Top Tips From Executive Search Companies To Recover From a Bad Hiring Decision.

Regretting that you hired the wrong person for a senior position in your company?

Sometimes it happens that the candidate who stood out in the interview process and had the best resume and skillset turns out to be unsuitable for the job. Maybe, they are not able to lead, the performance isn’t enough to achieve the goals or some other reasons. Overall, the candidate’s level of proficiency isn’t as advanced as you anticipated.

Now that it’s clear you’ve made a bad hiring decision, what now?

Today most companies take the help of executive search companies to reduce the probability of making a bad hiring decision. Bad hiring decision is not uncommon in contemporary times, but all companies do not act quickly. Many organizations allow the inefficiencies to slide for a while, hoping that the candidate will learn and improve over time. However, that’s a kind of risk you wouldn’t want to take because it will drain your investment, productivity as well as team morality. Moreover, such situations don’t benefit either of the party as both are in a struggling situation.

 

 

Top tips to recover from a bad hiring decision

Wondering how to recover from a bad hire and prevent it from happening again? Check out the following points that tell you how to recover from a bad hire.

• Find out why it’s a bad hire

Before making any decision, ensure to find out why it’s a bad hire.

Did the candidate misrepresent his skills during the interview? Is there a gap in skills? Did you ignore the red flags while making a hasty decision? Or it is something else. Irrespective of the problem, it is essential to get to the root of the problem to determine where it can be fixed, or terminating the candidate is the last option left.

• Prepare for an uncomfortable discussion with the new hire

Instead of delaying any strict action by hoping for a change, it is better to have a direct conversation with the new hire. If it is the performance issues that are worrying you, expressing your dissatisfaction can open the way for a solution. When you share your concern and ask for their input, the candidate gets to hear and understand your perspective on the current situation.

Having a discussion can allow you to know the problems that the new hire is facing as well as help the candidate understand the problems and improve with time. A discussion is an opportunity to clear the air and focus on a solution unitedly. It’s the feedback that helps both sides to work together on the problems.

 

• Let your goals guide your decision

Making a decision following a bad hire may seem tough because of several reasons. In that case, allowing your goal to be the guide in taking the next step can be a reasonable thing to do in such circumstances. When it appears that the candidate may not be the right person for the position, one can either fire the person or allow more time to improve. However, any such decision can prove costly for the company’s reputation and investment. So if you are on the fence, think about the bigger picture.

Employees may come and go but to help a company grow it needs to make sacrifices for a better future. However, it also demands a proper assessment of whether a sacrifice is needed. If the skills and the behaviour of the new candidate are not meeting the company’s requirements, you have the right to make a tough decision.

 

• Know when to take action

There could be a situation when you are out of options to help a bad hire succeed. In that case, you will have to choose between cutting your losses and cutting them loose. Given below are the top scenarios where you may find termination as the best solution.

• The new candidate is a terrible team player
• Completely misrepresented his or her skills
• When the employee has no respect for fellow colleagues and seniors
• If warnings are not taken seriously by the candidate
• When the company cannot afford to incur losses anymore

 

How to prevent hiring mistakes in the future?

It is significant to avoid hiring mistakes even if it takes time. The last thing you would want is to miss project deadlines or witness other employees leaving the company because of a bad hire. Here are the three things that you must do when hiring the best candidate for a position.

• Check the references

Checking a candidate’s references can offer further insight into the experiences and skills of the individual. Talking to someone where the candidate used to work before can tell you whether the person is fit for the work culture in your organisation.

That is why ask candidates to offer references and make sure to check them to prevent making any hiring mistakes.

• Don’t rush the hiring process

Even though the need may be urgent, rushing the hiring process can lead to making a mistake and lead to even bigger consequences. To ensure that a candidate is right for the position, always abide by the company’s hiring protocol so that it can save you from huge losses in the future.

Make sure to widen your search, interview many candidates, or conduct interviews till you are satisfied with the choice for the position.

 

• Involving the entire team

Involving the team is a wise decision because you will be able to get the opinions of others who have been working in the organization for a long time. Simultaneously, you will get their guidance in making a decision. In that case, you can ask the team leaders or managers to sit in on the interviews so that you can hire the right person and help boost the company’s productivity.

 

Conclusion

To cut a long story short, finding the ideal candidate for a job is easier said than done. A hiring process requires lots of patience and assessment so that the right candidate can be selected to fill a vital position. That is why many companies these days are taking the help of executive search companies to find candidates with the right skill set, experience, and attitude to work in their organisation.

Konfer Executive Group is a reputed headhunting company in Germany. With over 55 years of experience in finding a talented and reliable candidate for senior-level positions, we always use result-driven search strategies to meet the requirements of organisations. If you want to know more about our services, contact us today.