The cost of a bad hire is constantly underestimated.

Most leaders see the obvious bit. Recruitment fees. Advertising. Interview time. Perhaps onboarding and equipment.

What tends to be missed is everything that happens afterwards.

Work slows down before anyone calls it a problem. Managers start spending time fixing things that shouldn’t need fixing. The strongest people in the team quietly carry more than their share until it begins to wear them down.

Still, around 74% of employers admit they have hired the wrong person for a role.

Decisions get rushed. Concerns spotted in interviews are brushed aside. Starting again feels painful, so people push ahead and hope for the best.

The true cost only becomes obvious later.

The Direct Cost of Hiring

Ask most marketing, media or events leaders what recruitment costs look like and the answers are fairly predictable. Salary, agency fees, interview time, onboarding and equipment.

Typically it breaks down like this:

• Advertising or search fees often sit at 15–25% of salary
• Interview time across several managers
• Onboarding and training
• Equipment, software access and setup

Even before anything goes wrong, the numbers are meaningful. The average cost per hire sits at about £6,125 in the UK for non-executive roles. Senior hires can easily reach one and a half to two times the employee’s annual salary once everything is factored in.

Roles also stay open for weeks. Around 42 days on average in the UK. During that time the work does not disappear. It simply gets redistributed.

This is where the real picture starts to blur.

The Hidden Cost Nobody Logs

Once someone joins, the real question begins. How long does it take before they are genuinely effective?

How often do managers need to step in to course-correct? How much quiet effort the rest of the team puts in to keep things moving?

Those costs rarely appear in reports, but they are where the real damage starts.

Productivity Slips First

The early signs are usually small. Work takes longer than expected. Tasks need checking. Output feels inconsistent.

Leadership IQ found that nearly half of new hires fail within their first 18 months. That does not usually mean incompetence. Often the person is perfectly capable. They just are not the right fit.

Teams compensate without really noticing. Someone double-checks the work. Another person steps in to protect a deadline.

Over time that extra effort becomes routine.

Managers Get Dragged In

When performance slips, managers do what good managers do. They help.

The problem is not the support. It is the amount of attention required. Time that should be spent planning, developing people or working with clients gets pulled into:

• Re-explaining fundamentals
• Reviewing work line by line
• Fixing issues that should not exist at that stage
• Managing probation conversations

None of that appears neatly on a balance sheet. Yet it can become one of the most expensive periods for a business.

Team Morale Starts to Shift

Strong teams naturally compensate when something is off. People pick up extra work to keep standards high. At first it feels manageable.

But eventually that changes how people feel about their role. Companies with disengaged employees experience:

• 37% higher absenteeism
• 18% lower productivity
• 15% lower profitability

In large companies the numbers are staggering. S&P firms lose an average of £228 million annually due to disengagement and attrition.

Good People Leave

When the pressure keeps building, good employees eventually make a decision. Studies show high-performing staff are 54% more likely to leave toxic or poorly functioning environments.

Over 80% of decisions to leave are driven by other employees. That matters because replacing one strong performer is rarely quick anymore.

In 2025 more than 80% of UK businesses reported difficulty filling open positions. Losing the wrong person is painful. Losing the right one is far worse.

Clients Notice Eventually

Internal strain rarely stays internal. Deadlines start slipping. Service becomes inconsistent. Communication becomes patchy.

Research shows many customers will walk away after just one poor experience. When that happens the cost is not only reputational. It is revenue that never returns.

The hiring mistake that caused it may have happened months earlier.

Why One Bad Hire Often Leads to Another

Bad hires rarely stay isolated. The first problem creates pressure. Work slows down. Managers feel urgency to bring in help.

The next hire becomes about relief rather than fit. Interviews get squeezed into busy schedules. Fewer candidates are compared properly. Small concerns are ignored.

Research suggests the likelihood of another poor hire rises by around 50% after the first.

Meanwhile good employees quietly disengage or leave. This is how one wrong decision turns into several.

Getting It Right First Time

When hiring works well, it is almost invisible. The person settles in, the work moves forward, and attention shifts elsewhere.

