Lesson #4: Create a High Hiring Bar
Lesson #4: Create a High Hiring Bar
“I’d rather interview 50 people and not hire anyone than hire the wrong person,” Bezos once told an Amazon.com colleague when the company was first starting up. It might not have been the company’s best use of resources, but Bezos was taking a long term perspective. “Cultures aren’t so much planned as they evolve from that early set of people,” he says. Once that culture is created, new employees either dislike it and leave or enjoy it and stay, but the culture itself doesn’t change. At Amazon, Bezos has made it one of his top priorities to create a “self-reinforcing” and “very stable” culture. That being said, Bezos stands out from his CEO counterparts in one major way: he thinks communication is “terrible”.
One day, Amazon was having an off-site retreat for its employees. Among the topics of discussion was the structure of the company and the channels of communication throughout the organization. When a general consensus among the workers was emerging that greater communication was needed within the company, Bezos stood up and proclaimed, “No, communication is terrible!” Needless to say, the announcement shocked the majority of those in attendance that day. However, it was a declaration that would go on to significantly shape the way Amazon was run.
Bezos wasn’t taking the time to hire the very best for the company so that everyone would have to check with each other before anything could get done. No, Bezos wanted a decentralized company, where small groups could innovate and pursue their visions independently of other groups. This idea led to Bezos’ “two-pizza teams”: if an entire group couldn’t be fed with just two pizzas, that group was far too large. Thus, within Amazon would be highly autonomous task forces limited to five to seven people – innovating to their hearts’ content, trying out new features, and dining on two pizzas. Because Bezos had implemented a high hiring bar, he knew he could rely on his employees to work independently and keep Amazon at the top of its game.
Underlying this strategy of a disentangled company was Bezos’ dislike of hierarchy. “For every leader in the company, not just for me, there are decisions that can be made by analysis,” he says. “These are the best kinds of decisions!” Bezos liked the idea that fact-based decisions could overrule any hierarchy within the company: “The most junior person in the company can win an argument with the most senior person with a fact-based decision.”
Bezos’ strategy of management might appear decidedly non-corporate, but by creating a high hiring bar, he was ensuring that his company would be well-equipped to handle the fluid nature with which he wanted Amazon to function.
Lesson 4 Create a High Hiring Bar
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One of the biggest factors behind the amazing success of Amazon is the people the company has behind it. From day one, Bezos has made it his priority to hire very carefully. He wanted his company to have a long shelf life, and knew that with his staff, he would be creating an enduring culture.
“I’d rather interview 50 people and not hire anyone than hire the wrong person,” Bezos once told an Amazon.com colleague when the company was first starting up. It might not have been the company’s best use of resources, but Bezos was taking a long term perspective. “Cultures aren’t so much planned as they evolve from that early set of people,” he says. Once that culture is created, new employees either dislike it and leave or enjoy it and stay, but the culture itself doesn’t change. At Amazon, Bezos has made it one of his top priorities to create a “self-reinforcing” and “very stable” culture. That being said, Bezos stands out from his CEO counterparts in one major way: he thinks communication is “terrible”.
One day, Amazon was having an off-site retreat for its employees. Among the topics of discussion was the structure of the company and the channels of communication throughout the organization. When a general consensus among the workers was emerging that greater communication was needed within the company, Bezos stood up and proclaimed, “No, communication is terrible!” Needless to say, the announcement shocked the majority of those in attendance that day. However, it was a declaration that would go on to significantly shape the way Amazon was run.
Bezos wasn’t taking the time to hire the very best for the company so that everyone would have to check with each other before anything could get done. No, Bezos wanted a decentralized company, where small groups could innovate and pursue their visions independently of other groups. This idea led to Bezos’ “two-pizza teams”: if an entire group couldn’t be fed with just two pizzas, that group was far too large. Thus, within Amazon would be highly autonomous task forces limited to five to seven people – innovating to their hearts’ content, trying out new features, and dining on two pizzas. Because Bezos had implemented a high hiring bar, he knew he could rely on his employees to work independently and keep Amazon at the top of its game.
Underlying this strategy of a disentangled company was Bezos’ dislike of hierarchy. “For every leader in the company, not just for me, there are decisions that can be made by analysis,” he says. “These are the best kinds of decisions!” Bezos liked the idea that fact-based decisions could overrule any hierarchy within the company: “The most junior person in the company can win an argument with the most senior person with a fact-based decision.”
Bezos’ strategy of management might appear decidedly non-corporate, but by creating a high hiring bar, he was ensuring that his company would be well-equipped to handle the fluid nature with which he wanted Amazon to function.
Lesson 4 Create a High Hiring Bar
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
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