Focus on the Few Core Values
I started a new book this week entitled, How to Hire by Clint Smith. How to Hire was written to give owners and operators – not just HR professionals – a playbook to achieve hiring success. I love how Smith starts the book by diving right into focusing on building a strong and clear company culture because culture is what helps you attract and retain talent. Benefits and work environment matter, but ultimately talent is really seeking life fulfillment. And I, like Smith, believe that comes through the culture you establish and perpetuate in your organization.
“Culture, more than anything else, is what attracts people to a company.
It is what keeps them there. It is also what makes them leave.
Your culture is a magnet: you attract the people you deserve.”
Smith teaches the culture-building process by challenging the reader to define their Mission, Vision, and Values. As a reminder:
Mission is what you are after; your purpose to propel you into action.
Vision is where you are headed. It’s what it looks like in the end when it’s done right.
Values are the guiding principles of your company and who you are. They are the things that give you a guiding framework to make tough decisions.
“You should be hiring, developing, promoting, and firing people based on your values. If you’re not, then you’re not truly living them.
A company’s values are a reflection of its leader. You cannot lead others if you do not know who you are. And you cannot expect others to follow you unless this is crystal clear.”
Smith shares a great lesson learned from his own company: they created too many values. So, it was hard to be memorable and live by them. They learned they needed a strong core group of values and commanded that these values needed to be reflected by everyone – current and future – in their organization to ensure success. His company whittled their long list of values down to only four; and those four values drive everything they do. If the people they consider hiring don’t also live by those four values, they are not a fit and are immediately disqualified.
I found myself reflecting on that because there are a lot of things I like about people. Generally-speaking, I am a person who loves people and I can see promise in nearly everyone. But when you get down to a core set of values that matter above all others, it becomes very clear to you whether an applicant is a good fit or not.
What are the three or four values that drive your organization? Be super clear to your team about those core values. Make them memorable. Talk about them all the time. Let those be your guiding values to propel your culture to the next level.
Is your culture defined enough to be your company’s magnet for talent? Is it defined enough to restrict who joins? When your culture becomes strong and your people have pride around the values your organization embodies, you will attract the best talent that is also a great fit for your team. Moreover, you will actually retain the talent because they will be happy and cannot see themselves working anywhere else.
Written by Schuyler Williamson
REALTOR. Leader. Veteran. Business Owner. Investor.
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God Bless!
~ Schuyler Williamson