How one policy reinvigorated a company’s hiring and culture
Culture and teamwork can be hard things to cultivate in the workplace. Here’s how a seemingly simple policy made a world of difference for one company.
Periodically, we like to offer success stories from from companies across the U.S. This account comes courtesy of Henry Albrecht, CEO of Limeade in Bellevue, WA. (Hat tip to Suzanne Lucas with Inc.com for recently covering this story and bringing the topic to our attention.)
A passing thought
We never intended to hire any so-called “jerks.” But like all companies, it happened to us from time to time.
But that began to change not too long ago thanks to a rhetorical question posed by one of our staff members.
After a team interview with a candidate, one of our staffers said, “That person could totally do the job, but do we really want him representing our company?”
That got us thinking: Maybe we needed to focus on bringing in people who are great team players.
And that’s how we hit on the idea of a “no jerks” policy.
What’s a ‘jerk?’
First we had to define what a “jerk” really is.
After some discussion, we determined that someone is a “jerk” if he or she cares more about his or her own personal or career interests than the team’s.
Once we hashed that out, we knew it was something the company could really get behind moving forward.
That’s why we went so far as to amend our company values to add two new ones – “We’re a Team” and “Own It” – that embrace the “no jerks” mindset.
We also amended other company values to reflect those recent changes.
And though we didn’t add the policy to our employee handbook, we have included it in our job descriptions.
Now that we had the policy figured out in the abstract, we had to make it work in the day-to-day workplace.
How it works
In the hiring process, we keep an eye out for certain things – a smile, a laugh, a “thank you,” a level of self-awareness, etc.
We’ve also begun printing out our company values and handing them to applicants during the interview, saying, “Which value are you most passionate about? How have you embodied it in the past six months?”
As for current staff who begin to exhibit signs of “jerkiness,” we have a procedure for that, too.
The staffer receives direct coaching from his or her manager.
We also make it clear that supervisors are responsible for ensuring employees embody our company values.
Finally, we do leave some wiggle room for “jerkiness.”
After all, there are some select instances where being forceful is crucial to getting the job done.
Boost in applicants
We admit that we miss out on some great performers who might have attitude problems – but that’s OK with us.
In fact, people have begun actively pursuing jobs with us thanks to the policy.
They say that they want to work at a place with great values like ours.
Resources
Post Your Resume to 65+ Job Sites
Resume Service
