💡 Expert Insights: The hidden costs of vacancies - and bad hires

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⭐ Associate Spotlight: Greg McDowell

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Every open seat has a cost. Most hiring managers know that. What they underestimate is how quickly that cost compounds — and how much worse it gets if the wrong person fills the role.

An open role rarely just sits quietly. Someone else absorbs the work, projects slow down, and leadership shifts focus from growing the business to solving the staffing problem. Bonuses tied to team performance (including the hiring manager's) start slipping. And if the position stays open long enough, people notice. The team starts to wonder what's going on, and in some cases, they start looking for other opportunities too.

In financial services, where trust and continuity matter, a prolonged vacancy sends a signal you don't want to send. The firms that move decisively to fill key roles aren't just solving an operational problem, they're protecting culture, client relationships, and their own bottom line.

A bad hire, though, can be harder to recover from than a vacancy. The costs are real (time, salary, the disruption of starting over) but the root cause is often something that got missed much earlier in the process.

By the time a mishire becomes obvious, the damage is already done. The best defense is a rigorous process upfront: one that goes beyond qualifications and asks harder questions about fit, expectations, and what success actually looks like in the role.

With the right process in place, a mishire is the exception, not the rule. If you have a role that's been open too long — or you're worried about getting the next hire right — contact us or reach out to any team member at the bottom of this email. We'll help you get it right the first time.

6 weeks - Role posted, interviews scheduled, offer extended, accepted.

➡️ Verdict: The dream. Buy a lottery ticket.

3 months - Multiple interview rounds, some back and forth, candidate pool refreshed once.

➡️ Verdict: Manageable, but someone’s overthinking it.

6 months - Role reposted twice, committee involved, original candidate took another offer.

➡️ Verdict: The team has officially stopped holding their breath.

12+ months - No comment.

➡️ Verdict: We need to talk.

“I played men's fastpitch softball for 30 years, and the last team I played for was the Central Illinois Knights. We won 6 State Championships in 8 years and also won 2 National titles during that time. By doing so, it put our team in the ASA Fastpitch Softball Hall of Fame. We got inducted in the Fall of 2023.”

Greg’s experience on a champion softball team helps him knock every candidate placement out of the park.

👋🏼 Get to know Greg on LinkedIn >