Due to a rise in hiring opportunities in recent years, businesses in a wide variety of industries are using the hire slow, fire fast business concept when looking for new employees, especially considering that 75% of employers have admitted hiring the wrong person for a position. This concept has been practiced by Amazon by letting fulfillment center full-time employees choose to get $5,000 to quit and not be rehired again. Better.com’s December Zoom firing incident was heavily criticized on social media, but it shows how companies are utilizing the concept.
To “hire slow” means to not just replace someone who had left the company but to carefully evaluate your company’s needs and goals, allowing you to understand the skills and attributes a new hire should have in order to achieve long-term success for the company. Understanding small aspects of business like WebRTC API versus other connections can streamline processes.
It’s important to understand what isn’t considered “hire slow, fire fast” in order to practice the concept effectively for your business. Hiring slowly doesn’t mean hiring the person who submitted their resume first without taking the time to consider the other candidates or expecting a good hire to appear before you easily. Having high expectations for candidates to meet as well as firing someone without giving them a proper chance can be detrimental to your company as less people will be interested in even applying for an open position.
“Fire fast” can sometimes involve letting someone go because they ultimately weren’t a great fit. However, it can be helpful to be understanding of little mistakes, treating new employees with compassion while guiding them during the transition process, and considering a firing incident as a hiring mistake and learning from the experience so it doesn’t happen again. It can also be beneficial to think about the long-term benefits instead of the immediate ones when getting a new hire.
Getting the right speed of hiring and firing for your company is beneficial for both the employer and employee. A good process can boost the company culture, encourage less bureaucracy, and ensure success for everyone involved.
Now is a great opportunity for companies to understand the hiring process that will allow them to retain employees while reducing opportunities for firing.
