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The Hidden Reason Great Hires Don’t Work Out · The Science of Leading

• 0:00
  Hey everyone, welcome back to The Science of Leading.
• 0:02
  I'm Claire Monroe-and yep, Edwin Carrington is here with me again.
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  Edwin, I've been thinking about something we touched on a few episodes
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  ago...You know how a resume can make someone look like a total rockstar-but
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  then, like, two weeks in, you're wondering what on earth just happened?
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  Ha-yeah,
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  that's a classic.
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  Happens more than people admit.
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  Most hiring still leans on experience,
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  a list of past roles, and a bit of...
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  gut instinct.
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  But here's the thing-if you don't nail the fit,
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  even the most impressive background can turn into a very expensive mistake.
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  And not just in terms of money-it affects morale,
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  productivity...
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  even your reputation as a team.
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  Totally.
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  I've lived through that.
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  My first tech job-we hired this developer,
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  and on paper, he was incredible.
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  Like, Ivy League, open-source projects,
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  the whole thing.
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  But within a month?
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  Boom.
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  Team vibe just... cracked.
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  He was smart, yeah, but he didn't gel with anyone.
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  Didn't believe in the way we worked.
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  And I just remember thinking, "How the heck did we miss that?"That's
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  exactly it.
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  When you hire purely for skills,
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  you miss the deeper stuff-like values,
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  working style, expectations.
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  And those hidden costs?
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  They sneak up on you.
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  I've seen studies that show a bad hire can cost up to 30% of their first-year
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  salary.
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  But it's more than dollars.
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  It slows projects down, eats up managers' time,
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  and drains your team's energy.
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  It spreads.
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  And it's not just the people who leave,
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  right?
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  Some folks stay-but they're like...
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  just there.
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  Going through the motions.
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  That can honestly be worse than turnover.
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  Exactly.
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  Disengagement is sneaky-and contagious.
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  Like we talked about in the retention episode,
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  it's not that there aren't good people out there.
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  It's just-we're not always looking for the right things.
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  Long-term success comes down to fit,
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  not just technical chops.
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  Okay,
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  so if hiring for skills is such a gamble... what even is fit?
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  Like, what does that really mean-and how do you measure it?
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  'Cause that's what I really want to dive into next."Fit" gets tossed
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  around a lot, but it's not just about getting along.
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  At its core, it's alignment-between someone's values,
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  work style, and expectations... and your company's culture.
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  It's the difference between someone who fills a seat-and someone who
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  actually moves your mission forward.
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  So,
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  it's not just like, "Are they friendly?" or "Do they vibe?" It's more
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  like...
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  do they thrive in your kind of environment?
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  Do they care about the same things?
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  Is that it?
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  That's a big part of it,
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  yeah.
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  Think about someone who loves chaos,
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  speed, making decisions on the fly-they're gonna feel boxed in at a place
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  that runs on process and precision.
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  And vice versa.
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  So before you even post a job,
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  you've got to define your culture.
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  Who are you?
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  What do you value?
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  Without that... fit's just guesswork.
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  Right-and once you know what you're
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  about, you can start figuring out what kind of person actually fits that.
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  I remember we talked about behavioral interviews before-like instead
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  of asking, "What's your greatest strength?" you say,
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  "Tell me about a time you dealt with team conflict." That's where you
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  get the real stuff-how someone actually operates.
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  Exactly.
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  Behavioral questions surface instincts and attitudes-not just rehearsed
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  answers.
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  But you can go even deeper with data.
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  OAD's fit assessments, for example-they measure things like personality
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  traits, how people process information,
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  even emotional intelligence.
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  It takes you beyond the paper credentials and gives you a clearer picture
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  of alignment.
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  I love that.
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  And just to be clear-it's not about hiring clones,
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  right?
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  Like, the goal isn't to build some weird workplace cult.
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  It's about finding people whose strengths actually click with your team.
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  I always think of Zappos-they hire for culture first,
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  and it shows.
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  People stay.
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  They feel like they belong.
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  Exactly.
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  Zappos isn't just throwing around buzzwords.
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  Their strategy is intentional-and measurable.
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  When you bring in behavioral data and fit surveys,
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  you're not playing the guessing game anymore.
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  You're building a team on purpose.
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  Okay-so once you do find someone who
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  feels like a great fit... what's next?
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  How do you make sure that alignment sticks once they're in the door?
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  That's
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  where trial projects and onboarding come into play.
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  Because, honestly, anyone can say the right things in an interview.
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  But how do they actually work?
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  A short trial task-just a couple hours-can show you how they think,
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  communicate, handle ambiguity.
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  It's a real-world preview.
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  And onboarding's not just filling out HR forms,
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  right?
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  It's about making people feel like part of something.
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  I've read that companies like Netflix and Patagonia-like,
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  they really invest in that early stage.
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  They connect new folks to mentors,
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  walk them through values, explain how their role ties into the bigger
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  mission.
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  That stuff sticks.
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  It does.
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  The first few weeks shape everything.
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  People decide early whether this is just a job-or something worth committing
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  to.
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  When onboarding reinforces your culture,
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  sets expectations clearly, and creates connection-it's a game-changer.
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  I worked with a manufacturing company once-tons of turnover,
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  mostly because they hired for skills and ignored culture.
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  We changed that.
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  Started using fit assessments,
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  added trial projects, reworked their onboarding.
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  A year later, their turnover was cut in half.
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  The team gelled.
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  Performance went up.
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  That's such a cool example.
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  And it proves the point-skills can be taught.
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  But if someone fits?
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  If they're aligned with how your team works?
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  That's when things really start clicking.
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  Exactly.
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  Fit isn't a box you check once.
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  It's a strategy.
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  And when you get it right-you protect your culture,
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  your performance, and your future.
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  Alright-that's a wrap for today.
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  And if you're ready to see how science-backed fit tools can actually
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  transform your hiring, go to O-A-D-dot-A-I-that's oad.
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  ai-and take a look
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  for free.
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  Seriously, it's worth a look.
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  Absolutely.
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  The right tools make all the difference.
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  Thanks for hanging out with us.
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  We'll be back soon with more on building teams that actually work.
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  Take care, Edwin.
• 6:06
  Take care, Claire.
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  Bye, everyone.