IQ Interview: Chip Conley, CEO of Joie de Vivre Hospitality
By Bruce Powell
Chip Conley is the author of PEAK: How Great Companies get Their Mojo From Maslow, and CEO of Joie de Vivre, the second largest boutique hotelier in the world. He was recognized and selected as one of four finalists for the 2008 “Corporate Hotelier of World” award by the prestigious Hotels magazine. He was also voted the Most Innovative CEO in the Bay Area by the San Francisco Business Times and his time-tested techniques have been featured in TIME, Fast Company, Fortune, People and the Wall Street Journal.
By building his company and hotel properties with culture at the forefront, and focusing on the higher human needs of his employees and customers, Chip tripled the company’s revenues in five years, and enjoys a turnover rate one-third the industry average. We sat down with Chip to hear how he hires and retains the people that help him live out his philosophy every day.
Questions:
IQ: Do you have an overriding strategy?
CC: I have a very defined strategy when it comes to the types of people I want to work for our company. Trust, confidence, and passion - that's my hierarchy. Trust is foundational - nothing else matters if you don't trust the person. It helps to have confidence in someone if you're going to empower them. While I'm a big believer in passion and it's something that is vital for a great hire, without the two other prerequisites, passion doesn't buy you much other than a great cheerleader.
IQ: What is the most important step in your hiring process?
CC: It's all about habitat. Some people are better suited to a particular position than others, so it's like a jigsaw puzzle putting the right people in the right places. Each of us has one of three relationships with our work: it's a job, a career, or a calling. Jobs deplete you. Callings energize you. We look for people who have the potential of a calling in the position we're hiring for. We ask some unorthodox questions that help us understand the pulse of the person. What makes you passionate? What's the most likely way people mis-perceive you in the workplace? What made you angry at work recently and why?
IQ: How do you attract top talent to your company?
CC: Talent attracts talent. Some of our best new hires happen to be friends or business associates with some of our most talented employees. So, creating a great workplace in which people do their best work is a natural welcome mat to finding new talent. We also have lots of senior execs giving speeches in high profile places. And, of course, my book PEAK has been a helpful recruiting tool.
IQ: What differentiates you to prospective candidates?
CC: We've won lots of "Best Places to Work" awards. That helps open the door, but I think the biggest deal is that prospective candidates can see that we're not a very political organization...we all get along and there's no backstabbing. We also make sure that people know that we offer a one month paid sabbatical for every three years a salaried person is in the company. Now that's true "joie de vivre."
IQ: How do you retain top talent?
CC: The sabbatical helps because we're only average in our financial compensation. Approximately 20 of our execs get the right to invest in some of our hotels with the associated financial incentives associated with that. I think that our "culture of recognition" makes a big difference as people are more loyal to people than they are to a company. People join companies and they leave their boss. So, having great bosses helps.
IQ: What is the number one thing you look for in a potential employee?
CC: In most positions, I choose "capacity" over "experience" since our company's best days are almost always ahead of us and we have a great appetite for growth so we need employees who can grow with us. Additionally, we're looking for people who "play well with others" as emotional intelligence is an underrated asset in many companies, but, at the end of the day, we love or hate our work often because of the people we're surrounded by.
Chip Conley’s Top 3 Tips for Hiring and Retaining Top Talent:
- Hire for habitat - is this person naturally suited to this position and culture?
- Capacity trumps experience for most hires today as past experience may no longer be relevant depending upon your industry.
- Ask unorthodox interview questions to see how the person thinks on their feet. My favourite question is “How are you often misperceived in the workplace?”
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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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