Ships do not sink because of the water around them, they sink because of the water in them.

The same goes for business; if your team is underperforming, you could find the company sinking before your very eyes.

Ergo, hiring a bad salesperson can cost your business thousands; the same amount you could be making by hiring a good one. Unfortunately for anyone who has made a disastrous hiring decision, there are five stages of grief to battle before you see the light.

1. Denial — “No they can’t be this bad, I had a hand in hiring them!”

At this initial stage, you are still buying into the fact this person is right for the position, for your organisation. It takes a while for the news to sink in, and even when you can see it coming a mile away. Bunker down, this stage can linger on uncomfortably for weeks. To push forward; fight the urge to protect them, you need to get critical about your team. You want different outcomes. Therefore, you need to think about them differently.

2. Anger/Frustration — “Is this possible? How did this happen? Whose fault is this?”

It is normal to spend some time in this phase, but some people get stuck here and cannot move forward. That is self-defeating because that ‘anger’ attitude is a HUGE barrier to moving forward and making the big decisions.

3. Bargaining — “Maybe if I just…”

You start promising yourself that you will be more careful next time. You will do this though in the hope things will change. Some miracles will happen, to demonstrate nothing different needs to be done.

4. Depression — “I’m never going to get another great employee for that position.”

Therefore, I keep what I have – better the devil you know. This is a normal feeling. How motivated are you to change the outcome you deserve?

5. Acceptance — “What’s next? What will I do differently to get a better outcome?”

The fact is that you can change the outcomes by selecting, who to invest in and who you will not. Bouncing off this decision, you WILL find another great employee. You will get through this! Congratulations on reaching this last stage, now to take the next actions to save your ship and move into calmer waters.

Next Steps:

• RAISE the BAR - Do not allow under-performing to continue

• TRAINING - Targeted to the needs of the team

• HOLD PEOPLE ACCOUNTABLE

• RECRUIT - Recruit ‘A’ Players only, using the SG Partners Sales Assessment Tool – Download a Free Sample here

“The goal of leaders is to create more leaders, not followers!”