Hiring the wrong candidates costs the country billions

The research illustrates that although the initial cost of selecting a candidate is not very high, it is the cost of failure - or the cost of selecting an incompetent candidate - that is extremely high. Simply focussing on the costs of initially placing a candidate ignores the larger 'hidden' costs associated with placing the wrong candidate into a role.

The findings were based on research conducted with 700 managers from seven different countries as well as interviews with business leaders. The annual sum was calculated by working out the cost of managing poor performers (this was done by multiplying the number of managers by the average earnings of managers by the proportion of time spent managing poor performers).

According to the SHL report, if a company's selection procedure is made more rigorous, employees would enter positions at higher levels of competence with the added benefit that time commitment required by managers to coach poor performers could be considerably reduced. The implementation of thorough competency-based recruitment processes could therefore reduce the cost and time it takes for an employee to reach full competence.

Selecting competent candidates

"Identifying a competent candidate requires examining their knowledge, skills, self-concepts, traits and motives that are critical for success in the target job," says Kris Jarzebowski, MD of CareerJunction, an Online Placement service.

"Unfortunately, as most organisations discover, merely having skill and knowledge does not guarantee success. It is the deeper and less visible competencies that are often critical to success," adds Jarzebowski.

In response to the need for companies to mine below the surface of the visible aspects of competencies and to better determine the suitability of a candidate for a particular position CareerJunction developed Prof!ler - an online competency-based screening tool.

"Profi!er allows companies to apply competency science as part of the selection process of potential employees based on a three-dimensional competency model - examining functional competencies, behavioural competencies and motivational drivers," explains Jarzebowski. "Once the basic competency requirements have been established, it is then possible to filter applicants against the job requirements and request that suitable applicants answer an online competency-based screening questionnaire. The power of the screening questionnaire is that it can take the place of a first interview, thus translating into even more time saving opportunity'.

Apart from the cost and time savings and the better accuracy of placements, one of the other key benefits of Prof!ler, says Jarzebowski, is that "the recruitment process is more consistent, legally compliant and fair".