Always Be Hiring

By Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter

“You are not the leader to win a popularity contest. You are the leader to lead.”

                                                                                                           ~Jack Welsh

Years ago, I remember calling an employer and asking them if they had a position        I could help recruit for.

“Nah. I’m pretty full up.”

“I’m sure everyone is not an ‘A’ performer. Got any ‘D’s’ or worse on your team?”

“Yeah.”

“Why aren’t you replacing them?”

And I helped her do just that. Replace the “D’s” on her team with people who ranked higher in her thinking and who helped her look like a star, deliver great results, and help her catapult to a significant promotion in another business unit while having a replacement for herself in place.

Today, it is extremely rare for a story like that to occur. American business has become far more necrotic and bureaucratic. Fear often rules the roost.

Hiring a replacement for an existing employee often results in the hiring manager either having to admit failure and cover their derriere with management or “finesse ” their incompetent staffer on an unsuspecting colleague.

Now I know every organization has a review policy that is steeped in the tradition of dishonesty. After all, how many of you have ever seen an incompetent colleague walk out of a review looking pale from a manager who had the courage to say to them, “I hired you because I thought you could succeed her . . . but you just aren’t cutting it. Let me tell you what to do to save your job.”

No, job reviews leave people with false hope. Worse yet, they leave the manager with the person causing their sleepless nights firmly entrenched in the group, department or organization.

Each day the “D” or worse performer remains with you, your A’s, B’s, and C’s know that you don’t hold to high standards and they can skate by and get their raises and promotions.

 

For many years, October became a time when firms would look at their staff, ask and answer the question, “Who are our bottom 10% of performers,” and replace them. There were no further reviews. No, “we need you step up your game” speeches.

The organization had a clear policy that you need to bring your ‘A’ game every day or else.

Fear and money became their two biggest motivators.

They understood it was important to control their destiny or have market forces control theirs.

And they understood that tolerating mediocrity (or worse) was damaging to their firm and its commitment to excellence.

 

For those of you who are tolerating “D’s” or worse, you have an opportunity to replace them with people who are committed to your success and delivering results. You have wasted a lot of time thinking about and trying to get better results from this person or these people and been unsuccessful.

Admit it.

This person or these people were bad hires.

Replace them and get back to being focused on what is ahead instead of constantly fixing what is broken.

 

© The Big Game Hunter, Inc. Asheville, NC 2015, 2024 

Reverse Engineering the ATS for Results