The Hiring Quandary

Would you hire someone if you knew you were going to leave? Do you think it’s a parting gift or more of the single finger salute?

How would you feel if you accepted a position and the week you started you find out your new boss had just quit? After seeing the situation unfold, I’ve got some mixed feelings about it all.

The Hiring Processes

I’ve been mulling over this thought more than I’d like lately, so I’d like to hear some perspectives on the situation. Quite frankly I’m not sure the proper business etiquette, but I’m sure someone out there does!  But let’s back up first, and give some context to the predicament a few people found themselves stuck in.

You’ve been short-staffed for awhile now and you finally get the green light to back-fill a couple of positions. So you go through the arduous hiring process and actually find someone that has the exact skill set and background you need fairly quickly. As a bonus, your business partners also love them. Jackpot!

Here’s the catch. You haven’t been happy in your position (potentially) for some time now.  You haven’t found a new job, but it’s definitely not a stretch of the imagination to happen. Until it does. Right before your new hire is about to start their position. So what are your options to leave and not burn any bridges?

Hiring Implications

I can understand that as the hiring manager about to leave, you may no longer care what happens.  That said, I’m pretty sure the people left behind will. (Especially the person who accepted a position thinking they’d report to you). Which brings up a couple of questions in my mind, if you are the hiring manager’s boss.

How is the new employee going to feel when they’ve gotten the rug ripped from underneath them on their first day? How is that going to impact the rest of the team and work moving forward? Where am I going to find a replacement for the one who left and now train the new employee?

My gut instinct is to say it’s a bit of a jerk move from the new employee’s perspective and team left behind. You weren’t fully transparent (or didn’t know you were going to be leaving) and you’ve now left your team leaving them with more work than before.

On the contrary, if you know you were going to leave and the team was short staffed, could having another hire really be your parting gift? You may not be there to tow the company line, but at least you left with someone to fill part of that gap. Especially if they are able to hit the ground running and take over all your work with little guidance.

So maybe it’s not a bad idea?

The Final Conclusion of the Hiring Dilemma

What’s the final verdict you say? Well, when it comes down to it, I keep coming back to who it is you actually hired.

You may think you have done the company a favor, but if the new hire can’t tie his or her own shoe to speak it really doesn’t matter.

On the other hand, if you just hired the person who is going to win a noble prize and find the cure for cancer, then it’s potentially the best thing you may have done in your position.

Most importantly, you have to take into consideration the new employee’s feelings on the situation. They may be able to find the cure for cancer, but if they feel they were mislead into the position, will it really work out in the long run? What if they decide to quit and go back to their old job? Or even leave within a couple of months? Then how much of a favor was it?

Maybe it all comes down to personal perspective and business etiquette. All I know is if I walked into a new position on the first day, and they told me my boss just quit, I think I’d have an aneurism or heart attack. Either way I’d be carried out on a stretcher, trying to get a grip on what had just happened!

What’s your thoughts? Yea or nay on a last minute hire?