Breaking The Cycle: How Companies Can Avoid The Recruitment Nightmare

As someone who has been working in corporate consulting, especially in the recruitment industry, for over 15 years, I've noticed an ironically funny (but not-so-funny) trend that keeps repeating itself.

It's the recruitment nightmare cycle that goes something like this:

1. A company needs a highly qualified candidate.
2. They interviewed a bunch of highly qualified candidates.
3. They hired one of them as the chosen person.
4. They expected the person to perform right away.
5. They don't back the person properly.
6. They don't give enough time for the person to adapt.
7. They disappointed with the person's performance.
8. They didn't communicate the issues with the person.
9. They decided to fire the person.
10. Repeat the process back to number 1.

It's like watching a bad sequel to a movie you didn't like the first time.

You know the plot and the outcome of the first movie, but you still can't help but watch the sequel of it with a mixture of amusement and dread.

And the worst part is that it's not just one company that's guilty of this. It is a widespread issue that's plaguing the business world.

I mean, think about it.

You have a company looking for a highly qualified candidate, which is great.

You want someone who can do the job and do it well.

So, you bring in a bunch of highly qualified candidates for an interview, which is also great.

You want to ensure that you're choosing the right person for the job.

But then, you hire someone and expect them to perform right away without giving them enough time to adapt to their new environment. That's where the problem starts!

The thing is, no matter how qualified someone is, it takes time to adjust to a new workplace. There's a learning curve that comes with any new job, no matter how similar it is to what you've done in the past. And if a company doesn't give their new hire enough time to adjust, they're setting them up for failure.

But even worse than that is when a company doesn't communicate their issues with the person. How is someone supposed to improve if they don't know what they're doing wrong? It's like trying to hit a target with a blindfold on. It's impossible!

And so, the cycle continues. The company fires the person, and the whole process starts all over again.

It's like the company is expecting to find the perfect candidate on the first try, which is like expecting to win the lottery without buying a ticket.

So, what's the solution?

For starters, companies need to give their new hires enough time and full support to adjust to their new environment.

They also need to build two-way communication to discuss any issues they have with the person so both sides can improve.

And finally, they need to understand that finding the perfect candidate takes time and patience, combined that with a pre-requisite realistic plan to nurture and retain them so that they can contribute to achieving the business goals as expected.

If we can break this recruitment nightmare cycle, we can make the business world better and more productive and turn every company into a positive workplace.

And who knows? Maybe we'll even get some better sequels out of it.