Every time I visit a hospital, no matter the reason, I am always reminded that this particular place will contain some of, if not the happiest days of my life, as well as some of, or the saddest days: birth and death. There’s really no building that contains such emotional juxtaposition. But businesses have some pretty distinct juxtapositions of their own. This sometimes includes hiring - happy - and firing - sad. I know it's hyperbolic, but birth and death.

I thought of the first time I was trusted to hire and onboard a salesperson. My own salesperson! It was like I had given birth to my first child. There was a two-month gestation period, and finally, they were born. I welcomed them into my business family, into my world. I nurtured them. I fed them, and loved them, and watched them grow so quickly.

But then something happened. They stopped growing. Something was wrong. They seemed sickly, and unable to fend for themselves. They didn’t eat, didn’t sleep, and had a hard time telling the truth (they said they were/felt "fine."). They shirked responsibility and stopped taking accountability for their actions. They called in sick a lot, stopped using our CRM, took long lunches, and called a lot of numbers their manager didn’t recognize in states that weren't part of their territory.

It was hard to accept: how one of my happiest business days soon became the saddest day. I had to fire that same person. I had to “call it." They were dead on my table. On my watch. The worst thing was, my peers and I tried everything we could to prevent that salesperson from dying. Every intervention. Every prescription. But the truth was, I soon had to admit they were always D.O.A., or “Dead  On Arrival.” They arrived that way. They stayed that way. And they left my business life, my business world... that way.

Many people don't realize that calling the death is typically a doctor’s job. Or sometimes the coroner's job. People wrongfully assume that paramedics can "call it." Paramedic’s have neither the burden nor the responsibility, even though they most often know when there's nothing that can be done. They can call it, clinically, but not officially. This salesperson's manager knew that clinically, this salesperson was DOA. But only HR was able to call it, officially. That was me.

Often, we hear on the news that someone is in “critical condition.” It’s a little known secret that most doctors don’t “classify” people’s conditions. For the most part, it’s a tool doctors use to more simply inform the public, or really let the media know the general condition of a patient in a situation they are covering. Most of us have heard these classifications at some point. Let’s look at them quickly, as defined by Wikipedia:

  1. Undetermined: Patient is awaiting physician and/or assessment.
  2. Good: Vital signs are stable and within normal limits. Patient is conscious and comfortable. Indicators are excellent.
  3. Fair: Vital signs are stable and within normal limits. Patient is conscious, but may be uncomfortable. Indicators are favorable.
  4. Serious: Vital signs may be unstable and not within normal limits. Patient is acutely ill. Indicators are questionable.
  5. Critical: Vital signs are unstable and not within normal limits. Patient may be unconscious. Indicators are unfavorable.

In their three-month probation period, all salespeople arrive "undetermined," but that really is just unproven. However, some salespeople arrive at our business, D.O.A., before we even hire them. When we interview them, they seem lively, animated, even ready to crush it. They sell us. They give us hope. They seem brimming with life, but inside they’re dead. Their exuberance for our job is an act. Or it was right there in something they said or did. But we wanted to hire so badly that we missed it, or worse yet, overlooked it. We therefore probably hired them for all the wrong reasons.

In truth, we just needed a body to quickly fill a sales position. A sales hole. We never made sure their behaviorsattitudes and skills sets matched what we were looking for. We never made sure they came from a similar environment, which would more likely allow them to thrive in ours. We hired a sales personality, not asalesperson. Were we simply misdiagnosing this person as "healthy?" Were we neglectful? Was there dereliction of duty? To some degree, yes. And it would be even more neglectful if we made the same mistake again.

Do your work, up front. Salespeople are notoriously difficult to hire. Why? Because even ones that won't do well selling your product or service will do a much better job of selling themselves in the interview than people applying for any other position. But it doesn't need to be difficult. It’s still work, but it doesn’t have to be difficult. Before you hire, make sure they didn’t leave another company because they were in “critical condition” at that company. Make sure no one at that company had to “call it,” or declare them dead on the table. The truth is, you don’t want anyone that showed any signs of prior “ambulatory care.”

Rate your own salespeople. See where they are on your scale. If you don't have one, create one. We didn't want to feel neglectful anymore. We realized it was so problematic, we actually wrote a book on how to become better at it. Once you've called it, clinically, don’t spend your time resuscitating a dead salesperson. If they’re already “critical,” you probably know you’re going to have to “call it” eventually. Assemble your team and do a post-mortem. Talk about how you could have saved them sooner, or hired a better salesperson, one that didn't come in, critical. Know the vital signs. Know what's healthy, know what will thrive in your system. In your culture.

Have a rating system, and you can act sooner, and objectively call it when you see it. You can give them medication. You can monitor their progress and see if they go from critical condition to good, and then work on making them great. But truly, you want their condition to at least be “good” before you start to take action. Anything less is futile, or extremely hard to bounce back from. Don't believe in miracles, just good practice. Anything less than great is heartbreaking, expensive, and will eventually become your “saddest day.” You’ll take a long ride to the hospital with them, knowing you’re going to have to call them D.O.A.

Always remember: be a good doctor and call it when you see it. You may have paramedics trying to administer life to the patient, but as a doctor, you’re the only one that can and should call it. You may have a hard time explaining to their business “family” that they died on your table, and that you did everything you could to save them, but you have to tell it like it is, objectively and without emotion.

It may be your saddest day, but it should make you happy knowing you can start over. It may seem like a tragedy, but unlike our personal life, it’s just business and you can learn from your mistakes without physically harming anyone. Be better at hiring and you can stay away from the firing. Be better at managing up front and you won't have to resuscitate. Be better at business and you won't have body bags, and things will always seem less personal. Be a hiring hero in your business story, not a tragic one.

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