3 ms·
(Not an expert manager; just some thoughts based on things I've seen.) I can't tell from the description whether the candidate was outright deceptive, like cla
by neilv 2y ago
(Not an expert manager; just some thoughts based on things I've seen.)
I can't tell from the description whether the candidate was outright deceptive, like claiming experience they didn't have, or candidate was just good at the normal interviewing rituals, and the real problem was mess-up on company's end (i.e., interviewers said "mediocre" but HR somehow heard "hire at all costs").
In any case, talk with appropriate management and HR -- with everyone clear on what the cause of the hiring mistake was -- and figure out what the acceptable options are.
Then, if the candidate seemed to be dealing in good faith, then probably talk with the employee, candidly, about the problem, and what options you're presenting.
If they're leaving, you can assist to do it in a gentle way. You might not have to assist much; they might hear it's not working out, and start job-hunting urgently.
If they're staying but downleveled, you can probably figure out the details to do it in a sufficiently non-awkward, discreet way. If employees noticed a bad-performer, they might be relieved to see that corrected, but hopefully they can also see the sympathetic and constructive way it was done, and adopt that tone themselves.
But, if the candidate wasn't in good faith, then they helped make this an adversarial situation, so talk with HR, and maybe also legal counsel, about how to terminate promptly and with a minimum of drama.
- otteromkram 2y ago> "Then, if the candidate seemed to be dealing in good faith, then probably talk with the employee, candidly, about the problem, and what options you're presenting." I'm not pro-HR by any means, nor have I had to hire/fire a bunch of people, but the minute you hint that an employee could be terminated, there's a chance that they could take retaliatory measures. Further, OP stated, "Essentially we had deficiencies in our technical interview that allowed for custom-fit preparation..." So, it doesn't seem like the candidate had "good faith" intentions from the start. If OP is in the US, most states have an at-will employment clause, so a quick break isn't illegal by any measure (as long as they aren't terminating the employee for things like sex, race, religion, etc.).
- neilv 2y agoIf the candidate was dealing in good faith, then company should too. The whole corporate-think "this person might do something evil, though we have no reason to suspect that, so we should do evil first" is wrong. (I said talk with management and HR first; they might counsel or instruct differently, but you should make an effort to stand up for employee while you have the chance, before you potentially have to disagree and commit.) If the candidate wasn't dealing in good faith, then, like I said, terminate.
- noirbot 2y agoI'm not sure "custom-fit preparation" counts as not having good faith. If I was doing an interview process and was told the next step would involve a live coding exercise in a specific language/package that I wasn't already fresh on, I'd be cramming for it to a degree where my performance would mostly show how fast I can learn something and not my net level of skill in that language/package. If the hiring folks inferred the wrong thing from that, that's not my fault for studying based on the information and parameters they provided me.