Some candidates sail through the application process with such ease that their hiring managers are certain they will make excellent employees. However, even the best candidates can sometimes turn out to be ineffective, according to the Harvard Business Review.
Once leaders realize an employee is a bad fit for the team, it is difficult to admit they made an error in hiring that employee, though it is more damaging to the organization to not act swiftly. Here are four steps to help leaders recover and move on from a bad hire:
1. Prepare for a direct, and probably uncomfortable, conversation with the new hire. These conversations are never easy, but if the employee has recognized some of the same problems brought up by their manager, the two parties may be able to work toward a solution.
2. Try to repair the situation with focused feedback or reassignment. Some employees can learn to thrive in their current role with some constructive criticism, but others may require a new role with different responsibilities in order to properly utilize their skills.
3. Identify both the current and future expense of keeping the bad hire. Tweaking a role does not work for every employee, and in some cases leaders must calculate the negative effects one person may be causing for the team as a whole to understand how much they are costing the organization.
4. Make the case for an exception to the typical exit plan. If a leader decides nothing can be done to make a bad hire fit within the organization, they should do whatever they can to make the departure and transition as smooth as possible, utilizing whatever severance and displacement services are necessary.