HIRING NEW STAFF – A DREAM SOLUTION OR COSTLY MISTAKE?
Thank you to Andrea McNeil (from our Bacon Butty Briefings last year) for this very useful article.
For many businesses, the need to recruit new staff is a good sign of growth and a decision to really take your business to the next level.
Unfortunately, even with a good deal of time, effort and cost on recruitment, there’s still a fair few business owners out there who have been at the receiving end of some poor recruitment decisions, where a new employee just hasn’t ‘worked out’.
You’re not alone!
In recent study, it was found that out of 20,000 new employees, a staggering 46% failed in the first 18 months in a new job.
Just stop and think what that means – businesses are losing nearly half of their new employees in the first 2 years
Causes of failure
Worst still, that failure rate wasn’t due to lack of skill in the recruits, 89% of new recruit failures were found to be due to poor attitude.
There’s clearly something going wrong either before or during recruitment.
Breakeven point
For those lucky business owners who do manage to find the right person for the right role, there’s another reality to face. Having spent the time and money on recruitment, you’ve then got to wait while you pay their wages and they’re still learning the ropes. Over this time, they’re likely to be taking more from your business than they’re putting in, which can be a big drain on a small company. The point at which the scales tip back the other way and your new employee is contributing as much as they cost is called the ‘breakeven point’.
Harvard Business School measured this in management recruits, and it took 6.2 months for that point to be reached. In another survey by Bliss, the breakeven point for new employees was found to be 5 months or more.
Either way, that’s a long wait for a return!!
All is not lost!
The good news is, it doesn’t have to be this way. By focusing on some key areas, you can help reduce some of these risks. Pay attention to the following when you bring someone on-board:
Is the role clear and does it fit alongside other roles?
Be really clear about what’s important to you and your business
Think about your role as manager. People leave jobs because of managers not the job itself. Are you ready and able to delegate, develop and grow employees rather than trying to recruit another version of you?
Think of ways you can help them fit in to your business, not just processes and systems but ‘how we do things’ round here.
Be prepared to learn from a new viewpoint – your new employee will see things you don’t. Listen well!