Six months after the hire, did you ask the right questions?

The candidate scored well. The panel agreed. The offer was accepted.

Six months later, the manager has a much clearer picture of what that person can do. Perhaps they handle difficult cases exceptionally well. Perhaps they struggle with a responsibility that barely featured in the interview.

Does that information ever make its way back into the hiring process?

At Pontiq, we believe this is a question worth building the process around.

Treat your selection criteria as something to test

Suppose an employer gives substantial weight to presentation skills when hiring service operations staff. After several hires, managers notice that careful investigation and timely escalation appear more relevant to effective performance.

That observation should trigger a review. Were those capabilities assessed? Did the interview reward confidence more than the work required?

It is a reason to investigate—not enough evidence, by itself, to rewrite the scoring system.

Start with a focused review

For one role, agree in advance what successful performance should look like. Around six months after joining, compare the selection evidence with relevant workplace outcomes.

Ask:

• Which strengths observed during selection showed up on the job?
• Which important capabilities did the process miss?
• Which initial gaps were addressed through training?
• What should we investigate or assess differently next time?

Use specific examples and more than one source of feedback where possible.

Examine the working environment as well

Performance also reflects onboarding, manager support, workload, tools and opportunities to learn.

A struggling employee does not automatically mean the selection process failed. Equally, a strong employee does not prove every hiring criterion was useful.

Small numbers and subjective ratings can also mislead. Early reviews should generate hypotheses to examine across further hires, rather than claims that a particular score predicts success.

Pontiq’s proposed approach connects role definition, candidate evidence and post-hire feedback. The aim is to help employers gradually improve what they look for and how they assess it.

For your most recent hires, what have you learned that should change your next interview?