How can you recruit, retain and reward good people? The first step is obviously to ensure that everybody knows the team’s story, strategy and road to success. Telling the story is also vital when recruiting people. You can give candidates an overview of the ‘what, why, how, who and when’. Great teams ensure their people ‘know the deal’. People know: a) The employer’s role in working towards the goals; b) The employee’s role in working towards the goals. They can then decide whether they want to be part of the team. Let’s consider how you can work with people who want to bring the story to life.

1) You can employ people who embody the team’s story.

Great teams are made up of people who have ‘similarity of spirit’ and ‘diversity of strengths’. (Diversity of spirit is a recipe for disaster.) When looking at a present or prospective team member, ask yourself:

“Does this person embody the spirit of the team? Do they want to bring the values to life? Do they want to contribute to the team’s story? If so, how can we encourage them to make this happen?”

You are looking for characters, not clones. This calls for hiring people who are committed to maintaining the team’s balance between consistency and creativity. Great teams have people who follow the key principles in a consistent way. They then produce professional performances that always deliver at least 8/10. Such teams also encourage people to express their creativity at the right time. They can then produce peak performances – the 10/10. Looking at your team, do two things. First, write the names of the people who embody the team’s story. Second, describe the specific things they do to translate it into action.

Great teams recruit people who want to live the story, but this does not mean individuals must stay for the rest of their lives. Such teams often have a golden period when the individuals’ agendas align. There comes a time when some people want to move on - and that is okay. Great teams spot the signs early. They then recruit others who want to develop the story.

Try tackling the exercise on this theme. Describe the specific things you can do to recruit, reward and retain people who embody the team’s story. Try completing the following sentence.

The specific things I can do to recruit, reward and
retain people who embody the team’s story are:

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2) You can employ people who express the team’s story.

“Three years ago I took over a demoralised business,” said one MD. “After clarifying the future strategy, I spent the first year getting the right staff and building the right systems. This called for spending lots of time with the positive people. I encouraged them to stay and involved them in helping to shape the future. Within one year our performance was solid, but it wasn’t outstanding. So I encouraged people to build on strengths and find more ways to express their ‘A’ talents. That was when we began delivering top class work.”

‘Similarity of spirit’ is crucial: but so is ‘diversity of strengths’. Great teams start by providing a solid foundation. They then provide a framework within which people can express themselves. How does this work in your team? How can you encourage people to express their personalities? You may want to encourage them, for example:

· To build on their strengths - to spend more time focusing on where they deliver ‘As’, whilst managing the consequences of their ‘Bs’ or ‘Cs’.

· To use Appreciative Inquiry to clarify when they performed superb work, the principles they followed and how they can follow these more in the future.

· To use their personalities to provide great service – and add that touch of magic – that enables the customers to succeed.

Sometimes you may need to encourage people to think beyond the old cliché that: ‘There is no ‘I’ in team.’ Actually, there are lots of I’s in ‘team’. It just that people express these I’s in different ways towards building the word TEAM. (See below.) They use their personalities to encourage other team members and contribute towards achieving the team’s goal. They follow the key principles, perform superb work and ensure the team achieves peak performance.

Try tackling the exercise on this theme. Looking at your team, describe how you can encourage people to express themselves on the way towards achieving the team’s goals. Try completing the following sentence.

The specific things I can to do to encourage people to
use their personalities to express the team’s story are:

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3) You can employ people who will enhance the team’s story.

Great leaders create and maintain the framework. They keep people’s eyes on the story, strategy and road to success. Such leaders also keep their eyes on both today’s and tomorrow’s business. This enables them to ‘surf the sigmoid curve’. They stay ahead of the game, spot opportunities and keep developing - rather than slide down the curve before taking action. Great teams take several steps towards making this happen.

- They continually look ahead, spend time with pacesetting customers and anticipate future scenarios.

- They ask themselves and their people: “Looking to the future, what are the challenges: a) For ourselves; b) For our customers? Bearing in mind our strengths, what are the opportunities? How can we help our customers to succeed? How can we enrich, energise and enhance our story? How can we continue to be successful?”

- They then do whatever is necessary to develop the story, strategy and road to success.

Great leaders may set the strategy, but they recognise it is people who bring it to life – both now and in the future. So they employ people who express today’s story whilst, in some cases, also being able to shape and enhance tomorrow’s story. This is always a fine balance – because it is vital to deliver today’s business whilst shaping tomorrow’s business.

Try tackling the exercise on this theme. Looking to the future, describe how you can employ people who will enhance the team’s story. Try completing the following sentence.

The specific things I can to do to employ
people who will enhance the team’s story are:

*

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There are many models for hiring great people. This article has focused on steps you can take to choose people who embody, express and enhance the team’s story. You will do this in your own way to continue building a superb team.

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