Horrific colleagues can make even the most appealing sounding job a daily nightmare. Avoid that hassle by implementing a “no jerks” policy when hiring new staff.
Beef jerky picture from Shutterstock
That’s the approach adopted by Nimble Storage. During a visit to Australia last week, co-founder Varun Mehta explained that the “no jerks” policy was vital. Despite operating in a highly competitive environment for attracting engineering staff in Silicon Valley, maintaining team cohesion was important. “Part of our hiring process ids to gauge how people would be to work with.”
Beyond that, Nimble has embraced the culture of soft benefits — food, massages and other Google-style benefits — often found in Silicon Valley, though Mehta says that can be overstated. “We do have good perks, but what people really like to do is work on interesting things and to be with a company that is successful.”
You may not have the option of giving everyone free hot meals, but you can spend time during the interview process assessing what a person is like to work with (as distinct from their direct qualifications).
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