I'm your host, Amy Dardis. And in today's episode, we are diving into one of the most important processes, if not the most important process to a business, and that is hiring. Yes, the importance of hiring not only people, but hiring the right people and what that actually means and why hiring is so important. So this is something that you know most businesses do if they have employees, then hiring is a natural part of the business. And if you read any business books, you know, something like traction or good to create or the advantage or start with why these books, these books that talk about business principles and what makes a business healthy, thriving, great, they all talk about people and having the right people in the right seats. And so that's this, I think, commonly accepted just principle that having the right people on board is important. But when I was working with businesses and even doing this as an employee and hiring people to join our organization, I became obsessed really with, okay, if people are so important, how do we actually make sure that we're hiring the right people? Like what does the process actually look like? And can we control it? Is there something we can do to make sure we're making better decisions, better hiring choices, bringing the right people on board? And how do you even define what right is? And that launched this brand. It launched this passion of mine because I we spend so much time of our life at work, and all of us are uniquely designed, uniquely wired, uniquely shaped. And most of us work at some point in our life. And I had too many experiences of being in the wrong roles with the wrong organizations and really just not enjoying my time or my life. And also getting to experience the opposite of that, where I got to do work that I really cared about with people that I really enjoyed being around and doing work that I was naturally wired to do and seeing the difference that that made in my life, seeing the difference that that made in my business, and then wanting that for everyone, wanting every business to get to experience that, wanting every individual to get to experience that because life is too short to spend it at work that you don't enjoy doing, around people that you don't want to be around. And I don't think we should settle for that as individuals or as employers. I think it only hurts the business and hurts the people in the long run. And I've seen that over and over again. And so I was like, what about a process? Like, what about the nature of hiring or the clarity we have around hiring or the questions that we have around hiring can really help us better determine who's gonna fit. So this is going to launch just a bunch of upcoming episodes and topics because there is so much to this. It's also one of my favorite topics to talk about. And I don't want to cram it all into one episode. So we are today just kind of diving into the mindset of hiring, like just why is it important, what's really happening, and how do we even define like the right person? So I have come to learn and truly believe after witnessing it firsthand, that in any business, people are the greatest asset. Like people are the heart of the business, people are what make a business run, and they affect every aspect of the business. So from our sales process to our marketing process to our operations process, customer fulfillment process, admin process, like people are the ones running a lot of those those processes. And even though AI is growing and even though technology is advancing and there are more and more things we can automate, it still comes down to people and the relationships between them. It comes down to people deciding what technology we use or why we use that technology, people still interacting with customers, still providing that customer experience, people still building out processes that help streamline sales experiences, even just you as the owner making the decisions on what do we do on our messaging and what's the kind of experience we're gonna provide. And then how do we make sure we're actually providing that experience? And when threats are outside of our control or coming, like how do we counteract that? How do we adapt? How do we innovate? And I believe that all comes from the brilliance and the skill sets and the unique wiring of people. And a lot of the businesses I work with are service-based businesses, like contractors, landscapers, roofers, plumbing, property management, like types of businesses that really do require people to show up and do the work. And so having the right person that you can invest in that's gonna show up and do that good quality work, who's going to offer that experience, have that good relationship and rapport with the customer, and they affect your brand reputation. They affect whether or not you are able to get sales in the future, you know. And I've seen people be a bottleneck for growth because maybe we have a lot of demand for the actual service, but we can't meet that demand because we don't have enough people or enough of the right people, or we have turnover problems, retention issues that are affecting our ability to grow our business. So the more we can determine and consistently kind of provide the right people and the right service, the more we can grow our business to meet that demand. And so being able to confidently and consistently hire the best people really does end up paying off in so many ways. And so I think the first thing we have to define is who is the right person for your business and who is the wrong person for your business. So instead of saying they're a good employee or a bad employee, I want to avoid using that terminology. It's more like who is the right fit for your specific organization and who is the wrong fit for your specific organization. And this comes down to alignment, and you are going to have alignment in three areas culture, capacity, and contribution. And you're only going to know who aligns in those areas if you first take the time to clearly define those standards first of what your business needs, of what your business values. And so if you refer back to episodes 12 through 18, I did a whole series on creating alignment with your people. And I dive into all of this specifically. So I'm not gonna go into all of that detail here, but the high level is on culture alignment. We have to define what are our core values, what do we value as an organization, how do those values determine how we behave, how we make our decisions? We have to define the winning personality traits of the people who thrive in our organization, like what are their character traits, personality traits of the people who do the best working within our environment, which is the third thing we have to define, which is our work style. So, what kind of work style do we have? What's the pace? What's the communication style? What is the structure? What is the environment that drives how we do business? And the fourth thing we have to determine is what are our non-negotiables? So, what are the things that basically violate what we value? What are the opposites? And by calling that out, that helps us to be more aware and more in tune with the things that we