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At the end of last year, I made the decision to hire a designer to join our little team at Radiiate and the new designer started working with us at the beginning of January. Today I had to let her go.
So many times during the last two and a half months I had hoped that things would work out and that I’d be able to appoint her permanently (beyond her initial 3 month contract). Fact is that I knew from day one that she was a graphic designer, which I was hoping to nurture and develop into a web designer. But sadly, her lack of passion for web ultimately led to a lack of quality and creativity in her work. So the decision should’ve been easy, right? Simply make the decision that things weren’t working out and let her go!? Not so simple…
See, I’m very much a people’s person and I’ve never wanted to be that kind of ruthless businessman that needs to step on other people to get ahead. I value other people and even more so the relationships which can develop from working together. So letting someone go (I won’t call it “firing” someone, as that is harsh) isn’t really something that I ever wanted to do.
I realize that such a viewpoint is unrealistic, as every successful entrepreneur would need to hire and fire people during their career; but that didn’t make this decision any easier. Fact is, I did not need to let her go because of financial concerns; neither was I mad at her about something. But it was the best business decision to make… The fact that all of the “humane” considerations did not push me a direction though made this decision really hard (and even harder to execute).
I think the reason I felt the need to write this down, was because I feel insecure about all of the decisions I made in this regard. Prior to hiring the new designer, I had hired both FRESH01 & Foxinni, whom I had known beforehand. With these two guys, I have been immensely blessed, as you would struggle to find two more geniune, honest and talented guys to work with anywhere! So the fact is that they set the bar so high that most people that would join the team, is actually being set up to fail to an extent.
Looking back at every decision I made (or did not make) in this regard, I want to take full responsibility for what happened. The buck stops with me. I can’t run away from the fact that this is the first time I made the decision to hire someone and then have it not work out. And in some way, I’m almost scared of going down the same road with a new employee in future; and that is 100% due to the emotional, subjective and personal considerations that tends to complicate things.
But ultimately, it doesn’t matter how much of a people’s person I want to be… Sometimes we need to take one on the chin and simply make the business call, irrespective of how that’ll make you feel.
Adii the thing that stands out most to me from that post is that you said “the buck stops with me”. I can’t tell you how many people I’ve worked with and for who are so quick to blame anyone but themselves. My last employer decided to make some redundancies in December and the MD couldn’t even look anyone in the eye, he just stood there with little confidence blaming the economy. Then when he’d decided who to make redundant he decided to throw the office christmas party anyway and ordered champagne with it.
Fail.
The fact that you can talk about it openly and take responsibility for it speaks VOLUMES for your management style and ability. I give you a massive amount of credit for that, and hope that I will be able to take such a humble outlook on the same situations when I am eventually in the same position.
Hi,
I know what you are talking about, but there is nothing much you can do. If you are really upset about it, you could compensate to help her with an easy transition. This will take the guilt off you and it would help her greatly. 25-50% a months salary would help.
Kumail.H.T
twitter.com/kumailht
Don’t be too hard on your self, business calls are sometimes tough, but its in your and their best interest to asses whether you can work through any obstacles or not. Hence the 3 months probation. So that way the employer and employee is clear where they stand.
Thumbs up for the article
(don’t worry.. tomorrow is P.O.E.T.S day .. LOL )
Marek | Webcentric
Hey Adii, I sympathise and understand your feelings exactly. Don’t let it get you down. I realise that Fresh and Foxinni are high benchmarks to match, but there are others out there that can provide your business with equal quality and flair.
Kumail’s idea isn’t a bad one, but no means required by you for a 3 month probationary contract. I wouldn’tt feel obliged to do this at all, but depending on the depth of your feelings of guilt and the designer’s possible predicament… perhaps it’s a consideration. Perhaps she had a backup plan and doesn’t even want a pity severence.
Rough to hear that… Sometimes people are just not the right fit for the group. But saying that I am somewhat like you in that I start searching inside to see if there was anything that I could do differently to get a different outcome.
