Hire People Who Work

I was recently on a call with a new TCG client. We are conducting discovery on how we can redesign some project management business processes and implement more robust project management tools to support their growing needs. A question about scalability came up. The foundation of the question was based on the fact that one of their partners handled most one-on-one encounters with employees and managed a flexible schedule of work-from-home and office-based employees for the company. 

Knowing that the goal of the business was to grow, we asked “how do you plan to manage the schedules and headcount of flexible employees” (moving forward). Her response was so simply and honestly stated as, “if they are not going to work in the office, they are not going to work at home”. Such a straightforward answer. Such an impact made. 

Working from home is the new norm for some people, maybe going back to work eventually or even a flexible schedule with a split of time. The determining factor in such a schedule or work environment being successful is simply: hire people who work and create an environment that helps them succeed. 

Hire people who work seems pretty straightforward, but there are many layers to it. You have to create a company culture that inspires client engagement and quality, then hire people that are going to be just as passionate as leadership about executing on that. Hire people that genuinely want to grow as individuals and within their profession, and give them the tools to achieve that. They will add much more value through this desire alone than you could get from a mandated job requirement list. Hire the people that believe in the company and its mission; they will be the best marketing your brand could imagine. Hiring the right people is quite simply the answer to so many questions companies pose. 

There could be many ‘codes of conduct for working from home’ that some companies may think differ from what expectations they have of their employees in an actual office. Other than a toddler doing their online learning in the background or having the flexibility to flip a load of laundry in between Zoom calls, the ‘code’ is very similar. Hire people who work and create an environment where those people can thrive. You will not doubt that the work is being done and in turn you will keep employees that are fulfilling much greater roles than the one that is on your company P&L.