The Jungle cruise: Would you board a crazy ride (Company)?

On this rainy afternoon, I decided to talk about a harsh truth.

Companies are not perfect.

No matter how hard the employer branding works at its core, perfection in a company is a journey, not per se the destination.

So, I want to dedicate this post to all those leaders that are profoundly worried about how to attract and hire extraordinary talent (Well, I mean, the right talent) when their companies are not attractive at all in terms of their Company Culture.

And for all those who think, “Oh no! We do not even have a company culture!” the reality, is yes, you do have one.

Company culture simply explained is the: Way we do things here.

Then, of course you have a company culture, your company’s way.

Keep in mind: As the lion, is the king of the jungle. Well, here, “Honesty” is the king of the ride.

And by the way, let’s do an acid test:

If your company culture is…mmmmhh. Let’s say, it is awful. It is highly probably that has operational challenges. Then here are some questions to dig more:

• Do you really need to hire someone?
• How have you survived on the river without this person on your cruise (company)?
• Is that person the one who pretty much can get this cruise to a safe port?
• Why are your honest motivations to hire someone? (Here what you want to avoid is getting desperate, example: Some leaders would say, I need to bring sales, then I need a salesperson). And this is not always the right action to take.
• Have you explored other alternatives to assign these tasks? (For example: technology, partnerships, etc.).
• Ok, you hire someone, are you really ready to have them on board? And I ask this, because when the company situation is really chaotic, bring someone new to the chaos, can be extremely challenging.

Remember, here on this journey, you are the leader. These answers can change the story of this ride (your company ride), so, then, you need to be super honest with you.

And of course, if you passed all these questions and still you decide to look for someone to hire then, Let’s do it.

Here are my 4 pieces of advice that can get you closer to successfully achieving the goal to hire the right talent without dying across the river:

1.- Be honest with the NOW dimension.

How bad is going to be the ride in the Jungle cruise?

And I mean it, (At this point literally, I am picturing, Amazonas River, JLO fighting and the anaconda giant there!) Can you picture it?

Here the opportunity is to:

• Present the current state of the company and the challenges to face, in a way that it allows you to identify if the candidate you are considering has the right skills to overcome the challenges. And at the same time, if you picture that person on your cruise a part of your crew.
• Talk openly about the type of Company Culture you have (at least by now). How do you do the things. What tools you have (if any), opportunities, immediate goals, etc. Here you have my permission to burn any job description that you might have (if any) because what you need to say and put your attention on, I bet is not written there.
• For real, the big opportunity is to focus on the most honest scenario you can present.

Caution:

Be careful not to exaggerate the situation and do not take too much time from the interview doing too much talking. Remember you are choosing your crew to face the scary monsters of the river.

Some things to inspire you regarding why honesty is super important:

On my more than 25 years in the HR World I have seen that employees deeply appreciate honesty and consider it almost as precious asset, what they cannot forget and forgive are the lies or disappointments based on false promises. Kind of Maria del Sol song: “No prometas lo que no será,” “Don’t promise me what never will happen” Ay, what a song!

So, a good lesson here to learn is to not mess with the heart of an employee.

You want to gain their heart and, yes honesty, can be the key to open the treasure.

The other good reason to being honest is because:

Anticipation is Preparation.

An example of this, could be:

When a leader, coach, HR, etc. says something like “this probably could be difficult to hear and is even difficult for me to say it, but I want that you know that ….”

And then usually the bad news, or feedback, or yes, BOMB! is delivered, ha.

But at least it was not totally unexpected and then, the preparation plays a significant role to have a positive outcome.

Because this is the thing, people, generally speaking, do not deal good with uncertainty.

But when we have some level of certainty and trust, the chances of success in the relationship and commitment increase because, additional to our (Ego) if someone has the talent, and possibilities to help someone that really is needing to receive the help, then the invitation to the crazy ride, sounds exciting and achievable! And a win win! Because they see the ride as an opportunity for growth.

And this is what you want to have, because this feeling with the right talent, could be what you really need and can be a tremendous bomb for surprises, exciting ride and yes, the turnaround you really want.

2.- Be super realistic on what would be the goals to achieve and of course be ready to pay for the talent of your crew.

When I ask if you are certain about hiring someone? It is because, for real, every person on your payroll is a high responsibility. So, you need to make sure, you can afford the challenges for the ride and at the same time, the person is the right one, that will succeed on the ride, remember you do not want to bring any fatal casualties to this crazy ride.

Important note: Of course, you never will be 100% sure of doing the right hire. Nothing is written in stone, reality, is, the chances of being successful on your hiring decision increases, and that is the goal.

