Hiring someone you privately expect not to keep is the most expensive decision in HR. You pay to recruit, to onboard, to manage out, and then to recruit again. The role stays open across all of it.
It usually happens for one reason. The hiring bar dropped because the vacancy had been open too long.
What is probation actually for?
Confirming a decision you have already made on evidence, not running the assessment you skipped at interview.
A probation period used as an extended interview produces the worst of both. The employee has resigned elsewhere and relocated. You have an underperformer you now have to manage out, with notice and a settlement.
Which signals predict a bad hire?
- The scorecard was never written. Nobody defined a strong answer, so the panel rated confidence.
- One attribute was waived "for now". The one you waive is the one that becomes the performance conversation.
- The panel disagreed and nobody resolved it. A split averaged into a yes is not a yes.
- The role had been open for months. Fatigue lowers the bar invisibly.
Three of those four are process failures you can fix before the next search, not judgement failures.
Is it cheaper to leave the role open?
Often, yes. An open role has a known cost: work not done, and pressure on the team. A wrong hire has that cost plus recruitment, onboarding, management time, exit cost, and the effect on everyone who watched it happen.
In a tight market the temptation runs the other way. The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation says "Unemployment Rate (UR) in usual status (ps+ss) was 3.2% for both male and female of age 15 years and above during July 2023 to June 2024." Scarcity is real, and it is exactly the pressure that lowers bars.
What does the law expect on exit?
Notice as per contract and the applicable Shops and Establishments Act, full and final settlement including any statutory bonus earned, and PF and ESI records closed correctly.
Statutory bonus is between 8.33% and 20% for staff earning up to 21,000 a month, and it is owed for the days worked whether or not the person was confirmed. PF at 12% and ESI at 3.25% employer and 0.75% employee run until the last working day. The frameworks sit with the Employees Provident Fund Organisation and the Employees State Insurance Corporation.
What should you do in the first 30 days instead?
The pool you are hiring from keeps widening. The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation says "Overall LFPR in usual status (ps+ss) for persons of age 15 years and above has increased from 57.9% during July 2022 to June 2023 to 60.1% during July 2023 to June 2024." Waiting a few more weeks for the right person is rarely the expensive option. Treat day 30 as a checkpoint on obstacles, not performance. A new hire at 30 days cannot be judged fairly on output, but they can tell you exactly what is in their way.
Where the problem is real and structural, you find it at 30 days and still have time. Where it is a skills gap you waived at offer, you find that too, and at least you find it honestly.
How do you manage a genuine mismatch?
| Step | What it means |
|---|---|
| Name it early | A specific gap, with examples, not a general impression |
| Write the standard | What good looks like, and by when |
| Support it | Training, a buddy, or reduced scope. Something has to change |
| Review on the date | Not later. A drifting review signals it does not matter |
| Decide and record | Confirm, extend once, or exit. Write the reason |
Documenting as you go is not bureaucracy. It is what makes an exit defensible and, more often, what makes the improvement actually happen.
What should change in the next search?
The same release says "The overall WPR among persons of the same age group in usual status (ps+ss) has increased from 56.0% during July 2022 to June 2023 to 58.2% during July 2023 to June 2024", per the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. Write the scorecard before screening. Keep must-haves to 5. Resolve panel disagreement with evidence rather than averaging. And agree, before the search starts, which requirement you are willing to flex, so the compromise is deliberate rather than made in month 4 under pressure.
The employment framework is published by the Ministry of Labour and Employment. Holding the scorecard, the panel reviews and the stage history on one record is what 247HRM applicant tracking does, so the decision is reconstructable when it matters.