Consistent employee turnover harms almost every part of an organisation. Not only is HR impacted by the wasted time and costs, but morale, productivity, customer relationships, and reputation can be negatively impacted. Once an organisation has a reputation for heavy turnover, it becomes even more challenging to attract and keep new employees, customers, and suppliers.
What is a bad hire or “bad apple”?
- An employee who can’t produce the quality of work needed or doesn’t have the skills they claimed during application.
- An employee who doesn’t fit your culture, has a negative attitude or negatively affects morale.
- A consistently absent employee.
A recent Forbes study found that globally, 46% of new employees fail 18 months into their employment, and one in five are bad hires. A bad hire doesn’t only come with financial costs but also the opportunity cost in time interviewing, hiring, onboarding, and upskilling. More than 90% of CEOs agree that a bad hire drags morale down, and 20% of employees say they lose trust in a manager who has made a poor hiring decision.
How to find and keep more good apples
“There isn’t a panacea to prevent hiring bad applies, but there are ways to improve your hiring process. Training employees tasked with interviewing, selecting, and onboarding will substantially improve your recruitment success.. Also, continuous training and development across your organisation means you can upskill and reskill existing employees and promote from within your organisation,” suggests Michael Gullan, CEO of G&G Advocacy, an e-learning consultancy focused on developing effective high impact eLearning solutions for corporates.
Improve your hiring process
“74% of hiring managers say they make at least one bad hire annually. This can be avoided by refining your hiring process and watching your new employee retention improve, as well as morale and engagement. You will also decrease your recruitment costs significantly,” said Gullan and suggested some ground rules.
- Hire slowly––don’t rush to fill a position or simplify your vetting process.
- Thorough assessments––for the right and appropriate skills, using relevant (to the position) assessment tools.
- Deep behavioural interviewing––assess candidates’ behaviours in specific and challenging situations and ensure its aligned with the team and culture.
- Establish a standardised hiring process with skilled personnel.
Better the star you know
“With the right learning strategy, plan, technology, and the use of adult learning science, such as Content CapsulesTM, you can keep your employees excited and committed to learning and growing in your organisation,” added Gullan. “Polish your existing employees into star performers and enjoy faster and greater success.”
- Ignite a culture of learning––whether for ongoing personal development, curiosity, or ambition, tap into employee’s personal goals.
- Show learning pathways––show employees how they will get to the finish line to achieve their goals.
- Application builds confidence––the right e-learning solution will allow employees to practice their new skills before taking them into the workplace.
- Show improvements––reward and acknowledge learning achievements.
- Support along the way––keep e-learning brief and relevant and encourage every step of the way via your learning platform.
- Keep them engaged––motivate via gamification, friendly competition, social support, coaching, and mentoring.
Refining your recruitment process and developing employees tasked with recruitment can significantly increase the number of “good apples” you hire. And don’t forget about your existing employees, often, the stars you’re looking for outside your organisation are already on your payroll, and just need to be trained, developed, and polished into star performers.