Despite the recession, mindSHIFT Technologies — like many progressive managed service providers — continues to seek new talent. From where I sit, finding and hiring the right talent is the most difficult part of building a business. In particular, Amy Katz and I worry about maintaining a great corporate culture at MSPmentor’s parent, Nine Lives Media Inc. So what are the secrets to finding, retaining and inspiring the right people?
This article from Inc. certainly caught my attention. It highlights the so-called Denison model, which measures four traits of culture and leadership. Inc. breaks down the Denison model as:
- Mission, which defines the long-term direction and purpose of the organization.
- Involvement, which measures the company’s ability to drive commitment and to develop ownership with employees.
- Consistency, which defines the values, agreement and coordination that hold the company together.
- Adaptability, which measures the company’s ability to read and scan the business environment and to respond to change.
To be honest, I’ve never “consciously” thought about those four traits. But subconsciously, I’ve always been aware of them. My biggest area of weakness is consistency, because I really don’t coordinate big teams well. I’m more of a maverick (not the John McCain type…), who depends on talented folks to managed themselves and check in regularly.
Thankfully, my business partner (Amy) is stronger than me on the consistency side and, well, she’s the CEO who holds everything together here. We also tend to agree on new hires. They generally have fun personalities. They’re fast-movers. And they’re very confident in their abilities.
The Book on Avoiding Bad Hires
At my previous company, it’s safe to say the owners employed the No Asshole Rule (sorry about the language, but it was a best-selling book). In that company, you didn’t get “in the club” unless someone at the door vouched for you. Not every hire was perfect. But at least there was careful scrutiny before outsiders became insiders.
Looking ahead, I have to concede that I’m a little nervous. When you run a big company (say, 1,000 or more employees) you can afford to make a bad hire or two — as long as you clean up the mess quickly instead of ignoring the problem. When you’re a small but growing media company or managed service provider, every hire counts — big time.
Let us know how your hires are proceeding. And we’ll keep you posted on ours.
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Tags: | Denison Model | Inc. magazine | Managed Services Corporate Culture | MSP Corporate Culture | No Asshole Rule
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Hi Joe!
Corporate culture is one of those things that can be really nebulous for a lot of peope. You’ll study it in an MBA program, but the examples never seem to relate to your specific situation. There are dozens of angles to take on this subject, but since you mentioned avoiding bad hires, I want to chime in on that.
One thing I’ve learned over the years is to find the right person for the job. Yeah, obvious I know. What I mean is that you will often get good applicants that aren’t a perfect match for the job, and it might be tempting to hire them. Perhaps they’re more suited to management but you don’t have a management position available. You hire them anyway because they are sharp and you hope to move them into management someday. The problem is, if that opportunity doesn’t present itself in a timely manner, you end up with an unhappy employee and one that is likely to jump ship for better opportunities.
An example: In the software business, I often see frustrated developers apply for QA positions. They aren’t really dedicated to QA, they are looking for a foot in the door. It’s tempting to think “this guy would be great, his programming experience will really help him trouble-shoot the software”, and that may be true. However, chances are good that he will never be a star at QA engineer and probably never be dedicated to the position. Instead, I look for a guy that wants to break things. By finding someone that has a passion for the job I am trying to fill, I increase the chances that the person will be content and productive.
Bad hires are expensive in both time and money, and turn-over has a negative effect on culture. Take your time and hire the right person. The old adage hire slowly fire quickly is still true today.
James Foxall
Senior Vice President
Tigerpaw Software
James: Great points across the board, but your closing line was the real keeper.
James – great comment and I couldn’t agree more. Frankly, some of my most attractive hires have been those looking for a step up from their current position and not a lateral one. Lateral screams stagnation sometimes.