Let me get right to the point this month.
Your team is counting on you to make good hires.
And even with your best efforts, there will sometimes be a mis-pick.
That is inevitable.
What is not inevitable is how you navigate.
When “red flags” appear during onboarding, department training or their early days of employment we have to be courageous to see that truth and the impacts.
“Red flags” are things like propensity to generate confusion, signs of lack of commitment, being contrary to directives, not being team focused, disregarding co-workers and customers, making unreasonable requests, and being disengaged during trainings, to name a few.
The list goes on and in the early days of employment these traits might show up in small ways – and if they’re there, they will grow.
Logically, during the first days of employment we should be seeing the best that a person is able to offer. So, if you’re seeing these “red flags” appear during their supposedly “best time”, in my opinion, you’re going to have a problem on your hands down the line.
In our frustration of not wanting to start all over hiring someone, we rationalize within ourselves not meeting the problem head on.
We sidestep and ignore concerns by believing we need to be “fair and reasonable”. We convince ourselves they just need time and more support for “turning it around” and we’ll be that magic. We tell ourselves this person is “good enough” and that we don’t want any more hassles and start making excuses for them.
Here is the thing though, this type of approach to hiring can be ruinous, discouraging and exhausting.
In avoiding hassles, we have conveniently separated ourselves from recognizing the domino and compounding negative impacts to the team, our culture and our co-op. It breaks down team unity and trust.
I can think of at least a dozen situations from this past year where new employees kept their jobs when they shouldn’t have. In almost all cases the co-op has carried a greater burden for it. And in each case, these “red flags” were spotted while still in the appraisal period and often during on-boarding.
My encouragement is this: Be clear and proactive! Don’t wait. Don’t procrastinate. Don’t look the other way. Many are counting on you.
Use your appraisal periods wisely – that’s what it is there for.
Your firm decisions will show a lot to your team about how dedicated and willing you are to take construction actions are in safeguarding the culture and effectiveness of the organization.
Don’t wait.