How to Avoid Bad Hires: An Interview Toolkit for Managers

Written by Joanna Morrow

Joanna Morrow, Principal and Founder of Employer Benefits & Advice, is an employer consultant and advocate who has worked in the employee benefits industry for over two decades. She works diligently to help employers overcome obstacles in their business by sharing her expertise in Human Resources, Benefits & Compensation, Process Mapping, Risk Management and ERISA/DOL/IRS compliance. She is a licensed life and health insurance professional in the State of Arizona and is an active member of the National Association of Health Underwriters (NAHU).

How to Avoid Bad Hires: An Interview Toolkit for Managers

For a lot of companies, finding the right people for the job is a challenge.

According to many employers the old saying, “good help is hard to find” still stands. At the same time, a company’s ability to weed out all but the best employees when hiring plays a huge role in establishing a competitive advantage.

So how much does a bad hire cost the company? Check out these interesting statistics:

  • The average cost of a bad hiring decision can equal 30% of the individual’s first-year potential earnings. (US Department of Labor and Statistics)
  • As much as 80% of employee turnover is due to bad hiring decisions. (Harvard Business Review)
  • 66% of employers said they experienced negative effects of bad hires in 2012. Of these employers, 37% said the bad hire negatively affected employee morale. Another 18% said the bad hire negatively impacted client relationships. And 10% said the bad hire caused a decrease in sales. (A study from the National Business Research Institute (NBRI)
  • 43% of respondents from the same NBRI study cited the need to fill the positions quickly as the main reason that bad hires are made.
  • It costs $7,000 to replace a salaried employee, $10,000 to replace a mid-level employee, and $40,000 to replace a senior executive. (HR.com)
  • 35% of 1,400 executives surveyed claimed that the leading factor of a failed hire, aside from performance problems is a poor skills match. The second leading factor at 30% was unclear performance objectives. (Study done by Robert Half).

Recognizing this we’ve developed the Interview Toolkit to assist employers in their quest to hire only the best people for the job. In this kit we cover 10 important topics to help companies polish their interviewing skills.

Download your free copy here:

Topics Covered in the Interviewing Toolkit:

1. Legal Considerations

  • Federal and State Laws to Consider
  • Determining Any Bona Fide Occupational Qualifications (BFOQs)
  • Protected Information and Classes
  • Background Checks
  • Other Legal Missteps

2. General Overview of the Interview Process

 

3. Interview Preparation

  • Job Description Development
  • Communicating With the Candidate

4. Interview Best Practices

  • What To Do Before the Interview
  • During the Interview
  • After the Interview

5. Pre-employment Testing

 

6. Types of Interviews

  • Screening Interviews
  • Selection Interviews
  • Interview Channels
  • Interview Structure
  • Interview Format and Organization

7. Interview Questions

  • Types of Questions To Ask
  • Questionable Questions
  • Follow-up Questions To Ask
  • Responding to Questions from the Candidate

8. Evaluating and Making a Hiring Decision

  • Interview Checklist
  • Evaluation Checklist

9. Ready to Interview

 

10. Additional Valuable Appendix Items:

  • Legal Resources
  • Legal and Illegal Interview Questions – some may surprise you!
  • Sample Interview Questions
  • Interview Preparation Action Items
  • Job Description Checklist

Hire Winners

Obviously there are a number of factors that influence a company’s ability to reduce staff turnover. It’s a delicate dance between the job candidate and the employer in terms of how well each meets the other’s expectations. Salary, benefits, training, and opportunities for advancement may be just some of the ways you will meet an employee’s expectations, but only after they first meet yours.

The interview is your first opportunity to weed out anyone who doesn’t fit your agenda. Taking the time to develop a consistent, professional approach to interviewing can help reduce the administrative burden and costs that can occur when you wing it.

If you are interested in obtaining other resources relative to this topic such as information about personality testing, how to create winning job descriptions, more sample interview questions, interview questions to avoid, what’s illegal to ask, creating an interview summary form, or developing exit interview questions, please contact me at [email protected] or 602-903-4047.