There’s this mantra you hear over and over in the marketing world about finding brand evangelists for your product, service or company. “Look for those people who are passionate about what you do and get them to promote your brand.”
This is all well in and good if, 1) you can find people like this, 2) they are willing to speak up for you, and 3) if what they say resonates with another human being. If you can’t get all three of those factors in the package, it’s incomplete.
Recently I was invited to a Chamber of Commerce event. It brought together officials from three high level companies -- a major auto dealership, a paper company and Southwest Airlines. They had some fascinating things to say about how to promote your company, some counter-intuitive and refreshing and some mind-numbingly self-evident.
To clear out the boring stuff early, all of them said your employees are your biggest brand ambassadors. If they don’t love what they do, and spout to others, you’re never going to get additional customers.
Think about how simple this principle is: If people like working where they are, they smile, engage, laugh, deal with others in a happy way. If they don’t, they complain, scowl, argue and generally treat customers like cockroaches.
All three of the people on the panel hammered home the point that it wasn’t senior management that made the company go round, but the people in the trenches. “Hire the right people.”
What distinguished these three companies were some other tidbits they shared during the panel discussion. For example, if you ask around, it’s hard to find any place that would hire another member of your family. They might hire a friend of yours if you gave a scintillating endorsement.
In contrast with that perspective, all three of the officials at the Chamber event said they were pro-Nepotism (love that phrase). “If you have a good hire, find other friends or other members of that family and hire them, too,” was the consensus.
That’s refreshing. It’s also smart. If you have good people, find out where they come from, what molded them, who raised them, who they hang out with, and see if you can find others like them.
It’s the steamroller effect. If you get one person, they’ll spread the message to their buddies, and hopefully you’ll get more applicants of the same stripe.
It’s puzzling that more companies don’t do this. It’s not complicated. It’s logical. Yet repeatedly you find companies who feel that hiring two brothers or a father and daughter would be bad for business. Have they ever thought it might be the exact opposite and be tremendous for business?
Here’s another tip they had: Take a potential new hire out to lunch and see how s/he treats the wait staff. All the panelists agreed on this one.
What’s the point? 1) People let down their guard and act more naturally while eating a meal. 2) How someone treats a wait person shows a lot about how they will treat others. You get a quick look at customer service skills.
People who like where they work want to stay there, and they also want their friends to join them. Every piece of research written on work environments backs the point that if you have good friends at work, it’s a motivating factor in your happiness.
Happy employees are good employees. They go the extra mile for you. They take on extra duties. They make constructive suggestions. Every business can use that.
Find your best people, then end your anti-nepotism policy, and hire their friends and relatives.
This is all well in and good if, 1) you can find people like this, 2) they are willing to speak up for you, and 3) if what they say resonates with another human being. If you can’t get all three of those factors in the package, it’s incomplete.
Recently I was invited to a Chamber of Commerce event. It brought together officials from three high level companies -- a major auto dealership, a paper company and Southwest Airlines. They had some fascinating things to say about how to promote your company, some counter-intuitive and refreshing and some mind-numbingly self-evident.
To clear out the boring stuff early, all of them said your employees are your biggest brand ambassadors. If they don’t love what they do, and spout to others, you’re never going to get additional customers.
Think about how simple this principle is: If people like working where they are, they smile, engage, laugh, deal with others in a happy way. If they don’t, they complain, scowl, argue and generally treat customers like cockroaches.
All three of the people on the panel hammered home the point that it wasn’t senior management that made the company go round, but the people in the trenches. “Hire the right people.”
What distinguished these three companies were some other tidbits they shared during the panel discussion. For example, if you ask around, it’s hard to find any place that would hire another member of your family. They might hire a friend of yours if you gave a scintillating endorsement.
In contrast with that perspective, all three of the officials at the Chamber event said they were pro-Nepotism (love that phrase). “If you have a good hire, find other friends or other members of that family and hire them, too,” was the consensus.
That’s refreshing. It’s also smart. If you have good people, find out where they come from, what molded them, who raised them, who they hang out with, and see if you can find others like them.
It’s the steamroller effect. If you get one person, they’ll spread the message to their buddies, and hopefully you’ll get more applicants of the same stripe.
It’s puzzling that more companies don’t do this. It’s not complicated. It’s logical. Yet repeatedly you find companies who feel that hiring two brothers or a father and daughter would be bad for business. Have they ever thought it might be the exact opposite and be tremendous for business?
Here’s another tip they had: Take a potential new hire out to lunch and see how s/he treats the wait staff. All the panelists agreed on this one.
What’s the point? 1) People let down their guard and act more naturally while eating a meal. 2) How someone treats a wait person shows a lot about how they will treat others. You get a quick look at customer service skills.
People who like where they work want to stay there, and they also want their friends to join them. Every piece of research written on work environments backs the point that if you have good friends at work, it’s a motivating factor in your happiness.
Happy employees are good employees. They go the extra mile for you. They take on extra duties. They make constructive suggestions. Every business can use that.
Find your best people, then end your anti-nepotism policy, and hire their friends and relatives.