#1 – "Didn't lose.  Just ran out of time."

#2 – Did not fit in

#3 – Role different than expected

#4 – Poor relationship with key ally

#5 – Situation changed

#6 – Division shut down

#7 – Job too big for one person

#8 – Job required different strengths than expected

#9 – Did not like the job

#10 – Organization went out of business  

A little more explanation of each and ideas to mitigate: 

Delivery

The #1 reason for an onboarding failure is that new employee failed to deliver what was expected in the time expected.  (The quote is from football coach Vince Lombardi.)  Help yourself or your new employee get a head start, manage the message, and build the team to deliver better results faster.

Personal – Fit

#2 is a cultural misfit.  Look at Behaviors, Relationships, Attitudes, Values, and work Environments in advance and invest the time to make sure in advance that the fit will be there.

Role – Alignment

The key here is getting the most important stakeholders aligned around the role even before starting to recruit.  Then, the new employee should clarify that understanding before accepting the job, in pre-start and early conversations.

Relationships

New employees are going to have better relationships with some than with others.  That's generally okay – unless one of those poor relationships cripples the new employee's ability to deliver.  This is why it's so important for new employees, and especially new leaders, to jump-start those critical relationships.

Adjustment

Of course the situation is going to change.  That's what situations do.  As one executive puts it you have to "see around the corner", anticipate the changes and react as appropriate.

Organization – Division

Part of reacting to situation changes involves making organizational changes.  Don't hire people into divisions you're about to shut down.  Don't accept jobs in divisions that are about to be shut down (as much as possible).

Role – Scope

Increasing productivity involves have fewer people producing more.  The scope of some roles is going to be stretched too far.  As much as possible, figure this out in advance.  If not, be clear on the difference between a role failure and an employee failure and adjust as appropriate.

Personal – Strengths

Sometimes people don't have the talent, knowledge, or skills to do the job.  Figure this one out in advance and don't go into or put someone into the wrong job.

Personal – Motivation

Sometimes people just don't like their job.  This is another one to figure out in advance so you don't go into or put someone into the wrong job.

Organization

Sometimes organizations fail.  When they do, it's a black mark on the record of everyone that's part of the organization – whenever they joined.  The people that had been with the organization for a long time probably contributed to, or at least did not prevent the failure.  The new people chose to join an organization about to fail.  Choose wisely.

In Summary

Now that you know about these, there's no excuse for any of these happening to you or someone you bring onboard an organization.  Get a head start.  Manage the message.  Build the team.  Laugh in the face of excuses.