A recent survey of chief financial officers indicates that lower staff morale, not the cost of replacement, is the greatest concern when dealing with a bad hire.
The survey by Robert Half asked 2,100 CFOs to rank the single greatest impact of a bad hiring decision. Following closely behind lower staff morale (39 percent) was lost productivity (34 percent) followed by monetary cost of replacing the bad hire (25 percent). No matter the root cause of the bad hire, said Paul McDonald, senior executive director for Robert Half, the negative results can spread rapidly.
“A poor hire can cause friction as other employees are left to take on the work and fix projects that weren’t done right the first time,” he said. “Bad hiring decisions also can cause staff to question management’s judgment and even lose faith in company leaders.”
