Eight Lessons For Building A Company People Want to Work For

Today’s job market is incredibly tight. Most anyone who wants to work, can find a job. Unemployment levels are at their lowest levels in the past 50 years. The current environment places a premium on the need to provide a workplace and culture that attracts and retains best-in-class talent. 

 

Netflix’ former chief talent officer Patty McCord recently recorded a TED talk offering 8 lessons for building a company people enjoy working for.

 

Lesson One: Your Employees Are Adults

 

Think about the rules that govern your workplace. Do you really have to tell people when they need to arrive and when they need to leave, whether or not to take their vacation, what days off they can have, etc.? Do you have rules and regulations that treat your team members more like children than adults? Most team members have obligations such as car and housing payments. They most likely want to make a difference in the world. McCord advises decorative plumbing and hardware showroom owners to start with the assumption that your team members come to work every day to do an amazing job. When you create a culture around "amazing", be prepared to be surprised at what you will receive.

 

Lesson Two: The Job of Management Is Team Building

 

The key role of managers is to build great teams. The metrics that matter most are the happiness of your customers, team members, suppliers, installers, etc. Do you focus on the amazing or do you measure performance based on how well someone follows the rules, shows up on time or asks for permission?

 

Lesson Three: People Want To Do Work That Means Something

 

Careers are journeys. It’s unreasonable to expect someone to spend their entire career with your organization. Don’t keep people for the sake of keeping them. Instead, focus on creating a company that is a great place to be from. That way, anyone who leaves your organization can be a brand ambassador. When you spread that kind of excitement throughout the world, your company becomes much better and an employer of choice.

 

Lesson Four: Everyone In Your Company Should Understand Your Business

 

Start with the assumption that your team members are smart adults. The most important thing to teach those smart people is how your company works. Constantly teach each other what you do, why it matters, what is measured and what goodness looks like.

 

Lesson Five: Everyone Should Be Able to Handle the Truth

 

Do you really believe that it helps your team and your company to only give feedback once a year at their annual performance review? How often do we practice giving feedback? Tell your team the truth about what they do at the moment they are doing it, both right and wrong.

 

Lesson 6: Live Your Values

 

If you have a leadership position, the most important thing you can do is to live the company values. If your organization promotes professionalism as a value, you need to be on time for all meetings. People can’t be what they can’t see.

 

Lesson 7: All Start Up Ideas Are Stupid

 

Ten years ago, if you were asked to invest in a company that rents out rooms in people’s homes that you could find on the Internet instead of staying at a hotel, would you have opened your checkbook? All start-up ideas are stupid, otherwise someone would have already done them.

 

Lesson 8: Every Company Needs to Embrace Change

 

It’s an exciting world that is constantly changing. The more you embrace change, the more successful you will become and the more fun you will have.