Office Teamwork Starts with the Hiring Process

There’s no doubt every company wants to hire top talent, but how does that translate to teamwork in the office? The Harvard Business Review (HBR) found that hiring a toxic employee has a far worse effect than bringing on the next CEO.

This means the HR hiring process is more crucial than ever because now new data quantifies exactly how much the new employee is helping or hurting his or her coworkers.

The true cost of making a bad hire
HR is the first line of defense for protecting and instilling teamwork at the office. Every hire you make will ultimately affect the atmosphere—some will more than others.

The common train of thought in the industry is that top talent can single-handedly help influence a profit. While better skill sets can eventually produce greater results, that hiring ideology isn’t so clear cut. According to HBR, an elite employee can add on average $5,300 to the revenue—a sizable amount, considering not all talent is in the position to do so. What’s more shocking is that a toxic employee—a person who is defined as narcissistic about their work and unyielding to teamwork—can cost a company on average $25,000.

By avoiding hiring a negligent worker when there is no qualified candidate, employers can save the money that would have otherwise been wasted.

How to identify good teammates
A toxic employee is someone that doesn’t contribute to the “team first” work culture. Spotting these people is simple—you just need to know what to look for:

• Hard skills look great on paper, but an employee can be trained over time. Career Builder recommends distinguishing candidates based on soft skills. Use an applicant tracking system (ATS) to identify skills like communication, flexibility, and teamwork by listing them as keywords. This will allow you to quickly sort large piles of résumés.
• Toxic employees are often let go quickly, while elite talent tends to stick around longer—4.6 years on average, according to Market Watch. Your ATS can help you analyze candidate’s time spent at past companies to figure out if you’ll have to call previous employers on a per candidate basis or not. This will cut down the list, the length of the hiring process, and boost the number of good hires because you’ve identified them more quickly.

Use technology to your advantage as you fill your next job listing. An ATS can be useful in pinpointing which candidates will help the team and who will hurt it.