On hiring, rehiring, and one question to answer them all

https://world.hey.com/jason/on-hiring-rehiring-and-one-question-to-answer-them-all-5db97bcb

I’ve found that, actually, you hire someone at least twice. You hire someone initially, and then, if all goes well, you hire them again 12 months later. That second hire is the crucial hire, even though it wouldn’t be a stretch to say you continually hire someone throughout their career. Framing it like this simplifies a lot. And the simplification isn’t for convenience, it’s for clarity. Deep, cutting, crystal clarity.

And it’s in that first year — really those first few months — where you can tell if someone’s going to work out, or we’re just not right for them. This is where the magic of the second hire framing comes in. The manager simply asks themselves: “With a full year behind me, knowing what I know now, would I hire this person again?”

I can’t stress enough how clarifying this is. With a single insight you’ve answered a dozen questions and eliminated a dozen more. Plus it annihilates all sorts of procedural acrobatics companies typically use to measure someone’s performance. Instead the question is simple, and the answer is pure and true. Yes I would hire them again. Or no I would not. That is everything. A year is enough time to know. And if you don’t know, the answer is almost certainly no.

And, BTW, if you’re on the other side of the equation, ask yourself the same question in reverse. “Knowing what I know now, would I take this job again?” Because sticking around is doing exactly that — accepting the job again.