Hiring the wrong person is costly—but hiring someone just okay might be even worse.
Small and mid-sized business owners today continue to name finding and keeping good employees among their top business challenges. And while most leaders know that a bad hire can be disruptive and expensive, fewer recognize that a mediocre hire—someone who isn’t obviously wrong for the job, but not quite right either—can quietly cause even greater long-term damage.
In today’s still-competitive labor market, it's tempting to fill a role quickly, especially if that position has been open for a while. But settling for "good enough" often means missing out on the kind of candidate who can truly elevate your business.
Here’s why a mediocre hire might actually be worse than a clearly bad one—and what to do instead.
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Bad hires often present clear red flags. They may miss deadlines, ignore policies or clash with coworkers—making it easier for managers to document performance issues and take action.
Mediocre hires, on the other hand, live in the gray area. They do just enough to stay off the radar. Their performance isn’t terrible, but it’s not contributing meaningfully either.
That ambiguity makes it harder for leaders to justify termination. And the longer the underperformance drags on, the more damage it causes to your team’s momentum.
When strong performers work alongside someone who's coasting, resentment builds. Why should one person get by doing the bare minimum while others go above and beyond?
In smaller teams especially, that imbalance can be toxic. High performers may start to disengage, wondering whether their extra effort is even worth it. In time, the quiet tolerance of mediocrity becomes part of the culture.
Hiring mediocrity sends the message that excellence is optional. And that can ripple throughout your organization.
On the surface, hiring someone "good enough" may seem better than leaving a role unfilled. But mediocre employees often consume more time than they save—through repeated errors, re-training and missed opportunities.
Managers may spend hours coaching someone who ultimately can’t meet expectations. Coworkers may pick up the slack without recognition. That wasted time could be spent developing strong employees or growing the business.
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Perhaps the biggest cost of a mediocre hire is opportunity loss. While you're investing time in someone who's not quite right, you may be missing out on someone who would have been a great fit—someone with drive, alignment and long-term potential.
The longer the mediocre hire stays, the harder it becomes to revisit the role or restart the search. Settling can also signal lowered standards to potential candidates.
A strong hiring process reduces the risk of poor or "just okay" hires. Here are six ways to strengthen your decision-making and avoid settling.
An effective job description is more than a checklist. It helps align hiring teams, attracts the right candidates and serves as a benchmark during interviews. It also deters applicants who aren’t truly suited to the role.
Use it to set clear expectations—and revisit it before each new hire to ensure it reflects the current needs of the team.
RELATED: 7 Reasons Up-to-Date Job Descriptions Are a Must >>
Technical skills matter. But so do qualities like adaptability, communication, and emotional intelligence. According to a Leadership IQ study, 89% of employees who failed within 18 months did so because of attitude, not skill.
Make room in your interview process for these softer skills:
It’s easy to feel pressure when a role has been open for too long. But hiring out of urgency can cause long-term setbacks.
If your team is stretched thin, consider offering short-term incentives or rebalancing workloads to relieve pressure—rather than settling for the first okay candidate who applies.
Internships aren’t just for college students—they’re a powerful way to vet potential future hires. Interns gain firsthand experience with your business, and you gain insight into their work style, communication and team dynamics.
Interns who convert to full-time hires also ramp up faster and tend to have stronger loyalty.
Want to learn how to set your interns up for long-term success? Here’s why onboarding matters >>
When you're the only person evaluating a candidate, it’s easy to lose perspective—especially after several disappointing interviews. Adding another interviewer or decision maker helps balance impressions and identify blind spots.
A second opinion can confirm your instincts or raise questions you hadn’t considered.
RELATED: Recruiting Biases - How to Avoid Blind Spots and Make Smart Hiring Decisions >>
Small businesses often lack internal recruiting support, but that doesn’t mean they have to guess. Partnering with a certified PEO like Axcet HR Solutions gives you access to structured hiring tools—including applicant tracking, screening systems and expert HR consultants who can guide the process from start to finish.
Hiring is one of the most important decisions a business can make—and one of the most expensive to get wrong.
At Axcet HR Solutions, we help small and mid-sized businesses improve hiring outcomes through compliant job descriptions, structured recruiting processes and HR services tailored to your industry.
As a certified PEO headquartered in Kansas City, we offer expert guidance and enterprise-level tools—without the in-house HR overhead.
Let us help you avoid costly missteps and build a team that drives your business forward.
Schedule a consultation with Axcet today »
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