IES Blog

Don’t waste time on poor hires

Posted on November 15th, 2012 Read time: 1 minutes

A recent survey asked chief financial offers how much time they spend overseeing poorly performing employees, which can waste valuable hours, energy and resources that could be used elsewhere in the company for growth and development.

The majority of supervisors reported spending 26 percent of their time monitoring underperforming staff, underscoring the importance of human resources departments to improve pre-interview screenings of potential hires. When job applicants show a track record of dissatisfied employers in the past or demonstrate poor job-related skills, they should be filtered from the hiring process to make room for more qualified potentials.

The survey found managers are not the only employees who suffer from below-average hiring practices. A wide majority, 83 percent, of leaders said bad hires can negatively impact team morale across all departments.

"Companies simply cannot afford hiring mistakes – not only are bad hires costly for the organization, but the impact on team morale can be significant," said Kathryn Bolt, president of a human resources consultancy firm. "When team members notice someone underperforming, they know they will need to take on additional responsibilities to pick up the slack, which can lead to resentment and frustration."

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