MAKE A MIS-HIRE? HERE’S HOW TO DEAL

Oh, hiring. It’s brutal out there. It often feels like you have to scour the earth to find the right fit for the role, your culture, and the price point. It’s easy to celebrate when you’ve done all of the right things, and you’re welcoming your new hire on board – Yes! Victory is sweet! But what happens when you fast forward a few months and – gasp – they’re a disaster?!

Once you realize you’ve hired the wrong person,  don’t drag your feet. A cohesive and well-oiled team will feel the effects of a mis-hire almost immediately, and mismatches can be a strain on productivity. Not to mention the damage it can do to the culture you are trying to build.

VC Mark Suster echoes that sentiment with his mantra of “hire fast, fire fast.” When you make a mistake, you need to own up to it and fix it ASAP. Underperformers or bad hires can make or break a startup.

So how do you go about it? Yes, it’s difficult. Yes, you may rather hide under your bed and never come out instead of having that uncomfortable conversation. The message isn’t, “You’re a bad person, and we’re a great company,” but rather, “We want you to succeed, and we want to succeed.” Emphasize the goal of helping them succeed elsewhere and even commit to doing so. Suster builds on that approach by offering suggestions on how they might think differently about the situation at the next company.

No matter how difficult and uncomfortable this is, own the decision to move forward and do so swiftly. Rip that band-aid off for the sake of everyone involved. But as you approach it, be kind. Respect the fact that you, too, played a part in the situation that got you here. And just like everyone tells the person leaving a job, the same goes for the employer, too: Don’t burn bridges. You never know how things play out in the future.