I do worry about the statement
“bar so high that most people that would join the team, are actually being set up to fail to an extent.”
Some questions to ask yourself:
What expectation makes them fail?
How can you better communicate and train ?
Did you have obtainable objections? Could they be better communicated?
I personally would dig deeper into that thought and try to establish how you can help curve this while still getting a successful outcome.
I tend to find bnet.com a nice resource for this kind of stuff.
regards.
This is one of those unfortunate things one has do deal with in business. I shudder at the thought as well…
Perhaps grabbing a copy of Harvey Mackay’s book – “Swim With The Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive” can lift up your spirits.
Hop straight on to
lesson40 – “Never be your own hatchet man”;
lesson41-”On the Other hand, if you are going to be your own hatchet man…”
You may also find lesson 50 – “The Best Way To Chew Someone Out” appropriate.
Perhaps these short chapters by a veteran businessman can help you the way they helped me.
If it’s true that she had a lack of passion for the web (and was a graphics designer first), you might have actually done her a favor in the long run. No one wants to do something they aren’t passionate about, but it’s also often difficult to step away from a job simply for that reason.
Let her find a job that is in a field she is passionate about (probably graphic design) and hire someone who is passionate about the web.
Unfortunately this is one of the things you have to deal with when being the boss/entrepreneur/go-getter/self starter…
Think about this Adii, how many people have benefited from you opening your own shop/s? Much more than those that have fallen by the way side I assume. You could have just got a c.v, made a portfolio and joined the ranks of the employed. Instead you took a risk, created jobs and opportunities for others to jump onto.
This has to happen, and will happen again. Don’t harden to it though, just try to… I don’t know, be fair(to really simplify). Which I think you have been in this situation.
By the way, besides the web deficiency, how was she as a graphic designer?
Adii,
Do you think you maybe got it wrong as early as the advert? I’ve not seen the advert but I know a lot of graphic designers who fail to appreciate functionality and limitations of designing for the web.
Unfortunately the amount of people training as pure web designers are quite low (normally train as developers doing XHTML/CSS etc) so you might have to target a graphic designer as such – the screening process of how they will adapt (their potential) then is very important.
Hope that didn’t come across as too much of a critcism, but I kinda leapfrog on the back of your “the buck stops with me” comment!
Steve
That’s a tough one Adii, sorry you had to experience that. But as you’ve said, you had to make the best decision for the company and well done for doing that, that’s a big step if you ask me, because I know you’re not that kind of guy!
Don’t feel bad, she’ll find another spot and I’m sure she’s learnt tons and understands the reasoning behind it.
Hey Adii,
I know exactly where you’re coming from and I’ve been in exactly the same position. I thought I’d made the right decision at the time, I thought the applicant was perfect but it turned out not to be and we had to let the person go. On reflection, being to hasty was the key factor in what happened.
Letting people go really sucks as I am a people person also, so when it came to the crunch it makes it more difficult to come from a business point of view, you’d be a cold hearted soul if you had no thoughts going round in head about it all.
We have a student starting with us for 3 weeks on an education placement on Monday. The student came in for a chat before we invited her to join the team for 3 weeks, being fairly switched on she brought in her portfolio and straight off the bat you could tell that she was a graphic/print/illustrator rather than web orientated. Even at the young age of 19/20 the student had come to the conclusion than she wasn’t a web type of person so I do believe there is a line drawn between print/illustration and web.
I have learned overall that if there is extra work to be done figure out what kind of work it is, check a portfolio to death, see where the potential employee’s heart lies in respect of design. If you’re more of a web company, a print designer is going to need some heavy nurturing to start working with the web and vice versa. People are best left doing what they’re comfortable with. I am sure you’ve probably made one of THE best decisions for her and if she is as skilled as you say she is I’m sure she will find work out there in the illustration/graphic design world and she’ll be all the better for it. You’ve given her a start in our big world, the experience even in 3 months will give her a great start. I’m sure…
Gavin
Right before I read your article, I just read this one: http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2009/01/6-reasons-why-designers-should-code/
I think that you may have a hard time finding someone with the same amount of passion in web design/coding that you do, but at the same time you have her a great look at what your working world is like. I have had several jobs that were not right for me, but I always took something away from it and it sounds like she was someone who will do very well no matter where she goes.
