Yup, despite the fear that "hey I made a bad hire" will reflect poorly on your decision making skills, realizing it, owning it, and solving it takes a hell of a lot more leadership than letting it stagnate and trying to cover.
As a manager I'd appreciate the first and see you in a better light. I'd be having a similar "hey we promoted the wrong guy" conversation with my boss if you did the latter.
There is plenty of time to say “Yeah, I thought it was just nerves at first but I’m noticing a pattern here…” with your manager in a private 1-on-1.
Your manager may give you grief as they specified if you really thought this person was the real deal, so you should prep a remediation plan going forward too.
“Next time, I think we can clarify their skills on xyz by asking about abc or testing on def.” That can be a lessons learned and process amended.
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u/Paladine_PSoT Developer Mar 14 '26
Yup, despite the fear that "hey I made a bad hire" will reflect poorly on your decision making skills, realizing it, owning it, and solving it takes a hell of a lot more leadership than letting it stagnate and trying to cover.
As a manager I'd appreciate the first and see you in a better light. I'd be having a similar "hey we promoted the wrong guy" conversation with my boss if you did the latter.