When an engineering appointment does not work out, the recruitment invoice is usually the easiest cost to identify. It is rarely the whole cost.
Some of it turns up in training, rework and management time. Some of it shows up in a project that has slipped while experienced people help somebody who is struggling.
But I am wary of putting a dramatic figure against every bad hire. The cost depends on the role, what went wrong and what the business actually lost. Before calling someone a bad hire, it is also worth checking whether they were given a realistic job and a proper chance to do it.
Salary is a cost, but it is not automatically wasted
A £50,000 salary does not, by itself, establish a £100,000 hiring mistake. You need to show how the costs arise. I would rather work through that than attach a dramatic number to every appointment that does not work out.
Six months of a £50,000 annual salary is £25,000 in gross salary. That is arithmetic, not the cost of a failed hire. It excludes other employment costs, and it does not tell you how much useful work the person delivered.
Someone who leaves may still have made a worthwhile contribution. Counting every pound of salary as a loss, then adding the full value of missed output, can exaggerate the problem.
Separate actual extra spending from estimates of time or output lost. Be clear about the period you are measuring and the assumptions you are using.
Look at the extra work the appointment created
Recruitment and replacement can involve advertising, agency fees, interview time and administration. What you pay again will depend on the route you use and any applicable rebate or replacement terms.
Then look at induction, training and supervision. Some of that is normal investment in any new engineer. The question is what was repeated, extended or lost because the appointment did not work.
If senior engineers are correcting drawings or taking work back, record the time and the work displaced. If you pay overtime or buy external help, use the actual cost.
Keep those categories separate. Do not count the same engineer’s time once as rework, again as lost productivity and a third time as project delay without explaining the distinction.
Project and customer consequences need evidence
A mismatch between the work and the person’s capability can affect designs, production and delivery. That matters in an engineering SME, where a small team may have little spare capacity.
But a late project does not automatically mean a penalty, a lost customer or millions in lost revenue. Check what actually happened and what the contract says. Revenue, profit and cash loss are not interchangeable figures.
Record evidenced rework, scrap, paid cover or customer costs. If a longer-term consequence is only a risk, describe it as a risk. Do not put it into the total as money already lost.
The effect on the team still matters
The pressure does not always appear on an invoice. Experienced people may be doing their own job and supporting somebody else for longer than planned. Frustration can build if there is no explanation or plan.
That does not mean every new starter who needs help is the wrong person. An engineer learning an unfamiliar CAD system may need support while bringing valuable experience from another business.
Ask whether the support was expected, available and working. A deliberate development hire is different from appointing somebody with a known gap and then acting surprised that the gap exists.
Quality and safety are management responsibilities too
Engineering competence matters. So do the systems around the person: induction, checking, supervision and clear limits on the work they are authorised to do.
HSE’s guidance on training and supervision makes clear that employers need to provide instructions, information, adequate training and supervision. A convincing CV does not remove those responsibilities.
If someone is struggling, investigate the cause. The brief, equipment, training or management may be part of the problem. Where capability is an issue, Acas recommends support to improve and a fair procedure; dismissal should be a last resort. Disability-related reasonable adjustments may also be relevant.
This is not a dismissal checklist. If you are considering formal action, take advice appropriate to the actual circumstances.
Reduce the risk before making the offer
Start by agreeing what the engineer needs to do, what is essential on arrival and what the business can teach. A specification built around every task the previous person accumulated is not necessarily a sensible starting point.
Use job-related questions and proportionate practical assessment to test the capability you need. Give candidates a fair and consistent opportunity to demonstrate it, including reasonable adjustments where needed.
Replace vague “culture fit” with things you can explain and assess: communication, teamwork, working methods and the actual demands of the role. Hiring somebody because they feel familiar is not the same as checking whether they can do the work.
Finally, be honest about the job and have an induction plan. You cannot assess your way out of promising one role and delivering another.
Use the pre-job creation checklist to define the requirement, the applications and interviews guide to plan assessment, and the job-offer guide to confirm expectations. The Employer Recruitment Pack brings the practical tools together, including an onboarding plan.
Learn from the appointment, rather than just replacing it
If the hire did not work, ask what you would change before recruiting again. Better questions? A more realistic brief? Different support? Clearer expectations on both sides?
A specialist recruiter can help investigate the requirement and the evidence behind an introduction. No recruiter can ensure that every appointment will work first time.
The aim is to make a better-informed decision and give the person a reasonable chance to succeed. That is more useful than a frightening cost figure with nothing behind it.
If you are replacing an engineer and want to understand why the previous appointment struggled, let’s discuss the role before repeating the same search.