Thread by @hnshah

One of the worst recurring problems that companies of all sizes have is keeping people around who aren’t working out.

If someone isn’t working out, it feels like an obligation of some kind to try and make things work.

That effort rarely pays off. A change can be made much faster by having discussions about performance and/or culture fit early and often.

Time isn’t anyone’s friend in this case.

This lesson is one that people seem to learn and re-learn repeatedly.

Most of us tend to think each person is such a unique individual that we ignore the patterns from the past.

We let ourselves believe that this time it’ll be different.

As humans, our emotions are most challenging to manage when it comes to other humans and our relationship with them.

The brutal truth is that the sooner you can make a decision to let go of someone the better it is for you, them and the rest of the team.

When you let someone go...

Your mind frees up to focus on other things.

The person who is leaving gets to move on and find a new and better opportunity.

Your team learns how to work without that person.

The company gets stronger and more resilient to change.

Companies and the people who work in them are stronger than we think.

It is rare for a single person to make or break a company.

The longer someone who isn’t a good fit for the company stays around, the more likely it is that other people on the team become negatively impacted.

Waiting to let someone go causes a couple of hard to solve team problems:

People start to question the company’s leadership for hiring the person in the first place and/or not letting them go fast enough.

Whatever misalignments the person has with the company spread to others.

A toxic environment can easily be prevented if we take emotion out of the decision making around letting someone go.

We have to find ways to focus on objective measures of performance and culture fit.

We have to treat each other like adults and have the difficult conversations.

If you’re regularly speaking unfavorably about an individual on the team it’s time to rethink their involvement in the company.

The first time this happens, talk to the person directly.

If a second time occurs, talk to them again.

Don’t wait for things to magically improve.

The energy spent trying to “fix” someone who isn’t working out should be finite.

- Be direct with them
- Give them clear and concrete examples of your observations
- Make sure they understand what you expect from them
- Set a timeline for improvements
- Schedule the follow up

Time isn’t on your side.

Don’t forget how much damage dragging out the decision to let go of a team member can do.

Ultimately, by dragging things out you are wasting everyone’s precious time.

It’s your job to do the right thing for your team and the company in a timely manner.