Do you know the true cost of a bad hire?

From financial loss to disruption in the team, a bad hire can cause a serious negative impact on an organisation.

With the advancement and adaption of psychometric and behavioural profiling into the world of hiring, we no longer need to rely on gut instincts alone but can harness the power of scientific data and research to support our decision-making process.

Find out how our free resources can help you.

It's not just a financial loss.

The cost of a bad hire goes beyond that. It brings with it wasted time, a reduction in team morale and missed opportunities. The stakes are high when it comes to adding new members to your team, with a lot to think about before extending an offer. That’s why your approach to recruitment should be an intelligent one, backed by science. 

Every hire is an investment in the future, with the potential to propel your company forward or hold it back. The stakes are substantial, and the cost of getting it wrong could be huge.

At Mase Consulting, as a key part of our recruitment process, we carry out behavioural assessments for candidates who are being considered for the final interview. This step guarantees that your hiring decision isn’t merely based on your intuition but is firmly backed by solid scientific data.

Interested in learning how this can support your hiring efforts?

What is the financial cost of a bad hire?

There is a huge amount more than just salary.  The financial impact can be split into both direct and indirect costs, with most employers overlooking key elements such as employer NI, pension contributions, company car costs, management time training and inducting the new incumbents,  lost team productivity, recruitment fees (initial/replacement), and impact on company reputation.

To help you understand the true financial impact of a bad hire, try our free cost calculator. The tool is designed to shed light on the potential savings and advantages of refining your recruitment process.

Want a full cost breakdown? No problem, enter your email address when requested and we will send you a detailed report with a breakdown of each element.

The cost of a bad hire calculator
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people
People

Of the people who left, what was their:

Months
£
%
[annualsalary]*[averagemonths] /12 + [annualsalary]*[recruiterfee] /100
%
%
[annualsalary]/100*[recruiterfee]
%
[onemonthsalary] / 100 *25
%
[onemonthsalary] *2 / 100 *75
%
[annualsalary]*[numberbad]/12
%
[hiredlastyear] - [expectedstillemployed]
%
[onemonthsalary] *2 / 100 *50
%
[expectedstillemployed] / [hiredlastyear] * 100
%

Your Direct Costs for a Bad Hire:

[25percentproductive] + [50percentproductive] + [75percentproductive]
£
[annualsalary]/100*[recruiterfee]*[numberbad]*2
£
[management]*[numberbad]*1.138
£
[annualsalary]/12*[averagemonths]*[numberbad]*1.138
£
[losstoproductivity]+[afee]+[wastedmanagement]+[wageslost]
£

Your Indirect Costs for a Bad Hire:

[annualsalary]/100*20.83*[numberbad]
£
[annualsalary]/100*30*[numberbad]
£
[annualsalary]/100*84*[numberbad]
£
[annualsalary]/100*41.67*[numberbad]
£
[impactonreputation]+[averagestaffturnover]+[lossofbusiness]+[lossteam]
£

Total Costs:

[totalcost]/[numberbad]
£
[losstoproductivity]+[afee]+[wastedmanagement]+[wageslost]+[impactonreputation]+[lossofbusiness]+[lossteam]+[averagestaffturnover]
£

Get a full cost breakdown:

How else does a bad hire affect an organisation?

Team Morale & Productivity

A bad hire can dampen the team’s spirit, motivation and productivity. Mismatched skills, poor cultural fit, or behaviour that is disruptive can lead to conflict and an overall decline in the team’s performance. The time and energy absorbed managing the bad hire can take focus away from achieving goals, which will affect the company’s output. It’s important that your employees feel valued and that everyone is on the same page. A happy workforce is the key to achieving goals and business success.

Reputation & Relationships

Your employees are the ambassadors of your brand and therefore it’s critical to hire people who are going to positively contribute to the company’s image. A bad hire who fails to meet your professional standards when communicating with clients will tarnish your company’s reputation. If your client has a negative experience of your new hire it could lead to loss of business or a breakdown in a partnership that may have taken years to build. This is more important now than ever, where the digital world allows for word-of-mouth to travel much faster.

Retention & Recruitment

The consequences of a bad hire continue right through the team and organisation, leading to increased staff turnover. High-performing employees can often become frustrated if they are continually picking up the slack from an underperforming hire, or if they notice a decline in the hiring standards of the company. This can make them disengaged, prompting them to seek opportunities elsewhere. The process of replacing these bad hires can exhaust your hiring efforts, creating a challenge to attract high-quality candidates, especially if it’s evident that employees are moving on within a short period.

Hire with insights, not oversights.

Reducing the risk of a bad hire means looking beyond the CV and how well the candidate performs during the interview. It’s about ensuring that a new team member fits seamlessly with the organisation’s team dynamic, mission, culture and values. The usual way of hiring can often overlook these small but important details, and that’s where we can help.

Unlike most recruitment businesses, we don’t rely on guesswork but have implemented many proven processes based on real data to minimise the likelihood of a bad hire, saving you huge costs and disruption.

One part of this is to evaluate a candidate’s behavioural habits allowing us to predict the likelihood of them succeeding in the job, and allowing you to make smarter, informed hiring choices based on insights and not oversights.

Ready to make hiring decisions backed by data?

Our data backed recruitment process.

Discovery Call

Our recruitment process starts with a discovery call. This is where we get to know you, your business, and the vacancy available. It's also a chance for us to understand the type of candidates you wish to hire. We believe getting these foundations correct is key to establishing the right match for your team.

Shortlist & Assess

After you've conducted the 1st stage interviews from our shortlist and selected the candidates you wish to progress, we'll send them an invite to complete our behavioural assessments. This step is crucial as it goes beyond what's on their CV, giving us a peek into how their behaviours may fit into your team and company culture.

Results

Once the assessments are completed, we'll discuss and share the results with you. Don't worry, our reports have been created in an easy-to-understand format. These insights are incredibly valuable and act as an interview aid for the final meeting, allowing you to tailor and hone questions around them, probing deeper into areas of concern. This way, you're well-equipped to make an informed final decision.

The benefits of assessing candidates.

Better Retention Rates

Employers that use behavioural assessments, report up to a 30% increase in their retention rate. Using our assessments can ensure that your new hire isn't just capable of doing the job, but will also fit seamlessly within the team, leading to longer employment.

Improved Productivity

Employees well-matched to their job and company culture are 59% more likely to be engaged at work. Behavioural assessments help identify individuals who are likely to find their work fulfilling and engaging, which is crucial for productivity and job satisfaction.

Streamlined Recruitment Process

Using behavioural assessments in your recruitment process can reduce your hiring time by up to 40%, streamlining the screening process and allowing you to quickly identify individuals most likely to succeed.

Don't leave it to gut instinct.

To hire with certainty, book a discovery call today and see how our recruitment and assessment process can aid your hiring efforts.

cost of a bad hire call