You’ve probably experienced a “bad hire” at your farm or farm business before. You know, that person who does not perform well or just is not a good fit. Usually you quickly become aware of your hiring mistake or other employees will inform you. But in the worst case, you will not find out about the bad hire until employee morale starts to dip and productivity decreases.

In Good to Great, Jim Collins says, “the most important decisions that businesspeople make are not what decisions, but who decisions.” The people working a farm are what makes it go, but also where issues can start.

Finding a person with the right fit is critical for your operation.

A Forbes study found that of new hires that failed, 89% failed because of attitude and 11% due to lack of skill. 

Hiring the wrong person can be one of the most expensive mistakes a farm makes. Think of all the concrete costs associated with hiring:

• Drafting the position description

• Advertising costs

• Agency/recruiter fees

• Interview time

• Candidate interview expenses

• Training & orientation

• Employment testing

• Total compensation

• Termination costs

• Relocation costs

• Cost to repeat the process

These concrete costs are compounded by the hard-to-quantify costs:

• Erosion of team morale

• Upset employee trust

• Damaged customer loyalty

• Lost sales

• Reduced productivity

• Hire other “C” players

• Discouraged high-performing employees

• Decreased sales

• Co-worker employee turnover

Different professional and government agencies have quantified the true cost of a bad hire, determining it can be anywhere from one-third of the annual salary, to five times the annual salary of the hire.

How do you break bad hiring habits? And, why did you make a bad hire?

Sometimes it is time pressure - you need to fill the job quickly. On average it takes more than a month to fill vacancies. Don’t be in such a hurry that you resort to hiring anyone to fill the spot. Rushing will cost you more in the long run. Remember that hiring the right candidate takes time.

Did you find out your hire was unqualified or didn’t fit your company culture? Conducting chronological screening helps in determining the details of the applicant’s previous jobs and reasons for leaving.

Utilize behavioral and situational questions to assess cultural fit and skills. Checking references is a critical step, not only to verify qualifications, but to assess personality/compatibility. Conduct appropriate pre-screening to assess their competencies - can they do the job? Also screen for their attitude - will they do the job?

For more information on the price of a bad hire and how to recruit top talent, contact [email protected].