Building a winning team
When I think about teamwork, one movie that comes to my mind is “The Replacements”. It’s about a professional football team that goes on strike just before the playoffs. The owners are forced to assemble a quick team of misfits in hopes of finishing the year with a chance of making the playoffs. These players come from all walks of life, have no discipline and, in the beginning, feign their interest in success and one is a soccer player. In true Hollywood fashion, these bad news bears get crushed in the first game. It is not until they end up causing a raucous and are thrown in jail together that they start acting like a team, winning games and, of course, proceed to win the championship.
So what makes a winning team? We all think of companies like Google, Zappos, Whole Foods and W.L. Gore who forge the way in being the greatest companies to work for and creating environments that attract and retain the best and brightest employees AND customer’s!
What is it about these environments that make these companies so incredibly successful? Their employees want to come to work and be with their team. More importantly, they want to WIN for their team – every day. They each have a common mission to deliver the highest quality product, service, customer service or technology solution – these companies have been able to forge cohesiveness, each function and think like a team; and productivity is all about teamwork.
You can have the best talent or the smartest engineer in your group, but if he is not on your team what is the point? Your culture is dictated by values and practices your team practice, share and follow every day. Having a solid culture means having a productive team and ultimately staying ahead of the competition.
Company culture has been a consistent theme in business. I believe it stands to reason that with all the social media outlets and online networks, company culture and setting a very deliberate direction for your own company has never been more important. It is visible in everyday life, everywhere and becomes viral real quick. It has never been more evident that you have to be very purposeful and intentional about a company culture – writing it on a wall or trying to move your employees toward your own thoughts isn’t an “on purpose” culture. Culture comes from within the organization and is viral, it spreads. Cultures can adjust and correct themselves over time. What remains behind is what is healthy for the team and ultimately the company’s longevity.
Your culture is a complex algorithm, certainly compensation, benefits, bonuses and training are components of your culture, but each new hire brings their own personality and flair to the team and with that comes a new dynamic filled with new values and practices.
When hiring it is important that you not only hire for education and skills, but also culture. Make sure the new hire will mesh with the current values and practices of your team.
The same is true for candidates when you are looking for a new opportunity. You want to be happy at work and excel in your career, so make sure you ask your recruiter for details about the team they are representing you to. Make sure you communicate with your recruiter what is important to you and what environments you thrive in.
When you hire a recruiter, make sure the team you choose to work with shows some internal synergy – you are hiring that recruiter to act on your behalf. Those who hire for culture will show tenure in their own organization, they will have happy people and those focused on you winning first – knowing that when you win, they win as well. People who are working on a solid team will fight to get you on one as well.