I had an open position for months. It was a critical position that was going to fill a huge gap on one of the teams I was leading. As soon as this person came on board, it would clear up so much headspace for me that I was salivating over finding the right person and getting them onboarded.

For the first few weeks, I was patient. I followed the logical and smart protocols for recruiting someone to join my team: (1) I assessed the candidate pool that I thought I had internally within the organization and within my network of colleagues, and based on market research that showed what availability there would be to recruit someone to come in to fulfill the high-level job description; (2) I went to task from a high-level overview to a very specific and clear list of job requirements for this vacant role; (3) As resumes and applications started coming in, I started the vetting process to see how aligned potential candidates (and their skills and experiences) were with the specific open role.

Four weeks went by. I had interviewed quite a few. Nobody felt like they were a great fit.

Eight weeks had now passed. I still didn’t feel like there was a great match with the interviewees and the specific role they would be joining the team for.

A few more weeks zipped by. Remember I said I was salivating over the idea of bringing on a new hire? That I would daydream about the emotional, mental, and time margin I would get back into my work life once they joined the team? A few months into this process, things got worse. It was less of a daydream–more like a day-nightmare. I felt like I was in the desert with no water, no sunscreen, and no shade. I was feeling desperate.

Have you ever been in the desert? Lost? I’m using this as a metaphor for the hiring experience, but I also mean it literally: I have been in the desert, lost. Guess what happens? Unless you stay extremely calm, logic and smartness go out the window. You get panicky.

Guess what happens when you are weeks, maybe months, searching for a superstar to join your team at work – and, until that happens, you feel overwhelmed by the “lack of the superstar”? The same as in the desert: Unless you stay extremely calm, logic and smartness go out the window. You get panicky.

I started going back to rethinking some of the candidates I interviewed. I started telling myself, “Maybe they would be a good fit? Maybe they could stretch themselves in this one particular piece that is not natural for them…it’s only 40% of their job responsibilities? Maybe they could gradually gravitate to the ethos and the values of this team…their competency is off the chart for the position…they can figure out the rest as they integrate into the team?”

So I went back, interviewed a key candidate a few more times—all the while convincing myself that they were a superstar for my team—and made an offer.

The person accepted and joined the team.

Guess how many new teammates it takes to change the dynamic of the team?

One.

It only takes one person to change the team. To be clear, this new person can make the team better. They can be that superstar that the team needs, they fill an important gap, they enhance what is already in place, and they bring new and fresh ideas that embolden the values and the culture that the team feels is critical. And, then, it can go in the opposite direction – where the new candidate is not fulfilling the gap that they were intended to fill, where their ideas (although different and diverse) don’t really lineup with what this team is doing and what this team needs, or where their values don’t align with the team that is already in place.

What never happens when you bring on a new person to a team? Nothing changes. That’s impossible. ANYTIME you add someone to the team, it’s going to change – and it’s going to get better or worse.

You can probably guess what happened next. Oh, and before I go into that, let me say that the person I brought on board wasn’t a bad person. I wouldn’t even say, “they are not a superstar.” I would say that they weren’t a great fit for the role and the team I was bringing them into. They could have been a superstar somewhere else. Just not on this team. So to own this, I messed up this process. And the new hire? They weren’t messed up.

So what happened next:

Their onboarding was rushed because I could see the mirage of water in the desert now that I had this new hire on the team. I quickly got them up to speed to take over the baton that I felt I had been holding onto too long. It was hasty and lacked empathy for all of the stuff that every new hire goes through (i.e., Do they like me here? Am I going to be able to provide as much value as Doug thinks? Did I make a mistake? Why am I so tired…is it because all of the change?).

Their performance was lackluster after a significant amount of time.

I tried to “redo” my subpar onboarding to give more clarity to the job they were supposed to be doing. That may sound like a good idea, but at this point, they were probably feeling like they were failing in this role.

I threw in some extra accountability meetings for us, hoping it wasn’t coming off as micromanaging, but rather “I’m here to help you, and us, get back on track.” I’m sure it came across as micromanaging.

The employee eventually left the team. Yeah, “the employee.” I usually prefer the word “teammate” over “employee,”; but I’m sure that this teammate felt like an employee – way more than they felt like they were an integral part of the team.

