The scene is one that is all too familiar. You are growing quickly and desperately need help. Or maybe you just lost a key team member and are scrambling to find a replacement. That feeling of panic causes you to make bad judgment calls. When you hire in haste your odds of making a bad hire skyrocket.
Lay out your hiring needs into a 24 month timeline including the clues you’ll see along the way that will help you know the timing of when you’ll need to make key hires. What metrics can you track in your business that will be leading indicators about when you should pull the trigger and hire more? Is it total sales? Number of new engagements? Etc.
Also, make sure that you’re building out your systems and controls as you go so that you have the structure in place should you need to replace a key team member. Have each key team member cross training his or her understudy too. These simple steps will help you hire more deliberately versus rushing the process out of desperation.
It is also beneficial to always be on the lookout for key talent. You may not need a new programmer right now, but in six months you might and having a few key choices in the pipeline will help speed up your hiring process without compromising your judgment.
This is another one that I hear far too often. You spent a great deal of time hiring a staff member and letting them go is to admit that you made a mistake. It’s a tough realization to come to, and an even tougher conversation to have. But consider the cost of waiting: