You’ve burned through three new hires in the past nine months, all looked perfect on the date of hire, all went sour rather quickly, all of which cost you time and money….does this scenario sound familiar?

Unfortunately it is common for companies to go through a period of time where they just cannot seem to find the right person again and again.

What goes wrong? Why does this happen and what can you do to change it?

Well we could tell you that your office has bad Feng Shui or that hiring your friend’s nephew because you were in a pinch was a bad move, but in reality it’s more than just those things. It boils down to one major thing – clarity.

Most employers rarely take the time to figure out what they DO want in a new hire, instead a lot of focus is on what they don’t want. For example, the past hire that didn’t work out had family problems, always called in sick, and was chronically late. Then the next hire who looks good on paper, ends up being single.  Whether through a conscious or unconscious choice this person is seemingly the opposite of the previous person – due to the focus of what you don’t want.

The correction to the hiring process comes in when you now shift your focus on what would be best for the position, the company, and the rest of the team – including personality type, skill set, capability, experience, etc. The new person is in no way replacing the old person’s bad habits with new and different habits, but rather the person is chosen solely on being a good fit for the position and the company without any regard to who was there before them.

Getting clear on what you want for the position and who is right for your company may take a little time and brainstorming, but really it’s about focusing on the positive and helping you to recognize those skills that add value to your company and not dismissing someone because they have a similarity to the old person who was previously in that position.