Do you sometimes question if an employee is a ‘good fit’ for your team?
They do good work (most of the time) but there is just something you can’t quite describe that concerns you. You can’t put your finger on it. Something just feels a little off and makes you uncertain about having them on your team.
We discovered a powerful tool years ago to determine if someone is a good fit for your team. This doesn’t mean they don’t have quirks or that your employees are all exactly alike. You want a broad range of talents and personalities on your team that complement each other. This tool helps you determine if underneath all those attributes the person has the core values that are in sync with your team. This is that hard to explain connection that is either there – or not – and is key to someone being a trusted, long-term part of your team.
The first part of the exercise is to identify and declare the core values your team lives by; the values that support the mission and purpose of your business.
As a team develop a set of core values for everyone to live by. Have each team member define the core values that are important to them. Then everyone convene (we always recommend over coffee and food) and declare what your team as a whole will stand for, operate by, and expect every employee/team member to live by.
Some examples: respect for others (we treat others how we wish to be treated), commitment to family (we put our families first and support everyone in putting their family’s first), community contribution, spiritual guidance, and growth (yoga, meditation, walk-a-thons, organized religion) that will contribute to an environment of peace that will greatly impact our clients, etc.
These core values can be used to assess new team members as well as evaluate existing team members during reviews.
The second part of the exercise is to incorporate the core values into your employee review system. Discuss with your employee each core value and what they are doing to support it or stand for it. Have a conversation about what else they could do to live by that core value. This is a conversation significantly more valuable than discussing ‘areas for improvement’. It’s an empowering conversation and a safety net to make sure great team members don’t go astray of the fundamental core values of your business. Developing someone’s growth and contribution to a value of respecting others or being financially responsible with resources (or any other core value your team declares) is a life-long learning path that will have a huge ROI to your business versus using an employee review as a time to talk about improving typing speed or some other skill set that is easily addressed with simple training.
Think about framing your list of core values in a way that your clients, referral sources, and vendors know what is important to your team/organization as a “family and community-based business” and why you do what you do. Not only are you creating a place of peace and possibility, but a beautiful, deliberate by-product of increased referrals. Just think of the UPS guy that comes in every day. How many people does he know that need your services, whether that service is cutting hair if you own a salon or a place to send his aging parents if you have an Estate Planning Law Firm? And what a powerful ‘reset’ for you and your team to see this each morning as they come into the office after being stuck in traffic or having a sleepless night! To see and connect to your collective core values sets the tone you want in your business each and every day.
To learn how to give empowering employee reviews register for our webinar “How to Conduct an Empowering Employee Review” on February 12th from 1-2pm ET. For $49 learn how to move away from awkward team reviews to empowering sessions that set your employee on a growth path AND get the forms to prepare for and conduct this meeting. Register here.
