If you want to build an iconic, differentiated brand, the last thing you want to do is to do what others are doing. This applies to most areas of business, but even more so in building your team. Why shouldn’t you hire for talent, skills or education? What else is there.
While these three criteria are paramount, they are not enough.
Many companies select the initial pool of candidates, based on experience shown in the resumes and then, of course, on interview skills and personal rapport with the person. This often leads to discovering that you a team of people who do not work well together because they don’t like one another or simply can’t communicate well. This is not an issue of employee morale or engagement, and you cannot resolve it with more classroom training. It is a LEADERSHIP issue, and the solution is a brand values-driven hiring strategy.
The trick is not to hire a person who simply has all the best credentials, proven talent, and relevant experience to make them a star. Instead, you must focus on attitude and personality. Your business or brand culture stems from the founders and leaders, but employees within the organisation progressively adopt and adapt it on their own terms. Brand culture becomes unique to your business.
If you build your brand culture around a desirable core, it becomes a powerful machine for growth, innovation, and productivity.
Start by defining your organisation’s Non-Negotiable Principles. Make sure they are clear and well understood by everyone. Once you have these “values” or guidelines in place, they will provide a clear roadmap through the hiring process and ensure you build a team of like-minded individuals who are all passionate and working towards the same goals.
Tony Hsieh, the legendary founder of the iconic brand Zappos, has built an extraordinary success focusing solely on employee culture. He has developed an approach to interview candidates based on their “fit” with the company’s Non-Negotiable Principles, which he refers to as “values”.