need to stay away from. And so you as the leader, you as your leadership team, as your company, you have to, you do have to take that time to sit down and define those things, like actually write them out. If you go to Clarauthenticbrands.com slash resources, there is a download there called brand clarity elements. Those are all of the elements that you need to have defined in order to have the level of clarity to drive alignment within your business. Like without all of these elements clearly defined, you will not be able to drive alignment across your people, your processes, and your messaging. And we have to have that in place. That is the foundational piece of the Clear Authentic Brand Framework, which is clarity, then alignment, and then accountability. And we can't do anything without clarity. So align or sorry, define those things for your business first and be very clear about who it is that you're looking for, not just the types of people, not just the skill sets that you're looking for, which is what happens with most businesses. So a lot of us start our business. We we start it because it's we're passionate about something and we're good at something. We see a need in the marketplace, and so we go after it. We often it's just us starting it out, but then we grow and we need to bring people on board. And there's not a lot of information out there on how do you interview? How do you determine who to hire? What is a good process look like? And that for me has been the object of, I think, of my passion is really being able to define that and help businesses with this, is like, how do we actually structure a good interview process so that we are bringing the right people on board, not only for your benefit, but for their benefit as well. So the three areas they need to align in are that culture, which we kind of talked about, the capacity, which is their innate wiring, their gifts, like how God actually created them, the way their brain works, their propensity to learn or process information, their ability to connect with others. It's this uniqueness, like this just brilliance of God and how he designs and creates us. That when you put somebody in a role that directly is in line with their unique gifting, it's just it's incredible. It's amazing what happens when people are working and developing their natural strengths and not being stuck in a role that creates friction with that. And then obviously having that contribution piece, which that comes only when culture and capacity are aligned first, and that's their ability to really contribute so much value to your organization beyond just like doing the role. You know, it's the very intersection of your lives and how their time in your business, you know, helps you blow past goals and innovate and create and connect in ways that you never would have been able to without that person's direct contribution. And then their ability to grow and feel valued and appreciated as an individual for their contribution and the way that them working for you adds value to their life as they spend their weeks and their months and their years working for you and how that impacts their life in what is hopefully a very positive and life-giving way. So that is what finding the right person is. And anyone who is outside of that is the wrong person for your organization at this season in time. It doesn't mean that they don't have great gifts. It doesn't mean that they're, you know, not immensely talented and meant for greatness. It just means that the with the way they're wired, with the way they operate, with the things that they value in their life, where they're at in this season of their life, it does not align with what your business needs, with what your business values, with the way that your business operates. It would create too much friction. And then that friction is what leads to tension, drama, disengagement. And we'll dive into all of these things. Like I said, there's just too much to put into one episode. You know, there's so many different dimensions to this. But just understanding that we have to find the right people, and waiting for the right person is so worth it because when you hire the right person, when you're willing to hold out for the best individual, you're adding valuable skill sets to your organization. Like not just someone to do the job, but someone who actually is like adding value to your the pot that you could not add on your own. Like they really are adding something more to the mix that is changing the value of your actual organization. And this is has to be within their inherent strengths, within their natural abilities and skill sets. This is not just someone that we can teach to do a job and to do it pretty well. Like we really are looking for people who excel within these areas. And by excelling, they're really gonna thrive within their work. And because of that, that is going to change your organization. It's gonna help you blow past your goals, meet your goals, set new goals, be able to innovate and adapt in ways that without them you wouldn't have been able to by adding the right people. You're also adding people who are fitting within your culture. And then because of that, you're fostering and facilitating a team, you're fostering and facilitating people who have shared values, shared common ground, but at the same time also fresh perspective. And because there's these shared values, because you're creating dynamics of safety and trust, you're able to build these great teams that challenge each other to be better, but at the same time, they still care about each other, they still respect each other, they bring out the best in each other. They're not, they're not too domineering or they're not afraid to speak up. There is how your team works together is a huge contributing factor to the overall success of your business. And so when we talk about something like culture, I don't mean something that's like fluffy or vague. I mean the very way that your team interacts together. The the relationships and the dynamics that exist that determine how people show up at work every day, how they work with each other, and what kind of greatness they're able to pull out of each other. Because if they're not pulling greatness out, then they're keeping greatness in because you're always gonna be pulling something out, and it's either going to be all of the good things, you know, like creativity and connection and trust and relationship and laughter and positivity, or it's gonna be the bad things like anger, bitterness, distrust, drama, gossip, toxicity. It's like you have a group of individuals. And regardless of what you want, it's like they will all engage with each other in a certain way and how they engage, how they think about each other, how they trust each other, how they talk to each other, it 100% affects your business, your customer experience, the dynamic of the workday, all of it. And so when we have people who fit our culture, or at least people who are gonna thrive within the context of the people who already work in our environment, then that's when we're gonna have like all of this added benefit of how everybody works together. And then the impact and engagement