A bad hire at the management level costs, on average, 6–12 months' salary. That is the figure that usually gets quoted.
But it does not capture what really costs. It is not just salary and recruitment fees. It is the team that lost confidence. The person who resigned because the situation became unbearable. The six months spent trying to work out what actually went wrong. The culture that quietly shifted under that person's leadership.
None of that shows up on a single line in the accounts. But it is there.
Why does it happen?
Almost always for the same reason: nobody was entirely clear on what they were looking for when the process started.
That sounds harsh. But it is true. Most recruitment processes begin with a rough idea of what is needed — and hope that the right person will define themselves along the way.
That does not work. And it is not the candidate's fault. It is the process.
Gut feeling is not a method
I meet a lot of managers who are good at reading people. They are proud of it. And it is a valuable quality.
But gut feeling in recruitment is not a method — it is a confirmation of what you have already decided. The research is detailed on this. We confirm what we already believe, we favor people who remind us of ourselves, and we interpret ambiguity in the direction we want to go.
Structured recruitment protects you from your own biases. That is not a statement about your competence. It is a statement about your humanity.
What structured recruitment actually means
It does not mean making the process heavy or bureaucratic. It means making it accurate.
En kravprofil som definierar vad du faktiskt behöver – inte vad du tror att du behöver. Strukturerade intervjufrågor som mäter samma sak hos alla kandidater. Personbedömning som ger dig ett objektivt underlag. Referenstagning som verkligen söker information – inte bara bekräftelse.
It is not more work. It is the right work.
What it costs to do it right — and what it costs to get it wrong
En välgjord rekryteringsprocess kostar tid och ibland pengar. Det är sant.
But compared to what a bad hire costs — in salary, in time, in team dynamics, in trust — it is never a discussion worth having.
You cannot afford to hire the wrong person. That is not a call for perfectionism. It is a business statement.
If you have thoughts, questions, or simply want to talk something through — feel free to get in touch. I am happy to have an initial conversation with no agenda.
Magdalena Hagström Ståhl
By M Consulting AB
Right person. Right place. Everything changes.