Hiring right to keep team performance high
Though processes and project management are key essentials for a project teams’ success, these are in no way an alternative to each individual’s personal efficiency. This becomes more important in Distributed Agile, where there are small teams and 2-3 weeks iterations. Hiring the right candidate in terms of aptitude, attitude and skills is becoming increasingly important, given the tough economic times and increasing customer expectations.
Interviewing skills is beyond this blog, though I believe in the celebrated fact that we should always look for aptitude while skills can be learnt. Having said that, it’s impossible to always hire good candidates within a few hours of technical evaluation. There are times when we end up hiring people we wished we didn’t hire. In the best interest of the team, the customer and even that employee, it’s good to get a replacement for three reasons –
a. We cannot have a poor quality resource if we are faithful to our customer, as the customer is paying for him/her.
b. Such resources are bad for the team’s motivation levels.
c. This resource will eventually have to find something more worthwhile to do in life, the sooner the better.
It’s not considered a good HR practice to hire and fire employees, especially in India. I too am a big advocate of this concept. When we hire, it’s our moral and ethical responsibility to give ample opportunities to people we hire. We need to strike a balance between being faithful to the customer and the employee, and act sensitively as firing indiscriminately can create insecurity within the employees.
What generally happens is employers don’t openly give an honest feedback to the employees, and replace them at short notices without giving them an opportunity to improve. The best way is, as clichéd as it gets, open communication. Talk to the employee and put him/her on an improvement plan. Give him/her guidance, time and support. Talk to the customer and tell him/her that you’re looking for a replacement, in case this employee doesn’t work out. This is good for everyone – the employee, the customer and the organization.
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