When businesses’ grow, processes are often at the forefront of any business leader’s mind. What can we integrate, what do we need to grow. But one core function is often overlooked, and its importance can make or break the long term strategy for any founder.

Processes and workflow, often buzzwords that litter many hiring briefs and resumes, are the cornerstone of any good growth plan. Founders, business leaders look for effective operations teams and staff, to help achieve and implement these long term goals. Sustainable growth, and efficiency are key, but hiring is increasingly more important in the 21st Century workplace.

Today’s Business World Evolved.

Even before the world of COVID-19 reshaped the professional world, the modern day workplace is changing. One look at the promotional imagery of Google, Facebook and any major tech startup paints a picture that would make business leaders of a bygone era shudder in shock.

McLaren boss Ron Dennis, known for his greyscale colour schemes, and military style precision would shudder at the thought of two personal effects on a desk, let alone TVs and a fussball table.

Yet, this is a fine line. I use the McLaren example, as for much of the 80s, 90s and early 2000s, McLaren were the staple of Formula One engineering, and professionalism. You could probably eat off the mechanic workbench, and efficiency was a core pillar of everything they did. This led to exceptional results for decades.

Yet today, many businesses are the opposite. Modern businesses are dynamic, relaxed, and provide more flexibility. This is often a product of circumstance and industry. Creative endeavours require a different model to cultivate effective output. And the many billion dollar tech start ups is the McLaren of the information age.

Now, back to the workforce. Will every prospective hire prove effective? Certainly not. A star of the McLaren workforce would not necessarily be anywhere near as effective when in a similar role for a Silicon Valley tech start-up. And vice versa.

Hiring, for many, takes the form of matching up a set of skills with a desired skillset. While this is always important, and is imperative in the delivery of tasks (especially when hiring senior management or leaders), strategic fit is important. This is not just when looking for those who will fit well in the break room, or the ping pong table, but rather more imperative in the delivery of your strategy and your work processes.

I should take this time to make an important distinction, and why I don’t use the term cultural. Hiring solely on the premise of cultural fit, can often lead down the wrong path. The Sydney Morning Herald ran an interest piece on the matter here as did the Harvard Business Review, but in summary, it can lead to a negative diversity implications and those lacking in the core and vital skills to engage and deliver specific tasks. Again, this is specifically to do with the nature of hiring purely on cultural fit, which is something I rarely have come across.

Skills and Strategy Approach

Let’s circle back now to what is often overlooked. First and foremost, as noted, the prerequisite skills to deliver the basic requirements of any role, or task set is key. Pivotal. When selecting a candidate the part that is overlooked, is where they fit into the strategic approach for leadership.

Leadership is a complex beast, and something where styles and methods vary from company to company. Indeed, very much so in the various brands and businesses I’ve contracted to. What is important to find is a strategy match. Whether within a team, or for leaders, having people that match the strategy you are implementing will provide the best fit.

Glancing back at the start-up and McLaren example. Someone who operates most efficiently in a quiet, clinical workspace may not be as effective in delivering results to a dynamic, flexible, or at times remote team. Alternatively, creative roles may not thrive in the Ron Dennis style of management. Both have their benefits, both have their strategy. Both, need the best strategic fit, or match, to deliver the required outcomes in each environment.

It may be the case that you have a list of candidates that all line up skill-set wise, yet one or two stand out as people with experience in similar companies with experience in the core revenue critical operations that will make or break your business. This is a match.

Similarly, someone who is a critical thinker, but has led teams that operate in a similar (and this is demonstrated and evident) way, or potentially have run teams that are where you need to be, represents a match to the overall strategy.

Leadership Positions

Leadership positions can often be the most mission critical, especially at the start-up or growth phase of any growing business. And this is where these things are most important. Finding the right candidate to create and build processes and strategy is key, but equally is communicating these and liaising them with the team.

No amount of workflow, no matter how polished, can be effectively implemented if they are not deliverable, and communicable. Businesses will adapt to candidates, and candidates will adapt to businesses, but there are often barriers and roadblocks that will slow and shift your growth.

Equally, there is often no perfect candidate. But finding the best candidate in amongst the piles of resumes and CVs may be a case of finding the best strategic fit for the mission critical components of your growth plan, in order to deliver the best and most efficient result.

No Exact Science

There’s no exact formula or science to hiring, especially with growing brands that don’t have the liberty of being able to poach staff who’s results are evident through public social/professional proof. Even then, it doesn’t always work out. But the core formula applies.

Those who are making the key decision, must fully understand the outcome and requirements of the business, and the role being scouted for. Not just through a brief, but full understanding must be had of the overall hierarchy, the tasks, responsibilities, and core outcomes beneath the surface level.

Businesses will get hiring wrong, it happens. The other side of the same coin, some of the least fancied candidates could turn out to be fantastic candidates. But the core and most important thing to understand is to look internally, at your own strategy, and not just at the many bullet point lists of candidate skills.