Three Ways to Know if You’ve Made a Bad Hire – Technical Director

By Human Capital Group

1st December 2020

Here at Human Capital Group, we have made it our business to understand the difference between a good and a bad hire. It is how we help our discerning clients find the right people for the right role and how we stand apart from others.

We have recently had the opportunity to expand our knowledge in this area in the housebuilding world by speaking at length to two industry specialists who have certainly ‘been there, done that’.

Andy Beasley spent upwards of 40 years in the housebuilding sector and was previously Regional Chairman of Bellway Central. Darren Humphreys was the CEO at SME Rectory Homes, Divisional MD at McCarthy & Stone and has spent extensive amount of time working at with big players CALA and David Wilson.

Between Andy and Darren, they have a serious wealth of knowledge that you will be hard-pressed to find elsewhere.

Our Managing Director Gerard Ball has recently hosted a series of webinars with them to find out more about what happens when a bad hire is made. How you can try to avoid it, how you can assess it and how you finally know when enough is enough.

In our most recent tête-à-tête with them we discussed how you know if you’ve made a bad hire in the role of Technical Director. We covered the following:

•What impact should they have had within 3 months of joining a housebuilding division?

•What is the difference in value that an exceptional Technical Director carries as opposed to a mediocre one?

•What is the timeline on assessing whether you’ve hired the right or wrong person?

You can see the webinar in full here (the position of Commercial Director is discussed in the same session) but read our blog to understand Darren and Andy’s key takeaways.

1. What impact would a good Technical Director have had within three months:

Darren: “It’s always good when you see a strong awareness of what is happening with the housebuilding industry i.e. technologies, new methods, how to reduce costs, as well as being open minded to trialling new things when they are appropriate.

“They also need to be detail focused so it’s good when you see someone who has the skills to be able to understand the specifics of a team and see the bigger picture at the same time.”

Andy: “Mainly, I want to see someone who is able to be technically astute. They also have to deal with many third parties who have different priorities i.e. councils, building regulations guys etc so they need to have a positive and persuasive personality and be able to work with a range of people and get their work to the top of the priority list. In the first three months you’d want to see a Technical Director working hard to liaise properly with all these groups.

“In board meetings you’d want them to be giving you comfort that the checklists are getting done and work can start without being in breach of local authority rules. Sometimes this can be a judgement call and there is often a vast amount of legislation to wade through.

“I think that it is a very different position to be in and good Technical Directors are difficult to come by.”

2. What is the difference in value that an exceptional Technical Director carries as opposed to a mediocre one?

Andy: “A mediocre Technical Director cannot be carried by the rest of the team. They can cause serious delays, affect consultant relationships and cause more frustrations than any other role.”

Darren: “I think that you can put the Construction Director, Commercial Director and Technical Director together in a triangle. If any one part of it doesn’t work, then it puts a lot of pressure on to the other two to fill the gap. A division can only cope with one slightly weaker part of the triangle otherwise it all comes crashing down.

“A mediocre Technical Director blames others in their team for delays and problems rather than chasing the solution down themselves. A good one is proactive and isn’t afraid to pick up the phone rather than hide behind emails meaning they can build strong relationships and use them when it is necessary.”

3. What is the timeline on assessing whether you’ve hired the right or wrong person?

Darren: “Because of the nature of their role it can be difficult to see their commerciality immediately. Their KPIs are much more about key dates, routine, rigour and progress, output of team, meeting programmes and being aware of issues.

“I think it would be 6-9 months before you see some kind of measurable value output and to feel secure that you’ve hired the right person.”

Andy: “As Darren says, KPIs of a Technical Director are much more based on checklists and having clear communication so you know exactly where they are up to.

“On the other hand, when cumulative frustrations are building up that means that you know you’ve got the wrong person, and this can start to be seen within a few months. If it’s the wrong hire, then there will be more issues and problems than they can deal with and as a Chairman you would be driving away from recurring meetings feeling unhappy about discussing the same topics.”