On paper, the person you've hired should fit easily into your business. They interviewed well, have the skills you're looking for and are enthusiastic about the role.

But a few weeks in, you're less sure that you've made the right decision. Issues in the first few weeks might simply be teething problems that will work themselves out – or you might have made a mistake.

If you do decide your new employee isn't right for the business, what should you do next?

In most cases, your new employee won’t be there to purposefully aggravate colleagues or give a poor performance. There are plenty of reasons why they might have got off on the wrong foot:

• The job isn’t what they expected. Is the reality of the position different to how it was described?
• They aren’t being challenged. If your new employee is overqualified for the role, it can lead to feelings of listlessness
• They’re out of their depth. Your employee might have come across well in interviews, but they’re underqualified

In these cases, you haven’t necessarily made a bad hire. By offering training, support and opportunities for growth, you could unlock their potential. However, not every company will have the time or budget to spare.

There are a number of more obvious red flags to look out for with a new hire too. These red flags should definitively tell you that you’ve made the wrong choice.

• A poor attitude. Being overly negative or irritable in the first few weeks is a bad sign
• Lateness. While lateness is sometimes unavoidable, frequent incidents could also show that they don’t care about or value the position
• Inflexibility. If they’re firmly rooted in their ways and reluctant to try something new, they probably won’t be a good team player
• Arrogance. Confidence is an important trait, but a superiority complex will ultimately alienate people and negatively affect morale

Once you’ve pinpointed the reason your new hire isn’t working out, you’ll be faced with a dilemma. Do you spend time and effort trying to solve the problem, potentially dragging out their harmful impact on your business? Or do you admit that you made a mistake?

Talking to your employee should help you decide what to do. Be as honest as possible – let them know that you’re dissatisfied with their performance or attitude so far. Ask how they’re feeling and if they have any suggestions to help resolve the issue.

Bear in mind that your employee might relish the opportunity to talk openly. It can be intimidating to start a new job and realise it’s not a natural fit. A frank conversation could help you reach a solution or plan of action together.

At the very least, the meeting should provide insight into why you made a hiring mistake and what you can do in future. Here are a couple of examples:

Did your employee misinterpret the requirements of the role? Make sure future job descriptions are clear and spend time during the interview outlining key responsibilities.

Is your employee lashing out because they feel confused or unsupported? Take another look at your onboarding process and check you’re giving staff enough time to understand how things work. If your onboarding process isn’t thorough, poor employee performance could become systemic.

When you’ve made a bad hire, one of the most difficult things to come to terms with is the wasted cost of recruitment. You spent time and effort finding someone, so it can be hard to bite the bullet and start over.

However, bear in mind the current and future costs of keeping the employee with the business. The costs can include:

• Reduced productivity or missed opportunities
• A decline in work quality
• Stifled progress, if your employee acts as a bottleneck
• A lack of momentum and drive
• Loss of clients
• Employee dissatisfaction, which could result in a higher staff turnover

If you’re a small business in particular, these costs can far outweigh the initial recruitment expense.

Mark Waite, co-founder of Chepstow based Cohesive Communications gave a bad hire three months at the business. The employee had previously worked as an intern and was confident, articulate and outgoing. But when he joined full-time, he lost motivation and interest.

Mark put him on a performance improvement programme and set out measurable objectives. But when there was no sign of improvement, the decision was made to let him go.

“It really saddened me. But I had to determine when the optimum time was when I would say ‘you have had your chance to step up’ and end it before we put the business at risk. I feel three months was enough time to demonstrate his capabilities.”

Letting an employee go isn’t easy. But if you’ve had open conversations and given them the chance to improve, then it shouldn’t come as a surprise.

If they’ve been with the company for one month or more (up to two years), they’re entitled to a statutory notice period of one week. However, how you handle the rest of the transition period will probably depend on your own experiences.

If your hire wasn’t necessarily at fault (for example, problems arose because they were overqualified for the role), you can try to make their departure smoother. For example, you might want to provide a severance payment or point them in the direction of positions they might be better suited to.

It’s normal to delay tough conversations like this. But moving quickly has benefits for both parties:

1. Your employee might still have some job offers or opportunities in the pipeline. Being able to move onto something else can ease the transition
2. Suitable candidates who previously interviewed for the role might still be available

It’s crucial to learn from the experience of a bad hire so you don’t make the same hiring mistakes again. Here are a couple of common areas to start with.

Evaluate your interview process

Does your interview process give candidates enough information about the role and a true picture of what it’s like to work at your business? Don’t forget that soft skills are just as important as experience and education.

Think about who needs to be involved in interviews. It can be beneficial to include a senior member of the team, who will understand the personality, skills and attitude needed to fit in.

When you’re holding final interviews, give candidates the chance to meet the team they’ll be working with. Candidates will have a clearer understanding of the workplace dynamic and you can assess who is the more natural fit.

Think about your company culture

Your company culture is what holds your business together. A distinct company culture ensures everyone shares the same mission and values, whether it’s your leadership team, employees or interview candidates.

Are you making your company culture clear to people outside the business? Do potential employees know what to expect?

Consider:

• The messaging and tone of voice of your job adverts
• How easy it is to find your mission and values online
• Whether the About and Team pages of your website give people a sense of who you are
• How your business is represented on social media

Compare your benefits package

If you find your business frequently attracting mediocre candidates, check your benefits and salary are in line with the rest of the market. If they’re much lower, the best talent won’t be applying or interviewing for positions.

Your benefits package should always correspond with the level of skill, education and experience you’re looking for.