Today’s article is a guest post from Benjamin Eubanks of Upstart HR. Ben is up and coming rockstar. He’s the author of Rock the PHR and founder of the HRevolution Unconference. He’s also one of the coolest guys in the HR world. Enjoy!
Ever play Tetris before? The goal is to line up geometric figures in complete lines to earn points. Making things fit is the name of the game. The image on the left is a joke, because it’s simply not possible to complete a line with the rounded bottom.
In other words, success is impossible.
As recruiters and HR pros, we do our best to get people into our organizations that fit our culture. Sometimes it’s extremely frustrating when you find someone who looks like an all star but isn’t the right cultural fit for your business. Trying to force a fit in this situation isn’t going to make things work. And that isn’t necessarily your fault.
Sometimes people just won’t fit.
But it’s not necessarily a bad thing. That’s what separates Zappos from Wal-Mart. Keep that in mind.
Image credit: XKCD
Ben Eubanks is an HR professional from Huntsville, AL. He pretty much lives online, and you can connect with him on Twitter or LinkedIn. He also writes a blog for the entry level pros, seasoned veterans, and zombies in the human resources space.
“Sometimes people just won’t fit” – I wholeheartedly agree. In my role as a generalist at various companies, it amazes me how long it takes a manager to realize this and the disruption it causes. Managers go into “saving” mode – if I just give it some more time, if I just have one more conversation, etc. For the good of both the company and the employee, the sooner either the company or the employee realize the relationship is not a fit, the better.
Like many HR professionals, oh I have stories . . .
Thanks for sharing, TK
@TK Hey, thanks for the comment. It’s hard to start over with another person when you realize a bad fit, and that’s one reason they try to hold onto those people. But it’s just a bad idea to try and do that and keep prolonging the impact it has on your org. Turn that sucker over and roll the dice again. :-)