For over 20 years Cameron has been coaching, speaking to, or helping entrepreneurs on 5 continents build their companies. He started BackPocket COO to be able to coach & mentor young, fun entrepreneurial companies and help make their dreams happen.

We sat down with Cameron to hear what he feels are the biggest factors in building winning teams that will achieve success for a business. Cameron also shares his Top 3 Tips for Hiring and Retaining Top Talent here.

Questions:

IQ: Do you have an overriding people strategy?

CH: Absolutely – having a strategy with regard to your people is a must. My strategy has always been to determine what the corporate culture is going to be like or what you want it to be, and then find people that fit that vision. You need to dream about what you want a few years out and build that instead of just adding to what you already have.

I’ve always thought it’s important to have people who have demonstrated cultural fit and strong leadership abilities in every role. I love seeing an A/P Clerk who will challenge the VP of Marketing – it’s a sign that we’ve hired the right type of person. Personally, I always look for people that I like hanging out with and enjoy being around as well. If I wouldn’t want to have someone over for dinner, then why would I want to work with them?

Cultural fit and leadership are actually what I look for first, and skill set is second. If someone doesn’t fit the corporate culture then I don’t even bother determining if they can do the job or not because it’s irrelevant to me at that point.

IQ: What does the hiring process you advocate look like?

CH: I’m a huge advocate of group interviews. They allow you to see personality traits that you might not be exposed to in a one-on-one interview – specifically traits around leadership and cultural fit.

Typically, group interviews are conducted with one interviewer and eight candidates. We’ll ask an easy ice breaker question around personal interests or something light to start things off, and then get into it. Ironically, often the answers to the fun ice breaker question will eliminate a candidate or two for us if the answers are way off base.

Each candidate answers the same questions, however we make a point of switching up the order, ensuring everyone goes first, last, etc. We try and throw some curveballs as well to see how people handle certain situations. We might cut someone off prematurely for instance to see how they handle it and what their reaction is. Not all candidates want to participate in a group interview setting, but the people we’re seeking thrive in those environments – so the group interview process is a screening tool in and of itself.

From the group interviews, we can then pick out the best two or three and move onto the second round of interviewing where we conduct much longer one-on-one interviews. It’s at this stage that we’re evaluating their skills and competencies – whether they’d be able to succeed in the role.

IQ: What’s The Most Important Step in Your Hiring Process?

CH: The most important step in the interview process to me is ensuring that there is a scorecard in place to measure candidates against. The scorecard should be a depiction of the role 2 years out, and what the key performance indicators will be for a person who is successful in the role. During the hiring process, candidates need to be measured and compared against that scorecard.

A scorecard is so important because you need to have clarity around what you’re hiring for and consistency when measuring candidates against each other. A formal scorecard allows you to do both, and compare candidates subjectively once the actual interviews are finished.

IQ: What has been the biggest challenge you’ve encountered with hiring?

CH: When working with high-growth companies, sometimes periods of hyper-growth will occur. The biggest challenge for me has come when we have needed to hire a high volume of people at once, yet still stick to the process that we’ve implemented. In situations like that you’re tempted to rush or take short cuts. The challenge is to move fast and not sacrifice quality and due diligence in the selection process which will only hurt you in the end.

IQ: What do you advise as the best way to attract top talent?

CH: The best way in my opinion is to make your company a “cultural magnet” – an environment and attitude that will draw top performers to you. Most top employers have very deliberate corporate cultures – where everything about them is crafted around a defined vision and are designed to attract a specific type of person.

The goal is then to tell your story as much as you can and be recognized for the unique culture you’ve created. The best way to do this is through getting PR opportunities for your company, winning awards, and doing whatever you can do generate exposure for the company - specifically around the culture and the employer brand.

IQ: What do you advise as the best way to retain top talent?

CH: Once you have your top performers, in order to retain them you need to find a way to ”handcuff” these A-players to your company for 10 years – after that they’ll be so ingrained in the company that they’ll be far less likely to leave. By handcuff, I mean you have to continue to give them what they need to stay. Determining the things that will cause a person to stay however is the hard part.

Everyone is different and certain things are more important to some people than others. You need to find what people’s personal motivators are on an individual basis. Some people might want more responsibility; others may want a more senior title. In some cases you’ll have to get creative to be able to give people what they need to stay, but true top talent will almost always reward you for accommodating and showing faith in them.

The one constant though is that it is rarely ever all about money for top talent. I’ve yet to have a case with a top performer where money was the motivating factor that was going to make them stay.

Cameron Herold’s Top 3 Tips for Hiring and Retaining Top Talent:

1. Ensure you have a very clear vision of what you’re building for your company – this alone will help to attract the right people and repel the people who don’t fit that vision.


2. Hire great cultural leaders who truly support the company vision and what you stand for – their attitude and approach will be contagious to others.


3. Everyone lies in interviews – dig, dig, and dig more throughout the interview process to find the truth and get proof of what they’re telling you.

- Bruce Powell, Managing Partner, established IQ PARTNERS as a leading recruitment firm to help entrepreneurial companies hire better, hire less, and retain more.
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