Congrats On The New Hire. Now Trust The Process. (Assuming You Had One)

“It’s been three months tomorrow since I brought him on. Yesterday he screwed up and cost me more money than we make in a week. But I’m keeping the faith. He has a hard job and we can be a hard company to join. Everything I know about this guy tells me he’s got the right stuff. So I’m hanging in there.”

        –Second Stage Business Owner

Congratulations on the new hire. This is the important one—the one you announce in the local business journal and feature on the company Facebook page.

Now what happens? It’s tempting to think your new key hire will take a load off your shoulders and improve your business overnight. That almost never happens. Just because he shows up with great functional skills and abilities doesn’t mean he can hit the ground running. At first, the new hire may even add to your problems.

Consider: your new hire is in unfamiliar territory, surrounded by strangers, unaware of the company’s unspoken norms and idiosyncrasies. There will inevitably be rough spots as your new employee adjusts to your business and culture. He may make mistakes that cost you money or customers. He may step on toes or miss a deadline. He may do all of these. More than once.

So what does that mean? Do you put him on notice? Cut your losses and start over? Or wait it out?

If you followed an evidence-based hiring practice to make the hire, now is when you can “trust the process.” After all, you did your homework to recruit and select the best possible candidate.

If you didn’t use an evidence-based hiring approach, it may be a little harder for you to keep the faith. You may start to doubt your judgment.

In either case, you’ll be able to give your new employee the best shot at success if you understand the dynamics at work.

Make Sure Your New Hire Knows How You Keep Score
It’s critically important to be very clear and specific about your expectations for the new hire: How will you measure progress? How will you judge his ultimate success? How long does he have to get it done? 

You may think he should know all this, but he’s not a mind reader.  Make sure you work with him to set out expectations in writing, with specific deliverables, accountabilities, time frames and performance metrics, and keep them updated. In short, make sure your new key employee always knows what you consider a win.

Make Allowances For Culture Shock
If your new hire has spent much of his career in a large organization, the lack of formal authority and a clear chain of command at a second stage company can create confusion and friction. This is a chronic problem at second stage companies.

The new hire may believe that his title alone should win the staff’s respect for his words, ideas and authority. He may also think everyone should be impressed with the size of his previous employer. Meanwhile, his staff members who have been with the company for longer than the new hire may not be overly cooperative with the new boss, or may not even see themselves as his subordinates.

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This Is A Test
Don’t be surprised if a crisis develops that tests your new hire’s competency and leadership.  For example, if he’s previously from a large organization, that test may take the form of a “breakdown” requiring your new man to roll up his sleeves and jump in at the operations level to help get the work done.

If your new hire is learning-agile and adaptable (traits that would be rated and valued in an evidence-based evaluation), he’ll pass the test and firm up his authority. If instead he spends too much time managing formally from the office, he may never get the buy-in to succeed.

Three Or Four Months Is Usually Too Soon To Know.
Don’t expect to get a clear go/no-go signal on a new hire’s suitability in the first three or four months of employment. He’s probably still in the “honeymoon” phase. Peers may treat them differentially and tone down the pushback, so the new hire may look particularly competent. On the other hand, your new hire probably hasn’t earned much trust or credibility yet, either, which can slow his progress.

So when to start worrying if you don’t see progress? Usually somewhere in months six through nine. That’s when you can legitimately ask, Is he contributing to success? Is he building functional capacity? Is he integrating and innovating? By this time, it’s happening, or probably never will.  Six to nine months is a long time to wait—all the more reason for a rigorous hiring process.

Before You Fire Him, Re-Hire Him.
So it’s been six months, and your new hire is presenting the latest polished version of the great ideas that helped him get hired in the first place. You wonder: is it all empty talk, or a reminder that he’s already set the wheels in motion for good things to happen?

If your hiring process didn’t include assessment tests to evaluate work styles, leadership style, strengths, weaknesses, and personality traits, use them now. They’ll help you identify your employee’s strengths and weakness, and areas where he would benefit from leadership coaching and skills building.

If you did use those tools in hiring, go back to them and identify what’s going on—and arrange for your new hire to get the coaching he needs. Also re-examine the scope and responsibilities of the position—are they realistic? Achievable?

If your new hire is truly a good fit for the position, he’ll likely respond quickly and positively to guidance and skills building. If he’s not, it’s better to know sooner rather than later.

Next: "Risk Takers of the Highest Order"

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