The Price of a Bad Hire for Colleges

The price of hiring badly for Colleges

 “Hiring is one of the most important aspects of business growth, but one of the most costly if done wrong. In today’s tight labour market, there is a full-blown battle for talent.” - Bill Richards.

Without the right levels of vetting and diverse applicants, it’s easy to hire people who are unsuitable for the role. Whilst you can both shake hands and part on good terms when things don’t work out, this puts a strain on the recruitment budget, decreasing morale and causing further complications.

When hiring for colleges, a bad hire often materialises as someone who fails to integrate into the college's social environment or whose teaching methods don't align with your institution's approach. The fault may not lie with any party involved, but they may need replacing if a disconnect is present.

However, what are the costs involved when an immediate replacement hire is needed?

Impact on Social-Environment

Hiring the wrong person can harm the teamwork dynamic at an academic institution, creating false expectations and risking staff reputations. When letting go of an employee, it's crucial to respect privacy on both sides while reassuring other staff members about the situation.

Moreover, hiring and then letting go of staff can create rumours or fear of a "high staff turnover". A survey by Wiley Edge revealed that 63% of UK businesses had their company culture suffer due to high employee turnover. This can hurt your employees' feeling of job security and further demotivate the staff from bonding due to a perceived disposability of staff.

Spreading Resources Too Thin

According to the National Education Association (NEA), 74% of educators said they've had to fill in for colleagues or take other duties due to staff shortages. This expectation to do more work than is contracted can contribute to staff burnout or, even worse, motivate staff to pursue other opportunities. This forms a somewhat domino effect as you attempt to fill employment gaps whilst losing the newly stressed staff.

The Student Experience

Arguably, the most critical consequence is the diminished educational experience offered to students.

From a social perspective, having no consistent teacher in the class can cause students to lose focus and lack the sense of authority achieved by a full-time educator for that subject. Statistically, you will see a drop in student achievement when a class is faced with turnovers.

Financial Implications

Consider the direct costs associated with searching, interviewing and training a candidate combined with the potential need to afford their departure. In relation to your college’s educators, The University College London suggests that, even after an 8% raise, the cost of retaining a teacher is 32% lower than training an equivalent replacement teacher.

Damaged Reputation

In the digital age, a college's reputation is easily accessible to prospective students. Therefore, it can be a hurdle to getting students and staff. For this reason, a bad hire can become a PR difficulty if student grievances find their way onto social platforms or the educator in question leaves a disheartened review online themselves.

It is an indictment of the hiring process that 85% of HR decision-makers acknowledge that their businesses have made regrettable hires. What's even more interesting is that only a third believe these mistakes are cost-neutral.

There’s a demand for change, to be more socially and fiscally cautious by ensuring you hire the right person the first time round. In fact, 39% of employers highlighted a need for improvement in their hiring capabilities.

Ultimately, the true cost of hiring the wrong person is quantified not just in pounds but in its ability to affect your business from day-to-day operations to the long-term reputation.

Partnering with an education recruitment agency like ours helps mitigate these risks. Our efficient & dedicated vetting team ensures candidates have the required documentation, DBS and checks, while our knowledgeable & subject market focussed Recruiters maintain strong relationships through regular catch-ups and long-term collaboration. This approach allows us to provide candidate recommendations that not only align with the job description but also seamlessly fit into your organisation's culture and existing team.

You can expand your hiring pool for jobs and rely on our tried and tested vetting; it all starts with a call to 0117 334 3777