Not Just Bad Hires Are Costly

Just a few minutes ago, I reported on a CareerBuilder survey noting that bad hires are costly: http://johnhlowell.blogspot.com/2010/12/bad-hires-are-costly.html

I've recently done an informal survey of some corporate executives (generally CFO and top HR officer). Their opinion (more than two-thirds of a relatively small sample) is that poor talent management is a bigger problem. Here are some things that they cited:

• Senior people often have significant customer/client contact. Often, losing those people through reductions-in-force or unwanted termination costs customer relationships.
• Goals that are too objective cause undesirable behaviors, most frequently a lack of teamwork
• Goals that are too subjective often result in low morale as too many people think that their incentive payments do not properly reflect their contributions
• Continuity is undervalued
• Replacing senior people who leave (unwanted) often costs more than 150% of their annual compensation
• The half-life of sometimes full-life of bad will (both on remaining employees and former employees) created through involuntary termination is immeasurable

I have no particular expertise in this area, but the people that I surveyed do. Caveat employer.