Hire Right, Fire Right: A Leader's Guide to Finding and Keeping Your Best People

by Roxi Bahar Hewertson

Overview

For the first time, and in one place, Roxi Bahar Hewertson provides decision makers at any supervisory level, exactly what they need to get it right every time they hire, develop, or fire someone.

In today’s complex and competitive world of work, organizations simply cannot afford a mismatched new hire, a loss of top talent, or a dreaded bad ‘goodbye’ following a difficult termination. Whether working to avoid budget mayhem or preserving your company’s image, learning how to navigate the hiring and firing process is a corporate essential.

Leadership expert and executive coach Roxi Bahar Hewertson provides insights and advice for avoiding these all-too-common business bumps in the road. She defines and explores the ARC employee life cycle: Acquisition (hire right), Retention (nurture right), Closure (fire right). Acquiring and retaining talent, and eventually bringing closure when employees leave, is a relational, not a transactional process.

Hire Right, Fire Right successfully guides decision makers through those key interactions with new and current employees arming leaders with a powerful set of tangible tools to help ensure their organizations are well equipped to take on these talent management challenges - and win.

By following Hewertson’s three systems of hiring, developing, and terminating employees, decision makers will be empowered to:
Dramatically increase your company’s success rate of hiring the right people for the right jobMeasurably boost employee retention rates Significantly lower the risk of lawsuits, arbitrations, and damage to your organization’s reputation if things end badly

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781538130629
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	10/10/2020
Pages:	310
Product dimensions:	5.70(w) x 8.60(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Roxi Bahar Hewertson is a leadership expert with over three decades of practical experience in the worlds of higher education, business, and non-profits. She is an organizational consultant, executive coach, motivational speaker, and author of the acclaimed book, Lead Like it Matters…Because it Does (2014), providing leaders with a step-by-step roadmap and practical tools to achieve great results. She is the CEO of Highland Consulting Group, Inc. and AskRoxi.com.

Editorial Reviews

Brain drain can kill a good organization. So hiring—and keeping—top talent must be a key priority for leaders. But it takes know-how, strategy, and a relentless focus on clear-eyed principles. Roxi Bahar Hewertson shows the way.

Rodger Dean Duncan

In her new book, Roxi Hewerston offers a thorough and practical guide for something that’s usually either fraught with difficulties or avoided all together! This is a book to be read slowly and implemented carefully. My bet is you will enjoy this resource, which is full of Roxi’s hard-won wisdom from her many years of experience and learning about this topic.

Beatrice W. Hansen

I have known, and worked with, Roxi for many years. Hire Right, Fire Right gives those of you who haven’t had that privilege a sense of who she is: smart, honest, clear-minded and values driven. Her reflections and advice are incredibly helpful for every leader – those new to the role and those with years of experience. At this time of significant change in the workplace, this practical advice will help anyone who aspires to employ a diverse workforce that is engaged in advancing organizational priorities. Roxi knows her stuff and she shares what she knows in a straightforward and practical way. Read this book!

Mary George Opperman

If you are looking to hire someone, develop someone, or bring closure to a relationship, Hire Right, Fire Right is a must read and a powerful resource. I was a fortunate recipient of what Roxi Bahar Hewertson writes about in this book having been hired, onboarded, and developed by her early in my career. I can attest that the 'how to' processes, questions, lessons, and solutions she writes about result in positive outcomes, and I apply them today. Roxi’s wisdom is spot on, timeless, time-saving, and for me, life-shaping.

Dr. Kathryn Burkgren

I wish Hire Right, Fire Right existed 20+ years ago! The principles of good management are presented very well, and what is particularly helpful is the roadmap that Roxi Bahar Hewertson provides. I’m grateful that she is sharing her many years of experience to help new and seasoned managers understand the importance of hiring right and firing right. As a senior member of a national career and search firm, I intend to spread the word: the best book on this subject is now available!

Shelley Semmler

Hire Right, Fire Right is the easiest collection of best practices I have ever read! With the war for talent raging at a pace we have never seen, paying attention to the guides in this book is a guarantee you will win a lot of battles. If you want to be the smartest manager or HR professional, keep this book on your desk as an essential resource. Roxi Bahar Hewertson has provided a comprehensive recipe book for every staffing area essential to managers. If you lead people you will appreciate the check-lists, templates and scripts every time you need to recruit, retain, or let go of a staff member.

Chris Halladay

As usual, Roxi delivers. This is a wonderfully readable guide to hiring and firing that is filled with voices of experience, good humor and practical advice.  If you have employees, you need this book.

Deborah C. Hoard

Roxi certainly has a knack for communicating complicated ideas in a very accessible and directly applicable way. The book’s checklists and work sheets alone are worth way more than the price of admission – thousands of dollars of consulting advice wrapped up in the modest price of a book.

Lee Dyer

We all say it: ‘Our most valuable resource is our people.’ Yet, if we truly believe that, we must master the crucial leadership skills of hiring, developing, and (even) firing people the right way. And if you want the definitive roadmap to become a master in this pursuit, Roxi’s book is it!

John Rutkiewicz

An essential book for any leader who wants to have a high performing, cost effective, fun place to work

Daniel R. Brown

Few leaders are taught the fine art of hiring and firing. What makes Roxi Bahar Hewertson an excellent writer of business material is that she does it with humor, grace, and with practical examples that move the reader from a state of ignorance and anxiety to competence and confidence. In Hire Right, Fire Right, Hewertson does what she does best - provide her readers with concrete, specific, and useful tools to address these ever present business challenges and raise the bar for any manager. This book is definitely worth your time.

