Businesses
avoid common
hiring pitfalls with
a simple solution
Hiring the wrong person can cost you more than you bargained for. Employer beware! According to Roster Network's General counsel, Steve Trexler, "About 98% of all resumes contain some misleading information." Ultimately, hiring an employee who has misrepresented himself or herself in person or on paper will cost your company dearly in lost productivity, turnover, and disruption of work flow. The typical cost of employee turnover, including recruitment advertising, interviewing and screening, training, and interim productivity losses, is estimated to be 1.5 times the annual salary for the position, according to industry data compiled by Roster Network.
Statistics
published by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce indicate that 30% of all business
failures are the result of poor hiring practices. It is estimated that U.S.
businesses lose $70 billion to $90 billion annually as a result of employees who
under perform. And it's not the employees' fault. Columbia University reports
that 73% of employee turnover is due to companies providing misleading job
descriptions and, in some cases, no job descriptions at all. Inadequate,
negligent or wrongful hiring practices can also pose a legal issue for
employers. If you're just looking for a warm body to fill a position quickly and
the job turns out to be something other than the applicant applied for, your
company may be subject to charges of fraud, and a legal battle may ensue.
Whether you win or lose in court, this situation is bad for business.
There
are problems on both sides of this equation- less-than-honest applicants and
employers who don't know or can't identify their needs. Ultimately, this creates
a recipe for failure.
Finding
the right employee can be a challenge, especially with unemployment near record
lows. There, is however, a system available to help employers clarify their
needs and reduce turnover. The Position Matrix offered by Roster Network
provides a system for describing the activities, tools,
processes and skills needed to perform each specific job. "Employees and
employers both like this system, because it is simple," Trexler said.
"It is based on simply documenting what people do and how they do it. Like
a lot of simple ideas, it works."
The
Position Matrix gives applicants a clear understanding of what their job is and
what's expected in their performance. It increases the likelihood of hiring a
person who will be happy and productive in the job, and thus reduces turnover.
And it helps to protect the employer from the legal and economic costs of poor
hiring practices. For more information, contact the Roster Network or your
Roster Network member.