Top 5 Causes of a Bad Hire and How To Avoid

The success of every business (no matter big or small) is determined by its team or employees. Whether you are running a service-based or product-based company, every single team member impacts your business and, therefore, influences its success. So, hiring a good candidate for every position is very crucial for your company's growth. If you fail in hiring the best person, it will result in bad hiring.

Further, bad hiring can affect the company in many ways, including decreased revenue, unhappy clients, project loss, etc. According to the research, the average cost of a bad hire is 30% of that person’s annual salary, which can impact the overall profit of the organization.

In this article, we will talk about the five top reasons for bad hires. Keep reading!
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#1 Gap Between HR and Hiring Manager

The gap between HR and hiring managers can disturb the hiring decisions for several reasons. For instance, miscommunication or a lack of collaboration between these two parties can result in bad hiring. HR may not get the exact details of skills requirements from the hiring manager for specific roles, which will lead to the wrong screening of candidates.

But this gap can be eliminated by using HireRight.AI, as it allows the hiring manager to generate a correct job description in a few seconds. Here are some of the features of this tool:

• Create a job description
• Effortless job description sharing for better awareness
• AI-driven Applicant Tracking System (ATS)
• Finding resume highlights by keywords
• Streamlined candidate sorting for efficient evaluation

The best part is that it is easy to use and can help you hire the best person for your needs.

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#2 Inadequate Background Checks

Around 75% of companies admitted to making bad hires due to inaccurate background checks. It means that hiring managers are not focusing on background checks and only making decisions based on CVs and cover letters. And, the chances are high that some people lie on their CVs, and hiring a candidate based on a resume can only lead to a bad hire.

On the other side, companies that take sufficient time to fill the vacant seat and obtain qualitative data about applicants are more likely to make informed decisions. Therefore, you should check the candidate’s background carefully before hiring them. Focus on things like a criminal record, confirmation of education or experience in a previous company, and drug screening.
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#3 Focusing on Skills, Not Attitude

Many hiring managers focus on the technical skills of the candidate and forget to consider the attitude and behavior of the interviewees. However, the majority of jobs require a balance between skills and attitude towards coworkers.

To check the candidate’s attitude effectively, you can use behavioral interview techniques along with structured questions. You can give some situations to the candidate and judge them by their answer to that particular situation. For example, you can ask how to handle differences with coworkers or how they will manage challenging deadlines.

Analyzing their answers for qualities like adaptability, teamwork, and problem-solving will help you make a wise decision for hiring. Additionally, focus on things like body language, tone of voice for answers, etc.

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#4 Slow Hiring Process

Hiring efficiency is all about setting the right processes and following them strictly.  Most of the time, due to overburden or workload, the hiring process gets slow, which can lead to bad hiring.

The days between the hiring date and the joining date of the new candidate decrease, and in a hurry to fill the position, HR sometimes hires the wrong person. This not only wastes time but also affects the company financially.

Are you also facing the same issue and don’t have enough time for good hiring? If yes, then HireRight.AI can be a great option for you. It uses ATS to save up to 50% of the hiring process, which helps you make wise decisions to hire the right candidate for a vacant post in your office.

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#5 Inexperienced Interviewer

When the hiring manager or HR is just promoted to the position or has less experience, then the chances to hire the wrong candidate get increased. An inexperienced interviewer lacks the expertise to conduct interview questions effectively and has no skills to judge the attitude of the candidate.

Also, inexperienced interviewers might miss crucial information about the candidate, which can cause a bad hire. So, make sure the interviewers have at least two years of experience in taking interviews of people for vacant positions in the company. If HR is a fresher, then make sure there is one more person available in the interview room to make the right decision and to guide HR through the entire hiring process.
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What are the Warning Signs of a Bad Hire?

Here are some obvious signs of a bad hire:

• The candidate doesn’t have the required skills as they are not able to answer the technical questions correctly. And, lied on the CV about skills.
• From the start, the employee showed a bad attitude toward coworkers and the team leader.
• The candidate has no basic knowledge about their role in the company.
• The person who you just hired comes late every day or starts their work late.
• The candidate asks too many questions in an interview and looks very confused.
• New hiring is not willing to adapt to change and keeps on finding faults in the company process.
• There is a lack of priority with the tasks, and the candidate often leaves daily tasks incomplete.

Bad hiring will not only disturb the work environment but will also affect your company financially. So, focus more on your hiring strategy and the process well in advance to avoid the possibility of ending up with a bad hire. Also, understand the cause of bad hires and try to avoid them finding the right candidate for your company.

And, if you are struggling with bad hires, then consider using HireRight.AI to smooth the hiring process and post the job description properly. It is very easy to use and best for all companies, whether a startup or an organization with over 100 employees. Give it a try now!

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