Bad hiring – nobody’s mistake, but sooner or later even the most experienced HR professionals will admit it: they've made a bad hire.

Even if someone’s credentials promises a perfect fit for your company, they even seemed to fly through the interview process, and had lovely references turns out to be an unexpected problem after hiring. If you never came across any such thing, consider yourself lucky. As there always are some employees that might disappoint you on job be it a fresher or a senior executive, the impact of bad hiring can be devastating for the department. So is there anything you can do about it? Let’s see.

Most of the HR professionals blame desperation to be the most usual cause for bad hiring. Replacing a bad hire involves a lot of expenses, but allowing a bad hire to remain in place can be just as costly, as such a situation can deplete team morale and could even drive away proficient employees. Neither option is ideal. But even before doing something about bad hiring, you have to determine if it’s actually bad and unfit for your department.

Here’s how you can find out:

- If the new employee could not produce the quality work or lack skills they claim to have.

- If the behavior is negative and doesn’t go with the team.

- They’re not punctual and neither have they showed up on work consistently.

- They may not fit the organization's culture.

- They make many mistakes.

- If they look suspicious and might be leaking out the company’s confidential details.

Usually in these situations it’s less costly to make a change, and the sooner you make it, the better. Although coping with the impact of a bad hire will never be easy, but some of these steps could help you recover and get out of this situation with least possible damage:

- Prepare yourself for uncomfortable conversation.

This is not the time to beat around the bush with them; you have to be direct in expressing your concerns. You have to address the issue head on which could be uncomfortable. The good thing is, the new hire knows that there’s an issue. Involve the new hire in the discussion and get their feedback and opinions. You need to clearly explain why you’re having the conversation and the specific issues that have come up, but also get their feedback on what you’re saying. Chances are, they’ve already recognized these issues and will be appreciative of the opportunity to come up with solutions. This might help him to adapt or change that could be beneficial at least in the short term.

- Identify the cost of keeping the employee versus letting them go.

While you weighing both the options; of either keeping the employee or terminating him you’ve to keep both in mind – the immediate cost and long term costs of termination. You’ve to consider time and monetary costs in resolving the issues or training the new hire in the hopes that they’ll be worth it.

-  Be the right guide and plan the way of exception.

The decision to keep or fire the client is not an easy way out. You’ve to look at the bigger picture and be courteous enough to deliver satisfaction to both the parties. Make the exception carry in a smooth way. Give your employee chances rather than firing him straight away. If it still doesn’t work and they still don’t get aligned with what your company’s all about then don’t sacrifice your business further to avoid making a tough decision and always do as much as you can to help any employees you have to let go. For example: consider providing the resources to help them find another job. When employees leave with a good impression of your company, they’re more likely to send you referrals for job candidates or business prospects in the future.

- Avoiding future bad hiring

Prevention is better than cure - just like this, better than turning a bad hire into a good one is avoiding hiring that bad fit in the first place. Experts suggest employers or managers should:

• Have a robust interview process with multiple people, diving deep into experience that is critical to the role;
• Thoroughly go through the reference process;
• Articulate the company culture;
• Have a structured onboarding process, setting up the new employee with a mentor or coach;
• Have frequent, regular performance conversations to communicate what’s going well and areas to work on, particularly early in the process;
• Spend time with the employee, investing in the relationship and determining what the employee needs and is interested in.