In this episode of the Ecomm Breakthrough Podcast, host Josh Hadley tackles a common entrepreneurial frustration: hiring seemingly qualified candidates who underperform within their first few months. Josh introduces his proven 30-60-90 day onboarding framework, broken into three phases: observation, independence, and ownership. Each phase features structured communication, daily reports, and objective performance evaluations using a custom GPT tool. Josh emphasizes the importance of clear role profiles, documented SOPs, and milestone-based progression to set new hires up for success and help business owners make informed retention decisions.

Bullet Points:

Challenges entrepreneurs face in hiring qualified team members who underperform.
Introduction of a structured 30-60-90 day onboarding framework.
Breakdown of the onboarding process into three phases: Observance, Independence, and Ownership.
Importance of clear role profiles and key performance indicators (KPIs) for new hires.
Emphasis on frequent communication and structured meetings during the onboarding process.
Use of tools and technology to enhance onboarding and performance evaluation.
Strategies for assessing new hires' progress and readiness to advance through onboarding phases.
Flexibility in the timeline for onboarding based on individual performance.
Importance of documenting standard operating procedures (SOPs) for clarity and consistency.
The impact of a structured onboarding framework on business scaling and team success.

Timestamps:

00:00:00 The Problem with Hiring
Entrepreneurs hire seemingly qualified candidates who underperform, leading to frustration and the belief that they must do everything themselves.

00:00:40 Introduction to the 30-60-90 Day Framework
A structured onboarding framework to set clear expectations and objectively evaluate whether a new team member is succeeding or failing.

00:01:11 Podcast and Host Introduction
Josh Hadley introduces himself, his e-commerce background, and the Econ Breakthrough Podcast before reintroducing the 30-60-90 day framework.

00:02:19 Why Onboarding Fails
Most entrepreneurs fail by having unclear expectations and assuming new hires can immediately perform miracles without proper guidance or systems.

00:04:29 The Entrepreneur's Hiring Mindset
Entrepreneurs must hire people smarter than themselves for both their weaknesses and strengths to compound business growth effectively.

00:05:34 The Importance of a Clear Onboarding Sequence
A dedicated onboarding process is crucial for clarity, speed, and objectivity, increasing a new hire's success rate significantly.

00:06:41 The Role Profile Template
Before onboarding, a clear role profile defining KPIs, success metrics, and tasks is essential to avoid ambiguity for everyone.

00:09:49 Using AI to Create Role Profiles
Leverage a custom GPT to quickly generate a comprehensive role profile template, completing 80% of the work for you.

00:11:24 Overview of the Three Onboarding Phases
A high-level look at the three phases: Observance (Days 1-30), Independence (Days 31-60), and Ownership (Days 61-90).

00:12:21 Phase 1: The Observance Period (Days 1-30)
New hires watch, follow, and re-document existing processes to demonstrate understanding before making any changes or executing tasks.

00:16:02 Meeting Cadence for Phase 1
The communication schedule includes daily 15-minute huddles, a weekly 45-minute one-on-one, and a daily end-of-day report.

00:18:50 The 30-Day Checkpoint GPT
Using a custom GPT to objectively evaluate a new hire's performance by answering questions about their impact and ownership behaviors.

00:23:11 Phase 2: The Independence Period (Days 31-60)
The new hire begins executing tasks in "draft mode," requiring manager approval before anything goes live, with reduced meeting frequency.

00:29:25 Phase 3: The Ownership Period (Days 61-90)
The team member takes full ownership, executing their role independently while the manager verifies work behind the scenes.

00:35:10 Onboarding Framework Summary
A recap of the meeting cadences and work expectations for each of the three 30-day phases in the framework.

00:36:33 Milestone-Based Progression
The 30, 60, and 90-day timelines are arbitrary; progression is based on milestones and demonstrating readiness to advance.

00:39:03 The Role of HR and Pre-Onboarding Prep
Before day one, ensure the role profile is complete and existing SOPs are documented to set the new hire up for success.

00:40:07 Why This Framework Matters for Scale
This system increases your hiring "batting average," ensuring new team members succeed more often, which is critical for scaling.

00:41:35 Call to Action and Access to Resources
Josh asks listeners to review and share the podcast in exchange for access to the presentation slides and resources.

Links and Mentions:

Role Profile Creation
"Role Profile Template": "00:07:38"
"Custom GPT for Role Profile Creation": "00:09:49"

Hiring and Team Evaluation
"YouTube Video on Hiring A+ Talent": "00:10:49"
"Custom GPT Checkpoint": "00:19:29"

Process Documentation
"Loom": "00:39:30"

Transcript:

Josh Hadley 00:00:00 Have you ever gone through an in-depth interviewing process to find A-level talent? And then you get the right person who has an incredible resume. They've passed all of your interviews and maybe even a case study or test project that you've given them. And then ultimately 30 days within the job, 60 days within the job. They're not performing. And you're frustrated, they're frustrated. And then you chalk it up to say, hey, I think I just need to go do this myself. Nobody can do this better than me. Screw it. With all of this hiring, if you've ever said that yourself, then this is for you. I'm going to walk you through the 30 60 90 day framework that we use to onboard every single new team member onto the team. That allows us to gain clarity not only from their perspective in terms of understanding their role, but from our perspective of understanding what the expectations are at 30 days, 60 days, and 90 days to where we know whether that new team member is winning or losing in their new role, and whether we should keep them, or if it's best to cut ties and free them back up to the marketplace to allow them to go do something that they are going to succeed at.

Josh Hadley 00:01:11 Welcome to the Ecomm Breakthrough Podcast, I'm Josh Hadley. I've scaled my own ecommerce brand from 0 to 8 figures, and I'm actively building towards nine figures in sales. This podcast is where I document that journey and share the systems, the strategies, and the lessons learned in real time so that you can learn what actually matters and scale your own business. My name is Josh Hadley. First and foremost, I'm a man of faith. I'm a husband to a beautiful wife, and I am also the father of four children. I have been selling into e-commerce space for over a decade now, doing over $20 million in annual revenue and doing multi-million in revenue on different sales channels such as Amazon, TikTok, Shop and Shopify. I'm also the host of the number one business strategy podcast for ecommerce entrepreneurs, and that's ecomm breakthrough. Today we are going to be diving into the 30 60 90 day onboarding framework. This is the framework that we live and die by. Any new team member that joins the team, whether they are a entry level team member or whether they're a senior level, a leadership level hiring decision for us.

Josh Hadley 00:02...