Once you are clear on the impact you are going to make in the world with your business, and you are clear on your long-term goal and your identity as a business, and you have defined your cultural values and have all your leadership fully engaged in this, you can then apply this to your hiring strategy.
It makes it much more likely that you will hire people with the right capabilities to deliver and provide the belief and the right environment for them to thrive in.
There are many factors at play here, both visible and invisible, which will dictate the outcome you achieve.
Culture is like an iceberg
In 1976, Edward T Hall developed the "iceberg" model of culture, and explained that organisational culture is like an iceberg.
What you see is just the tip of the iceberg (environment, capabilities). Underneath lies an enormous invisible mass, which holds everything together strongly.
The iceberg model of culture can be used as a standard to assess if your organisation’s collective cultural values align with your set goals and standards for effective growth.
Organisational culture is the character set of beliefs and values that drive what people do and how they do it, what defines the type of employee behaviour that is accepted, rejected, encouraged or discouraged within the organisation. This is imperative to the successful growth of your business.
I urge you to get all of this right before embarking on your growth and hiring strategy. It is best implemented from ground zero, but of course it is never too late to make sure you have got this right.
The assessment of these key areas should always be part of your board or leadership meetings to keep the focus and engagement strong across the business.
Creating a hiring strategy
Once you are clear on your organisational culture you can create your hiring strategy.
Please do ensure that your culture and your hiring strategies are inclusive ones. In achieving this you have access to the full range of talent for your hires rather than restricting yourself to a smaller section of the population.
The positive impact this has on your business has been proven many times over in studies (Deloittes, Forbes, McKinsey and many more have plenty of reported studies).
Ensure you are achieving equity and inclusion across your business and that your leader's and company's internal and external communications are consistently displaying your company values.
Ask yourself whether you want to be known for your service. Do you want your clients to feel valued? Have a think about how important it is that those delivering that service feel that they are looked after and valued.
One of the first steps in developing a hiring strategy for growth is identifying the specific roles, skill sets and capabilities needed to support your expansion.
