Chichi Okpara on Hiring the Right Skillset and Why Founders Are to Blame for Bad Hires

For many founders, building a team is one of the biggest hurdles to scaling a business. You need great people to grow, but finding them, training them, and keeping them is a job in itself. And when an employee isn't working out, the cost to the business—in both time and money—can be crippling, especially for a small team.

So, where do founders go wrong? According to workforce strategist and founder Chichi Okpara, the problem often starts at the top. In a candid conversation on Beyond The Grind, the ImpactBridge Consulting founder shared why many entrepreneurs are their own worst enemy when it comes to hiring the right skillset.

"I hear this a lot from founders, and honestly, it's the founder's fault," Chichi stated plainly. "It's the rushed hiring. It's the not wanting to follow a process. It's the wanting to bring the first person in that you interview... It's the you not really knowing what you want them to do."

It’s a tough pill to swallow, but it’s a familiar story. In the race to fill a seat, founders often skip the foundational work required to make a successful hire. For Chichi, who has helped shape workforce strategies at giants like Amazon and Goldman Sachs, the solution lies in structure, clarity, and treating your people decisions with the same rigor you apply to your product or finances.

The Real Cost of a Bad Hire

When a team member is underperforming, the temptation for a busy founder is to either ignore the problem or keep giving chances, fearing the grueling process of finding a replacement. Tosin, ever the pragmatist, pointed out that for a small business of five, losing one person means losing 20% of your workforce.

Chichi’s perspective, however, challenges founders to think about the other cost.

"The question I have for you as a founder is, what's the cost? Like, what are you losing? Because you're keeping someone in a seat that may not be the right person anymore for where your bus is going." — Chichi Okpara

That opportunity cost is immense. An underperforming employee doesn't just fail to deliver; they take you and your company in the wrong direction while draining resources that could be invested in the right person. The cycle often repeats: a founder finally lets someone go, only to rush into hiring their replacement and start the messy process all over again.

The antidote, Chichi explains, is a structured process that gets to the heart of what a role truly requires. Before ever posting a job description, she works with founders to define the quantifiable outcomes the new hire must achieve in their first three to six months. This forces clarity and moves beyond a vague list of responsibilities.

"A lot of founders... they don't know," she admitted. Her firm, ImpactBridge, acts as an embedded strategic partner, helping companies design the role, define success, and even assess candidates using psychometric tools to look "under the hood" beyond charisma.

Relationships, Soft Skills, and Your Career in the AI Era

The conversation wasn't just for founders. For the ambitious professionals looking to climb the corporate ladder, Chichi offered a powerful, and perhaps surprising, piece of advice: your relationships matter more than your performance.

She shared a story from early in her career when a senior leader flagged an insignificant typo in one of her emails. A mentor’s response was a wake-up call: "People don't tell on people they like... You need to work on your relationships."

This insight is even more critical in the age of AI. Chichi argues that as artificial intelligence levels the playing field for technical skills, the real differentiator will be the so-called "soft skills."

"AI is going to level the playing field, meaning that if you take the time to learn AI, that you will be able to do what the next guy can do," she explained. "The differentiator is going to be the people that know how to communicate a clear message... It's being able to influence and bring people along to your way of thinking."

In a world where anyone can prompt an AI to generate a report or a strategy, the person who can build consensus, inspire their team, and forge strong relationships will be the one who truly stands out. It’s a lesson she learned navigating the complexities of corporate giants, and one that holds true whether you're an employee, a solopreneur, or a founder building your first team.

Building a great team starts with a clear vision, a structured process, and a deep understanding of both the skills and the human elements required for success. It’s an investment, but as Chichi makes clear, it’s one you can't afford not to make.

For more on hiring, leadership, and how to build a workplace where people thrive, dive into the full conversation with Chichi Okpara on YouTube. Don't forget to subscribe to our channel and the Beyond The Grind newsletter for more insights.