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Building great teams within your organization is crucial to success. But, hiring people who not only do great work, but will also mesh well with a large number of people, is tough. We caught up with Carla Crull, SME Advisory Recruiter at Rackspace and Tara Lacey Guthrie and Wes Burke, Communications and Human Resources Director at Alchemy Systems respectively, to learn about what it takes to hire a cohesive team and how to keep them working well together. They identified five tips:
1. It all starts with great talent
Guthrie, Burke and Crull all agreed that building a successful team starts with the hiring process. Both companies hire selectively and focus heavily on passion and culture fit.
“For us it is the passion we hear in your voice and a true desire to achieve great results,” Crull said. “One who is driven, eager and willing to learn. Being open to creativity, flexible to change, and enjoys being part of something great.”
“We want to get people that have a passion for doing good,” Burke said. “We want to get individuals that bring something unique to the table. If a person is going to be successful here, [the entire team] has to be in agreement about a hire.”
2. Communication is key
“Keep a straight line of connection, awareness and communication between you and your team,” Crull said. “Everyone needs to be heard.”
Crull emphasized the importance of treating employees like people, not just workers.
“Be open and listen, and remember each person has a creative side with certain desires for their career growth,” Crull continued. “Find out what those desires are. Work with each team member to build out individual career mapping adding short and long term attainable goals.”
3. Be transparent
“[Alchemy] really works hard to give employees a voice, in how the culture of the company is shaped and where we’re looking to go,” Guthrie said. “Alchemy is very transparent about what their business vision looks like and how employees can contribute to it.”
Guthrie said that the more employees know about the organization, how it works, and its mission, the more connected they'll feel.
4. Focus on company culture
Alchemy focuses so much on culture, they even have a culture committee, which Guthrie chairs. They work together to plan events, recognize important achievements, and establish and enforce core values.
“Culture is probably the most important thing,” Guthrie said. “Ultimately at the end of the day you have to work well as part of the team, and if you’re not able to mesh well with the team, they aren’t going to perform well.”
5. Make sure there is recognition
Alchemy recognizes individuals and full teams regularly for great performance. “It’s an engagement in our team, culture, and business,” Burke said. “The more engaged your team is around your business the more successful you’re going to be. We want to recognize people that have gone above and beyond core roles.”
Have a tip for us or know of a company that deserves coverage? Email us via [email protected]
