When a New Hire Isn’t Performing: Balancing Empathy With Accountability

Even with strong hiring processes, assessments, and interviews, accounting firms and finance departments will occasionally make a hire that doesn’t work out as expected.  People are people, and no outcome can be guaranteed. 

Perhaps it’s a technical capability gap that wasn’t identified during recruitment. Or the employee may be struggling with confidence.  It could be poor onboarding, workload pressure, personal circumstances, or simply adjusting to a new environment. Team dynamics or unclear expectations can also contribute. 

Don’t treat underperformance as an automatic failure by either the employee or the employer. The goal should be to identify what’s wrong, quickly, and give the new starter a fair opportunity to succeed.  But also make a clear decision, promptly, if improvement doesn’t happen. 

One of the biggest mistakes firms make is waiting too long to address concerns.  Accountants do have a tendency to be conflict avoiders.  Often, accountants also have little training in leadership and people management.  That’s another whole story.  Accounting managers often hope things will improve naturally, but delayed conversations usually make the situation harder for everyone. Early, calm, professional feedback is far more effective than allowing frustration to build over months. 

Equally important is being specific about the issue. Vague comments such as “you’re not meeting expectations” are rarely helpful.

Instead, focus on observable problems: 

Clear examples help employees understand both the problem and the expected standard. 

If this happens a lot, you also need to look beyond the individual.   

In accounting environments, new hires are often learning systems, workflows, client expectations, and internal processes, simultaneously. Even capable people can struggle without proper guidance. 

Where improvement seems possible, managers should create a short, structured improvement plan. This doesn’t need to become a lengthy HR process.

Usually some: 

are enough.  The hardest part is often getting started – where your HR team should provide help and guidance. 

However, support should not become open-ended. Work to a timetable that is fair to both parties, and stick to it.  Accounting firms operate in deadline-driven environments where poor performance affects clients, managers, and teammates. Other staff members quickly notice when standards are inconsistent or when they are repeatedly carrying additional workload.  Of course keep an eye on your legal responsibilities.