Blog
You hire someone with perfect credentials and solid references
Three months later, you're cleaning up their mess.
What went wrong??
From years of making strategic hires, I've learned that misaligned incentives will tank even the most qualified job candidates.
To fix this, I've started to assess what actually drives them early in the interview process:
- Ask what they're building toward professionally.
- Understand what success looks like to them personally.
- Check if their goals require your project to actually work.
Some people care about the money. Some are just filling time between better opportunities.
It's not that there is anything wrong with that necessarily, but you need to know what you're dealing with.
If their incentives don't align with yours, they won't solve your problems.
- Start asking what makes people tick before you bring them in.
Originally posted on LinkedIn.