Posted by Kevin Lofgren.

I was talking with Kevin Dahlstrom, a long-time friend of mine (and my original partner in Farstar), the other day and made this observation: In 2007, we lost 1 person for every 2 we hired - all within 30-45 days of their initial hire date.

First, that could mean we hire poorly or aren't very selective. That might be partly true. We're getting better at sniffing it out early, but I do think that, at least last year, we got excited about potentially finding a diamond in the rough only to realize there was a reason things looked rough. This is not entirely true however, as evidenced by the other 50%. Those folks looked, sounded, spoke and acted like the dearly departed. But they turned out to be the real deal.

Now here's my dirty little secret. While I don't like having a 50% success rate at hiring the right fit for us, I am pretty excited that everyone knows when it's not the right fit - really quickly. It's a good sign to me.

So, I like it. Sure, I'd like to get better and better at filtering in/out the appropriate fits for us before hiring them. But for what it is, I like it.

It seems to me as though two things contribute to this situation: 1) We know what we're looking for in a person and have the ability to recognize when we're not going to get it really quickly, and 2) this culture we've created is so strong that it's terribly obvious to the employee when he or she isn't fitting in for whatever reason. Sometimes those reasons have been performance issues and sometimes they have been someone's attitude or a simple cultural misfit. But in all cases, either they have felt uncomfortable enough to leave on their own or they have "seen it coming" if we're helping them out the door. And again, it's a really good thing. We don't waste time or money, and everyone is told coming in that if it's not working in 30-45 days, they'll need to find another place. It really has helped us a lot, and it definitely comes directly from my personnel mistakes in the past.

So I was telling this to Kevin D, and he sent me this quote from a book I have yet to read (I know, I know) that everyone else in the world has read, called Good to Great by Jim Collins:

If you go to work at a visionary company, you will either fit and flourish or you will likely be expunged like a virus. It's binary. There's no middle ground. It's almost cult-like. Visionary companies are so clear about what they stand for... that they simply don't have room for those unwilling or unable to fit their exacting standards.

Literally, last year we hired 10 and kept 5 of them. The other 5 didn't last any longer than 45 days. Some were 2 weeks. It's so great for those who fit, and SO uncomfortable for those who don't. I almost feel badly for them, except that they all were told the facts coming in. Half of them just didn't know themselves very well. Or they didn't believe me when we told them what it was like here. I actually hear that one most often.

So, if you're thinking about coming to Farstar, be careful what you wish for. You can (evidently) fool us for a little while, but within 4 weeks you'll be proven to be a fit or not. Doesn't seem worth the trouble if you're not awfully sure of who you are, does it? Trust me. It's not.

And I'm glad.

kl