I once had a friend tell me from his experience as a business executive, “hire slow and fire fast.” It just may be one of those statements that sticks with you and doesn’t leave.  If you are in a position of leadership where you oversee people, you will relate to this.  How much time and effort have you lost by having the wrong people on your team?  Our inability or unwillingness to make a hard decision prevents the team from achieving maximum performance.  We want to give three, four, maybe five chances for someone to improve.  My experience is that if you don’t see satisfactory performance or significant improvement within 90 days, you won’t likely receive it even if you wait 365 days.  People are either a fit for your business and style, or they are not.  No use wasting their time or yours by prolonging the inevitable.  Give the person a chance to succeed somewhere else and let them go.

15 years ago, I learned this lesson with a key hire I’ll call Joe. We worked hard together for one year, but with little success.  After coming across a key assessment tool, it was evident his attributes didn’t fit the requirements for the job.  While I filled a lot of positions successfully, I had made a mistake with Joe.  It wasn’t personal, but I had to end our business relationship.  Joe wasn’t upset; he thanked me for ending his pain.  He had tried hard, but he just wasn’t a fit for the role.

The wisdom of my friend has followed me these past 15 years. You owe it to your team to fill positions with the right people.  You will know them when you find them – they will fit like a glove.  Make the decision to upgrade your team this year with “A” players.