After doing an audit of what happened with the individual (from interviewing, to making an offer, to hiring them, to onboarding them, to managing them, to them leaving), I vowed to never make this mistake again. I vowed to never hire someone I didn’t feel GREAT about.

Let’s jump into the absolutely preposterous and nonsensical part that followed after this experience: I did it again. More than once. The exact. Same. Thing. Uggghhhh.

There’s something about being in the desert (now I’m totally using this as a metaphor for the “superstar recruiting process”) and losing your ______. Where logic and smarts go out the window. Heck, think of where we have been in the last eighteen months – the Great Resignation. We can’t keep top talent on our teams, so it goes without saying it has been that much more challenging to hire top talent.

But, hiring the right person to join your team is critical. I would take it one step further: The most important thing you do as a team leader is to make sure the new folks joining the team are superstars. And, probably, the second most important thing you do as a team leader is to make sure that the new people are being onboarded correctly – taking into account not only understanding the competencies and responsibilities for their job, but also integrating with the team relationally and the values that are supposed to be lived out.

I dropped the ball, big time, on both of these. I shouldn’t have hired them; and, once I did, I should have invested way more time in the onboarding process.

After learning from this mistake, and relearning, and relearning, what do I do differently now?

1. I make sure that I understand my team “as is” and that everyone on the team does as well. We know ourselves at the deepest level: Wiring, internal drives, personality, temperament, and triggers. And then we make sure that everyone else knows this about each other. This gives us a robust understanding of the team before anyone else joins. Not only does it give us clarity around what competency gaps may need to be filled on the team, but it gives us clarity around how we best hum along as a team from a relational perspective. All of this sets us up for the next step…

2. I bring predictability and reliability to my hiring process. I use hiring tools that incorporate behavioral and cognitive insights from assessments, job descriptions, and interviewing question guides based on the assessment results. This is the best way to predict how a candidate will think and work. The toolset I use is the Predictive Index. I was a user of it for years to help me hire people onto the teams I was leading – and it worked great, and now I’ve incorporated it into my management consulting for my customers. Through the Predictive Index toolset, I’m able to help my client avoid some of the pitfalls I had repeatedly made in my hiring process. I help my clients avoid hiring out of desperation or based on a “gut feel.” The Predictive Index gives my clients confidence to avoid the trap where hiring managers solely rely on the past performance indicators of a candidate: Like a jam-up resume, a GPA, and references.

3. I have a strategic and thorough onboarding plan that takes into account the important pieces of the job responsibilities AND the relational/cultural aspects. I ensure that this onboarding process never gets short-circuited. Ever.

Before we finish this topic, let me say, “I get it.” I get being in that position where you feel like you have to hire someone, now. Like, now. I’m sure there are situations where that is the case. You could probably argue with me about your situation, and if you don’t hire someone in the next two weeks, the business will significantly suffer. You would probably win the argument with me. Even if that is the case, though, you can still significantly increase the odds of hiring a superstar if you follow the steps I proposed above: (1) Know your team really well; (2) Deploy hiring tools, like the Predictive Index, to guide your hiring process; (3) Have a thoughtful and robust onboarding process. Doing those things doesn’t take months. It can be done in a short time if you have the right help (i.e., a consultant that focuses on this). 

If you want to avoid my hiring mistakes, don’t let the urgency to fill the position rush the process. Take the time to know what (who) you are looking for before they link up in a Zoom, or walk into your office for an interview.

Because what if a new hire is a bad match for the team? According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the average cost of a bad hiring decision is at least 30% of the first-year expected earnings. An employee with an annual income of $80,000 can cost the company $24,000. And what about the negative effect this could have on the team? It's estimated that a disengaged employee can cost a company $3,400 for every $10,000 of their salary. Now multiply that cost by 20% of your team and see how it adds up. However, it is more than just the money that you will lose. A mismatch can cause major problems, poor team dynamics, and the possibility of the team missing targets. I could keep going, but I’m sure you get the idea: Hiring someone is the most important thing you do as a team leader; make sure the new folks joining the team are superstars and super teammates.