As terrifying as this all is, yes, it can happen; you don’t know this mistake outright that this is going to be a costly mistake because in the interviews, and maybe even the onboarding (and probation period too), they might have seemed like the perfect candidate. But as you already know, it gets to the point (hard to say how long though) where it’s pretty obvious that the new hire is a bad fit. Sometimes it can get pretty messy, maybe it’s missed deadlines, weird attitude, sloppy work, conflict with coworkers, and that constant low-level tension that’s just building up on a daily basis.
And yeah, sure, it’s tempting to think the solution is just to let them go and move on. Sometimes, it can be that sometimes, sometimes, well, no. Honestly, it’s beyond that. Just to get specific here, it’s the real headache that often starts when the business has to explain what happened, and the explanation and it has to be backed up.
The People Problem Becomes a Paper Problem
Some small businesses have strong HR departments, some don’t (like they outsource, or maybe it’s one or two people). But for small businesses, it’s not too uncommon for the documentation “system” to be a mix of emails, Slack messages, notes in a project tool, and a couple of files in a shared drive. That works fine until it doesn’t. Because the minute performance issues turn into formal warnings, a complaint, or a policy violation, documentation becomes the business’s safety net. It needs to show what was communicated, when it was communicated, and how the business responded.
You Need a Defensible Timeline
No, you really shouldn’t act like every bad hire is going to explode into a nightmare scenario. Honestly, it’s really rare for anything like that to happen either. But it is smart to acknowledge that things can escalate. It’s more about being realistic (not pessimistic, even though it might sound like that). It might be a harassment complaint, a wrongful termination accusation, a wage issue, or a policy violation that triggers a bigger review. It could even be nothing more than leadership wanting to understand what went wrong so it doesn’t repeat.
But your business needs to have some sort of organized plan, a practical way to review within the communications if need be (and documents), and eDiscovery Software could be a great option for all of this since it’s built around scenarios like this, so multiple people don’t have to manually dig around several different systems to find what they need.
Yes, Document Searching Can be a Challenge
While a bad hire can cause a lot of compliance issues, usually having proof or some sort of paper trail can help protect the business, departments, team members, you name it. But you need to keep in mind that usually, most documentation doesn’t live in one neat folder labeled “employee issues.” It’s spread across messages, emails, meeting recaps, calendar invites, HR forms, and side conversations where someone flagged a concern early on.
It’s also mixed in with normal operations, because that’s how small businesses work. Everything overlaps. That’s the problem, so in general, there just needs to be a better documentation system. Not just for employees, but in general.
I’m Emma Rose, the founder of tryhardguides.co.uk, and a content creator with a passion for writing across multiple niches—including health, lifestyle, tech, career, and personal development. I love turning complex ideas into relatable, easy-to-digest content that helps people learn, grow, and stay inspired. Whether I’m sharing practical tips or diving into thought-provoking topics, my goal is always to add real value and connect with readers on a deeper level.