I think a lot about hiring. How to attract and retain top talent. I’ve worked with companies that have had major turnover issues and I’ve seen the negative impact it has had on their growth and their clients. I’ve also seen companies that have been afraid to let long time employees go even though the company had moved on and the employee was clearly no longer the right fit. So, how do you achieve healthy, sustained growth?
Small Box has a different approach to hiring and it seems to be working. We’ve had no turnover in almost 4 years of business. Here’s how we approach it.
No-one starts full time. I believe in a good “courting” period before “marriage”. All full time employees, outside of Joe and myself who founded the company, have started part time. This gives us a good chance, on both sides, to figure out if there is a match on a professional and cultural level. Can they do the job and do we get along?
Sometimes it becomes clear that a full time position isn’t the right relationship for either party. Sometimes we move quickly into full time when it’s clear we have a rising star.
I don’t spend much time, if any, looking at resumes. I do like to look at what people have done but I find resumes next to worthless in general. Every employee we have hired has come through our various networks. As we hire more employees we increase our network.
Some business folk will argue that you shouldn’t hire friends. I disagree. Now, firing friends can be hard but I’ve done it before, at a past company, and if done right it’s not too horrible. I see many upsides to working with friends.
Communication: you know how to communicate since you’ve been doing it for a while already.
Culture: you already share this so it’s easy to have a good vibe around the office.
Accountability: you know this person isn’t going to flake.
Tough Times: if your company goes through a tough patch there is no better team than one that is on a friendly basis with each other.
I don’t want to act like we have it all figured out. I expect many HR challenges as we continue to grow. But I do feel that limiting a company’s growth around a healthy hiring process will result in a much more profitable business down the road.
I disagree…
For starters, I wouldn’t want to pussy foot around with you guys if I was your “top talent”. I would want to get in, get secured full-time, and start getting on with my life with a stable job right away. In fact, if you weren’t hiring for full time.. I probably wouldn’t consider the position.
I think your small box, small town approach to hiring is flawed because no talented web developer, designer, or marketing guru is going to stick around and wait for estrogen levels in your small box to go away while you drink your soy lattes and reap the rewards of my work that you are too afraid to employ me full-time for.
If you have any money to hire top-talent, you should offer them full-time with a 90-day “probationary period” like all the other companies in this country, and if you aren’t feeling it before the 90 days – great! Fire their ass. If you are feelin’ good vibes with the employee, keep them.
As for hiring friends.. I wouldn’t think about even using the word “friend” in a sentence. Just hire someone for their talent and because they can help you grow your business… if they just so happen to be a friend, then great!
Posting this publicly will actually scare away talent rather than attract it. I can assure you, I will not be recommending anyone I know with talent, to Smallbox, because I’m going to send them somewhere I know will treat them right, and give them full-time w/ benefits right off the bat. Good luck with ever attracting talent.
Michael, thanks for the comment. I have heard this argument before and after consideration I rejected it. I realize that sometimes we may miss out on “top talent” that is only willing to start up full time and isn’t willing to start freelance/part time. In my experience, however, the best are in demand and are often doing a good deal of freelance work so it’s a natural transition for them when they find a company they “click” with. Also, we don’t discourage freelance work when employees are full time, assuming it is after hours, which I think is unusual in our industry. I believe it helps bring in good ideas to share with the team.
I’ve seen companies put a lot of really talented people together but seen it turn into chaos. People forming cliques, talking trash, etc. If you aren’t careful about protecting a company’s culture it doesn’t matter how great your talent is. I would rather have a team with a little less firepower rowing in the same direction than an all star team all playing their own game. The all stars may grow faster and brighter but let’s see who’s standing in 5 years.
I realize the way we do business isn’t going to be right for everyone, clearly it isn’t for you. That’s fine. I’m putting this out there so that I can attract the right people. If anything your comment proves that point.
Up to this point we’ve had no problem getting quality people but I know there may be a time that we re-consider this part time to full time policy for the right person. One thing I have learned is to be flexible when opportunities arise.
Wow Michael. To be very blunt, your writing tone makes you sound pissed, and quite frankly, unhirable.
I spend a lot of time thinking about how best to retain top talent. I am in the restaurant industry and as everyone knows, a lack of high turnover is the exception rather than the rule. My strategy towards hiring is a little different and honestly, it’s worked quite well for me.
I do look at a candidate’s CV. Not so much to find out about a persons past accomplishments, but rather to learn two important pieces of information.
1) Is the candidate detail oriented? Writing a CV can be a major pain in the ass, and it can be pretty grueling if you care about its presentation. The paper, the type, the text, the structure, the organization, and the quality of its content create a snapshot for me. If there is a typo on your CV. You won’t be working with me.
2) Is the candidate articulate? The way a CV is written says a lot about their ability to communicate. In the world of hospitality, good communication skills is paramount and a well written CV can be indicative of strong communication skills (if you believe people write as they speak).
I hire every employee at the same rate of pay, no matter their level of experience, or expertise, and it is usually a very low rate of pay but I fast track exceptional talent.
I have hired friends, and wouldn’t do it again. Its not that I had really bad experiences, its just that I like to keep my professional life and my personal life separate, and blurring that relationship is just not for me.
I guess what it comes down to for me is learning as much as I can about a candidate, relying heavily on intuition and then putting them through a rigorous audition period. If they can survive that, there is a very good chance that we will cultivate a rewarding professional relationship with one another based on mutual respect, accountable freedom, and the opportunity for growth.
Thanks for the comment Neal.
