What To Do When You've Made The Wrong Hiring Decision

Recruitment can be challenging, especially when looking for a specific set of skills and experience. Leadership or performance-focused roles within specific industries, such as a SaaS VP of Sales, can be even more challenging to recruit for due to the high level of qualifications required.

Searches, interviews, qualifying, and notice periods can be time-consuming and costly, so it is critical to get them right.

Even those with great resumes, enthusiastic personalities and the right skills and experience can fall short of expectations.

Making a hiring mistake as a hiring manager can be a real blow to your confidence and ability to judge people during the interview process; however, there are steps you can take to recover and stop it from happening again.

Establish why they are a bad hire

Consider whether they would be better in another role

Let your mission guide you

Know when to give up

Avoid future bad hires

Establish why they are a bad hire

Before doing anything, you must discover why the employee isn't working out.

Is it because you've made the wrong hiring decision, or is your onboarding process wrong?  Did you rush the recruitment process and overlook potential red flags? Whatever the reason, once you determine the issue, you can decide whether it is fixable.

Here are some telltale signs you could have made a wrong hiring decision:

They make the same mistakes

Your new employee is bound to make mistakes; no amount of training can cover everything the job will entail, whether it is a junior or senior role. However, if you have provided additional meetings and training sessions to discuss the mistake, you should expect your employees not to make them anymore. Continuous mistakes may mean a lack of attention and willingness to learn, as well as being lazy and unable to.

They wait for you to tell them what to do

All employees need guidance when starting a new company; however, after a few days or weeks, you should expect some work initiative.  Employees waiting to be given the next step are unlikely to become star performers.

They don't get to know anybody

Office culture is an ever-increasing necessity; it adds many positives to your company, including strengthening your brand and boosting motivation and productivity. If a new employee isn't gelling with their colleagues, it could mean they have problems working in teams or might not plan on staying with the company long.

They don't have any questions

It's impossible to know everything about a new job.  Your new hire should be asking questions – it shows engagement and interest in the position. Questions relating to the business are also a good sign, meaning they're still interested in learning more about the company for which they're working.  If they're not asking questions, it could mean they think they know everything about the position or are not motivated.

They compare this job to their previous job

Trusting the company you work for means trusting its methods. If a new employee constantly compares your company to their previous one, it could mean they prefer their old method. They should be adapting to your company's methods; it's a big warning sign if they're not.

They're never there

If a new hire is late, constantly sick, and always taking extra-long lunches, they lack the motivation to want to be a great employee.  This is a red flag in any industry and level.

It's not the end of the world if you make the wrong hiring decision—seek advice and others' opinions on hiring in the future.

Consider whether they would be better in another role

If the person fits in well but isn’t performing to the standard you expected, consider whether they would be better suited to another role.

You don’t want to lose someone who is the right culture fit and could potentially excel in another position. Great people can be difficult to find, so don’t be too quick to dismiss them. Training them in a new role will be less costly than restarting the hiring process.

If you do give your bad hire a second chance, make your expectations clear and communicate measurable goals and a completion timeline.

Let your mission guide you

Your mission, vision and values should guide every decision you make.  If the employee’s behaviour and skills aren’t aligned with what your company is about, they’re not a good fit.

Be professional and courteous, and always do as much as possible to help employees. However, also realise that you cannot completely change people, and some will have to be let go.

Know when to give up

There will be instances when bad hires aren’t for you or your company.  If you have given them every chance to succeed, but they simply aren’t right – cut your losses.

Here are a few scenarios where termination may be the only solution:

• The employee lied about their skills and experience

• The employee simply isn’t the right fit for your company

• The employee shows a lack of commitment

Avoid future bad hires

Every business makes hiring mistakes; however, you can only move forward by learning from your mistakes and implementing a strategy to prevent them from happening again.

A good place to start is your recruiting and interview process.  Start right at the beginning with your job descriptions and list of specifications.

If you don’t know where to start, consult a recruitment professional. Recruitment firms can offer you guidance and assist you in finding the right people with the right skills and experience for the role you are trying to hire.

Acknowledging you’ve made a bad hire is a painful realisation; however, the sooner you realise, the sooner you can take the right actions to reduce the impact.

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FAQs

• How do you know if you’ve made the wrong hiring decision?

  Common signs of a bad hire include repeated mistakes, lack of initiative, poor cultural integration, minimal engagement, and ongoing performance issues despite clear feedback and support. In leadership roles such as a SaaS VP of Sales, misalignment often shows up quickly through missed targets, poor team influence, or resistance to company ways of working.

• How long should you wait before addressing a poor hiring decision?

  Poor hiring decisions should be addressed as early as possible. The longer underperformance goes unmanaged, the greater the impact on team morale, productivity, and leadership credibility. Many organisations aim to make a clear assessment within the first 90 days, particularly for senior or performance-critical roles.

• What impact does a bad hire have on high-performing teams?

  A bad hire can significantly reduce team performance by increasing workload, causing frustration, and lowering morale among high performers. In SaaS environments, where collaboration and execution speed are critical, one underperforming individual, especially in a leadership role, can create ripple effects across sales, marketing, and customer success teams.

• How can companies avoid making the wrong hiring decision in the future?

  Avoiding bad hires starts with clear role definition, realistic success criteria, and a structured interview process that assesses both capability and cultural fit. Partnering with a specialist recruitment firm can also help identify red flags early, benchmark talent accurately, and ensure you’re hiring individuals with a proven track record in similar environments.