Hire Slow, Fire Fast is Bad Advice
Just Because It’s Catchy Doesn’t Mean It’s Right
“I am convinced that nothing we do is more important than hiring and developing people. At the end of the day, you bet on people, not on strategies,” said Lawrence Bossidy. One of the most important things a manager can do is get the people right. It defines the capabilities of your team and creates a culture that can be your greatest competitive advantage.
“Hire slow, fire fast” is based on this idea. You want to build a strong team and you’re more likely to do that if you take your time to hire right and get rid of those who don’t work out.
When you look at things that way, it makes sense. No one wants to hire the wrong person or keep someone who’s not performing. But in practice it’s never this simple. And when managers parrot out the “hire slow, fire fast” advice without understanding the key principles behind it, they’re much more likely to screw it up.
Hiring Slow is Not Hiring Well
It’s a common assumption that if you’re hiring slowly, you’re hiring better. But consider what you need for a strong hire. You need a clear job description, a good set of behavioral interview questions to interrogate candidate’s previous experiences, and a set of objective criteria to assess each candidate in a similar way. And you…
