Joseph Ashford is the owner of K4 Global, a Bournemouth-based firm known for its client services and growth expertise. His goal is to help other companies get the competitive advantage they need to start making serious inroads in their industry. The staff is known for getting the job done, no matter what it takes.
So, a common question is just how he manages to recruit so many skilled professionals to the table. Ashford has talked a lot about the benefits of developing a good hiring process, so see how he works out how an individual will 'fit' with the team before they accept an official offer.
One of the Hardest Things in the World
Every company has its own approach when it comes to hiring people. Some put every applicant through some sort of test to get started. For instance, they might ask an applicant to write a 10-page essay about why they want the position. The actual essay is less important than the fact that someone took the time to write one. In other words, it weeds out people who aren't serious about the job. Others will just pick one person from a stack and hope for the best.
For Joseph Ashford, he says that he was taught to be a conduit. As he puts it, "You really just need to be a good middleman and find a good guy for the right position, and the reality of that is, it sounds so simple. It's probably the hardest thing anyone will ever go and do." It's all about sussing out someone's true character from what they present to you and what they've presented to their colleagues and clients in the past.
You'd be hard-pressed to find a leader who would describe themselves as a middleman, but for Ashford, it's not a derogatory term. He has to know each role at a granular level to understand who the right person is to fill it. This isn't always a simple equation, particularly when you're limited by both the pool of applicants and the ever-present metric of time. Ashford says that he's incredibly lucky because he was able to put together a team that could go above and beyond the way he needed them to.
There are no shortcuts during the hiring process, he has to be willing to ask difficult questions and get into dangerous territory if need be. There are no assumptions either. Some candidates may look great on paper but will only drag the team down. Some candidates that other CEOs would dismiss outright are the only ones who can bring levity to the team.
What He Looks for
While every role has its own responsibility, there are a few core values that Ashford looks for. One of the most important traits for him is loyalty, and not just because he wants people to sign onto his way of doing business. Instead of looking at people as replaceable, Ashford invests the time into his team so that everyone knows how valuable they are to the organisation.
He's found that when you work with a person for more than a few years, they're more likely to want to do a better job. Instead of people vying for a better place in the company or scrambling to make the most money, the motivation is to tackle each new problem with grit. That kind of determination, fueled by innovative minds, has made K4 Global a company that has no problem with turnover.
What Entrepreneurs Should Know
Ashford doesn't mince words when it comes to giving advice. "Life and business can be difficult, and to feel you're running a team but really you're doing it on your own, is probably quite lonely." As many business owners can attest to, the responsibilities are never-ending, and the rewards aren't always as evident as you'd like them to be. Even exceptionally profitable companies can feel like nothing more than a slog for a CEO without the right company culture.
Hiring the right people is the game-changer in the story. It's the key to building a team that wants to be around one another. It's the difference between indifference and enthusiasm whenever an owner announces what's next to come down the pipeline. Ashford says that without his team, K4 might not have had the chance to get off the ground. He's exceptionally grateful for his staff, even if he was the common denominator in who made the cut. "I'm very fortunate that I've got good, decent people around me."
© 2017 Jobs & Hire All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
* This is a contributed article and this content does not necessarily represent the views of jobsnhire.com
