Hiring the right person for a position can be daunting.  Whether you’re opening up your budget to create a new position for a growing company or simply filling a recently vacated job, the failure of a new hire can not only cost your sanity, but a lot of money.

In 2013, 41 percent of companies reported that a bad hiring decision cost them at least $25,000.   Another 25 percent said a bad hire cost them $50,000.  That’s a big pile of dough resting on a hiring manager’s ability to predict the future and hope their candidate is actually right for the job.  But how are these bad hires happening in the first place?  Obviously no one is setting out to make wrong decisions, but there’s always a chance that a person just isn’t going to work out long-term.  There is only so much you can learn about someone from a few pre-hire interactions.

Still, 38 percent of companies said their bad hiring decisions were due to a position needing to get filled quickly, so less time went into the hiring process; 21 percent of companies didn’t test or research their bad hires’ skills enough, and 11 percent said they didn’t perform thorough reference checks.  While a person “just not working out” is one thing, these mistakes in the hiring process are easily avoidable and can save you a lot of money and frustration down the line.

There are awesome, qualified candidates out there for your vacancies and taking the time to make sure they’re actually A-players instead of playing you is worth it.  The first step to making a great hire is committing to making a great hire.  When you identify the need for a new hire, it’s natural to want that person working right away.  Maybe the vacant position is slowing down a department or stressing out a colleague with extra work.  But instead of running the hiring process as a sooner-the-better campaign, make it your goal to wait for the right person even if they don’t show up in your first round of interviews.  Delaying even that extra week or so could save you time, money, and headache down the line.

But how do you know they’re the right person?  The answer is easy: test them.  Benchmark assessments – a math/verbal test or personality test – can give you a measurable impression of a candidate that you won’t get from a resume or even an interview.  If you’re using an applicant tracking system like CareerPlug, you can build these in as part of your hiring process.  Consistently measuring your applicant pool for any position will give you better insight the more you hire.

Interviews are usually the make or break of hiring.  But are you going to remember how a candidate fared after doing three or four interviews in a row?  Utilizing a scorecard or feedback form during an interview can greatly increase your accuracy in ranking candidates against each other.  It gives you an immediate, measurable benchmark on which to rank candidates.  Because you know you are inevitably going to have 13 fires to put out before you sit down to craft that feedback e-mail to HR.

Reference checks are usually one of the last pieces of a hiring process and can be the most valuable.  However, they’re also frequently skipped.  Building this step into your hiring process is necessary for ensuring you are hiring the right fit to the job.  You don’t want to find out three months from now what their last boss could’ve told you in a five minute phone call.

Around 77 percent of companies are hiring in 2014.  Committing to hiring the right person, putting applicants to the test, and completing every step of the hiring process will help you make successful, lasting hiring decisions that bolster your organizations success and don’t break the bank.

For more hiring and recruiting tips, follow us on Twitter:  @careerplug