Bosses, have you experienced this?
You interview a candidate and they are superbly amazing.
You bring them on board and three to six months into probation, you realise they are nothing like the person you interviewed.
And here is the flip side.
Some candidates walk away from an interview thinking the company sounded amazing, only to join and discover the reality looks nothing like what they were sold. Both sides feel misled.
Here is how I think about closing that gap:
👉 From day one, be explicit about the yardstick.
When a new hire comes on board, sit down and walk them through exactly how they will be evaluated.
What does good look like?
What does great look like?
What are the KPIs and how will you judge them?
If they do not know the standard, they cannot be held to it, and you cannot be surprised when they miss it.
👉 Second, build a consistent feedback loop.
Do not wait for the three-month review to surface problems. Have regular check-ins, informal conversations, and touchpoints where you understand what is on their mind and they understand where they stand with you.
👉 Third, assign a senior team member as a mentor.
This matters especially for fresh graduates who are walking into a workplace culture they have never navigated before. Pair them with someone who has been in the company long enough to know how things really work, someone who can guide them through the unwritten rules and job scope.
A dedicated one-to-one mentorship in those first few months makes an enormous difference.
Do this consistently, and the gap between what someone says they can do and what they actually deliver becomes a lot narrower.
Cheers!
{We} Create Value!