough, however even after a couple of weeks work – that employee is still going to accumulate a large portion of their salary for their efforts.
Money lost through productivity of new employee and team
Nearly as much as £40,000 could be lost in productivity with over £9,000 lost from the new employee alone and a near figure of £30,000 being lost from the team. The cost accumulates from the new employee not being able to do their job properly, meaning the quality being not up-to-standard, potentially affecting team members work as well. If the starter does not understand what to do, then as stated earlier, it might mean more time spent from colleagues training him/ her up which will hamper their own productivity on what they need to do.
The hiring cost
On average for a £42,000 manager, it can cost up to £9,730. Similar to training a new employee, this figure can vary from company to company. Some businesses will use recruitment agencies to help identify professionals that are looking for a new role, whilst others might use in-house resources to recruit for themselves. Whilst the latter can seem like the more cost efficient, its easy to underestimate the hidden costs to using this option.
The recruitment process can be time consuming. Activities such as tine spent writing job adverts, going through applications, contacting applicants, as well as preparing assessments. Resources for interview can hinder productivity. As well as this, it will then require HR to complete the final stages of the hiring process.
The in-house option of hiring a recruit can take while to find someone meaning a longer period without someone filling the vacant position (unless you hire a contractor, but again that’s another cost on top).
Not all recruitment agencies of course will suit you or your companies needs. However, if you are debating using this approach, you should do your research – the right agency might be the key to finding the right people.
Having to go through the hiring process again
Once you have realised you have hired the ‘wrong person’, and they leave – you and your team will again have to go through the process of hiring someone new. With the staff turnover potentially coming up to £50,000.
Furthermore, advertising your role again in such a short space of time might make potential candidates question the credibility of your brand. Resulting into lesser quality applicants.
Summary
Although the figures above might not be accurate for your organisation – it does give an idea of the different costs that can occur when employing the wrong person. Giving the circumstances we are all currently living in – these are costs that are essential to avoid.
At RHL Recruitment, we keep in close contact with a range of active and passive highly-skilled professionals working in various technical sectors. If you have opportunities available and need help in finding new specialists, then contact us and our knowledgeable team will be able to help you.