Recent research by online recruitment marketplace, Hiring Hub, has found that 91% of UK businesses are compromising on candidate quality when hiring, with one in three candidates described as “less than ideal” for the role.

Poor recruitment is a costly mistake for business owners, but Hiring Hub’s research suggests this happens almost as a matter of routine, having a dramatic impact on business growth, productivity, and the UK economy as a whole.

With approximately 700,000 jobs waiting to be filled in the UK at present, an average of six candidates interviewed for a role, each for an hour, this equates to 4.2 million hours spent interviewing candidates.  But that’s just half the story.

The study also found that less than half  (48%) of the whole recruitment process is spent getting to know the candidate in interviews. The other 52% is spent vetting CVs and managing recruitment agencies. This equates to 8.7 million hours. Or 362,500 days, each year.

With one in three being less than ideal, you are looking at 2.6 million wasted hours.

It’s no surprise Britain is lagging well behind other advanced economies when it comes to productivity and growth. But that needn’t be the case.

Hiring Hub have identified 5 ways you can improve the outcome of your recruitment process today, so you can avoid making a compromise and hiring unsuitable candidates.