Why reviewing the role before you hire changes everything

That urge to replace someone as fast as possible?

I get it! Someone hands in their resignation and the panic sets in almost immediately.

Who's going to do their job? How do we keep the wheels turning? I need to find someone quick smart!

So you dust off the old job description, post the ad and start sifting through applications hoping to find someone just like the person who just left because it feels like the right thing to do.

Yet here's the thing....hiring in a panic, without stopping to review what the business actually needs right now, is one of the most common and most costly mistakes business owners make.

The role you had isn't always the role you need!

Businesses change, your team changes, your clients change. your processes, your systems and your goals all shift over time.

Yet job descriptions sit and gather digital dust until someone leaves then the old chestnut from two years ago gets another go.

We call this role creep — the slow drift between what a job description says and what the person actually does. Over time, great team members take on more, shift responsibilities, cover gaps and grow into things that were never in their original brief.

When they leave, you lose all of that.

If you go straight to market replacing the role as it was written 18 months ago, you're not actually replacing the person you lost. You're hiring for a version of the role that no longer exists.

Three questions to ask before you go to market

🤍 Has this role changed since the last time we hired for it? Write down what the person who is leaving actually does — not what their job description says. The gap between those two things will tell you a lot.

🤍 Does the business need the same thing it needed 12-18 months ago? Think about where the business is heading, not just where it's been. Is there a skill set you're missing? A gap that has been quietly hurting you? A function that has grown beyond what one person can carry?

🤍 Is there someone internally who is ready for more? Before you go external, look inward. Promoting from within isn't always possible, but it's always worth asking. Internal moves reward loyalty, reduce onboarding time and send a powerful message to the rest of your team about what's possible.

Why a carbon copy hire is rarely the right move...

It's completely natural to want to find someone just like the person who left. They knew the culture, the clients and you. They just got it.

Yet hiring for the past instead of the future means you could be bringing someone in to fill a role the business has already outgrown.

The best hire is not a replica. It's the right person for where you are heading next.

That might look similar to what you had. It might look quite different. You won't know until you take the time to review.

This doesn't have to take long

Reviewing the role before you hire doesn't mean putting everything on hold for weeks. It can be as simple as a one hour sit-down with yourself or with a trusted advisor to ask the questions above and get honest about what you actually need.

That hour could save you months of frustration down the track.

Need help to hire? My Checklist walks you through the whole hiring process step by step — including how to scope the role before you write a single word of an ad.

Grab it here 👇🏽

https://thehrhaven.kit.com/4a1e5897b1

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