All leaders make bad hiring decisions. If you make a bad hire, one that endangers the success of your team, you still have options. While you shouldn’t throw new hires to the wolves and see if they can survive, you do want to 1) give new hires the tools necessary to succeed and 2) hold them accountable to the right attitude and activities.
Many companies have probationary periods where the applicant can be terminated without all of red HR tape. Regardless if there is a probationary period, it is the leader’s job to work within the rules and laws to make sure all bad hires don’t become long-term bad employees.
Once a leader identifies that a new employee is not doing the right activities or does not have the right attitude, the leader needs to address the poor performance with the employee immediately.
Be sure to ask the employee for his or her perspective and give clear expectations as to what it will take in the near future to remain in the organization. Remember: a bad hire is not as a rule a bad person; sometimes bad hires are just not a right fit for the position or organization.
So, you communicate the expectations, make sure the new hire understands them, and then you hold the hire accountable to the requirements of the job. And you do all this quickly–I’d say within a 30 day period.
If the new hire continues in this short time to be a bad hire, then you need to take the difficult but right route. You need to fire the employee.
