Alan Butz

Over 20 years in professional services has taught us one thing- we can’t avoid mistakes, but we can learn from them. As a professional services firm, we work exclusively with one product -people- and people have a mind of their own. When we get an offer rejection, or someone chooses to terminate a contract early, we have to remind our customers and ourselves that no matter how hard we try, we ultimately can’t control the human condition of free will. We can, however, look for things to improve upon to make these outcomes happen less often.
The most common reasons we have found that people leave a contract early are as follows:
• The time commitment that was outlined in the beginning of the interview process does not line up with reality- either more or less hours than expected, or  more travel
• Extreme micro management over their role
• They are poached by another opportunity for more money
In response to the above, I have a few thoughts. Overall, what I have learned over a decade in this industry is that a simple and honest approach is always the best approach.
• Regarding expectations of hours and travel:
We believe in an open and honest approach in the hiring process. We take a reality based approach when it comes to travel and workload and I don’t add any fluff or positive spin. We take pride in speaking plainly and openly. We have found that this tactic causes a lot less hurt feelings and missed expectations.
• Regarding micromanagement:
We understand the desire to micromanage, and agree for the initial 30 days of a contract its proper to keep a tighter oversight schedule, however, at Fidelis, we counterbalance the tendency for companies to micromanage new employees by placing highly qualified, energetic consultants that continually beat expectations. We continue to collaborate with our clients throughout the hiring and process and beyond.
• Avoid your consultants being poached:
What we have learned over the years of being in the people business  is a simple and honest approach is always the best approach. We create significant value for our clients by being upfront with them about the candidates we propose, the process ahead of us, and the associated costs.
We are all going to make mistakes, but as long as we approach life with a growth mindset, we can improve and minimize issues along the way.
Over the next coming months we will be doing a series of posts related to our industry. Topics to include:
• How to proactively determine “red flags” in the hiring process
• The negative effects of “ghosting”, which also leads to the topic…
• Why my recruiter didn’t respond. Is it me?
We welcome more topic ideas and look forward to your response. Our goal is to create an open space to productively work through ideas to improve your experience both from both a customer and consultant perspective.