One of the key factors, when we have discussions internally or with clients, is why hiring goes wrong in certain cases.
The question remains how do you qualify someone as a wrong hire?
It is especially true when someone doesn’t align with the culture and working environment and in some cases, the alignment of roles and performance doesn’t match.
-The Problem of Culture Fit?
One of the key ways to avoid this problem is to be extremely clear on who you are as a company and that can only happen if you can pinpoint your employer brand.
Ask your employees how they associate the company and what as a founder or captain of the company, how you perceive it. The amalgamation of these two will give you the answer.
Although a long interview process is exhausting, take that as a point of discussion- one round simply is not enough and one needs to understand who the candidate is and whether they thrive within the culture of the company. You can avoid a lot of Culture Fit mishaps by being open and transparent.
Make your interview process a discussion first process.
-The problem of performance-
Is the employee unable to perform basic duties or are you not providing the right tools?
In this case, have multiple rounds of discussion, and understand the pain points for them, and with resources provided, they most likely can perform and in the unlikely scenario that they still can’t perform, make a clean break.
Performance is indicative of both the organization and the employee. Introspection is very important but so is to understand when you cut your losses as an organization and as an employee.
Not even a match will work out, but if you look for the right behavioral traits and indicators, you are bound to find more matches that work in your favor.
Performance v/s Potential Hiring
Recruitment seems like a fairly transactional process, you have a role, a place for a person in your organization, and you give that vacancy to your recruitment team, elaborating what kind of person you are looking for and what will be their roles and responsibilities.
Once this is done, you can advertise the role, screen the resumes, hold interviews, and voila you are done with the process. What we fail to realize is that all sides of this transaction are with people.
Manpower Planning – When the vacancy is identified, it is usually on a singular basis in a team. If it is a large organization, then it will start as a requisition (in case of a new role) and then be approved if it is a replacement, it will go straight to HR.
In MSMEs or start-ups, usually, the head will have the autonomy to hire. And will have a similar requisition structure. The possibility of an internal fulfillment or IJP can be introduced, depending on how the policies of said organization and how old the organization is.
On the surface, Recruitment is a fairly easy process but if not done properly, it leads to overhiring, correction, and misfit employees that don’t gel within the organization.
Three main points to ask while hiring-
Performance or Potential
If it is a replacement hire, you hire a candidate who is well-versed in the field. If you are hiring a new resource, hire for their potential
Fresher Hiring
One of my managers said that freshers should be hired based on their sincerity and ability to learn. Rest can be taught
Culture Alignment
If you are a fast-paced organization, you hire from a legacy organization, they will most likely feel outpaced, and similarly, start-up folks feel they have been put in slow-mo when they use more traditional organizations. Hire people who not only know what to do but are also able to fit with the existing teams and culture.