Rodney Napier

Roxi Bahar Hewertson’s energy, expertise, and experience jumps off every page in Hire Right, Fire Right! This is the first leadership book I’ve read that was fun to read - it’s a ‘page turner’. Anyone who employs people and expects to be successful in their business, needs to keep this book handy and use the wisdom within it every day. If you want to win in your business, pay attention to Roxi!

Craig Duswalt

Given that, as Jac Fitz-Enz noted: “People, not cash, buildings, or equipment, are the critical differentiators of a business,” Hire Right, Fire Right is a book every manager needs to own. In this practical guide to getting, keeping, and—when necessary—letting go of employees, Roxi Bahar Hewertson makes the business case that no organization can afford the cost of hiring the wrong people, failing to retain the right ones, or tolerating unacceptable performers. She provides pragmatic and specific advice and tools to improve results in all three areas—acquisition, retention, and closure.

Roy V.H. Pollock

Leaders and HR Professionals alike will find Hire Right, Fire Right to be of immense value. With wisdom and humanity, Roxi provides much needed insight, practical advice and resources, and a strategic roadmap to more skillfully navigate the talent lifecycle.

Natalia Rabin

This practical, easy-to-read guide is full of Roxi's sage advice, signature wit, and gold standard best practices when building and cultivating highly effective teams. Read it cover-to-cover and then keep it close-by as a handy reference tool.

Amy Kellestine

Roxi succinctly lists and describes all of the steps leaders should take in their recruitment, nurturing, and when necessary, terminating of employees for whom they have responsibility. This book serves executives at all organizational levels and is a powerful reminder of good leadership practices.

Anthony B. Cashen

Finally! A no-nonsense guide to hiring the right person in the right way. Thank you, Roxi, for expanding on the very definition of leadership—getting the right people to support and expand the culture needed for success.

Craig S. Evans

Roxi’s book is about hiring, growing, and keeping good employees at all levels. It’s a well-written ‘manual’ in that it provides practical step-by-step and tested recipes for hiring the right people in the first place, building their confidence, skill, and motivation, and retaining them for the long-run. You can’t ask for more than that.

Tom DeCotiis

In Hire Right, Fire Right, Roxi Bahar Hewertson delivers sage advice that will save every manager time, money and heartache. Her key message that hiring is “relational, not transactional” applies to every stage of an employee’s tenure. Besides making a solid business case for doing it right, Roxi provides a proven system for acquisition, retention and closure that, if followed, ensures your success as a leader and your company’s sustainability.

Nancy O'Reilly

Roxi Bahar Hewertson has been there and done exactly what she teaches us about in Hire Right, Fire Right. She takes the employer/employee experience out of the theoretical and puts it into practice, offering us insights and actions that will pay off immediately and for years to come. Thank you Roxi!

Dane Cruz

For front-line managers to Board chairs, the most important role is to attract, hire, and nurture the right individuals for your team and organization. In Hire Right, Fire Right, Roxi Bahar Hewertson provides thoughtful, sophisticated, practical, and seasoned guidance on how to navigate that continuum successfully based on her significant professional and personal experience as an employee, leader, coach, and consultant.

Harold D. Craft

Hire Right, Fire Right is much more than a book. It is a road map of practical advice, insights and resources filled with ‘ah-ha’ moments…and it is a fantastic read! Roxi Bahar Hewertson provides a handy and sensible roadmap for anyone who is tasked with hiring and managing people. She gives us an easy to follow practical guide to acquiring the best talent, retaining and growing that talent, and separating graciously, no matter the reason. She reminds us that all of our interactions with employees are relational, not transactional. Hire Right, Fire Right is a resource that you will return to again and again and it will be covered in post-it notes.

Deborah Hall

10/01/2020

The title definitely captures the essence of this book, but the subtitle gives a better hint toward the content. Retaining employees that an organization has spent time and money to hire and train is a common conundrum for managers; possibly second only to hiring the best and the brightest candidates. Hewertson (Lead Like It Matters) focuses on those topics in the book's first two sections—hiring and retention—presented in the form of roadmap diagrams that move through recommendations in each area. The section on hiring is effectively a workbook for the search process. The retention section walks readers through the lifecycle of employee development, from on-boarding to succession planning. Rather than following a roadmap, the section on firing offers suggestions for handling three types of departures: involuntary, voluntary, and layoffs. Each section is bolstered by multiple pages of worksheets and templates in the resources section. VERDICT Sound advice presented in a clear, easy-to-follow format. Hewerston's breadth of knowledge spanning many work environments shows through a variety of examples and case studies.—Sara Holder, Univ. of Illinois Libs., Champaign

Library Journal

Every leader, no matter what kind of workplace, should have a lsquo;dog-eared’ copy of Hire Right, Fire Right close at hand. Roxi#39;s book fills a desperate need for employers all in one place - how to find, retain, and let go of the right people, the right way, at the right time, and for the right reasons. There’s nothing out there that provides such a comprehensive roadmap like this book with its superb tools, and step-by-step methods for success.

Marshall Goldsmith

Sought-after leadership coach, Roxi Bahar Hewertson, has knocked it out of the park again with Hire Right, Fire Right! She is generous with her practical examples, scenarios, and questions—making it easy for any leader to hire in alignment with their company’s core values. She shares timeless wisdom infused with fresh insights. This is a brilliant business book and a page turner!

Louise Phipps