Greater Hiring Diligence Needed

One marvels at former Massachusetts House Speaker Tom Finneran. He has chosen to launch a lobbying firm while still serving as host of a morning-drive talk show. And, so it is reported, he forgot to tell his employer of his intentions. Does he understand the conflict-of-interest implications of his actions or the lack of professionalism in his failure to discuss the matter with his employers before they read about it in The Boston Globe?

Why is it that boards of directors and executive search firms sometimes make such poor placement decisions? Where is the judgment? I have witnessed three situations recently in which the wrong people were placed in what were obviously the wrong jobs for them, at great cost in time and money to the hiring organization, only to have them leave abruptly.