One piece of log creates a small fire, adequate to warm you up, add just a few more pieces to blast an immense”1. These lines truly capture the power of a close-knit top team. While alignment is needed for any organization, it is much more crucial when you are a part of an entrepreneurial venture. It is like being in a rowing competition where your success depends on each paddle working at its best. We at PeopleStrong have been fortunate in this aspect. With a 9-member executive team, who have been part of the company since its inception and a 50-member team of function heads who practically run the company; we have a group which co-creates success stories for the company. In a world where talent keeps hopping from one company to the other, it is a herculean task and it is difficult to create a playbook which could work for everyone. But here are the three levels of alignment that worked for us:
Alignment of the purpose: When you are creating your team of leaders, it’s important to start right. It is important that the person being hired is not only aligned to the company’s goals but also to its culture and values. Though it is difficult to get a perfect match every time, there are some models which help you achieve significant levels of accuracy. We at PeopleStrong have used HOGAN so that we not only know the skills and capabilities of a person, but also his/her personality. Along with this, each and every member of the team undergoes a personal goal sheet exercise, which helps in understanding their personal and professional goals, which results in alignment. And everyone involved in the recruitment process is trained on these models. We started this process sometime back and our attrition has always been in single digits and has dropped considerably in the last 3-4 years. The company too has been growing at CAGR of 60% in the last 10 years.
Alignment of thoughts and speech: Once you have the right team, it is important to keep them aligned to the company’s vision and mission. And the only way to do that is through communication. When it comes to communicating with your leadership team, it is advisable to always err on the higher side. We have rigorously followed this rule. Be it weekly meetings, monthly open-house or biannual off-sites; we make sure that our leaders know everything about the direction the company is taking and are part of the journey. It has worked for us and in the past decade of our existence, we have had 20 off-sites personally crafted by the executive team along with the HR team. This had been a hallmark of our journey. Along with this, the leadership team distributed across geographies is connected digitally. It is this level of ‘connect’ that has helped us in implementing deep level of democracy in our decision-making without compromising the speed of decision making.
Alignment of actions: A common leadership issue prominent in most organizations is that most leaders are not performing the roles they are supposed to perform. While in some cases it is a capability issue, in most cases it is the fault in a company’s decision structures which leads to this inefficiency. Since there is no clear demarcation of responsibilities and decision making, leaders are not empowered to take their decisions, resulting in unnecessary delays, which impact organizational performance. We solved this problem by implementing models like systems thinking and devolution of power. Now across levels, decision making is defined with necessary levels of ring-fencing to support the leaders. Another thing that has helped us is Wealth Sharing and ESOPs. Currently, a little less than 1/4th of the equity is shared with the leadership team. This has helped in increasing the level of ownership and has definitely helped in creating the most valued HR company in India.
It is the level of ‘connect’ that helps in implementing deep level of democracy in decision-making without compromising the speed with which decisions are made
Warren Bennis, in one of his books, stated that “managing leaders is like herding cats”. They, of course, won’t be herded, and we don’t claim to have done that either. But so far we have been able to keep them together. Though these steps are not all inclusive and different organizations may have some other situations, there is no doubt that these steps can make a good start.
1Quote by Master Jin Kwon
