Keeping a Bad Hire Is Worse Than Firing Them
Zack AllenMay 8, 20263:37
I run my business like a sports team. If you don't show up to practice, you get cut, and that's good for everyone.
My business is a sports team. When someone new joins, we're all under the same rule: if you don't perform, don't show up to practice and don't play well in the games, you'll be cut from the team.
I've had to let 10 or 12 people go by now. Early on it was much harder, with a lot of emotion, even when the working relationship wasn't working for either of us. In the more recent cases, I've felt very grounded, because I know there's a better opportunity out there for them.
Why waiting hurts everyone
The sooner I create the gap for someone to look for another opportunity, the sooner they find it.
If I keep someone on my team doing a half-hearted job, two things happen. It blocks them from reaching their potential. And it drags down the whole team. Everyone else sees me putting up with it. They know that person isn't putting in the same effort they are, and that reflects poorly on me as a leader.
A team, not a competition
Everyone on the team knows we're in this together. I've never tried to create a competitive environment. I hire from Southeast Asia, and I haven't found direct competition between teammates to work in my favor.
So I structure things so we're all aligned on the same goal. There's no bureaucratic game of protecting your job by doing something other than what makes the company money. We all want to win. If you don't want to win, pick a different team.
When I played soccer in school, there were always teams that kept losing, and the good players always ended up moving to the good teams. It came back to the coach.
Be the coach
In high school running, I had an excellent coach. He pushed me to be great. He wasn't easy on me, didn't let mistakes slide and didn't accept off days. We did extremely well, and I found those wins very fulfilling. His advice even carried over into parts of my life that had nothing to do with running.
As the leader of my business, I see my most important role as being that kind of coach, on and off the field.
Personal goals in team meetings
For about two years, our monthly meetings have covered how we did last month and what we're doing next month. But probably half of each meeting goes to personal goals. We look back at which ones we hit and set new ones.
That creates group accountability. If you tell the team you'll average 10,000 steps a day, missing it means letting the team down, not just yourself. After a few months of setting a goal and not hitting it, that becomes a driving force.
A lot of the success I've had with my team comes from our shared drive to succeed in every area of life. Being in a good mental and physical state shows up as better decisions at work.
Treat your business like a sports team, and you'll get people who show up, stay for years and add exceptional value because they want to be part of something great. Giving them that opportunity is your job as the leader.
Transcript
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My business is a sports team. When I bring someone new onto the team, we're all under the same guidelines that if you do not perform, if you do not show up to practice, and you play well in the games, you will be cut from the team. And in all the instances I had to let someone go, it was in their best interest, too. I've had to let go like 10, 12 people by now.
And in the beginning it was a lot harder, it was a lot more emotions involved in it, even when the working relationship was not working out for either of us. But in the recent instances where that has happened, very grounded in knowing that there is a better opportunity out there for them. And the quicker I can create the gap for them to look for another opportunity, the quicker they will find that.
If I just have them sitting on my team doing a half-ass job, one, it's blocking them from reaching their full potential, and two, it also brings down the team as a whole. The other team members see me putting up with someone giving a half-ass job. Everyone knows they're not putting in the same effort as them, and that's a poor reflection of me as a leader. And to continue with the sports team analogy, everyone on the team knows we're in this together.
I've never tried to create a competitive environment, especially since I hire from Southeast Asian countries, I have not found the direct competitiveness to work in my favor. By being a part of the team, it is truly a team. We're working together to accomplish the same goal. And I structure it so that we're all aligned on the exact same thing. Like there's no bureaucratic rigmarole of trying to keep your job or like do this that's different than what would make the company more money because it'll keep your job.
We all want to win the game. And if you don't want to win the game, you need to pick a different team. When I used to play soccer in school, there's always the teams that consistently lose. And the good players always ended up moving to the good team. And it all comes back to the coach. When I was running in high school, I had an excellent coach. Someone who always pushed me to be great.
And was not easy on me. It was not letting mistakes go and accepting underperformance and off day. And as a result of that, we did extremely well, and I was very fulfilled by those times of success. And it even carried over into my personal life. I found that my running coach was giving me advice on things that were totally unrelated to running. And as the CEO, as the leader of my team in my business, I see that to be my most important role is being a coach, a coach on and off the field.
On our monthly meetings for the past like 2 years, we talk about how we did in the past month, what we're going to do in the upcoming month, but we spend a lot of time, probably half the meeting is spent talking about our personal goals. We look back and see which ones we accomplished, and then we set new ones for the future month. And that creates group accountability. When you put it out there that you want to hit 10,000 steps a day average, you now know that not only are you letting yourself down if you don't accomplish that, but you're letting your team down, too, because you said that's what you were going to do.
And after enough repeats of like you setting that goal in the meeting, and then coming to the next month, and you not hitting that goal, that starts to be a driving force. I think the success I've been able to have with my team in my business is largely based on our collective desire to be successful in all areas of life. And of course, being in a good mental state, a good physical state translates to high performance, making good decisions in the work environment.
When you treat your business and the people you hire like a sports team, I promise you will get people that show up, that stay with you for years, and that provide exceptional value because they truly want to. They want to be a part of something great. And it is your job as the leader to give that opportunity to them.
