Success CascadeMost selection processes are designed to answer one question: is this person right for us?
Truth is, that's half the question. The other half: am I right for this person? Both sides should be asking themselves both questions. And the process should be designed to help them as much as possible find out.
The company sets up steps to assess topics around experience, knowledge, culture fit. The questions around expectations, values, what success looks like for both sides, rarely become a topic for a deeper, more transparent exchange.
The candidate, on the other side of the table, is doing their own assessment. Normally, the candidate is not equipped with the tools to assess both questions on their own. But it's a process where the company can lead the discovery.
Picture this:
Scenario 1. The finalist is chosen and the company communicates the final decision. The offer comes in at the lower end of the band. The candidate looks at the number, has reservations, but accepts. Sometimes that's just where life is. The company moves forward. The candidate moves forward. But that uncomfortable moment? It stays.
Scenario 2. The candidate accepts the role. The research checked out. The opportunity looked real. There was enough there to say yes, even with the feeling that a few things needed to be figured out on the go.
A week in, the things to figure out are already turning into a grey cloud. And the question that comes to mind: why didn't I ask?
The conversations during the selection process may not have felt like the ideal space to ask thorough questions. The kind that later become reasons to say goodbye. The cascade breaks before it begins.
One idea I like comes from software: Time to Value. But in selection, the question is different. It's whether the process collected enough information to understand what that value looks like for the individual; what inspires, motivates and sparks that internal flame. Different for every person. These answers in turn help the company understand more about the candidate and their fit.
This is where a selection process designed to unearth those uncomfortable questions, on both sides, becomes critical. Creating the space for those conversations before the offer is signed.
How fast does the company deliver on what it promised?
How fast does the individual find their footing and contribute?
When both sides answer those questions openly, before the offer is signed, assumptions become agreements.
A higher level of effort invested in the process pays dividends downstream. It saves time. It saves emotional distress. And it gives the cascade a real foundation to build from.
The fix isn't found in a lengthier interview process. It's in the quality and depth of the conversations.
That conversation is where the cascade either activates...or doesn't.
The cascade doesn't start on day one. Not when the offer is signed. It starts in the room where the need to hire is identified.