If you want a culture that screams 'come work for us' and to have a line of people at the door waiting to come on board, we recommend you have a crack at doing these top 5 things. And I am going to give you some working LWT examples of these traits too, to give you more insight into mine and Josie's philosophy on them:
- Look for GRATITUDE - staff who are overwhelmed by the opportunity to even be considered for your job should be at the TOP of your list, not just the people who have experience or skillset. The reason for employing the most grateful people is that they already have a values system that says, 'I am so lucky to be here and I want to make this a great place to work and do my best'. This is just innate in them. Your main job with them is just to ensure that they have all the tools and equipment, training and TIME, you must give them TIME. They deserve it. They will always show up for you, so you need to show up for them. They will pay it forward into your business 10xfold. Our gratitude champ is Teresa. Every single day she tells us how grateful she is and 'I can't believe this is even a job I just love it SO MUCH!' She is a lover of all client interactions and also truly believes in what we do and wants to help.
A great hiring question to ascertain a grateful person would be to ask 'can you tell me about a time that you felt so grateful for your work, or so proud, or so happy that you worked where you worked, and why you felt that way?' - Look for ATTITUDE - these are our 'no fuss' people. The attitude is 'I am paid to do this job and I am going to nail it'. They also tend to be fiercely competitive, but not so much with others, more with themselves. They will see what they have done and say 'I raise myself another 20'. These people are reliable, and they take feedback as an opportunity to say 'thanks, I needed that, and I am going to show you I can do better'. Their attitude is always of improvement and growth, and they are always looking for opportunities to do even better for themselves and for the business. Chane alongside Donna are our little attitude spunks - no matter what feedback they get, they love it. Chane - she attacks a goal like her life depends on it and she puts herself out of her comfort zone in order to get it done. It is a pleasure to watch! Oh, and fiercely competitive - draw her a line and she will jump over it big time. Donna’s version of attitude is ‘I’ll deliver on this so fast they won’t even have time to blink and it’s going to be progress not perfection, review, then get it perfect from there. Absolute gold. My god she just gets it done and we adore it!!
To hire one of these legends ask: 'how would you describe your attitude towards your work? If I were to ask others about your attitude at work, what would they tell me?' - Look for WILL - Will is a LOT like attitude, but it is more about GRUNT work and sheer determination that says, 'I will never let this task beat me, until I have that nut cracked - I am doing this!' These people are full of grit. They might not know it all, but by shit they will work until they understand what needs to be done, then execute it to the nth degree. They are willing to try anything, give it all a go and then do a phenomenal job on it. They admit when they have no idea, but they won't just sit idle waiting for instructions, they will come to you with their ideas for a solution, bounce it around with you, then go to task implementing it for the greater good. Will is my favourite ideal in staff, because I am impatient and get frustrated. A good staff member with 'will' will never give up. Not on the task, not on you, not on anyone.
Kellie is our 'will' superstar - she works on our website, our automations, our Toolbox Membership site, she gets our shopify and stripe and all the finicky things that I can't stand working. She also does data entry, which is a tough gig, but she loves it. The thing that makes Kellie so amazing in this space is that she did not know how to do a SINGLE one of these tasks when she started with us, now she does it all and is an absolute BOSS at it. I trust her with all of it, because she not only gets it done, but she gets it done perfectly.
To nail a 'Kell' for your team ask: 'can you give me an example of a time/task/project where you were assigned a task and you just didn't let up until it was done? Tell me the story about it' - Look for SKILL - only AFTER the first three are achieved. Now, Josie is our 'skilled' champ as well as having spades of the first three traits - but more on this later. Skills can be taught. They are much easier to fill from a gap perspective than hiring someone on values and beliefs like the other three. Yes, you need to be a 'good' plumber/sparky/concreter etc but I promise, if you hire people on the first 3 traits before skill, you will end up with a skilled tradesperson anyway because they will do their absolute best for you. NONE of our team necessarily had the 'skill' to become coaches. Remember - I was a nurse first, then got taught leadership coaching. Josie was a banker first, then learnt through grit, attitude, will & gratitude how to be a finance guru. Skills can be learnt by anyone. Even I know how to do finance now and I was just RUBBISH at it!
I am not giving you a question on this - because you should all MAKE candidates applying for your roles DO A DAY’S WORK through your interview process. At LWT, we make our coach candidates do a video application, we make them do personality profiles, we ask them coaching scenarios, we get them to 'do' elements of the role before they get them. You should too. - Stay HUMBLE - vulnerable, transparent, open 'current & future bosses' will attract people who want to grow with them. The clients we coach who go with heart in hands and say to candidates and current employees 'I will never be the perfect boss, but I will work hard every day trying to be' always end up with the best staff. They grow themselves as HUMANS. They read. They ask questions that might even make them feel a bit silly. They measure their WINS, and they ask their staff 'what are your ideas for a solution' when they have challenges. You will have people lining up to work for you if word gets out in the industry that you are a tradie business that has all of this sorted. Just be all of these things and you are going to do just fine with people!
If you are not across this stuff, you better hit us up! Or do our Amp it Up Program or just check in for a chat. We got ya.
xxx
