Running a Mission-Driven Business? What HR Professionals Need to Know

Many business leaders emphasize the importance of running a value-driven company, and for good reason. A culture centered around core values that align with a business’ mission statement can unify and engage employees, attract top talent, encourage innovation, strengthen resilience, and improve customer relationships.

Mission-driven work is necessary for Gen-Z and millennials, who will be the largest pool of workers in the coming decades. People are no longer interested in working only to make money; they want to engage in passionate, purposeful work.

So, the question for mission-driven organizations is this: How do you hire the right people for your company? Over the last several decades of running Participate Learning, I’ve hired hundreds and hundreds of people, and have learned the importance of hiring well to build a successful, purpose-driven organization. Everyone needs to be on board with what you are doing and able to move the mission forward skillfully.

Build Your Culture from Day One

Before you can begin hiring, establish the values at the root of your organization. Without these, you have no reference for who to hire to uphold those values. Ultimately, these values align your company and employees to give them a sense of purpose and encourage engagement.

Your core values should avoid being generic yet remain consistent and memorable. You likely already have a mission statement, but if you’re trying to improve upon it, look to the people currently working for you. What are their values? What drives them to stay dedicated to the work? The people who have stayed committed to your company can help ingrain values into your culture.

If you’re unsure how to determine those values, consider a strategic planning exercise in which everyone writes down what they consider to be the organization’s cultural values. From there, organize the values to find overlap. This exercise can either help you reinforce or reevaluate your core values.

Hire to Align on Core Values

The organizational mission is likely the first thing a potential hire connects with, and if you hire properly, the rest often falls into place. After all, it’s much easier to teach someone the technical skills of a position than to teach them to align with your organization’s values.

It’s easy for potential hires to visit your website, find your core values, and prepare to speak at length about how those values exist in their lives. It’s more challenging—and revealing—to put those values to the test.

Interview with Scenarios

During the interview process, put interviewees in scenarios in which their behaviors reflect (or don’t reflect) your core values. If they can demonstrate the values in their answers rather than simply listing them off, you can gain insight into whether they will fit into your culture and mission. I’ve learned that the core values I look for through attitudes, skills, and knowledge—such as empathy, communication, curiosity, flexibility, and openness to feedback—aren’t simply nice-to-have qualities; they contribute to the success of our organization.

Look for Self-Starters

Although hiring based on values is important for any level, it’s particularly important for management-level employees. Hiring poorly at this level can have a ripple effect, with those managers going on to hire other poor performers. At this point, you’re not just fixing the management problem—you’re fixing an entire department. To avoid this, I look to hire self-starters and people with initiative. They might need direction from time to time, but they don’t need constant oversight.

Involve the Right People

Hiring properly also means involving the right people on your side. In addition to the hiring manager, it’s important to include those close to the potential hire’s work in the interview process. A team leader can help identify if they would be an appropriate fit.

Retain Workers Through Trust, Policies, and Development

To not only retain people but also keep them motivated and highly satisfied, continually reinforce your company’s mission and how their work is driving it forward. Remember that a key motivator at a mission-driven organization is the work itself. If your people feel like they’re simply checking a box, it’s unlikely they will be able to put their best foot forward.

Establish Trust to Connect 

Without trust between leadership and employees, there is no connection. Every new hire needs to have a chance to meet with leadership to see that their leaders are accessible and care about their contributions to the organization. A great Steve Jobs quote applies here: “It doesn’t make sense to hire smart people and then tell them what to do; we hire smart people so they can tell us what to do.” You aim to hire smart people, so listen to their ideas.

Solicit Employee Feedback

Soliciting feedback from employees provides another opportunity to build trust. It also helps uncover blind spots in processes and improve satisfaction. At our organization, we have cultivated a culture of feedback across our teams. Our executive team—trained in conducting crucial conversations—leads this effort. We regularly solicit employee feedback via surveys and host annual meetings for various activities and discussions on organizational successes and failures.

Invest in Your Employees

Your employees invest their time, energy, and skills into your organization, and you should do the same for them. Beyond basic benefits, consider what else your organization can do to improve employee well-being.

At Participate Learning, we’ve found that family crisis leave, tuition assistance, and unlimited sick days have positively impacted our employees. And when you invest in them in this way, they’re more willing to contribute meaningfully to your organization’s mission.

Creating a purposeful and engaging work environment to attract, retain, and empower talent is necessary for the modern worker. And with attention to strategic hiring, values alignment, and continuous investment in employee well-being, it’s not far out of reach.

David B. Young is the Chief Executive Officer of Participate Learning, based in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Mr. Young has led the organization’s growth from a family project to a small but thriving business. Participate Learning is proud to be the leading provider of K-12 global education programs and one of the largest international exchange teacher programs recognized by the U.S. Department of State.

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