I’m sorry for two things:
1. I didn’t read all the comments and 2. Does this mean you are hiring?
Oh god that was so not cool but i couldn’t resist.
I guess the bright side of this is that a web designer will possibly get the web designer position.
You know what I’ve experienced man, is that graphic designers don’t often translate well into web designers. You won’t believe the amount of designs that don’t take into consideration flows, usability, standards, or even common practice. Design for print, and banner making does not equate to the web canvas. What’s really too bad is that she didn’t want to learn or push herself to. After all, some people simply have goals that don’t align with yours in the end, regardless of pure talent. Plus, it’s always hard to hone and reign in on the really talented folk.
They can get bored easily. hah.
I wouldn’t feel too bad about it dude. You made the right decision – in fact you did her a favor. Rather than waste time, may she move on and find her groove…
Whilst I can understand the decision you took, I have to say that reading this leaves a sour taste in my mouth. How do you think the lady is feeling reading this, which she almost certainly has done?
And what about future employers, may stumble across this blog and read “lack of quality” in reference to her.
Again, I am not knocking the call you made, I respect that, but I think going into such detail publicly is potentially damaging :/
Speaking of “peoples man” and “never want to step on others”.. I recall your behavior with Small Potato and the very first ads of Woothemes.
Its good to read a post like this from you Adii. I would say, certainly you have changed in last one year, for good.
I don’t believe that a “pure business call” should take preference over the relational, ethical or moral questions we face in business.
As business owners, we have a responsibility towards the people who work for us(and with us), our suppliers and even our competitors. I believe business is greater than just financials. It’s also about growing the people in the business and achieving the aim of the business.
Having said that, i don’t think you made the wrong decision Adii – having someone work for you who is not passionate about what they do is doing them a disfavor and will hamper the growth of the person and the relationships within the company. It is like driving a bus to a specific destination and not letting the passenger off who realizes they are on the wrong bus.
The probation period allows both parties to see if this business (or bus) is the environment in which both parties can grow each other and achieve the same aims. If not, i would suggest (beyond how you treated the situation) to see if you can assist in her finding the right bus… Way beyond just a “pure business call”. (sorry for the long comment and the bus metaphor – a bit corny now that i read it again
I’ve not read all the comments but it sounds to me like you did nothing wrong, if this was 6 months down the line then yes the buck would have lied with you – but this was done within the probation period which is there for this exact reason.
Sometimes things don’t work out and the end of the day you have to make sure you have the staff who you can trust to produce the quality of work that reflects your company. Even more so when it is such a small team.
Tough one… I’ve been through this numerous times and what I’ve learnt is that you need to catch them at the door.
Rather take your time with an OTT recruitment process than just get someone in because you need capacity. Setting very clear job requirements and objectives is key and be 100% that you’re comfortable the candidate can deliver on these…
Recruiting can be a pain in the ass, but I’d rather have a rigorous approach, and maybe even lose a few good ones, but ultimately you’re going to learn a lot about people and what you want / don’t want in the process.
One shouldn’t hire someone to make “tea” when you ultimately want them to make “coffee” .. they may have no interest / desire / skills to do this… lay it all out up front and be sure they can deliver on what you want.
Good luck!
If the person isn’t right, then the person isn’t right. I wholeheartedly believe in using the probation period as exactly that – a period in which to assess the person’s skill at what they said they were capable of doing.
You definitely made the right call, despite the fact that something like this will always leave a sour taste in one’s mouth. By the way, how did the designer react to the news?
