The latest report from recruitment specialists Robert Half UK shows one in ten new recruits are regarded as a ‘poor hiring decision’ and that 70% of HR Directors admit that they have hired someone who did not meet expectations.
The report, ‘Management Insights: How to avoid common hiring mistakes’ also shows that as companies turn their attention to growth and profitability, the implications of a bad hire can be far more costly than first realised. 52% of HR Directors said that loss of productivity was the biggest problem associated with making the wrong recruitment decision, 30% highlighted the reduction in staff morale and 17% the resulting financial costs. These can include the employee’s salary, lost performance, training costs to raise performance levels, impacted productivity of the employee, colleagues and management, potential loss of revenue and re-recruiting for the role.
Further research found that 91% of HR Directors find it challenging to identify and recruit skilled professionals. The war for talent is anticipated to increase over the next 12 months due to an on-going skills shortage. When identifying the challenges in sourcing and recruiting talent, 35% of HR Directors cited a lack of niche or technical experts, 30% that general demand outweighed supply and 22% a lack of commercial business skills. Only 13% cited slowed hiring during the recession resulting in a lack of candidates with the right skills.
Source: UK Survey of 200 hiring managers
