Education
By Jensen Jones
There is an old line I come back to often. It only takes a teaspoon of oil to ruin the reservoir.
That is what one bad hire can do to an agency.
I’m not talking about someone who simply isn’t performing. I’m talking about someone who damages the culture around them. Someone whose influence can undo years of work building a strong team.
I watched it happen to one of our members. A single culture killer, in the office for only eight or nine months, nearly obliterated a culture the owner had spent years building. They are still rebuilding.
And the higher that person sits in your organization, the more damage they can do.
Think about the reach of different positions. A scheduler influences the experience of caregivers and clients. A manager influences an entire team. Put the wrong person in a director or executive position, and their influence can spread across departments, locations, and eventually the entire organization.
They set expectations, make decisions, hire people, and determine what behaviors are acceptable. The people reporting to them take those behaviors into their own teams. Before long, one person’s influence has changed how an entire organization operates.
And here’s what makes it particularly dangerous. Culture killers aren’t always difficult people. Some are incredibly likable. They interview well, build relationships quickly, and may even deliver great results. The owner sees one side of them while the people working directly with them experience something completely different.
By the time the owner realizes what’s happening, good employees may have already left, trust has eroded, and the culture has shifted.
Here is what makes these hires so painful. They are often avoidable, and we frequently see the warning signs coming.
Ask an owner who made a bad hire, and more often than not you will hear some version of the same thing. I had a bad feeling. Something was off in the interview. But another person on my team really liked them, or I was in a hurry to fill the seat, so I overrode my own gut.
And sometimes you don’t recognize the problem until after they’re hired. The warning signs start showing up, but you give it more time. Maybe they’ll improve. Maybe it’s just a rough start. Before you know it, six months have passed, and the damage is already being done.
We talked about this at Better Together: micro-passivity. Those small moments when you recognize something needs to be addressed but let it slide. One moment doesn’t seem like much, but over time those decisions compound. And when you’re dealing with someone who is influencing your culture, the cost of doing nothing can be significant.
Decision by committee or decision by fear can get the wrong person in the door. Micro-passivity is what allows them to stay.
This is one of the reasons I am a fan of getting another perspective before making a hire, especially for leadership positions.
Assessment tools like DISC or Working Genius can help you understand how someone works and how they might complement your existing team. Sometimes it’s as simple as spending time with someone outside the formal interview. Take them to lunch. See how they interact with people. You can learn a lot about someone by watching how they treat others.
None of these tools guarantees a good hire. But the higher the position, the more important it becomes to collect more data points and understand who you’re bringing into your organization.
Because there is another trap, and it’s one many owners fall into.
You hire the people you like.
You hire people who are warm, who are great with clients, who your caregivers adore. And a year later you are walking the office wondering why you are still the one doing everything.
The answer may be that you hired a team of people just like you, and nobody in the room is wired to execute the way the business needs.
One of our members described exactly this. She hired a group of wonderful, likable people, and then realized she had built a team that could not get things done without her. She had to go back and make changes, and it was harder the second time.
A team needs different wiring in different seats. The point of an assessment is not to filter for one type. It is to make sure you are not accidentally hiring five of yourself.
But hiring the right people is only part of protecting your culture.
You also have to pay attention to what happens after they join your organization, particularly when they’re in leadership positions.
Are you hearing directly from the people who report to them? Are good employees leaving? Are people becoming quieter in meetings? Are decisions being made that don’t reflect the values you’ve spent years building?
And are you willing to address someone’s behavior when they’re producing results but damaging the people around them?
That last one can be difficult. It’s relatively easy to address someone who isn’t performing. It’s much harder when they’re hitting their numbers, managing a department, or running an entire location.
But those results don’t excuse the damage they’re doing to your organization.
And the longer you allow it to continue, the more difficult it becomes to repair.
Yes, hiring carefully costs a little money and a little time up front.
A culture killer costs you far more, and you pay for it on the back end, sometimes for years.
The question isn’t just whether you’re hiring the right people. It’s whether you’re paying attention to the people you’ve already hired and protecting the culture you’ve worked so hard to build.
Community
Trinity In Home Care: The Hospitality Business
When I visited Aaron Stapleton at Trinity In Home Care, he told me, “We are in the hospitality business.”
His point was simple. Anyone who walks into the Trinity office should be treated the same way you would treat a guest in your own home.
That philosophy extends throughout the agency. It starts with how the office team is treated and how they support the CarePros. That support carries into the homes of their clients and ultimately into the communities Trinity serves.
Trinity has been recognized as a Top Workplace for multiple years and named an Employer of Choice. In 2025, the company made the Inc. 5000 after growing 140% over three years. That kind of growth is a reflection of the trust Trinity has earned in the communities it serves.
I have gotten to know Aaron well through HOMECAREceo. He is generous with what he has learned and willing to help other owners. He has also become a strong advocate for home care through his work with HCAOA.
And his influence doesn’t stop with Trinity. Aaron gives his time, shares his experience, and uses his voice to help move the home care industry forward.
Service
Advantage Recruiting Group: Finding the Right People for the Right Seats
Hiring the wrong person is expensive.
That’s why I wanted to introduce Michael Betsch, founder of Advantage Recruiting Group.
What stands out about Michael is that he comes from home care operations. He understands the challenges of running an agency because he’s worked in the business, from scheduling and managing caregivers to helping drive significant revenue growth.
Today, Michael and his team help home care organizations find talent for critical positions, from schedulers and recruiters to directors and executive leadership.
And they’re not simply posting jobs and waiting for applicants.
Advantage Recruiting Group takes a more proactive approach, identifying experienced candidates, including people who may not be actively looking for another position.
That’s an important distinction. Sometimes the person you need isn’t looking for a job.
Michael also understands that hiring isn’t just about experience or filling an empty seat. It’s about understanding what the business needs, where it’s headed, and finding someone who can help get it there.
Michael has joined HOMECAREceo as a resource partner, and he sponsored Better Together in Denver. I am glad to have him connected with this community.
If you’re struggling to find the right person for a critical position, or questioning whether someone currently in that seat is the right fit, Michael is a resource worth getting to know.
Learn more about Advantage Recruiting Group
Jensen Jones – CEO
Casey Rausin – CEO