How to spot warning signs before hiring people who will be a bad fit for your company.
The candidate Pierce Howard interviewed for a sales position at his consulting firm, CentACS, won him over with her work experience, friend-of-a-friend connection and good looks. But it didn’t take long after she started working at the firm for her to prove herself a nightmare employee.
She refused to write sales proposals even after Howard sent her to a $5,000 training session on the topic. She didn’t meet sales quotas and grew abrasive at any kind of feedback. Within months, she’d managed to convince an intern at the eight-person firm to quit. Company morale was suffering. Employees would gather behind closed doors to complain. “There was an element of the narcissist in her,” Howard says. “She did not question her own personal judgment.” After a year, Howard finally gave her the pink slip.
What makes Howard’s situation particularly compelling is that his company CentACS – the Center for Applied Cognitive Studies – specialises in personality assessment and training. It shows that even the most perceptive business owners can make a bad hire when they don’t pay attention to the right signs. Howard learned his lesson. “We hired her against our better judgment,” he says. “There’s a solid body of knowledge out there about the traits you should look for. You should not ignore that.”
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