I wanted to start by denouncing marriage: that ancient institution imposed on us by religion, culture, and even by the state. As a footnote, let me bring up Ireland, a so-called first-world country, which only in 1995 abolished the constitutional prohibition that its citizens had on seeking a divorce, a prohibition that had been in effect since 1937.
Just like divorce, regaining independence from an employee can be very difficult and costly. Elon Musk discovered this the hard way. In the USA, he fired several Twitter employees with immediate effect, although he paid large severance packages. He tried to do the same with European Twitter employees but was barred by various European laws, some of which require a minimum notice of 3 months before firing someone. We may not lose half of our company, but it still feels like an irretrievable loss of time.
Pessimistic view? I agree. But not all divorces are disastrous; sometimes they are the perfect opening for both parties to pursue different lives from the ones they were leading. Lives they could never have experienced had they stayed with the same person.
After three years of traveling by motorcycle throughout Mozambique, the ex-husband visits his ex-wife, and they talk all morning about so many adventures and the many things that have changed in their respective lives. They both genuinely draw from this experience and realize that the best thing they could have done in the universe was to divorce each other. Forgive me for this romanticization of divorce, but I digress…
Hiring an employee is an act of faith; it is a marriage. A bilateral agreement where both parties look out for their best interests. That employee who today presents themselves in their best light, who eats with their mouth closed, and gives us 100% of their attention during the interview… is the same one who tomorrow may not meet deadlines, will stop loving us slowly, and will start looking for other opportunities.
That employee is also someone who will help us materialize our vision, fulfill our mission, and in the process, improve our community, and who knows, change the world.
For me, hiring an employee requires both luck and good diligence.
Here are the two tips I want to leave:
- Conduct at least two interviews on different occasions;
- Give a written or practical aptitude test with 50 tasks or questions. The important thing is not that the candidate gets everything right, but to get to know their personality, character, and abilities.
There is a famous phrase whose author escapes my memory: “The best time to fire an employee is the first time you think about doing it.”
Be a better human being than that! Fire them the second time you think about divorcing them. But never let it reach the third time.
Stélio Inácio The Entrepreneurial Experience Nº 1
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