[HN Gopher] Enthusiastically Rehiring
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Enthusiastically Rehiring
Author : enigmatic02
Score : 22 points
Date : 2022-02-24 07:11 UTC (15 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (rkg.blog)
(TXT) w3m dump (rkg.blog)
| thaumasiotes wrote:
| > if the position was open today and this person was available -
| with full knowledge of their strengths and weaknesses - would you
| enthusiastically offer them the job?
|
| > I think enthusiastically is an important word in the question
| because it drives clarity. You can't say maybe to that question.
| If there is any doubt, you have your answer.
|
| > I would suspect that very few people would want to be at a
| place where their boss would not be excited about rehiring them.
| I sure wouldn't.
|
| Huh? This excludes 100% of all jobs to several significant
| digits. Most jobs aren't important enough that you need someone
| in them whose very presence brings joy to your otherwise dreary
| life. And almost no one is aspiring to fill their role that way.
| ajb wrote:
| What this misses is that you might be the problem.
|
| I've worked at a startup where the exec team has turned over 100%
| multiple times. This advice would not surface that issue, it
| would perpetuate it.
|
| If you are a leader, and you are having a problem with a report,
| you need to ask yourself first: is it them, or is it me?
| Emotionally hard to do.
| seneca wrote:
| Great advise. I'd go so far as to suggest asking yourself "am I
| the problem" in pretty much any conflict or struggle. The
| answer may usually be no, but asking the question can help
| avoid a lot of cognitive traps we all tend to fall into.
| gedy wrote:
| Yes I just left a startup (resigned) where most of the tech
| leadership had been fired and rotated at least once, always
| with lots of complaints from the CTO about how "terrible" they
| were. I took his word for it the first two, but afterwards it
| became clear "it's you dude...", and left soon after.
| legalcorrection wrote:
| Incredible how this obvious advice, of firing people who are not
| doing a good job, needs to be couched as deep insight and a
| mental trick (reframing it as rehiring) in order to get past the
| absurd levels of agreeableness among the wealthy, cosmopolitan
| people running companies these days.
| [deleted]
| tbatchelli wrote:
| The question could also be: "will you enthusiastically want to
| rehire them 6 months after they are let go?". It seems fairly
| common for C-level execs to have a limited understanding of what
| people actually do.
| thenanyu wrote:
| It's the highest signal question to ask in reference checks as
| well. It gives the reference an out to be honest and not feel
| like they're being disloyal. It's a very direct question that is
| hard to fudge without lying.
|
| "I would rehire them in a heartbeat" = yes, "I have been trying
| to recruit them for months, you lucky bastard" = yes, "If the
| right role came up, I would certainly consider them" = no, "Uh..
| yeah, I think" = no
| edmcnulty101 wrote:
| What's interesting is that people with Charisma fit this bill
| better than people who are competent.
| quxpar wrote:
| Exactly, every knows a company is run on good feelings from
| managers.
| edmcnulty101 wrote:
| It's run by the people who are spending political capitol to
| get difficult things done instead of worrying if they'll be
| enthusiastically rehired.
| analog31 wrote:
| This sounds great if you trust yourself to rehire someone better,
| reliably enough to cover for the friction of re-hiring and the
| collateral effect of firing on the morale of the rest of the
| team.
|
| If you're likely to see a new candidate's strengths, but the
| incumbent's weaknesses, then they're cooked. If the other
| employees have a different perception of the situation than you
| do, then the morale hit is assured. I have a rule of thumb, that
| upon firing a well-liked, or even not-disliked employee, it takes
| about a year for morale within their team to recover.
| softwarebeware wrote:
| Hmmm.. the advice given here seems to open the door to a lot of
| biases. Why might you not "enthusiastically" rehire someone? It
| might not be for their fit to the role, their job performance, or
| any other important factor. It may just be...your enthusiasm.
| Which very often wanes with your personal prejudices.
| ebiester wrote:
| I don't think that tracks with my experience, not as a manager.
|
| Consider this: I hate hiring. Most managers I know do.
| Interviews are contrived; you are making decisions that will
| impact both your company and their lives; if you get it wrong,
| you're going to have your team impacted and letting someone go
| for performance or behavioral reasons are even worse.
|
| For every person I've worked with at any given place, I can
| tell you within 15 seconds that, if they re-applied a few years
| after they left, if I would hire them back. I can tell you yes
| or no and the interview would only be for purposes of leveling.
| (How have they grown, for example?)
|
| I can tell you based on how I felt when I found out they were
| leaving. If they were the wrong fit for a team or role, then
| you get them into a role that fits them!
|
| Now, I have people that I would conditionally hire. There is
| one former coworker that comes to mind: he's brilliant in some
| cultures but will quickly grow frustrated in others. However,
| given the right culture, I would enthusiastically hire him.
| (And he is self-aware enough to know that he needs the right
| culture - if he's being called for a reference check, he's
| probably aligned with that culture.)
| softwarebeware wrote:
| I think you're saying that you would enthusiastically rehire
| everyone you ever hired? Not sure I'm getting the intended
| meaning
| Bromeo wrote:
| He's saying he can tell you yes or no within 15 seconds if
| a rehire was on the table.
| DerArzt wrote:
| > It may just be...your enthusiasm. Which very often wanes with
| your personal prejudices.
|
| Isn't that the rub overall? The whole reason that it's easier
| to get a raise by jumping ship than it is to stick it out?
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