I’ve had to part ways with a few employees over the years, and I had one that is exactly the experience you describe – I thought I could groom her into what I needed, I genuinely liked her as a person, and she was very reliable as an employee. The only problem is that I spent so much time “grooming” her work that I might as well have been doing it myself … and it was during that realization when I knew I had to let her go, because doing everything twice was not a great business move. I felt bad about it as well. It was a difficult and uncomfortable situation.
Thanks for the kind words John.
I definitely believe that employment is a two-way street and that an employer has a much bigger responsibility in ensuring that things work out.
Fact is, I did not have to make this a complicated situation. She was on probation for three months and all I had to do was to run out the 3 months and not offer her a permanent position thereafter. But I think that having employees look up to you and depend on you, makes such a decision so darn hard.
At least I know that I was honest throughout and that I did everything I could think off to make things work out.
I hear you with regards to the added compensation; and I did pay her a full month’s salary even though she finished today (2 weeks ahead of time). I did however not do that, because I felt guilty – instead I think that was the right thing to do irrespective of how I felt.
In an ideal world, I would’ve liked never to invoke the 3 month probation principles and appointed her full-time.
Business is never ideal though…
I’m sure there are others who can add value here, but it’s gonna take some exceptional personalities!
And I don’t think that I need to feel bad about the money-aspect of the decision; because that’s the business side of this decision. But breaking bad news to anyone (irrespective of whether it is in a business environment or not) is never a fun past-time…
I can assure you that the questions you have posed are actually the questions that are going around in my mind (and hence the post above).
I do believe that I have to be accountable (if only to myself) about this and before I venture into hiring someone else, I need to make sure that I don’t make the same mistakes (if I made any this time around).
Agree fully.
Thanks for the suggestion; definitely sounds intriguing and I’ll try grab myself a copy!
The difficulty is just in finding someone (locally) that is as passionate about web as we are…
So yes, I totally agree… The period she spent here was both for her to figure out whether this was something she wanted to do and for me to decide whether there was business value in her full-time appointment.
First up… She is *massively* talented as a designer and even though she needs to find her signature style (she is only 20!), she will most definitely go on to achieve great things in her life!
I don’t think I’m being hard on myself. But I am pushing myself to figure out what went wrong here, as that is the only way I can improve myself in this regard. That way, this becomes a learning curve and a valuable experience irrespective of the outcome.
Thanks for sharing that! Glad I’m not alone in this…
As mentioned above – I knew I was hiring a graphic designer, but she also knew that I wanted her to be a web designer. I think the end result was that both of us realized that web design isn’t where her heart is. I’m a firm believer of doing what you love (that’s why I quit my full-time, corporate gig last year) and I’d never force someone to stay in a job they didn’t want.
Well, I never put a job ad out there… I had approached a top design school in Cape Town and invited 3 of their final-year students for interviews (knowing that top-notch designers were hard to find).
Also – I wasn’t looking for a developer i.e. the designer didn’t need to do any coding at all. She had basic HTML & CSS knowledge – so she what the limitations of the medium were.
So maybe, both of us over-estimated her willingness to develop as a web designer…
Well problem solved, maybe give her a call and ask her if she is doing fine, that might help you feel better if you are still feeling down.
I’ve just read that post and in hindsight (which they say is an exact science) this is very true. I know that it’s not possible to design for web if you don’t have an understanding of the functionality and usability involved; which means you don’t necessarily need to code the design yourself, but you need to have that knowledge.
Nope – I’m not hiring!
I’m gonna sit back and first figure out everything that happened, before I’ll even consider hiring again.
James – If potential future employees want to run to the hills because of my honesty, then so be it. I believe that I’ve been sensitive in terms of the information I included in the above post and I’ve said nothing in here, that I didn’t also communicate to the designer in person.
So ultimately you do not know the designer in question (nobody does) and nothing I have said have compromised her as a person or a designer.
Haha. Yes I have grown a lot and I definitely approach certain situations in a different way these days.