What counts as a bad hire
A bad hire is anyone who leaves or is let go early because the role, the skills or the working style did not fit, or who stays but consistently under-delivers. The visible cost is the recruiting spend. The larger cost is everything around it: pay for output you did not get, the time managers and colleagues spend covering and coaching, and the weeks the seat sits empty while you search again.
Estimate your cost
Enter numbers for a role you have hired for. Start with your own recruiting cost and salary; adjust the rest to match what happened.
Your numbers
Estimated cost of this bad hire
–of the annual salary
- Pay for output you did not get–
- Recruiting the person who did not work out–
- Onboarding and training time–
- Manager time spent on the problem–
- Severance or notice pay–
- Recruiting a replacement–
- Lost output while the seat is empty–
Wages and manager time include a 30% allowance for benefits and payroll taxes. Lost output while the seat is empty assumes the team covers about half the work. Change any number to fit your situation.
Early warning signs
- Repeated misses on work the resume said they had done before
- Needing far more supervision than the role allows
- Friction with colleagues or customers that does not settle after the first weeks
- Avoiding feedback, or the same feedback not leading to change
Act early. A clear conversation in the first month, with specific expectations, either fixes the problem or makes the decision clear.
Five checks that prevent bad hires
- Write down what success looks likeAgree the outcomes for the first 90 days before you advertise the role.
- Use structured interviewsAsk every candidate the same role-specific questions and score the answers against the same criteria.
- See real workA short work sample or practical exercise shows ability more clearly than an interview answer.
- Check references properlyAsk former managers about specific situations, not just dates and titles.
- Consider a trialContract-to-hire lets you work together before committing to a permanent offer.
How a specialist recruiter lowers the risk
Specialist recruiters screen for the skills and working style your role needs before you meet anyone, check work history and references, and give you a short list with notes on why each person fits. If a contract professional is not working out, a replacement can usually be arranged quickly. See how hiring with RUS works.
