Not Using A Professional Services Firm – What Happens If A Bad Hire Is Made?

Hiring candidates for senior management, executive and C-Suite positions is anything but a straightforward process. A candidate might tick all the boxes on paper in terms of their previous experience, achievements, qualifications and skillsets, but then unexpected problems might still arise after they have been hired.

This is one of the main reasons why organisations work with a professional services firm that specialises in executive search. Their headhunters, along with their in-house research teams, are experts in sourcing, assessing and presenting top-performing executive talent for their clients.

If you haven’t outsourced to a retained search firm and found yourself in the situation of hiring the wrong person for an executive position, consider these following steps:

Try to rectify the situation with feedback

A situation might occur where you have hired a candidate based on their drive, past experience and qualifications. However, after a couple of weeks or months, they may start showing signs that they are not completely happy in their new role. This could involve making careless mistakes, not fully understanding the business model or being unable to adapt their technical skills to the role.

However, organising a training or feedback program may help. This can involve highlighting critical areas that need the most attention and working with them to provide constant feedback. Remember to outline an ‘end date’ of two to three months to monitor if improvement has increased.

Outline the costs of keeping them on

When not outsourcing to a professional services firm and ending up with a bad hire, the negative impact will ripple throughout other teams and departments. For example, hiring the wrong candidate for a senior executive position could result in them having unrealistic expectations when it comes to decision making and allocating company resources. This can cost an organisation dearly.

It’s important to calculate the overall costs of keeping them on. Apart from the financial costs, this also includes the possibility of increased interdepartmental conflict, reduced team productivity, possible turnover, missed business opportunities and more.

Consider an exit plan

When the relationship with the bad hire cannot be salvaged, planning an exit strategy will help to make their departure as smooth as possible.

If the person is cooperative, having an honest conversation with them can help the business to negotiate and organise a mutually beneficial severance plan. This will show the unsuccessful employee that you are acting in good faith and treating them fairly, helping to make the transition go smoothly.

If they have shown behavioural or ethical problems, then you will need to have a direct and to the point meeting with them. This can outline the exact issues or tasks that they are unable to effectively perform in the role, the date of their termination of employment and how the organisation is going to manage the exit.

As you can see, the cost of making a bad hiring choice can have devastating consequences for your organisation. To drastically reduce the risk of making a bad hire, consider outsourcing the hiring process to a professional services firm that specialises in executive search.