5 Wise Steps to Recover from a Bad Hiring Decision
How often has this happened to you?
After a long search you have hired someone to fill an important position in your company. During the interview he or she stood out from the crowd with a great resume, an enthusiastic personality and the skills you were looking for.
But after just a few weeks you realize that something is not quite right. Your new employee does not mix with colleagues, and her performance is poor at best. And these skills? As it turns out, their performance level is not as high as you initially thought, and other employees have to fill the gap. Instead of solving problems, your new employee is the problem.
You have made a bad attitude. What next?
Coming to this conclusion can be extremely difficult for a company because it is very costly to hire and bring someone on board. According to some estimates, the average US employer spends about $4,000 and 52 days to hire a new employee. If you find that you have hired the wrong person, it can really shake your confidence in your hiring skills and balance sheet.
How can you recover? Recognizing that you made a mistake and acting quickly to correct it are important first steps. Unfortunately, many organizations do not nip the situation in the bud and let poor performance drag in the hope of making its own course correction.
This is rarely the case. Maintaining a poor job for too long puts a strain on team morale and productivity within the organization as a whole. And it is also not good for the employee who is likely to struggle. Ultimately, both parties benefit when the poorly hired employee finds a job that suits him or her better.
Take these five smart actions to recover from a bad attitude and prevent it from repeating itself:
Determine why it is a bad attitude
Before taking action, dig deeper to find out why the employee is not well.
Is it a question of organizational aptitude or a skills gap? Did the employee misrepresent his or her skills or are they missing? All of the above? Or maybe you have made a hasty decision and overlooked possible red flags. Whatever the reason, once you have identified the cause of the problem, you will know whether it can be fixed or whether termination is the best course of action.
Consider whether reassignment is an option
Let's assume the employee in question is well suited for your office environment, but has problems using a critical piece of machinery or software that is critical to your business. These skills can usually be taught. Or, if an employee is not best suited for the position, but has strengths that are needed for other tasks within the company, you should not dismiss him or her too quickly. Instead, you might consider transferring him or her to another position.
You don't want to lose someone who is culturally appropriate and a solid team player, especially if they have the skills to excel in another position. These qualities can be hard to find in today's competitive job market. Poor hires might be worth retaining if they have real potential and if training for a new role costs less than resuming the hiring process.
If you decide to give a bad hire a second chance, you should communicate your expectations clearly. One way to do this is to have a detailed performance improvement plan that includes measurable goals and a timetable for meeting those goals.
For example, if an employee needs to improve their software skills, develop a performance improvement plan that states that they must take three courses during the next quarter and demonstrate improvements by a specific date. Make sure they understand this; if they don't achieve the goals within the agreed timeframe, they could be fired.
In addition to the performance improvement plan, document all coaching and progress meetings and disciplinary actions. These documents show that you have made efforts to help your employee succeed and can help reduce legal liability for your company.
Be guided by your mission
The truth is that the decision to keep or dismiss a bad attitude is not always clear and should be made on a case-by-case basis. When in doubt, think about the big picture. Refer to the mission, vision and values of your company. They form the foundation of your company's culture and serve as a blueprint for the direction it will take. If the employee's behavior and skills do not match what your company is about, they will not fit together well.
Don't sacrifice your company to avoid a difficult decision that may have to be made. It's nothing personal - it's just business. Leave it at that. Be professional and polite, and always do as much as you can to help the people you need to fire. For example, if they haven't been with the company long enough to justify severance, consider giving them the resources to help them find another job.
The way up is beneficial for them and for you: if employees leave with a good impression of your company, they are more likely to send you recommendations for job applicants or future business prospects.
Knowing when to throw in the towel
There will be cases where bad settings simply cannot be saved, period. When you have given them every chance of success and ruled out a transfer to a new role, it is time to think about letting them go and limiting your losses.
Here are some scenarios in which a dismissal might be the only solution:
- The employee has completely misrepresented his skills. This could be a reason for immediate dismissal
- The employee has excellent skills, but is a terrible team player
- The employee consistently shows disrespect and lack of commitment to the organization by not following basic company policies despite repeated warnings
- An investment in the employee would cost more money and take more time than your company can realistically afford.
Avoid future poor recruitment
Every business owner makes mistakes when hiring. But they are not a total loss if you learn from them and use the knowledge gained to make better hiring decisions. Look closely at what happened and why it happened to avoid making the same mistake twice.
Your recruitment and interview processes are a good starting point. Where do you try to find people? What questions do you ask applicants? Maybe they are not specific enough to identify problem areas. And are the people who ask the questions sufficiently trained for interviews? Asking the right questions can help to identify potentially problematic behaviors or attitudes and determine if the candidates really have the skills they claim to have.
Next, make sure that you communicate job descriptions clearly to applicants. List your expectations for the role in detail and at the same time reinforce your organizational culture. Candidates should know that you are looking for the whole package: an employee with the necessary skills, who is also in line with your company's culture, mission and values.
If you find that a new employee lacks the cultural fit or certain skills, it is a good idea to wait no longer than 30 to 45 days to provide feedback. Give them the opportunity to do something about it. Do not let the situation continue.
It is a painful realization when you acknowledge that you have hired a bad employee. But if you act wisely and quickly, you can make the best out of a bad situation and avoid making mistakes in future hires.