5 Steps to Recover From a Bad Hiring Decision

There are many things you can do to prevent a bad hire, including working with great recruitment partners, conducting multiple interviews, taking references and the list goes on. If you have a great recruitment process, it’s unlikely you’ll make a bad hiring decision, however, it's never impossible.

You may have noticed your new team member isn’t fitting in with your culture or their performance is lacklustre, what next?

Concluding that a bad hiring decision has been made can be extremely difficult for hiring managers and organisations. Not only is a hiring mistake costly but it can be a real blow to a hiring manager's confidence in their hiring abilities.

Recognising that a mistake has been made and taking swift action are the most important first steps. Unfortunately, many organisations don’t take swift action and let poor performance slide in the hope it will correct over time, leading to increased expense and potential negative impact on team morale and productivity.

Take these 5 steps to recover from a bad hire and prevent it from happening again.

Determine why they are a bad hire

Communication is key

Consider whether they are best suited in a different role

Let your mission guide your decision

Know when to let them go

1. Determine why they are a bad hire

Before you take action, determine why the employee isn’t working out.

• Is it a cultural fit?

• Did the hiring manager not qualify the person correctly?

• Did the employee misrepresent their expertise?

• Did you rush the hiring process and overlook potential red flags?

• Have they not had a thorough onboarding process?

• Are they receiving the support and training they need?

Whatever the reason, once you know why the employee seems like a mistake, you can take the right steps to fix the issue or decide whether termination is the best route to take.

2. Communication is key

As with most issues, communication is key to resolving issues. As a hiring manager, you should regularly meet with your new employee to offer training and support where needed; however, these meetings are also the perfect chance for you to express your feelings when it comes to their performance and cultural fit.

Ask what they think about the company and the position, as they may feel the same, and you can find a solution together.

3. Consider whether they are best suited in a different role

What if you’ve hired someone who is a great cultural fit but is having issues adapting to their new role? Skills can usually be taught, so don’t be too quick to dismiss them.

Cultural fit can be hard to find in today's competitive job market, and if they have genuine potential, assigning them a new role can be much less costly than restarting the hiring process.

If you decide that moving your new employee into a different role is the best course of action, pair this with a performance improvement plan so you can document their progress. This not only shows you have made an effort to help your employees be successful but will also highlight whether you’ve made the right decision moving them into a different role or whether termination is the next best action to take.

4. Let your mission guide your decision

The decision to keep or remove a bad hire is not always clear. When in doubt, think about the bigger picture and the direction you want your company to go in. Your mission, vision and values should drive every decision you make including when considering what to do with a potential hiring mistake. Behaviour, skills and cultural fit need to be aligned in every employee.

Don’t sacrifice your business to avoid making tough decisions.

5. Know when to let them go

There will be instances when bad hires just aren’t salvageable. If you have tried everything to save the hire and it’s just not working, it’s time to think about letting them go.

Here are a few reasons that termination may be the only solution

• The employee completely misrepresented his or her skills. This could be cause for immediate dismissal.

• The employee has excellent skills but is a terrible team player.

• The employee consistently shows disrespect and a lack of commitment to the organisation by not following basic company policies, despite repeated warnings.

• Investing in the employee would cost more money and take more time than your company can realistically afford.

Acknowledging you’ve made a bad hire is a painful realisation. But if you act wisely and quickly, you can make the best of a bad situation and avoid making future hiring blunders.