What to do when you get the hiring decision wrong

What to do when you get the hiring decision wrong

Let’s face it. When we get hiring decisions wrong the consequences can be painful. Lost time, money and productivity together with low morale and damaged relationships are among the most common impacts I see. The decisions you make about who to appoint to each role matter not only to the individual's success but also to the performance of your business as a whole.  

 

Reflect for a moment on when you have gotten hiring decisions wrong.  Have there been times when you’ve hired someone, only to decide soon after their probationary period has ended that they aren’t working out? All too often I observe leaders miss the valuable opportunity employment probation provides to continue the assessment process and validate hiring decisions.  Consider your recruitment process completed at the end of probation.  

 

Take deliberate steps throughout the early stages of employment to continue your assessment of each person’s suitability to their role and your team.   Two essential questions you need to ask yourself, and other members of your leadership team, about every new starter include 1) Do they behave in ways that we need and want them to? and 2) Can they perform the tasks of the role to the standard we expected? 

 

If you get the hiring decision wrong, the most important steps you can take include these: 

 

  1. Engage in honest conversations early.  Provide truthful insight to the concerns you hold and help your new team member to understand the ways in which they need to improve.  Don’t leave your feedback so late in the probationary period that they have little opportunity to demonstrate their ability to meet your expectations.   

 

  1. Don’t kid yourself.  Being overly optimistic about someone’s ability to improve is unhelpful.  Recognise when training or coaching is worth investing in, but also understand when the time has come for them to move on.   

 

  1. Take the action you need to.  When it becomes evident that despite best efforts the person simply isn’t up to the job, part ways respectfully.  Avoiding the issue will only prolong the detrimental impact a poor performer can have on your team and business.  

 

  1. Learn from the experience.  Reflect on how the hiring decision was reached and what you can do to avoid making the same mistakes next time.  Invest in your leaderships team’s ability to accurately assess candidates, in particular their capabilities and cultural alignment with your business.   

 



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