Hiring the right person. I hope I did it right.
Yes! We finally made it through hiring the right person. I hope.
Ted will fit perfectly. He has the values, accomplished all the right things, has the skills, people seem to like him.
What else is there?
6 months later…
Ted is not happy and searching for a new job. He parted ways 2 months later.
Not a good situation. A colleague of mine told me the cost of hiring someone who doesn’t fit and hiring someone new can cost 2x to 3x the person’s salary paid in the first year. It can’t be true, can it?
Hidden costs of not hiring the right person
Okay, the analytic in me comes out.
- There’s the cost of the 6 months, that’s half the fully-loaded yearly costs.
- Next, is the training time before Ted hits productivity. That’s maybe 4 months (if all goes well) plus training time and other people’s time.
- Plus the time taken to decide to part ways. Say 2 months of no productivity.
- Finally, add the ramp up time again for the next person.
I don’t know what it works out to be in each case, but you get the idea. There are a lot of hidden costs that are incurred.
What happened?
What Ted really wanted was not being met by the company or the manager. Ted appeared to fit the company culture and values. Something when wrong.
The president did not clearly articulate what he wanted and did not clearly establish nor communicate it. Yes, the hiring manager followed the steps in the hiring process. Those are good and important but not sufficient.
Later, 3 months into the job Ted felt one of key values of being a people person, communicating with a wide range of people and being part of a social group at work was ignored. No, Ted felt it was stomped on.
In retrospect, the senior staff used words like innovative and customer relationships during the interview which aligned beautifully with Ted.
The problem was those values were not important to them. When push came to shove what was important to them was high quality, timely delivery, customer support to solve problems, heads down no-nonsense work, processes and procedures.
Oops.
It is simple, only 7 must do steps
The concept is simple to hiring the right person.
- Know what drives you, your project, and your company. Know this very well. Watch your actions especially under pressure. These under-pressure actions tell the real story despite what you want it to be.
- Get someone who is objective to evaluate the situation. It can be harsh or validating, but necessary.
Spend the time to understand your drives clearly. Articulate the drives succinctly. Spread them throughout all aspects of everything you do at your company and personally.- Communicate what drives you in everything you do. Yes, you can print them and mount them on a wall. That only matters if your actions back them up. People will appreciate them or leave.
- Uncover candidate drives during the hiring process. Ask questions about experiences. Ask candidates to tell you about things they are particularly proud of. Look for answers that align with your drives.
- Understand employee drives through day-to-day activities. Look for ways employee drives complement your drives and leverage them.
- Insure you, the organization, day-in and day-out live up to these drives especially as the person comes on board and gets comfortable at the company.
Easy to grasp reading this …
But, to understand and articulate your real drives and values (those behind your under-pressure reactions) may be harder to execute. To get these steps nailed down takes some effort and a hard look in the mirror. It can be hard to recognize the “real” drives or values you live, work, act, and react by.
So, Ted felt the company and people stomped on his values, leading him to leave.
It became clear, the subsequent actions and reactions by the hiring manager and president are what drove Ted away. Neither the hiring manager nor the president presented a consistent story about the job and the company to Ted.
To wrap up, don’t let things drag out if this is your issue. Let’s talk. Maybe I can help.
I’ve hired and fired and made excellent decisions and poor ones and paid attention to my successes and failures.
For the last 4 years, I’ve studied the issue with colleagues sharing best practices, tips, and ideas in real world situations.
Give me a call. 30 minutes is on me. (maybe coffee if we meet in person)
503-753-9971 or email me at phil@PhilBride.com.
Get unstuck. Make things happen.
