Hiring the Wrong Person is More Expensive Than You Think
You need a finance hire.
- You rush to fill the role.
- You find someone with the right experience on paper.
- They interview well enough, so you hire them.
Fast forward a few months… and it’s a disaster.
- They’re making costly mistakes.
- The team is frustrated.
- You’re back at square one, looking for a replacement.
Congrats, you’ve just wasted thousands.
A bad finance hire doesn’t just cost a salary—it costs time, morale, reputation, and business performance.
Here’s exactly how much a hiring mistake could be costing you—and how to avoid it.
1. The Salary Cost (The Most Obvious One, But Just the Beginning)
If you hire the wrong person, you’re paying a salary for someone who isn’t delivering.
Let’s break it down:
- Finance Manager earning £80K per year.
- They leave (or you fire them) after 6 months.
- You’ve paid them £40K in salary—plus benefits, NI, pension, and bonuses.
Total wasted? Easily £50K+.
And that’s just the direct salary loss. The real costs go much deeper…
Rule of thumb: Every month a bad hire is in the role, you’re burning cash.
2. The Productivity Cost (Your Whole Team Suffers)
Bad finance hires don’t just impact their own work—they drag everyone down.
How a bad hire hurts your team:
- Senior leaders waste time fixing their mistakes.
- The team picks up extra workload to cover for them.
- Low morale—people get frustrated working with someone who isn’t pulling their weight.
Estimated cost? Tens of thousands in lost time and efficiency.
How to avoid it:
- Assess problem-solving skills properly—not just technical ability.
- Check for commercial thinking, not just CV buzzwords.
- Listen to your team—if they’re struggling because of someone, act fast.
Rule of thumb: The longer you let a bad hire stay, the more damage they do.
3. The Recruitment Cost (You’re Paying Twice for the Same Role)
Hiring isn’t cheap.
Let’s say you go through this process:
- Job ads, recruiter fees, interview time, admin…
- You hire someone, it doesn’t work out.
- You start all over again.
Total wasted? Another £15K-£20K minimum.
How to avoid it:
- Get hiring right the first time. (Hello, We Do Group!)
- Invest in proper screening—don’t rush the process.
- Use salary benchmarking to attract the right talent upfront. (Hello, We Do Benchmark!)
Rule of thumb: A rushed hire today = another hiring process in six months.
4. The Reputational Cost (Bad Hires Create Bad Impressions)
A bad finance hire doesn’t just hurt your internal team—it damages your company’s credibility.
What happens when the wrong finance person is in the role?
- Suppliers & stakeholders lose confidence in your finance function.
- Investors get nervous if reports are inaccurate.
- A poor finance team reputation makes future hiring even harder.
Cost? Hard to measure—but long-term damage can be huge.
How to avoid it:
- Make finance a strategic business function, not just a back-office role.
- Ensure every finance hire understands the bigger picture.
- Hire people who build credibility—not break it.
Rule of thumb: One bad finance hire can damage your company’s financial reputation for years.
5. The Opportunity Cost (What You Could Have Had Instead)
Every bad hire doesn’t just cost you money—it costs you the chance to hire someone great.
Here’s what you’re missing out on:
- A high-impact finance hire who could drive real business growth.
- Someone who could optimise processes, not slow them down.
- A finance leader who could challenge decisions and add commercial value.
Cost? Potentially millions in missed revenue, inefficiencies, or lost growth.
How to avoid it:
- Hire strategically—don’t just ‘fill a gap.’
- Find commercially minded finance professionals—not just number crunchers.
- Prioritise impact over just ‘experience.’
Rule of thumb: A great hire pays for themselves. A bad hire costs you everything.
How to Stop Making Costly Finance Hiring Mistakes
Bad hires are expensive. Smart hiring is an investment.
Here’s what the best businesses do differently:
✅ They don’t rush hiring decisions—quality over speed.
✅ They assess problem-solving & commercial acumen, not just technical skills.
✅ They make competitive offers—so the right people actually accept.
✅ They benchmark salaries to attract top talent upfront. (We Do Benchmark!)
✅ They partner with experts to get hiring right the first time. (We Do Group!)
Want to avoid another expensive hiring mistake?
We Do Benchmark ensures you’re offering the right salary—so you attract the best, not the desperate.
We Do Group finds and secures top-tier finance talent—before you end up making the wrong hire.
