To ruin someone's livelihood?

Can you extend their probation period, this way you can assess if they've got what is needed to do the job, gives you a bit more time to assess their suitability for the role

Give them.a chance.
Life is too short.

Please give them a chance. Sounds as though they'd be loyal & willing to learn & not likely to leave for a,long time if they're prepared & willing to make such big changes to their life in order to take the job. This could be the making of them. Also, so much nicer to have a nice person in a team, rather than someone who is only out for themselves. Could be the best investment you've ever made. Plus, ofcourse, surely you have the probation period to see how things are working? I say give them a chance!!

I would do her a favour and let her go. If you are already thinking she's not capable and you as a manager don't want to spend the time and effort on training a member of your staff what chance has she got anyway in progressing.

Sorry for being so hard on you earlier but am glad to hear you've made the human choice.

I hope it works out!

Agree you should give them a chance. Every employee you take on you are taking a chance on. If this pays off, brilliant. If not, they certainly will not be the first or last mediocre employee, and at least you like them and they are a good person. Worth the risk

All the best and positivity, hopefully it goes well.

I think you've done the right thing OP. Good luck to you both

Sounds like you've made your mind up so I can't see the point of this thread

This. It will reflect very badly on you.

Why would you be ruining anyone's livelihood? Presumably there are other jobs this person could apply for?

I was in a similar position a few years back. Took someone on because they came across really well in the interview, even if they didn’t hit all the criteria (similar role but different sector). They were a really great team member, hard worker and very likeable. Unfortunately they had really talked up their skills in the interview and just weren’t up to the job. To the point where other colleagues started expressing their concerns. We put steps in place to help them get up to speed but ultimately they just didn’t have it in them to fulfil the requirements. They ended up leaving and are now flourishing in a related but less technical and demanding type of role.

I think if your gut is telling you they don’t have the chops I’d trust that - you’ve clearly had plenty of experience which is telling you what to do.

I’d take a punt on them. You can always get rid of them later if it’s not working.

I'm an employer...

If you are seeing issues now I can guarantee they will only get worse in time. Perfect seeming employees also can have issues but less so.

It is a very red flag they cannot supply references...no, you should not stick your neck out.

I would stick with your gut - 54 years old and every time I have gone against it in hiring I have regretted it !

You are over thinking this. Give them the job. They will do a reasonable job, you will enjoy their company, and in 3 years they will leave. 30 years on when you have retired you can look back with a warm glow that you helped someone.

Sorry but all you said was this:

I have literally taken on five people and only one of the five is turning out to be great ( yes I'm starting to question my recruitment too lol) but we are where we are

It's not all me it's a mixture of I'll health/leaving/not being cut out for it etc

Obviously you're not giving any detailed information here but as a hiring manager:

1. one of the key questions is health.
2. not being cut out is also part of the vetting process.

Ok I'll give you people leaving (although prior continuity is also a factor you need to consider) but establishing a fit/healthy and capable workforce is your job. It does sound like you're just trying to make excuses as to why it's not your fault.

Like I say, I hire people and it's precisely my job to work out if people are cut out for it.

Yes, that's what I thought - five people in a row who were not a good fit? I feel sorry for the new employees.

To employ one bad egg may be regarded as a misfortune; to do so twice looks like carelessness. Five times: it's definitely the manager and/or organisation who is at fault!

I did this; and because the hire had such a strong work ethic and was a nice/good person it worked out really well. As you imply they become the sort of person you can build a team round. My hire recognised the effort we put in to developing them, and now are very loyal to me and the business.

They would never push back on responsibilities falling within their job description though. They were very prepared to challenge and stretch themselves. So I'd be asking myself, will this hire will try and try hard if asked?

If you think yes, then putting the effort in to them now (since you've actually already hired them) is less risky than chucking them away without a chance and trying to recruit. By your own admission, it's not like star candidates with staying power just drop into your lap. What if you don't find anyone as promising in the next round?

And do the 4 out of 5 previous hires really reflect badly on you?

I work supervising a team were there is known/expected high turn over. It's a stepping stone role to the much more lucrative and interesting parts of our profession. But my team do really important bits of work it's not profitable for the wider business to do. I think in the last 2 years I've had more churn through my team than you; but my bosses would never say it was my fault team members were leaving. And I'd push back very hard on any suggestion it was. Given I'm the one training them from scratch, it's just as annoying to me as anyone when someone hands in their notice.

Finally, when you say you'd need to challenge the reference requirements, how often are you doing that? If this is the first time, then I wouldn't be too worried about it reflecting badly if it doesn't work out once. But I wouldn't be doing it repeatedly, because then that does reflect more on your judgement.

Well you said I was missing the point, like I should understand. But obviously I didn't so wasn't exactly missing anything.

It's the not knowing how this will pan out that's killing me it's a risk

Recruitment is always a risk.

What does your gut say?

Can they do the job? Then give it a go.

This. You are letting emotions cloud your judgement here. Not good for a manager.

I wouldn’t hire them.