Hire the Best and Get Rid of the Rest
Roberta Matuson
Strategic Advisor on Talent | Global Executive Coach | Public Speaker I Brand Ambassador | HBR Contributor I Helping organizations attract & retain the best people.
People hang onto employees way longer than they should. I have a theory on this, which I proved to be true when I worked as the Human Resources Director for an overnight delivery service.
The belief that the devil you know is better than one you don't know is running rampant in organizations. When I questions leaders about their reasons for retaining people who are no longer worth keeping, I hear things like:
- "Well, they're not that bad."
- "There is no one else in the country with this type of knowledge"
- "I don't have time to train someone new."
And that's just the tip of the iceberg. But here's what's really going on.
Most hiring managers hate to interview candidates. They find the process to be time consuming and uncomfortable. And when they do make a job offer, they really have no idea if they've chosen the right candidate until it's too late.
Quickly firing someone you've just hired doesn't exactly reflect well on the hiring manager or does it?
I mentioned that I tested this theory out. Here's what I did. I brought in an expert to train our employees how interview candidates and select for success.
And than something happened that I didn't anticipate.
Managers began seeking advice on how to transition people out of the organization. When asked why they were choosing to do this now, they told me they were confident they could hire better people than the employees they were looking to replace.
Six months later the dead wood had been cleared out of the organization. Several managers even told me they now looked forward to interviewing candidates!
When you're not comfortable with your ability to do something, you avoid doing what needs to be done.
Determine what's holding you back, get help where needed, and free yourself to move forward.
? Matuson Consulting, 2019.
Special Opportunity: Upcoming Teleconference
Join me on Friday, November 1st at 11:00 AM, EDT for a jammed packed one-hour teleconference on Selecting for Success, where I'll teach you how you dramatically accelerate your ability to hire the right talent in a zero unemployment economy. A recording will be sent out after the session.
Register here.
"Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don't quit." - Conrad Hilton
5 年This is a demoralizing statement, who is the best, who can decide upon that, is it the employer or the employee as self proclaimed? There is nothing called as the best in today’s world. It is always said or termed as good at. If he or she considered themselves as best they wouldn’t be looking out for jobs or be employees for an organization, infact they would be starting their very own business if they believe in themselves as the best.
CEO | Serial entrepreneur | Investor | Author of The Art Of Real Estate Investment | Husband and Father of four
5 年It's always too late to procrastinate even one more minute, but it's never too late to start. Many employees kill their career and underutilise their potentials because they overthink the fact that they don't own the business and they are working for a business, in fact, some obsess over how much benefit the business is making and they forget about what is in it for them. In short, your experience and your future if your business and your business alone. Do you take the company you are working with as your own? Join the coversation here: https://www.dhirubhai.net/posts/firas-al-msaddi_career-employmentadvice-employeeculture-activity-6591589280202756096-Bzi8
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5 年Quite disgusted by this actually. I believe a company should value their employees, if you you look after your employees they will look after your clients. Certainly thinking your employers are considering strategies to move you on would surely create mistrust and a toxic environment. Maybe focus should just be on hiring the best.
Director of Operations And Business Development
5 年When we say hire the best what do we actually mean. I have seen companies hire the wrong people without any industry qualifications. The companies do not always define what they mean by hire the best. Kick the rest has seen so many companies lose qualified employees and have not been able to retain the talent they need to continually improve. Retaining talent is a competitive advantage it is always up to the companies to retain them. But what if the hiring manager is not doing it the right way?