that that brings to your organization as a whole, and then the value that it adds to the Them as individuals. Because your culture is basically just the sum of the behaviors that you allow. Like that's what it is. Like you have culture, whether you think that you do or not, whether you are intentional about it or not. And by being very clear and very intentional about who you hire as far as like personality goes, characteristics go, motivations, backgrounds, skill sets, like hiring the whole person, not just a resume, not just somebody that has experience doing this work before, not just somebody that you're just going to give a chance. You know, it's like you are being intentional about the team and the dynamic and the relationships of the people that you're bringing together and how that's going to operate. And in turn, like that's building up a positive culture. That's building up strong team dynamics and safety. And obviously, there are things that we do as leaders and owners to continue to foster and facilitate that. That is super important. But it all starts with your hiring process. Like this all happens during the recruiting, interviewing, hiring process because this is the process you go through to determine who walks through those doors. Who are you investing your time, energy, money, resources into? Who are you allowing to have an impact on your business? Who are you allowing to have an impact on your employees? Like this process is so important because when we get this right, the benefits are just they're tenfold. Like, I think getting your hiring process right is like the most important process you could get right. Because once you have the right team of people on board, they will help you tackle every other obstacle. They will help you tackle every other threat, every other new innovation, every other new process you want to implement, like every other difficult customer, every competitor, like when you have the right people on your team, you really do become unstoppable. But making sure you actually get the right team of people on board is really where this all comes into play. This is really the the meat of what we'll dive into over the well over the throughout this whole podcast, really, just because this is what it comes down to is people, purpose, and process, right? Like the purpose of our business, of the calling that we have on our life, the calling that individuals have on their life, you know, how God orchestrates the time and the skill sets and the paths that we cross, people as individuals of like how we're actually wired, the skill sets we have, the experiences we have, the things that have shaped us, the perspectives that we have, and how that adds value to the roles that we're in. And then the process. So, like the process of actually bringing all of those things together and making sure that the people we bring on board, like we have what's the process of us having clarity around that? What's the process of making sure we're messaging correctly? What's the process of making sure we're asking the right questions, that we're evaluating objectively and consistently, that we're onboarding the right way, that we're following through on what we say, that they're following through on what they say, and that we're running an organization that is clear, it's authentic, it's accountable, it's consistent. And that's what ends up breeding trust and loyalty with everybody, with our customers, with our employees, just with ourselves as leaders, you know, like this is what it all comes down to is people, purpose, and process. So having this mindset of hiring, right, even the way we think about it, even the way we think about the importance of this process, I think a lot of us are just kind of predetermined to think of it as, oh, I have a sales position and I need to fill a sales position instead of realizing, like, okay, I have an opening on my team, like with real people who have real lives and real, you know, experiences and senses of humor and personalities that I deal with every day and that they deal with every day with each other. How do I build the best team? How do I add someone who's really going to thrive in this environment, thrive in this role, and thrive with these people? Cause when we can change our mindset around that, it's going to change the way that we structure this process. It's going to change the types of questions that we ask. It's going to change the pace at which we do this. And most people are just trying to like rush through it and just, okay, I talked to you for 30 minutes. Yeah, you seem like you can do the job. Let me just like, you know, stick you in there, give you a chance and see how that works out. And then, you know, six months down the road, a year down the road, maybe not even that long, like you're dealing with blowback from that. You're dealing with consequences from that. And that's creating more drama. And we'll dive into this either in the next episode or the episode after that. But so I don't want to spend too much time here. But when we realize, okay, wow, what can I do up front now in this process that's going to save me so much time, energy, money, headaches, drama down the road, as well as positively impact my business and the lives of the people who already work for me, who it's going to positively impact our ability to grow and provide a great experience. So over the next few episodes, we're going to be diving into all of these different elements and dynamics, but just understanding, like, even looking at your business right now and your team and your people and your hiring process, you know, it's like, do you have a process? Is it structured? Is it intentional? Is it something that you're just like winging it every time it happens? You're just kind of like hoping for the best, or maybe dealing with turnover or disengagement or poor performance. Like maybe that's something that you're like, wow, this is like my life right now, and I don't know how to get out of it because, you know, people just don't want to work, or I can't attract the right people. I can't pay them enough. You know, there's there's good news for you. Like, this is totally fixable. It's something that you absolutely have control over, but it's gonna start with the way that we even think about hiring, the way that we think about our team, and just recognizing how much leverage we have in the hiring process, how much power and influence we have in the hiring process. And it is going to start with you. It absolutely has to start with your own brands, your own clarity around that. Uh, if you want help with that, you can learn about that process at Clearauthenticbrands.com. But start by checking out that resources page that that download just to see where do you fall? Like, do you have the clarity you need? Because if you don't, that's where you have to start before you get into job posting templates or messaging or candidate evaluations or interview process. It all has to start with clarity. Clarity is the foundation to everything that we do in business, which is why we always start there. So check out those resources at ClearAuthentic Brands.com slash resources. That is all for this episode. See you in the next one.