Jim Collins in his book “Good to Great” mentions an important concept of “getting the right people on the bus”. However the other equally important concept he mentions is “getting the wrong people off the bus”.
Many people frown on the latter concept. As getting the people off the bus or removing people from a project or a company is never liked upon.
But without the latter concept the first one will not be able to showcase its full impact.
There are always going to be loopholes in the hiring and recruitment process. Sometimes team members are put on to your project without consulting you or without choice. And people who don’t belong to the bus (or the project) will end up there. So should we carry them along out of goodness of our heart or should push them out of the bus?
1. It’s not either or situation
First of all it might not be just a two solution problem. There could be a third or even a fourth way out. The decision to continue with the team member who is not suited to the company or to remove him from the company could be based on several factors. Some factors that you should consider are:
- Willingness: Does the team member want to work in the company or project?
- Attitude: Is he ready to learn and how soon can he learn.
- Margins: Can you afford to keep the team member until he upgrades her skills?
- Future Prospects: Is the team member promising? Can he turn out to be an asset in the long run?
2. Find their niche
Sometimes the team member could be good but he might not be suited for the role that he has been hired for. Talk to him to understand his niche (in which he might not even have experience) and if he is also aligned then give them a role change.
3. Most people can improve
Most people can improve with the right attitude. Sometimes the lack of skills is not that big of a problem. If you organization has the right environment and support then the employees can improve. Sometimes it just takes a little time for people to adjust in the new environment. At such times the organizational support could be the key..
4. Keep the bus moving
If you have evaluated and determined that the team member will not work out. The reason could be non-alignment (or any other pressing reason), don’t hesitate to get that member ‘off the bus’. The more you deliberate, the more you prolong, it can do more damage to your company or the project. Wrong people within the company or project can offset a lot of good done by the ‘right people’.
We can spend energies to move faster than to divert them towards trying to make the ‘wrong people’ better or simply to manage them. There is overhead in managing people and more so in managing the members (and keeping them engaged) who are not meant to be there.
5. Find them another bus
The one important thing that should be kept in mind while offloading the people from the bus is that ‘wrong people’ doesn’t mean that those people are inefficient, unskilled, non-committed or wrong. It could simply mean that they are not fit for your organization culture. Or alternatively your organization is not fit for them. They might bloom and do wonders at the same position in another project or another organization.
You recruit people after stringent recruitment process which means there is definitely an alignment or they were matching the expectations to a great extent. And later if they don’t work out, a major part of the ‘issue’ could also with the hiring organization. They should introspect with every such incident and improve themselves.
And while you decide to off board some members, explain them why you think they are not suited. Have a candid discussions with them (and hopefully you have had such discussions with them earlier as well before this final one). Suggest them another project or organization that you think can be better suited for them. . At least leave them with a constructive feedback and support that encourages them to find another opportunity more suited to them.