Why it is crucial to hire the right people for your organisation

Having the right people is the backbone to any business. However, very little time is spent in making sure that recruiting is done in the correct way. Have you ever seen an advertisement for a vacancy and thought to yourself that such a person cannot possibly exist? The requirements in terms of qualifications, the years of experience etc. seem unrealistic. The fact is that most job candidates think the same way and they simply glide to the next vacancy ad.

So how does one attract the right calibre of people into their organisation? And above all, how does one retain those superstars? After all, no matter what business you are in, you need to have people who others like and get on well with. You must have people who are optimists and care about their colleagues, their customers and the standard of work they produce. These are not values which you can train anyone to possess. People either have these qualities or they don’t. So how is your interview process structured to ensure you are picking out the performers rather than the non-performers?

How about the culture you have in your organisation? What promises are you making to your team? What commitments are you making to them? What is it like to work for your organisation? What are your values? In return for their loyalty and hard work, what are you doing for your employees?
Not too long ago, people were expected to work for one or two companies throughout their lifetime, but now, the new generation is expected to work for at least seven to 10 companies during their careers. 

Often employers think that salaries are the key driving force for retaining staff and they believe people will leave at the drop of a hat if they were given a better compensation offer. But this is far from the truth. When you dig deep enough, you will see that salaries come further down on the list when it comes to what today’s employees seek and desire. They need to be heard, valued and respected. They need flexibility from their employers and above all, they need to be part of a cause, a vision, a movement.

So what is your story? What are your values? When I ask your employees why they work for you, what would they say? If you are struggling for the answer maybe it’s time to reflect and implement some positive change.

There are two guarantees in life – time passes and changes happen. What are you doing to keep up with this change? 

Now back to the employees. If you find yourself spending time motivating your team or individuals in your organisation, then they are the wrong hires for your company. What you require are self-motivated people. What do I mean by that? Motivated people tend to be generally happy, they work for a cause, a goal, they have a desire to want more – more growth, more money, higher standards and they take full responsibility for their actions instead of blaming everything and everyone around them. Motivated individuals always see the cup as half full unlike demotivated people, who not only drain their cups, but also dampen the outlook for those around them.

When we recruit people based on qualifications, we seldom – if ever – find out the core values of the person we are interviewing. How can we tell the person’s character from reading their CV? Personally, I have never seen a CV where the person admitted they have been fired or they were caught with their hand in the till. Unfortunately, most CVs tend to hide the whole truth.

At Be Unique Group, the company I started 12 years back, I was very clear with the values of the people I wanted to work with. They must be honest, self-motivated, happy, caring, great communicators, fast problem solvers and hard workers. In return, we provide a safe environment where mistakes are celebrated unless they are made twice. We promise to provide a culture where people never have to worry about politics or backstabbing. If anyone has an issue with another member of staff, they must express it to the other person directly. We have fun, we laugh but take work seriously. I take a bullet for my team and treat them like my family and hope they do the same (most do).

It’s easy to teach and train motivated people. A motivated staff member has a desire for knowledge and appreciates learning. They put their egos aside and soak up all that you have to teach them, they take notes, and they go through them repeatedly until the information sinks in.

In our organisation, we have a seven-step recruitment process. The first six steps are based on finding the values and the character of the candidate. Only the seventh step is the part where we go through qualifications and skills. After all, what’s the point of having all the skills but the wrong attitude.

Many of our clients decide to work with us while waiting at our reception area. Our accountant pleasantly greets them at the door, they see that our receptionist is happy, and the office assistant serves them tea with a smile. The energy in our office makes it a wonderful place to work.

We spend more time at the office than we do with our family members. Life is far too short to spend it with people who do not share the same values as you do. We all like to be inspired and there is nothing more rewarding than a culture where all the family (and office) members have each other’s back and support one another. United we are far more powerful than individuals.