HIRE FOR THE STAR TEAM, NOT A TEAM OF STARS

by Luba Charlton

One of the sure fire ways to kick some immediate goals is to hire a star recruit, right? Goodness knows they’re hard to find, but if you’re willing to pay a little more, a recruit with a star-filled track record will be the answer.

There are many examples I can think of over the last two decades where this thinking has not only resulted in an underperforming employee, but has had a ripple effect across the organisation resulting in lower morale and revenue decline.

There are a number of traps for employers in adopting the star recruit philosophy. The first is that it assumes that high performing individuals develop in isolation, and can result in some poor decision making. This can include paying a premium for an individual who is yet to prove their ability in the employer’s market, being willing to give too much in the belief that the recruit is worth the extra income, and most critically realising that the results achieved were more a consequence of team effort rather than individual performance.

The truth is that while talent is important, a team that works together, encourages each other, develops better ways of working by integrating new ideas, and so on is the source of both team and individual excellence. Businesses need to foster this through proper policies such as remuneration that incentivises teamwork, and through procedures that allow teams to work together without stepping on each other’s toes.

This observation raises some valuable insights for business owners. Learning how to build a team rather than going for a perceived quick fix makes for much stronger, better performing, and more loyal group of people. It also results in superior individual performances which supports the view that for great teams, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

We have seen hundreds of companies attempt to build teams and keep them together. This is more difficult than ever in the current environment, with businesses having to maintain skills and productivity while dealing with the low unemployment rates and skills shortages in numerous occupations.

The key is to create a team environment and work culture that appeals to a wider demographic. For some businesses this means creating a new working environment in order to build a better team of workers. Consider the following elements as being conducive to creating more collaborative and higher performing teams:

1. Create a heterogenous mix of people. By hiring an even spread of age, experience, and gender across the organisation, this minimises the incidence of cliques developing or staff becoming too like-minded in holding attitudes towards management, other staff, or customers. Perspective is the great moderator in staff conversations and in the forming of attitudes!
2. Develop a culture of trust and respect up, down and sideways through the business. There are two main parts to this cultural initiative. The first is creating a policy that defines the behaviour expected of workers in dealing with each other. The second is having key workers act as role-models in showing respect to others and acknowledging and encouraging these actions in others.
3. Create mentoring programs that occur while working and on-the-job. Some of the most effective learning in a person’s career happens during those important moments where guidance or advice are appreciated because of the high immediate need. Superior working relationships allow an employee to deliver a service or good and at the same time take on advice and new information from a respected co-worker.

Starting from the core of your business, implementing these initiatives in a systematic way will result in an organisation that keeps the team players and leads to non-team players self-selecting out of the business.

For more information on how to build a star team, contact Charlton Management Consulting at 02 9890 2072.