How to Set New Hires Up for Success

You hired the right person. So why isn't it working?

You spent weeks, maybe months, finding the right person. You interviewed them, checked the boxes, made the offer, and got them across the finish line. Then they start. A few weeks in, something feels off. Maybe they aren't moving as quickly as you expected. A deliverable gets missed. They're not taking as much ownership as you thought they would. Or you're simply not seeing the impact you expected when you made the hire. That's usually when buyer's remorse starts to creep in: Did we hire the wrong person? Maybe. But that's not the first question I would ask. I'm a systems thinker. When something isn't working, I want to understand the problem first and then work backward to its root cause. The same principle applies to a struggling new hire. Before concluding that you have a performance problem, determine whether you actually have an expectations, onboarding, access, training, or communication problem.

Start with clarity

One of the easiest mistakes a manager can make is believing an expectation was clear simply because it was clear to them. “Take ownership.” “Get up to speed.” “Build the function.” “Drive more results.” Those might sound like expectations, but they don't tell a new employee what success actually looks like. Instead, define the outcomes you expect. What needs to happen? By when? How will you know it's working? Who do they need to work with? What can they decide independently? Then have the employee tell you what they heard. Something as simple as: “Here's what I'm hearing success looks like over the next 30 days. Is that how you're thinking about it?” can uncover a major disconnect before it becomes a performance problem. And put it in writing. If neither the manager nor the employee can clearly explain what success looks like, it's difficult to fairly determine whether someone is succeeding.

Diagnose the problem before you diagnose the person

When someone isn't meeting expectations, I like to work through the problem in order. 1. Was the expectation actually clear? Were the outcomes, priorities, timeline, and measures of success explicitly communicated? 2. Do they have what they need? Consider training, systems access, information, resources, decision-making authority, and relationships. A new leader can't effectively navigate an organization if nobody has introduced them to the people they need to influence. 3. Have they received specific feedback? Don't let frustration accumulate silently. If something isn't working, address it quickly. Explain what you expected, what happened instead, why it matters, and what needs to change. Then ask: “What got in the way?” The answer matters. You may discover a performance issue. But you may also discover that the employee didn't have the information, resources, authority, or clarity you assumed they had. 4. Is this actually a fit or performance problem? Once expectations are clear, the employee has the necessary support, and you've given them direct opportunities to adjust, you can evaluate performance much more fairly. Sometimes the answer really is that you made the wrong hire. But you should arrive at that conclusion by using data and evidence.

Don't judge every role on the same timeline

The first 90 days shouldn't mean waiting three months before expecting anything from a new employee.

It means understanding what good performance should look like at different stages.

Communicate before frustration compounds

Managers sometimes recognize a problem early but don't say anything. They compensate for it. They redo the work. They take something back. They complain to another executive. They start questioning the hire privately. Meanwhile, the employee may have no idea anything is wrong. That's the pattern to break.

Communicate. Communicate. Communicate. If an expectation isn't being met, talk about it. Then document what you agreed to. If the same issue happens again, you can have a very different conversation: “We talked about this last week and agreed on what needed to change. I'm not seeing the progress we discussed. Help me understand what's getting in the way.” Now both sides are working from the same information.

Good feedback identifies the expectation, what happened, the impact, and what needs to happen going forward, and it is delivered within days rather than weeks.

Giving someone a chance doesn't mean lowering the bar

None of this means ignoring obvious problems for 90 days. Integrity issues, disengagement, ignoring direct feedback, repeatedly failing to follow through, or damaging important relationships can tell you something very early. And sometimes a hire simply doesn't work out.

The goal isn't to eliminate accountability. It's to make sure you're holding someone accountable for expectations they actually understood and had a reasonable opportunity to meet.

If you've clearly communicated the outcomes, provided the necessary resources and authority, given specific feedback, and the same problems continue, you have much better information on which to make a decision. There should be very few surprises in a well-managed performance conversation.

The first 90 days are a shared responsibility.

You can hire an exceptional person and still put them into a system that makes success unnecessarily difficult.

A new hire has a responsibility to learn, communicate, build relationships, seek feedback, and deliver. But the company has a responsibility too. Create clarity. Give people what they need. Communicate when something isn't working. Give them the opportunity to adjust. Then hold them accountable.

Hiring the right person is only the beginning. Setting them up to succeed is what turns a great hire into a great employee.

Put it into practice.