We’ve written before, and it’s important to reiterate a few of these initial points. Turnover has always been expensive, but in today’s labor market, it has become one of the most preventable and most costly drains on organizational performance. Most companies now spend 50–200% of an employee’s annual salary every time they replace someone, and that’s the conservative estimate. When you factor in onboarding, training, lost productivity, safety incidents, and the hours managers spend coaching low performers, the real cost climbs dramatically higher.
The truth is simple:
Turnover is not a retention problem. It’s a hiring problem.
And traditional hiring tools were never designed to prevent it.
Why Traditional Hiring Tools Fail — and Cost You Money
Most organizations still rely on résumés, interviews, and skills tests to make hiring decisions. But each of these tools has a structural flaw that makes them unreliable predictors of job performance.
Résumés are embellished.
Your own training materials highlight that 95% of applicants exaggerate on their résumés. A résumé can tell you where someone has been, but not how they behave, follow procedures, communicate, or perform under pressure.
Interviews are subjective.
Research shows interviews predict job success only about 50% of the time. Interviewers form impressions within minutes, and decisions are influenced by charisma, rapport, and appearance rather than the behaviors that actually drive performance.
Skills tests measure only 30% of the job.
Even the most technical roles are only 30% technical. The remaining 70% of performance is behavioral: reliability, safety, communication, initiative, teamwork, judgment, and follow‑through. Skills tests confirm minimum qualifications, but they cannot predict whether someone will thrive.
When you hire based on tools that measure only a fraction of the job, mis‑hires are inevitable, and mis‑hires are expensive.
The 70% of the Job That Actually Predicts Performance
Scheig Solutions emphasizes a critical truth:
Productivity is in the detail — the actual job behaviors, not the trait or construct.
When employees struggle, it’s rarely because they lack a certification or a technical skill. It’s because they:
- Didn’t follow safety protocols
- Needed constant supervision
- Struggled with communication
- Lacked initiative
- Didn’t handle stress well
- Didn’t behave like your top performers
These behaviors determine whether someone becomes a high performer, an average performer, or a turnover statistic.
And unlike personality traits, behaviors are observable, measurable, and predictive.
How SelectRight™ Reduces Costs Across the Entire Employee Lifecycle
SelectRight™ is built on a scientifically rigorous, behavior‑first methodology that identifies candidates who behave like your top performers, the ones who stay longer, learn faster, and produce more.
Here’s how it reduces costs across recruiting, hiring, training, and retention.
1. Lower Recruiting Costs Through Better Screening
When you use SelectRight™ early in the hiring process, you eliminate low‑fit applicants before you spend time interviewing, scheduling, or screening them.
SelectRight™ can filter out half of all applicants as behaviorally unqualified. That means:
- Fewer wasted interviews
- Less recruiter time spent on low‑potential candidates
- Lower advertising and sourcing costs
- A stronger, more qualified applicant pool
Recruiting becomes faster, cheaper, and more efficient.
2. Lower Hiring Costs by Preventing Mis‑Hires
Mis‑hires are the most expensive hires.
SelectRight™ prevents them by measuring the behaviors that drive performance — the same behaviors demonstrated by your top performers. Because the assessment is built from a 300–500‑behavior job analysis, every item is tied directly to real‑world job requirements.
This dramatically increases hiring accuracy and reduces the costly cycle of:
- Hiring
- Training
- Coaching
- Replacing
- Re‑hiring
When you hire right the first time, you stop paying for the same mistake twice.
3. Lower Training Costs Through Better Job Fit
Employees who naturally align with the behavioral demands of the job:
- Learn faster
- Require less supervision
- Make fewer mistakes
- Advance more quickly
- Become productive sooner
Scheig knows that outstanding performers are 2–3 times more productive than average or barely acceptable performers.
SelectRight™ identifies these individuals before you hire them, reducing the time and money spent training those who were never behaviorally suited for the role.
4. Lower Turnover Costs by Hiring People Who Stay
Turnover is expensive — but preventable.
SelectRight™ reduces turnover by identifying candidates who match the behavioral profile of your long‑term, high‑performing employees. Clients consistently report:
- 50–75% reductions in turnover
- Up to 60% fewer workers’ compensation claims
- Higher retention in the first 90 days
- More stable, reliable teams
When you hire people who behave like your best employees, they stay longer — and your turnover costs plummet.
The Bottom Line
Traditional hiring tools weren’t built for today’s labor market.
- Résumés can be embellished.
- Interviews are subjective.
- Skills tests measure only 30% of the job.
But behaviors — the 70% that truly drive performance — remain stable, measurable, and predictive.
That’s why organizations across industries continue to rely on SelectRight™.
It cuts through the noise to reveal who will perform, who will stay, and who will strengthen your workforce for the long term.
If you want to reduce recruiting costs, lower hiring risk, shorten training time, and dramatically reduce turnover, behavior‑based hiring isn’t optional — it’s essential.
SelectRight™ is how you get there.
FAQs:
1. How does SelectRight™ reduce recruiting costs for employers?
SelectRight™ reduces recruiting costs by filtering out low‑fit applicants early in the hiring process. Because the assessment identifies behavioral misalignment upfront, hiring teams spend less time on unqualified candidates, conduct fewer wasted interviews, and reduce advertising and sourcing expenses. This leads to a stronger applicant pool and a faster, more efficient recruiting workflow.
2. Why is SelectRight™ more effective than resumes, interviews, or skills tests?
Traditional hiring tools measure only a small portion of job performance. Resumes are often embellished, interviews are subjective, and skills tests measure only the technical 30% of the job. SelectRight™ evaluates the 70% behavioral component — reliability, safety, communication, initiative, teamwork, and judgment — which is the strongest predictor of long‑term performance and retention.
3. How does SelectRight™ help prevent costly mis‑hires?
SelectRight™ is built from a job analysis with top performers, ensuring that every assessment item reflects real-world job requirements. By comparing applicants to the behavioral blueprint of high performers, SelectRight™ dramatically increases hiring accuracy and prevents the expensive cycle of hiring, training, coaching, replacing, and rehiring.
4. Can SelectRight™ improve training outcomes and reduce onboarding time?
Yes. Employees who naturally align with the behavioral demands of the job learn faster, require less supervision, make fewer mistakes, and reach full productivity sooner. SelectRight™ identifies these individuals before the hire, reducing training costs and improving onboarding effectiveness. Organizations consistently see faster ramp‑up times and stronger early performance.
5. How does SelectRight™ reduce turnover and strengthen workforce performance?
Turnover is primarily driven by behavioral misalignment, not by a lack of technical skill. SelectRight™ identifies candidates who match the behavioral profile of long‑term, high‑performing employees. Clients report 50–75% reductions in turnover, fewer safety incidents, higher 90‑day retention, and more stable teams. When you hire people who behave like your best employees, they stay longer — and your workforce becomes stronger and more reliable.