When it goes wrong, the causes are usually fairly predictable.

Salary sets the tone

Pay shapes who applies before interviews even begin. When salary sits below the market:

• Strong candidates rule themselves out
• Others accept but continue looking elsewhere
• Counter-offers and early resignations increase

Replacing an employee can cost between half and twice their annual salary. Against that backdrop, underpaying rarely saves money.

Role clarity matters

Many hiring problems start before a candidate ever walks into an interview. Job descriptions often explain duties but not what success looks like.

That leads to:

• Disagreement about performance expectations
• Friction during probation
• Shifting expectations after someone joins

Defining what success looks like in the first 90 days prevents much of this.

Structure beats instinct

Interviews still rely heavily on instinct. That is understandable, but unstructured interviews tend to reward confidence rather than consistency.

They also miss important signals around judgement and working style. That is why many hiring failures turn out to be about fit rather than capability.

Onboarding decides the outcome

Even excellent hires can struggle without proper onboarding.The first few weeks shape habits that last for years.

When onboarding lacks structure:

• Productivity takes longer to build
• Problems surface later
• Managers remain heavily involved

Salary, role clarity, selection and onboarding form one system. When they align, hiring risk drops dramatically.

Why Professional Recruiters Help Reduce Risk

Most hiring mistakes do not happen because leaders are careless. They happen because people are busy.

Work needs to move forward, teams are stretched and hiring gets squeezed into spare moments. This is where specialist recruiters make a real difference.

One advantage is access. Many strong candidates never apply for roles at all. They are employed, selective and cautious about moving.

Recruiters spend time in that part of the market.

That tends to produce:

• Shortlists based on fit rather than availability
• Candidates who have genuinely considered the move
• Fewer interviews with people who are simply curious

Recruiters also bring market context. They see patterns across dozens of searches, not just one vacancy.

That helps answer questions such as:

• Is the salary realistic?
• How competitive is the search?
• Why candidates are declining offers?

None of this guarantees success. What it does is reduce the chances of an expensive mistake.

The Opportunity Cost Nobody Budgets For

The real cost of a bad hire rarely appears neatly in reports. It shows up as work that slowed down, people who carried more than they should have, and decisions delayed while attention was pulled elsewhere.

Hiring well protects more than budgets. It protects momentum, morale and trust across a team.

Best regards,
John 

 About Us

Reilly People is a professional Search and Select recruitment firm specialising in Media, Marketing & Events - established in 1993.

We recruit up to board level in: Marketing; Sales and Business Development; Marketing Analytics; Conference and Event Production and Management. In more than three decades in business, using our industry knowledge and management experience we’ve placed candidates throughout the UK and all over the world, including EMEA; USA and Asia Pacific. 

About John Reilly

From a media sales career in London with Capital Radio; LBC; and latterly Kiss FM as Head of Sales, I established Reilly People in 1993 to offer the recruitment service I wish I’d received as an employer: a mature approach from an experienced manager to help Businesses hire talent without diverting time trawling through scores of CVs and interviewing a dozen hopefuls.

I’ve always utilised the latest tools from a rolodex to AI, which has included building, over decades, a large, targeted LinkedIn network. Yet the principles remain the same: clearly understand what you, the employer wants, and sometimes use my experience to help you define that; then deliver it with as little fuss as possible.

I focus on Marketing; Sales and Analytics roles with a variety of commercial companies, including Media and Events businesses.

“I have been working with John for many years and I have been so impressed by his ability to understand perfectly the type of profiles I am looking for. Today I have got two sales stars in my team and both have been headhunted by John. He is an expert when it comes to find the needed skills for your vacancy but also to get the perfect match for our company’s culture.

I highly recommend any media or events companies to work with John!” 

                                                          Adrien Collilieux, Group Event Director – CloserStill Media 

At Reilly People we’ve been helping businesses find Marketing and Sales talent and job seekers find their ideal roles for over 30 years. If you want to find out how we can help, call me on 0203 691 0040 or email here.