Why Do I Keep Hiring The Wrong People?

Hiring the wrong person can cost up to 3x their salary. This episode covers the real causes of bad hires and practical fixes for your recruitment process. Listen now.

If you've ever looked at a new starter three months in and thought "this isn't who I interviewed," you're not alone. According to the REC, the wrong hire can cost up to three times their salary — and in a small business, the damage goes further than money.

In this episode, Claire and Sarah work through where the recruitment process actually breaks down: rushing to fill a vacancy, skipping a proper person specification, relying on gut feel without testing it, and getting onboarding wrong once someone starts. You'll come away with practical steps to make better, more consistent hiring decisions.

• Most hiring mistakes start before the interview. A vague or absent job description means you don't know what you're looking for. A proper job description and person specification is the most important step before any role goes live.
• Don't just replace the person who left. Think about what the team actually needs now — not a carbon copy of whoever walked out.
• Hiring too fast is a real risk. Pressure to fill a seat quickly leads to cut corners. A slightly longer process almost always costs less than fixing a wrong hire.
• Gut feel is useful — but test it. Gut feel comes from experience, not guesswork. What makes it unreliable is ignoring red flags because you like the candidate. Back instincts up with structured questions and detailed notes.
• Get more people involved. Informal touchpoints — a phone screen with a different team member, greeting them on arrival — give a rounder picture without adding unnecessary interview stages.
• Promises of future promotion are risky. Hiring for potential only works with genuine development support. Vague timelines are a common reason good people leave early.
• Onboarding determines whether someone sticks. Explaining how the business works and what success looks like isn't optional — it's what turns a good hire into a lasting one.

• [00:01:05] The real cost of a wrong hire
• [00:01:28] What does a wrong hire actually look like?
• [00:04:05] Why job descriptions matter more than you think
• [00:06:20] How to structure the interview process
• [00:10:21] Why onboarding determines whether someone stays
• [00:11:57] The risks of hiring for future potential
• [00:15:56] Gut feel, interview notes, and bias
• [00:18:27] Practical steps to stop hiring the wrong people

References

1. REC (Recruitment & Employment Confederation) — referenced for the cost of a wrong hire (up to 3x salary): rec.uk.com

hiring mistakes UK, wrong hires small business, recruitment process UK, bad hire cost, culture fit hiring, job description person spec, onboarding new employees, hiring for potential, interview process UK, HR advice for founders