The True Cost of a Bad Hire (and Why It’s Always More Than You Think)

“If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional, wait until you hire an amateur.”

— Red Adair

My Bad Hire Story

A few years ago, I made what turned out to be the worst hire I have ever made.  I had embarked on a strategy of growth and decided to hire an experienced tax accountant.  On paper, they were exactly what the business needed:

• Highly experienced
• Strong tax background
• Confident
• Very credible having held senior positions in large firms

After 3 interviews, and a CV full of the right roles and qualifications, I made the decision to press the button. It was a very expensive investment for a business of our size, but I genuinely perceived the risk to be low.

I remember the relief I felt at the time: finally, I’ve someone who could take the load off. Someone senior. Someone who knew what they were doing.  I started talking about taking proper holidays and having the breathing space to do genuine creative, strategic planning to grow further.

But it didn’t take long before the cracks appeared.  They struggled with the things that matter most in my business:

• Virtual working with initiative, pace, and clear communication
• People skills that build trust with clients and colleagues
• Adaptability in a fast-moving, remote-first environment
• Cultural fit to demonstrate the values, the energy, the ownership mindset
• Attention to detail and pride in outputs

Technically sound, but emotionally and behaviourally seriously misaligned.

At a human level I kept trying to make it work. I offered support. I pointed out mistakes and how we could fix them to avoid repeats. I offered guidance on team management techniques and ways to approach different clients.  I was still convinced that their experience would mask everything else, and was prepared to write off the short term cost it was causing me in energy, time, and confidence.

However, as you can guess, it finally ended, as these things eventually do, with a very difficult emotional conversation and an overwhelming feeling on my part of disappointment and anger.

Post their departure, when I added up the cost, it wasn’t their salary and recruitment cost that shocked me.  It was everything that surrounded it:

• My time rewriting and reviewing work
• Lost momentum in building systems
• The damage they’d caused to our team chemistry
• The impact felt by frustrated clients

This cost me weeks, possibly months, of energy I simply never got back.  We had to postpone a major product launch and declined a profitable piece of work as we simply couldn’t take it on as we focussed on rectifying the damage.

And here’s the lesson.   The real cost wasn’t financial. The true hit came from everything that stopped moving smoothly..  That’s the part of recruitment no one puts on a job description.

Why Bad Hires Really Happen

Most founders don’t make bad hires because they’re careless.  They make them because they’re tired.  They start the process of hiring, especially early and first senior hires, because:

• They’re overwhelmed
• They want fast relief
• They’re hopeful the hire is the silver bullet
• They want someone to just sort things on day one
• They’re afraid of being too picky and delaying getting someone in the door

So when they start reading CVs it immediately feels like a shortcut.  And when they see someone with experience on paper that feels like a safety net.  Just like football, you don’t win on paper. A great-looking squad sheet means nothing if the players can’t perform together on the pitch. Experience on paper doesn’t guarantee behaviour in practice.

You simply cannot only hire skills.  You have to hire the habits, values, and judgment your Company needs.

The Impact of a Bad Hire

1. Financial Impact

Even by firing fast a bad hire can easily cost a small business £20,000–£50,000.

1. Salary, National Insurance, Pension, Benefits
2. Training investment
3. Software licences
4. Recruitment fees and replacement costs
5. Time on rework, corrections
6. Lost productivity
7. Potential client dissatisfaction or loss

2. Cultural

Your culture is super fragile; one person can blow it up very quickly.

1. Teams lose motivation when they must continually carry or correct someone
2. High performers get frustrated that nothing is being done about the situation
3. Standards quietly slip when peers see someone not reaching previously high levels of expectation
4. Communication becomes harder as people keep opinions to themselves or outside meetings in cliques
5. Trust in management quickly erodes

3. Emotional Impact

You start to feel a cocktail of negative emotions which can damage or potentially destroy your own confidence:

1. Guilt: This was my fault that I read this so wrong
2. Frustration: Why can people not just do what they are able to with care and attention, why is this so much effort when I find it is so straight forward
3. Fear: What if the next hire is the same
4. Avoidance: I can’t face this again; I am just going to do it myself

A bad hire doesn’t just drain cash. It drains business owner confidence.

Hiring as an Investment & Not as a Relief Valve

Here’s the framework I now use with myself and with clients:

1. Define the ROI of the Role Before You Recruit

Ask:

• What outcome must this person deliver in 3–6 months?
• How will we measure that?
• What does success look like weekly?

If you can’t define it, you’re not ready to hire.

2. Hire for Fit First, Skill Second

The right traits:

• Initiative
• Communication
• Ownership
• Calmness under pressure
• Adaptability
• Curiosity
• Kindness

You can train skills, but you simply cannot train character and attitude.

3. Slow Down the Hire, Speed Up the Exit

The reality is most recruitment is the opposite.  The hire is rushed; the exit is dragged out.  And in both decisions this costs you dearly.

• A slow hire provides space to filter out any  misalignments.
• A fast exit protects momentum, as everyone (clients, staff, stakeholders) see decisive action.

4. Build a 30-60-90 Day Ramp Plan

Before they start, define their:

• Training and onboarding plan for the first week
• Tasks and responsibilities for the first month, what will be measured and reviewed, feedback and support channels, training resources etc.
• Client handover and chain of command as work is transitioned over across the first 60 days
• A clear review point by the end of the first 90 days setting clear measurable metrics they will be expected to be reaching

Leave no ambiguity and make no assumptions.

5. Review Their Contribution Quarterly

Not on tasks or effort; on Impact. Ask: Is this hire making our business better? Or just busier?

Simple Actions to Get Moving

• Rewrite one job description around outcomes, not their duties
• Create a 30-60-90 plan before your next interview
• Add a cultural priorities list to your hiring process
• Introduce a quarterly “role ROI” review
• If someone is a poor fit, act quickly — culture has no spare seats

Closing Thought

I used to think hiring was about skills.  Now I know it’s about alignment and energy.  The most expensive hire isn’t the one with the highest salary. It’s the one who drains the momentum you’ve worked years to build.

Hire slowly. Choose wisely. Protect your culture like it is an asset in itself.

And remember that the only thing more costly than a bad hire…….. is keeping one.

“The culture of your organisation is shaped by the worst behaviour you tolerate.”

– Gruenter & Whitaker