VERNE COLUMN
SCALING UP
HOW A FEW COMPANIES MAKE IT ... AND WHY THE REST DON ’ T
VERNE HARNISH AND THE TEAM AT GAZELLES
ttracting and hiring “ A
Players ” at all levels of the organization is as critical as landing the right customers . Forming a company of A Players requires active participation of the marketing function in the recruiting process and the use of Topgrading methodology in the interviewing and selection process . With both those components , your company will have a huge pool of candidates from which to choose enough “ strange ” people — those who fit your differentiated strategy and culture — to scale up the business .
When Scott Nash needed a CFO for MOM ’ s Organic Market , simply asking a recruiter to scour the country for a financial whiz who knew the grocery industry wasn ’ t going to cut it . Nash founded MOM ’ s back in 1987 , when he was just 22 , as a home-delivery and mail-order company based in his mother ’ s garage in Maryland . It has a unique culture that ’ s built around the company ’ s purpose : to protect and restore the environment . Now a chain of 11 stores with 700 employees , MOM ’ s has the capacity to walk away from potential sales and stick to its core commitment . For instance , it bans the sale of plastic water bottles in its stores . So when MOM ’ s needed to hire a CFO , the challenge was recruiting a top-notch person willing to embrace the company ’ s purpose while navigating the financial trade-offs required to “ live ” it .
14 | MSP SUCCESS • VOLUME 1
THE BEST HIRES
Good managers play checkers while great managers play chess , according to researchers Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman , authors of “ First , Break All the Rules : What the World ’ s Greatest Managers Do Differently .” In checkers , all the pieces move in the same way , whereas in chess , the pieces move differently , allowing you to develop unique strategies to win .
In scaling up the people side of your business , it ’ s crucial that you start playing chess sooner rather than later . Think of “ The A-Team ” of action television fame — a ragtag group of renegades bringing their individual and unique talents ,