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Did Your Last New Hire Fail?

Last July, we had some advice on why your new hires didn’t work out. Now we’ll delve into a little more detail about why those new hires didn’t work and some suggestions for setting them up for success so you don’t have to go through the hiring scenario all over again, spending extraneous time, energy and money going through the whole process to find another new hire.

  • They can’t accept feedback. A study done by Leadership IQ found that 26 percent of new hires don’t do well with coachability, or the ability to accept and implement constructive criticism from bosses, customers, colleagues, etc. While that’s not always easy to teach, you may have to have someone sit down with new employees and explain that any feedback should be seen as a chance to improve, especially if it comes from a more experienced colleague or supervisor. And while it may seem silly to have to do this, look at it this way: You’re imparting a life lesson that can only help this person succeed both at your company and in life overall.
  • They lack emotional intelligence and/or motivation. This same study found the other top three reasons for new-hire failure include poor emotional intelligence (23 percent) and poor motivation (17 percent). The former means they have trouble controlling and understanding their own emotions and they can’t assess others’ emotions accurately. This can easily lead to conflicts due to missed cues and poor responses to criticism. The latter is fairly self-explanatory: The employee who wowed in the interview now shows a real lack of potential and desire to do well in the position. Again, you may have to talk with the employee, if you’re willing, about how this affects their work and what they can do to improve. After that, it’s up to the employee to take that criticism and run with it (although that may tangle with the previous point). 
  • How you can help. As referenced in the July post, you need to help with solid onboarding. Train now for success down the road — consider it an investment that will pay off in the long run. To that end, make sure new hires know your expectations clearly and right away. Give them projects instead of tasks — it may seem overwhelming at first, but make the objectives clear and encourage them to ask for help if they need it. And assigning a project gives them a whole scope of its purpose, not just something to finish. One final point: Use social media to your advantage; have new hires watch training videos on YouTube and create a Facebook page where they can ask questions.

You have power to help your new hires succeed. When you need to hire your next successful employee, reach out to the professional staffing team at PrideStaff Thousand Oaks and PrideStaff Ventura County.

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