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Are recruitment errors costing you money?

Determining the impact of the recruitment processes on the bottom line of your business may be impossible to quantify exactly. With further investigation, however, companies may discover surprising results.

Hiring

By treating applicants badly, a business may compromise its brand. A recent survey by mysteryapplicant.com has revealed that 83 percent of applicants would tell their friends and family about a bad experience and 64 percent of applicants would convey their disappointment via social media.

CareerBuilder found that 32 percent of mistreated applicants would not purchase products or services from the employer and 9 percent would tell others not to. It makes one thinkā€¦

Effective recruitment

An older but illuminating study by Leadership IQ revealed the worrying statistic that apparently 46 percent of newly hired employees fail within 18 months and only 19 percent achieve what they describe as ā€˜successā€™. This figure is significant if one takes into account that the study looked at 5 257 hiring managers from 312 businesses who had collectively hired more than 20 000 employees during the relevant period.

In South Africa, factors such as the high unemployment figure, shortage of skills and the need for transformation may play a role. Despite this, businesses want to employ the best people for the job, making a robust recruitment process essential.

In a 2012 survey by Career Builder, 69 percent of employers reported that they had been adversely impacted by a bad hire in the previous year, estimating the cost of their error between R250 000 and R500 000. Most cited the lack of proper vetting and screening of candidates as the reason for their poor selection. Surprisingly, 25 percent of respondents did not know why their new hire was a failure.

Induction

Once new employees have joined your business, they will hopefully be welcomed by the HR team. The induction programme will greatly influence their effectiveness ā€“ and the length of time that they will stay with you!

Proper career planning and communication throughout the recruitment process is essential.
Does your time go into managing the business and not the people? By focusing on good recruitment procedures, you may boost the bottom line of your business.

Sanelle Hobbs is a member of Exceedā€™s Human Resources consulting team who specialises in recruitment and head-hunting for various clients across South Africa. She can be contacted on sanelle@exceed.co.za / 021 808 7222.