In today’s cautious hiring market, more hiring managers are shifting final hiring decisions to the C-suite. It’s a growing trend that slows down hiring and disrupts team momentum. But what’s really behind it? Why are mid-level managers afraid to take full ownership of their hires – and what can companies do to change that?
The Fear of Getting It Wrong
Hiring is high stakes. For many hiring managers, making the wrong decision can feel like a career-altering move. If a new hire underperforms, causes friction, or fails to deliver results, the blame often lands squarely on the person who gave the green light. Thus, hiring decisions are offloaded upward to avoid:
- Derailing team productivity
- Poor assessment of the manager’s judgement
- Direct or indirect punishment for making a mistake
- Personal risk
The Domino Effect of a Bad Hire
A poor hiring decision doesn’t just affect the new employee. It impacts team morale, workflow efficiency and a manager’s credibility. To avoid this, many hiring managers pass the final decision up to the executive level. While this approach may feel safer, it creates it’s own set of issues.
When hiring decisions always land on an executive desk, a few things happen:
- Delays multiply: The executive team isn’t always available to move quickly, which slows down interviewing, offers, and on-boarding.
- Bottlenecks: If a decision always needs executive review, positions stay open longer – costing time, money, and the risk of losing great talent.
- Lack of ownership: when multiple decision-makers are involved, no one truly owns the result, and managers give up some of their hiring autonomy to make the right hire for the team that they know.
Hiring managers aren’t wrong to be cautious. Some people are great at interviewing but underperform once hired. Others are nervous or unpolished in interviews but turn out to be high performers. So how do we fix this broken culture?
- Create a culture that supports risk and ownership
- Normalize imperfection – create a space for course correction without punishment
- Share responsibility through collaboration and support
- Improve interview practices through structured, skills-based assessments
- Offer mentorship or post-hiring coaching to support hiring managers
- Redefine success – in addition to focusing on retention and performance, evaluate how well the hiring process was followed and what can be learned or modified for the future
Trust Your Managers, Support Their Decisions
Hiring managers need more than authority—they need backup. When organizations foster a supportive culture that tolerates smart risk-taking and learning from missteps, they can speed up hiring, build stronger teams, and reduce turnover. Let’s stop punishing mistakes and start building systems where ownership is rewarded, not feared.
