She shifted in her seat and looked at me uncomfortably as she tried to answer my question.
As a corporate recruiter from a successful software company, she has expertise and experience, and was kind enough to share both with me as I asked about hiring strategies.
“How important is character for you when hiring?” I asked.
“Super important. We definitely hire for character first.”
“How so?”
“Well, our vetting process screens for the values of the company.”
“Oh,” I said, impressed, “that’s amazing. What are those values?”
“We have a lot of values.”
“How many is a lot?”
She smiled and stated, “19.”
That struck me as, well yes, a lot — maybe even too many. “It sounds like you have a hard time identifying the top values that distinguish you from every other software company in that space,” I observed.
She conceded that they has some work to hone in on the most important values, but by and large values were a part of the process.
“Where do you find your candidates?” I asked.
“Job boards, resume sites, the usual suspects.”
“And do these candidates seek you out because of the values you advertise, or due to the competency-based job descriptions?”
“We start with the competency descriptions, of course, because at the end of the day they have to be able to do the job.”
“How often do you hire someone who resonates with your values and then train them in the competency you’re looking for?”
“Oh, that never happens. It would take too long, tie up too many people and end up being way too costly. We prefer to hire experts who don’t have anything against our values.”
“Isn’t that the exact opposite of hiring for character first and competency second?”
And when it comes to hiring, isn’t this what happens in many organizations? We like the idea of hiring for character, and may even try to incorporate certain elements of character into the process. On a practical level, however, character often slides into second place.
Many people balk at the time, expense and resources required to train employees in core competencies, and yet ignore the less obvious costs of politics, drama, turf wars, turnover, and dysfunctional teams.
It can be challenging to put time and effort into identifying, articulating and utilizing the organization’s core principles (i.e. the purpose for the business and the 2-3 core values that describe how the organization behaves) as a practical filter for identifying potential team members, customers, investors and partners.
However, the benefits are potentially infinite. Building an organization from the ground up over the rock solid foundation of a clear operational purpose and core values attracts only the highest value customers, team members, and partners.
Great companies do not hire just anyone who can do what they need done, while rolling the dice on whether they believe in the organization’s purpose or core values. Truly great organizations do the work to discover and articulate their guiding principles in a way that attracts only those who believe in them, and who therefore will give blood, sweat and tears to the cause instead of just working for the salary.
Great companies hire those who believe what they believe. They attract customers and investors who buy why they do what they do instead of just what.
The result? Low (or even nonexistent) turnover, high trust and high productivity teams, loyal high-margin customers, and investors who buy into the long-term vision of the company’s mission instead of short-term performance.
Take the time now to invest in defining and articulating your core principles; the payoffs will be unmeasurable.
