At a recent braai, I overheard someone complaining about a job interview he attended where he was “grilled” for three hours by eight people about who he was and which direction his moral compass faced, adding he had very few questions about his technical abilities to do the job.
I bit my tongue and silently applauded the company. I assume he didn’t get the job, because clearly the company values values more than the candidate values values!
You see, this particular company has the right idea!
The first rule of team building is to ensure that people coming onto the team are a good cultural fit with the organisation.
To ensure you start off with people with the right values:
1. Have a written culture statement that employees and candidates can refer to that clearly spells out the values that the company subscribes to.
2. Get to know candidates for key positions by asking open ended questions, such as, “Our first point of culture is commitment, give me both a personal and professional example of you demonstrating commitment.”
3. Do background checks. If “integrity” is one of your organisation’s points of culture, check on your candidate’s integrity by doing a credit check and a criminal background check.
The second rule of team building is to train your people on what is expected of them and how you expect them to act. Disney’s employee orientation programme includes a full day on culture and another day on customer relationships. It’s no wonder the values of the brand are so apparent!
Above and beyond your culture statement, your business needs a vision statement. Everyone in the organisation must buy into the vision statement and it must be a point of inspiration for them.
The very first day with your company is the employees’ most important day. Start them off on the right foot. Develop a training programme to go over your vision and culture and have this programme presented by you or a senior manager.
Your organisation must have, follow and enforce rules. Develop your company’s “rules of the game.” Have these rules written and reviewed with your employee in their orientation period. The rules could highlight the importance of teamwork, empowerment, loyalty, enthusiasm, etc.
The final rule on teamwork is to “live” the value. Remember the phrase, “The fish rots from the head”. If you want your team to behave within the core values of the business, do the same yourself.
Have a great Friday!
Regards,
Greg
