Hiring can be expensive and time consuming but it’s worth the extra effort to make sure you get things right. Here are some of the consequences of making the wrong choice…
Money
The financial impact goes further than just paying a salary – there could be relocation costs or expenses as well as any other benefits that come with the role. In addition to this, you might also have to provide extra training or support to get the person up to speed with the systems and processes of your business. If you want them to become a worthwhile member of your team, you’ll need to spend some extra money.
Productivity
If your new employee takes longer to learn the ropes than you’ve allowed for, they’re not providing a good return on your investment. Time spent away from their desk is time that could be spent working on your business. However, if they’re not adequately prepared for the job, they’re likely to miss opportunities or make mistakes and poor decisions that could prove very damaging in the long run.
Team Productivity
It takes management and support to develop a new member of staff. Other colleagues may have to be taken away from their normal roles to supervise and monitor their progress and this will have an impact on the whole team. Co-workers will have an increased workload if they have to complete the tasks that your new employee can’t handle or redistribute the allocation of responsibilities. It’s likely to take even more time if they have to correct errors and rescue projects that haven’t been dealt with properly.
Morale
It’s hard to stay positive if someone isn’t pulling their weight and it falls to you to pick up the slack. Adding extra tasks to existing workloads leads to frustration, stress and, in the worse case scenario, burnout. Tensions will increase if one member of the team needs much more attention than the others and there could be personality conflicts that bring everyone down. If the new employee is really underperforming then some staff might begin to question the management’s judgement in hiring them in the first place. Repairing this damage and helping everyone to feel content and comfortable again will take up time and resources even after the employee responsible has left your business.
Reputation
Mistakes, stumbling projects, customer dissatisfaction, unhappy workers – these all have an effect on how people see your company. Word of mouth is a powerful force in today’s social media world and it doesn’t take long for problems to come to the surface in a very public way. Even if a troublesome employee only occupies a role for short time, they’re still a representative of your business so any negative characteristics will reflect back on you, especially if they’re in a position where they’re dealing with clients directly.
Letting Them Go
It’s never easy to terminate someone’s employment. At best it’s awkward and unpleasant, at worst it could end up in a long and costly legal dispute. To prevent things turning ugly, it’s vital to make sure that all the correct procedures are in place – the money that’s owed to them, the necessary documentation and a comprehensive paper trail that provides solid evidence of why they’re not suitable for the position. Putting all this together takes time and money but it’s essential if you want to avoid even more expense further down the line.
Re-hiring
After everything, you’ll end up right back at square one. If your earlier hiring decision proved particularly problematic, you might even be in a worse position with reduced revenue, an unhappy team and a tarnished reputation. Although you may have learned something from your earlier experience, it will have been a very costly lesson.
We’re here to try and prevent this happening so please get in touch if we can help.