Your Next Hire – Part 1

Have you heard the term “Hire slow and fire fast?”

I subscribe to half of that axiom. The first part.

We are in the process of hiring right now so I figured I’d share some of what works for us.

The best advice I can give you is to SLOW DOWN in your hiring process.

This can be extremely challenging when you have more work to do than people to do it.

I get it. This is why it’s so important to always be projecting and thinking about where you are in terms of a timeline for hiring. That;s one of your jobs as the leader.

If you wait until you absolutely need to hire someone to start thinking about it, you will get jammed up.

Adding to your team is definitely a balancing act but here are some questions to ask yourself when making the decision:

• Do we really need to hire right now or would it just be nice to get things off my plate? Have you paid your “success tax” yet?
• Is my current team really being efficient with their time? I’d recommend looking at everyone’s KPIs (key performance indicators) and see if they jibe with the overall goals and vision you have. Busy doesn’t always equal productive.
• How is my cash position? Personally I wouldn’t add to my team if I couldn’t make it work financially. Too many people project how great things are going to be with a new hire only to find out that all they did was shrink their margins.
• What is my gut saying? When I hired too fast or hired the wrong person, usually I knew in my gut but ignored it.

You might be wondering why I’m recommending you slow down your hiring process.

It’s extremely costly and stressful to make a bad hire. You lose time, money, and it negatively affects your team. Most major problems with team members can be traced back to them being a wrong fit for the team or a wrong fit for the position (i.e. wrong seat on the bus). I’d refer you to Jim Collins’ work (Good To Great) for more on this.

The bottom line is that whatever hiring process you’re implementing now, you should probably double it.

That might sound extreme but here is what I’ve learned.

It’s very similar to dating. Anyone can be on their best behaviour for the first 1 or even 2 or 3 dates. It’s only after spending a good amount of time with someone that their true personality comes out. Most people can only hide who they are for so long. You’ll see certain signs or red flags start popping up. This will help you determine if the person really is a good fit for your team and culture.

Since this is a big topic I’ll be doing Part 2 of this next week where I’ll discuss what we do during the interview process.

For now, let me know if you have any questions or thoughts.