Really- why not?
I hear this phrase far too often from managers who are now urgently rushing to fill an open position. Perhaps someone quit on short notice, or an employee on leave decided not to come back. Or you had to take decisive action to terminate an employee whose behavior warranted such a quick outcome.
Moral of the story? Here you are scrambling to find “someone good” on short notice.
And everyone on your team is feeling the pain, because they are picking up the workload for the missing person, most likely doing tasks that are unfamiliar or not in their area of expertise.
What does the team want? A new, awesome, fabulous team mate (who needs no training) – and make it quick! Can she start tomorrow?
Despite the apparent urgency of the situation, you know what I am going to tell you next….
“Take your time to find the right person.”
In the midst of your crisis, pause, take a breath, and met me remind you what is at stake…
Hiring an A player may take a few more weeks of recruiting, more focused and stringent selection, and passing up on “good enough” candidates who can start tomorrow. But that A Player who starts in 4 weeks will likely learn the job more quickly, be an asset to the team right away, and be performing at a higher level in six months.
Rushing to settle for a C player (usually a perfectly nice person who was a decent performer at a prior job, but NOT a fit for your job) means a few weeks saved now, and hundreds of hours lost later.
C Player’s are estimated to take 25% of a managers time—the one or two people on your team who struggle with the job knowledge, performance expectations, or do not match the attitude and culture you need can suck 10 hours a week!
Do the math- 10-20 hours now versus 500 hours next year … and that does not count the actual and opportunity cost of lower quality or service, slow processes, lost sales, unhappy customers, unhappy co-workers, and unhappy managers.
You are not a beggar, and you can be choosy! Only settle for A Players with a 90% chance of success.
There are fabulous candidates out there—but you have to cast a wider net, be more selective and systematic in your selection, and wait until you have found “the one.”
Learn more:
Read our articles on “selection” to find out more about what you can do to evaluate and validate your candidate’s job fit.
Read our article about how to always be scouting for talent and building a virtual bench, so that you are not scrambling for applicants next time!
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