There has been an uptick in hiring in recent years in various sectors. The change in the job market caused by the pandemic has led many companies into a hiring surge that has either worked well or poorly for both employees and employers.
Nearly three in four employers admitted they hired the wrong person for a position. Once a year, Amazon fulfillment centers give their employees working full time $5,000 to quit but to also never work at Amazon again if they do. In December 2021, Better.com fired 900 employees over a Zoom call. This move was called out on social media as being brutal and inconsiderate. However, this shows a glimpse of how companies hire slowly but fire quickly.
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The Right Way To Hire And Fire
Hiring slowly is more than just replacing the last person who left. It gives you time to understand what your needs and expectations as a company are as well as draft a new job description that focuses on business goals and the skills that will be needed for long-term success. Hiring slowly allows you to think about how candidates will be the perfect addition to team dynamics.
Firing quickly doesn’t have to mean letting someone go after a big incident. Sometimes it could happen because the hire ended up ultimately not being a good fit. It helps to be more tolerable of hires instead of firing too quickly, such as forgiving little mistakes, focusing on the long-term benefits instead of immediate needs, and approaching every employee with compassion while being patient with their transition. It is also helpful to think about firing as a hiring mistake and to address what the issues might have been.
There can be some misconceptions of what hire slow, fire fast means to both employees and employers. Hiring slowly does not mean hiring the person you think will be the perfect fit just by their resume or because they applied early. Seriously take the time to consider if they really are the right match. It also does not mean expecting the right hire to just come before you in an instant; most employees who match all of your criteria can be trained into being the ideal hire.
Firing quickly does not include basing the decision on a whim. Firing quickly is not supposed to be a replacement option for training, coaching, or switching roles so an employee can be the best they can be. Having too high standards can also pose problems. It is important to know that selective hiring is a luxury and should not be how you determine how your company is built because then people might not want to work there.
Knowing the right speed to hire and fire for your company will help everyone in the long run. There will be good corporate culture that encourages people to naturally work as a team while getting employees who meet company requirements in a happy manner. There will be less bureaucracy leading to entire company success. At the same time everyone will experience long-term success.
With the job market currently growing, companies need to know the hiring process that best works for them so they can retain excellent employees and have less opportunities for firing.
Infographic source: MBA Stack
