Don't Fall For These Common Leadership Myths

Over the next four?Leadership?EQuation?Journals, I'll be examining catchphrases that were once universally held truths amongst CEOs that continue to be bandied about despite evidence that they're completely irrelevant today.

"Hire slow, fire fast"

In the era of the?"Great Resignation,"?this statement is the farthest from the truth of what's happening in the marketplace today.

Let's replace it with?Hire smart, hire fast, and fire effectively.?The goal is to get the right person in the right role as quickly as possible.

Hiring today requires looking at your company’s entire talent acquisition strategy and processes and removing the obstacles that slow down identifying the right candidate and making them the offer.

Common obstacles in hiring

· Role descriptions are outdated

· Role scorecards not in place

· Too many interviews

· Time between interviews too long

· Administrative requirements

· Medical testing?

Corrective measures in hiring

· Establish scorecards for every role that spell out what you want that role to accomplish.

· No more than three structured interviews with less than 48 hours to complete them.

· Communicate with the candidate through every step of the process.

· If you decide on the right candidate, the direct reporting manager reaches out to them and sells them on the opportunity.

· Administrative and medical testing should not hold up the process, ever. Offers can be contingent.

Regarding the?"fire fast"?mindset,?ask yourself these questions:

· Do I have the right person but in the wrong role?

· Have I done all I could have from a development perspective to allow them to achieve in their role?

· What part of their poor performance do I own?

If you can answer these three questions satisfactorily, then firing fast makes sense.

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About the Author: Jeff Mariola is the founder of AGORA Forum and co-founder of Mariola Unlimited.