Here like as The Spice Girls song, what do you really, really want?

Here the opportunity is:

• Be precise with the scope of the role and the immediate goals.
• As the analogy of a cruise, this is a ride, a journey, with different stops across the jungle, so then, you need to be able to map the adventure with challenges, opportunities, tools, enemies to face and of course the potentials treasure to find. (And yes, you are right, here I am thinking exactly kind of an Indiana Jones mission, crossing across the river and the Amazonas to find a treasure).

Every person on your crew is an investment.

And as all investments, they require attention. A lot! I will say!

Caution:

Some ugly mistakes that I have seen, is that leaders hire by potential and not by capabilities to perform.

And when the river is challenging, you need to make sure your crew is ready to navigate the river, you really do not have time to train them in how to save their lives.

So, if you cannot afford to hire the right talent, for real, please do not hire someone now until you are ready and meantime, look for other alternatives. (Technology, collaborations, partnerships, etc.).

A good lesson to learn here:

Is never hire someone for desperation. Be resourceful and unless you are super ready. Yes, go for it!

3.- Assess your skills and your crew in the most real scenario.

Here the opportunities are:

• Put your sincere and committed effort into preparing the questions and situations to present to the candidate that you are considering.
• Please do not over trust your skills or feeling to interview someone. Your preparation is key, your attention, the time you dedicate to the interviews. Please be super present with mind and heart on the process.
• Prepare yourself to assess skills. Interviewing is not enough. I encourage you to do a business case and build a strong process providing you with the opportunity to see the candidate in action. (Remember you are going to be across the river, permission granted to picture piranhas and all kind of monsters, Lol).

Caution:

Some leaders will say. I do not have time for interviews or preparation.

So, if this is you.

Then, please stop, you are not ready to hire someone and dedicate quality time for their best.

This can be your big red alert, that if you are struggling with the interviewing process. Then, what would happen when you on board your crew?

Remember, the investment and commitment with the hiring process is so crucial that can be the factor of success to get safe to the port.

4.- Be committed to improve and change for the best.

Change is not easy, to acknowledge that a company culture is not going well. It is tough.

However, honesty and acknowledgement are the first steps for improvement.

So, for all leaders out there please don’t do the Fixer Upper Operation, trying to paint the cruise or to do crazy marketing campaigns to sell a perfect work environment and culture. These overtimes do not work.

Remember, the lesson, if you mess with the expectations of an employee that can be fatal, this can cause serious fatal loses.

If your company is awful, is struggling with it, just say it!

Important note:

No shame – You can use one of my favorite phrases: “It is what it is, at least by now.”

And explain why, and what realistically you are doing to change this.

Also, please note that this is not the thing where you acknowledge, and problem solved.

It is most, like you acknowledge, and you are committed to work towards improvement, but this is highly probably will take a while.

Rome wasn’t built in a day.

Companies culture neither.

But is the start of the commitment.

And of course, if you are not doing anything, zerooooo intent or possibilities for improvement. Then please do not say you are improving.

Always keep the honesty.

In fact, kind of want to change the title of this blog, ha. But instead, I want to invite you to picture that this is going to be your flag.

Now, you can picture a big H for Honesty, flying proud on your cruise boat.

This will provide you with:

The tranquility to say, I did not fail you.

I told you the truth, our real situation.

Then, when you have a candidate in front of you for consideration you will feel confident to ask:

Would you want to join our crazy jungle cruise?

And I can tell you for sure. Honesty in the equation of a successful company culture is absolutely, the king!

Also, for your tranquility and excitement we are experiencing a hot market, out there is talent looking for opportunities, you just need to be super honest with you and at the same time, you need to commit that after achieving the immediate goals or even earlier, you will do your best to create a better company culture.

Because this is the thing, can you picture Jack Sparrow recruiting his crew for each adventure to face? Nooo, I don’t. I think he did recruit and hiring once or maybe a few times, but his crew is super sold and passionate about the crazy rides they face.

And that is the goal, to be able to have people - talent on board that are capable, passionate and committed with the ride, even if is crazy, why? Because they honestly know how was going to be like but also, they know the possibilities and treasures ahead.

So, come on. I invite you to fully embrace your power of being an honest leader and company.

Honesty is your treasure.

Believe me, this will tremendously increase the chances that you or us (HR Teams, Executive Search Firms) on your behalf find the right talent your cruise needs.

As always, let me know your comments, questions, stories of success and of course if you are looking to find a crazy HR consulting Firm passionate of crazy jungle rides, yes! Here we are, ready for the adventure!

For your success,

Ivonne Feizy