Q. How do you find the right people to fit in to your culture?
Invest the time. That’s key. People try to shortcut that whole process because it can be lengthy and time-consuming, but the biggest asset you have is people.
Investing the time to make sure you’re bringing the right person on board, it saves so many headaches down the road. Bringing the right people on allows you to maintain the type of culture that you worked so hard to establish.
A resume is great for analyzing someone’s skills, but skills are secondary. Those can be taught. It’s really about meeting the individual.
(It’s someone who has) the ability to be an independent thinker and strong judgment skills — individuals who are self-motivated and strong enough to be able to make a decision themselves.
I have them meet more than one person. And by having time with multiple individuals, hopefully if we’re doing everything right, we’re all on the same page and presenting the company story in the same fashion.
Q. How do you make sure you are reinforcing the culture and living it for employees?
Actions speak louder than words. I try to be the example of what our culture is. If I’m noticing we’re off track somewhere, I reinforce what is expected and give an example of, ‘We failed in this area, and let’s get back on track.’
Or the opposite — ‘Here’s an example of where we’re having great successes.’ Acknowledging people’s success feels good for the individual, but it also feels good for the group, because everyone wants to be part of a winning team, and sharing in people’s successes is a great way to feel like you’re part of that.
When you trust everyone, it’s easy to provide flattery and acknowledge what people did. You’re not feeling like, ‘I have to take all the credit, because if I give any credit to that other person, they’re going to take something away from me.’ There’s not that feeling of you’re going to lose anything. It’s all good. You can share and be open.
Q. What’s the benefit of having an open and trusting culture?
You have employees who are willing to go the extra mile for you. If they know you’re trusting them to make the right decisions and do an excellent job, they’re going to want to do an excellent job. It’s a motivator.
