Hire
"Slow to hire."
"Quick to Fire."
Okay, I need a show of hands:
- Who’s heard those two phrases together before?
- Who’s said those two phases before?
- Who actually does that?
Yeah, that’s what I figured. I know some folks who are quick to hire and quick to fire, but most of us are very quick to hire and seemingly unable to fire anyone. Add the challenging ingredient of our Christian faith to that equation, and being slow to hire and quick to fire becomes really, really difficult. It doesn’t change the fact, however, that it is really, really good advice.
The other interesting phenomena we see with faith-based or high integrity leadership is that they regularly hire out of the need of the other person and not the need of the organization. Almost as if the only essential ingredients for the hire is that…
They need a job.
We have one to offer.
Despite a well articulated position agreement (job description) of what is required for the available slot, really good hearted leaders often disregard the obvious lack of fit and only see the obvious need for the job in the person. On one level, you have to love the intentions behind that, but you know what they say about that and the road to hell…
We actually teach that process a different way. We say:
1. Slow to hire - Choose the one who seems perfectly qualified, that has gone through a battery of interviews, possible assessment training, and a lot of prayerful discernment.
2. Quick to coach - Provide proper training, clarity of their role and expectations, and all the necessary tools, mentoring, and support needed to succeed.
3. Quicker to fire - Hire with a clear trial period, invest in every way you can to see them succeed, but if they are not a clear and viable fit for your organization’s success, release them to find a place where their skills, abilities, work ethic(!) and attitude (!!!!) will be a better fit.
This is one of the areas we feel is a specialty. One of the ways we most benefit our clients. Only hire a person who supports the organizational design, that fulfills your future vision, and is a perfect contractual fit for the clear and powerful position agreement that has been defined.
We often help script the application and interview process, define the on-boarding strategy, and define the cornerstones of the trial period’s success with our clients. We are even powerfully using the incredible clarity from our StoryBrand Guide certification to help craft job listings to get real results with people that truly align with an organization.
- Be honest: Are you slow to hire and quick to fire, or the other way around?
- What is it costing you to be mis-hiring and mis-firing so often?
- What steps do you need to take to change that?
- How can we help?