Hiring decisions can make or break a company. A wrong hire wastes time and money; a right one lifts productivity and the whole team. High-growth companies are especially exposed, because a few bad hires early on can sink a business.
Our team learned this the hard way, hiring monthly at high-growth startups running complex, regulated global clinical trials. We needed streamlined, data-driven screening, so we built it.
How common are bad hires?
A CareerBuilder survey found 74% of employers have made a bad hire. Their reasons are revealing:
- 35% knew the candidate lacked the required skills but believed they could learn quickly
- 32% took a chance on a nice person
- 30% felt pressure to fill the role quickly
- 29% focused on skills rather than attitude
What does a bad hire cost?
The US Department of Labor estimates up to 30% of the employee's first-year earnings. For a $75,000 hire, that's up to $22,500. Agency fees add more: typically 15–20% of salary, rising to 30% for hard-to-fill roles, or $11,250 to $22,500 on that same salary. Then there's interview hosting, travel and accommodation. More in the cost of a bad hire.
Why do candidates no-show?
A friend runs two high-end jewellery shops in Edinburgh and Glasgow with 15 staff. Before a pre-Christmas opening, the top three of ten CVs were all no-shows, after he'd booked a hotel and an independent interviewer. He pays well and kept everyone on full salary through COVID, yet it still happened.
Some applicants apply only to keep support payments, or to pressure their current employer. A 20–40 minute self-paced reflection with quizzes deters them. Missed deadlines and low scores make disengaged candidates obvious. One of our 911 call handling clients recruits in intakes of ten; only about 60% of every 100 applicants complete their screening.
Which hiring metrics should you track?
- time spent reviewing CVs and inviting candidates (ideally zero)
- average time to hire, from request to offer to start date
- total hiring hours multiplied by average hourly cost
- hire success rate: how many CVs it takes to make one good hire
- average time in post, and which roles perform best
- agency fees, and whether agency hires stay longer than average
Try it on your last ten hires. The pattern is usually obvious.
What does good hiring practice look like?
- write an accurate job description for every role
- ask every candidate the same or similar questions, so you can compare fairly
- give each interviewer a focus area in advance, for example product insight, past achievements or culture fit
- have every interviewer submit written feedback before discussing candidates, to prevent groupthink
- use surveys to gather candidate feedback and free-text answers
How does an LMS help?
With Skills Velocity you can run a smoother, semi-automated hiring process, hold fewer interviews, and still identify the most capable, most suitable candidate, with evidence of a fair process. Training content uploaded for candidates becomes the start of their onboarding, so the best hires arrive further ahead. Our team can build the process and content for you, or show you how. See also how to reduce time to hire.
