From Harvard Business Review we get a great discussion on what so many companies do wrong when it comes to hiring for growth. It’s one of the best reads I’ve ever seen there and you should go now to read the whole thing. But for those that like just the summary, here’s the key passage for me:
If “hire slow, fire fast” sounds harsh or mercurial, consider how harsh it is to allow a whole team to be held hostage by someone who should not have been hired in the first place.
First- firing does not mean giving someone two weeks notice a month after being hired. All decisions around employees should be made focused on what is right for the business and the employee. Firing also does not necessarily mean fired as in “gone from the organization.” Sometimes it can mean moving to a better fit position. Although, to be fair, it can mean helping the employee move on somewhere else.
But this topic is important because it is natural for managers to think about the business for operational decisions but to think about the individuals for personnel decisions. This disconnect leads to valuable employee spots being taken up by people that are not producing and are not being moved.
To “hire slow, fire fast,” start by being absurdly selective in who you hire. Mark Adams, the Managing Director at Vitsoe, the worldwide licensee of Dieter Ram’s furniture collection, approaches hiring with incredible selectivity. What he wants to discover is who is a natural fit.
This approach is all about ending up with the best team to support the business. Often poor employee fits are a result of a poor hiring process, not a poor employee. When hiring occurs too quickly because all we need is “someone” then you can too easily end up with the wrong person who will ultimately not add the value hoped for. Sometimes you should suffer an extra 2 months to find the right person instead of hiring the best available today.