Monster Worldwide, Inc. recently released the results of their Small Business, Big Hire survey. Conducted by Braun Research on behalf of Monster, the study found that nine in ten small business owners (89%) identify hiring the wrong person for a job as a risk to the company, with one-half (51%) saying it is a major risk.
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Small business owners today are very mindful of how hiring the wrong person can put their business in jeopardy. Among small business owners who view hiring the wrong person as a risk to their business, top reasons include a negative impact on the company’s reputation (68%) and decreased productivity (62%).
The ‘Right’ Hire
While most small business owners consider talent to be the greatest asset to the success of their business (82%), the majority believe it can be time-consuming (89%) and expensive (70%) to find the right person for the job.
“We’ve heard loud and clear that small business owners struggle to find the right person for the job, and as a result have made the wrong hiring decision on more than one occasion,” said Meredith Hanrahan, senior vice president of small business solutions at Monster.
On average, small business owners spend $1,872 to hire someone new and up to 4 months searching for the right candidate depending on the job level. Furthermore, about four in five owners look for a strong skill set for the industry (78%) and past job experience (77%) when hiring someone new, while one-half (52%) also look for something less tangible: grit.
“When we have a really great hire, it means to me that we have someone we can rely on, is here for the long-term and really becomes part of the Meyer Sound family,” said Helen Meyer, cofounder of Meyer Sound, a Monster small business customer.
Small businesses like Meyer Sound have unique needs and limited time, but without the necessary resources and data in place, the employee search can take a toll not only on recruiters, but also on their business as a whole. As a result, more than one-half of small business owners have settled for a candidate who was not as qualified as they would have liked (56%) or have previously made a wrong hire (62%). In addition:
- More than one-half (58%) of owners fear laziness more than any other quality of a new hire.
- Forty-four percent of owners fear the employee not getting along with customers, whereas 41% worry they do not have the right skills for the job.
- Small business owners that have made the wrong hiring decision generally realize their mistake quickly—70% realize it within the first 3 weeks, and about one-third (30%) are aware of it after only a few days.
Risking It All
In addition to being a financial burden, hiring the wrong person can have an emotional effect on small business owners. About three in four owners who have hired the wrong person before feel frustrated (73%), stressed (47%) and discouraged (36%) as a result. The survey also found that:
- Over one-half of those who have hired the wrong person before have experienced a loss of time (69%) and money (56%) due to wrong hires.
- Specifically, one-third or more of these owners estimate wasting over 50 hours of their time (34%) and over $1,000 (42%) due to their most recent wrong hire.
- Other issues caused by hiring the wrong person include product errors (51%) and loss of customers (24%).
Tomorrow we’ll hear more about Monster’s Small Business, Big Hire survey as well as some tips for avoiding a bad hire.