“You may have hired the wrong person,” I said, “but you haven’t figured out exactly what’s wrong. You have a decision to make, with three alternatives.
- Live with the situation, and continue to complain about it.
- Terminate or reassign the person to a different role.
- Redefine the role within the capability of the person you hired.
“You know, I can’t live with it,” Stella replied. “I, personally, have to fill the gap for any underperformance. And I have my own responsibilities. Every minute I steal away to cover for my supervisor is a minute away from my own tasks. I don’t see any way around it. This job really requires someone with a nine month Time Span. My supervisor has only demonstrated capability at around two months. I cannot take him under my wing and hold his hand.”
“What are you going to do?” -TF
This is an interesting topic to me. I think it is so crucial to hire the right person from the start, and many of us look for the wrong things. I just read a great book called “Who: the A Method for Hiring” – it is currently #1 on Amazon – it addresses the pitfalls of hiring, and provides a clear method for hiring the right talent. I highly recommend.