I think the hiring friends issue is an interesting one. I’ve seen widely different takes on that, all legitimate. I really think there is no one rule to follow. Obviously I don’t only hire friends but if I have someone I know that is highly qualified and a good cultural fit (shares sense of humor, work ethic, etc) then I don’t hesitate. I’ve had great experiences so far, over the course of 3 businesses and 10 years, but I could imagine others having a really bad experience and deciding not to take that path.
I think it’s important to remember that every organization’s culture is very different. When you are an in a highly creative company with creative applicants, they are more likely to be flexible instead of requiring a 40-50 hour work week with commensurate pay and benefits. Manage the candidates expectations and have frequent contact with them and you will succeed.
The paradigms that have been built around traditional work and traditional work schedules are shifting, but slowly. An I/O research article that I read several years ago, predicted that we would ultimately end up as a contracted workforce. If that is the way work is heading, then, Jeb, you are ahead of the curve.
Regarding hiring friends, I’m not a fan of it, but if you can have a candid and open feedback session (good or bad)and neither party takes it personally, then it could work. I think personal boundaries and professional boundaries should remain separate. I do, however, love giving friends/family business opportunities to partner with organizations that I work for or with, and I see that as very different from hiring friends.
Wow, Jeb, no turnover and if you think that Jeb’s team doesn’t have talent then look at the work and you can decide for yourself.
You have to be “special” to work at Jeb’s place and I know almost all of them. They are a great team – that works well and plays well together. They always come through when asked and I don’t know anyone that’s had a bad experience with Small Box.
Keep doing what you are doing and keep telling people how you are doing it. Sooner or later, they’ll get it.
Jeb – I would say that in your particular business that easing into a position is probably better for everyone due the (general) temperament of the creative person. It’s not true in every business situation.
Hiring friends? It depends on why you are hiring friends. If I had a friend who has had a hard time staying employed, I would be more difficult for me to believe that (s)he would get the needed epiphany about why (s)he has a hard time staying employed simply by working for me. On the other hand I have found that the right friends can bring balance and synergy to the work situation.
I don’t think there is one right way to hire, and I believe that the growing tendency to generalize and automate is making a difficult process even more so.
I promise not to comment on Jeb’s blogs everytime but so much has been made on the subject of hiring friends at Small Box. I want to make a distinction between hiring friends (and Jeb and I certainly were old friends when I started) and what I think is Small Box looking to associates when it comes to hiring.
There’s a difference. Jeb and I are friends. We were roommates, we were in bands togther, we socialized. We went to each others weddings and saw each other’s kids as babies.
Our recent hires, we like them, but it isn’t that same kind of friendship. First and foremost they are talented people that we want to work with, nice hard working people, the type we like having around. We started working with them as associates and introduced from within our network for the most part.
There’s upsides to working with friends. Okay I am going back to work.
Through my experience I’ve learned that working with friends is a great alternative to hiring a stranger you have to entrust with your business. An employee can make or break a small company, I’ve had to restart from nothing due to a poor decision on hiring a friend before, I’ve learned that I need to communicate my needs and expectations better in the future.
In regards to the other opinions regarding Resumes, I personally don’t find it indicative of their skill set on the computer or in utilizing an application to help my clients realize their vision for their website or software project. I think a trial run with a gentleman’s agreement, as well as a contract to hire can help draw the talent in.
On letting employees do freelance work after hours – I feel this needs to be addressed before they accept any position. I have no problem with someone growing their name and portfolio, but more often than not it interferes with relationships I have personally brought to my company, so I have made it a rule that if someone works to build my company, they’re going to have a non-compete for my clients and clients I am currently in discussion with. I feel it is fair and doesn’t scare the would-be entrepreneurs that always seem to find me.
Thanks Rob, good points on the pitfalls of freelancing. I think it all comes down to consistently communicating with your employees what you expect of them. No matter what kind of non-compete or agreement you work it doesn’t really matter if there isn’t trust and communication.
Jeb,
I think your approach is very interesting indeed but smart at the same time. While it may seem odd that employees do not go “Full-Time” right away, what better way for both parties to really know if it’s going to work. By starting out in a “trial” status you and the employee have time to review how the fit is with the company, therefore a decision to move on or part ways can be facilitated
a little easier. I like your stance on this and have heard good things about “Small Box” numerous times, so you must being doing something right.
In my opinion you need to do what works best for you. If an employee is truly passionate about the work and what the company stands for, they should be willing to take a risk on something that could be a great opportunity.
I appreciate these tips you have listed out Jeb. I have a feeling this is a similar approach done by many firms and consultancies in my educational background of design. These are points I’ll have to remember when looking around.
To address a point Amy made, I am currently in a seeking mode right now, and I have had to apply to the more traditional jobs to see if any are biting.
One such was with a national office supply chain that has an in-store copy center. When Amy said: “I don???t think there is one right way to hire, and I believe that the growing tendency to generalize and automate is making a difficult process even more so.” I thought of my experience of having to take an 80-question automated questionnaire about my trust and “have I stolen anything” and “what happens in this situation” and such like that.
My point is, it’s rather scary that if you answer one question one point off from where you would have “passed” the question, it may discard your results before it gets anywhere close to hiring managers at the corporate level. I find that disturbing.
I should also mention the stores that still insist you get on their computerized system to fill out an application. It is the exact same as doing it from home, so you still never get the traditional pen-and-paper approach to applying.
In short, automation in a hiring process is impersonal and can be tragic for those who think that is the only way.
Thanks again for these tips Jeb!