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When I started networkTask.com a little over three years ago, I did so after having worked for a company who I often felt missed some of the little things and a lot of the big things. It was my opinion that there were several flawed business concepts that were sure signs of eventual failure. First and foremost was the shortsightedness of how they dealt with employees. Employees were seen as a cost only, never a benefit, just a draw on the bottom line.
Certainly as a businessman I can understand the necessity of maintaining a solid bottom line, but it never made sense to me that the company could not understand that the investment in its people, and not just its managers, would be the most important investment they make.
Our company came together based on the idea that I wanted to help people and that was the principal from which every other facet of our business would be assembled. My next thought was to put together an ownership group that also felt passionate about assisting others and using our strengths to accomplish these goals. As you probably have guessed by now, we're basically all geeks!
My first concern for any potential owner, was if they shared our core ideas even if our methods to obtain the goals may differ. Among these thoughts were, if we find the right employees, people with the same ideals as ours, our customer service would be outstanding! This would enable us to stand out from our competitors. Having people with strong technical skills, good communication skills and a desire to help others was an obvious recipe for success to me. Our job as owners would be to find these people and give them the very things we expected them to provide our customers -- peace of mind and the knowledge that we are here to support them.
If the entire organization has the same idea regardless of your position and they are all treated as a valuable resource instead of a dreaded necessity you will have a peaceful organization. Simple formula folks, Happy Employees = Happy Customers.
Regardless of your business type it is imperative you hire employees who hold the same values as yourself, understand the company's mission statement and truly understand and respect the goals. Do not confuse like-mindedness with the search for a "yes-man." After all you still need people with critical thinking skills who may offer opposing views to your own.
And above all, remember, their success is your success.
Well, I'm elated to see that someone else besides myself has such a novel concept.
In our work with businesses, we find that too often little emphasis is placed on creating the structure of teamwork, which you so accuratly describe. While there are always exceptions to the thought that like-minded people will produce a desired result, the exceptions usually have more to do with poor strategy from the get-go.
We often strive to implement such policies with growing and expanding companies.
I appreciate your comments and apologize for the delay in response.
Like-minded can be easily confused for Yes-Man, I thinks thats where the line is drawn. It's really being certain of the common goals both personally and professionally for a new hire.
I know some companies use personality tests as a way to judge how to properly manage them. Or also to find out if they are a good fit for the job they are applying for. I have not done this yet, but have heard some like this approach.
Bottom line for me, if you have reachable expectations for your group, and have noted during the hiring process what you are looking for, and asked more than just for there work history (which is another story, work history to me only tell part of the story and have found it to be very inaccurate), you can build a very solid organization.