In my effort to define the principles that are the building blocks of Insanitek, I have been focusing on hiring and training. We are currently at that spot of growth, so that’s what is at the forefront of my mind. After all, growth of a company largely depends on the quality of all its people. Everyone. Even the maintenance staff and newbies.
So, what makes quality? As noted in the previous post on hiring principles, I’d prefer to hire strong character over just skills. You can train skills more easily than you can make someone have the type of personality and integrity needed to take on that particular part of Insanitek’s mission. It’s all about context.
This approach brings training into sharp focus.
My vision is not to have people hang onto Insanitek forever at the expense of being stagnant in their lives. I want to train them to continue to grow personally and professionally. I see Insanitek as a stepping stone for more people in that regard. I say most, because while I expect intentional turnover, I want it to be the type of work environment where if this is the best you can do for a while, you feel comfortable and continue to grow in some regard. We may not always have the money, nor the positions, or other aspect that people often look for. I acknowledge that now, and I accept it.
With that in mind, what can we lay as the foundations of our training program?
Keep the focus on value, growth, and efficiency.
I think these three words can encompass any type of training arrangement. After the foundation is laid, it will be necessary to look at the finer details and nuances on a case by case basis.
Value
An old Roman milestone, which would have been easily missed if the values were to fly by quickly on a horse instead of walking and taking in the view.
Value is different for each person. However, the foundation of our training should add value to Insanitek by gaining a good employee/freelancer that can help further our mission of science literacy and research. Value should be added to the clients that they work with, even during training. And, value needs to be added for the new hire. After all, these are stepping stones in their lives too.
Clear, concise, and consistent communication will be at the forefront of the discussion. What would bring value to each of the triad throughout the process? Each party will have a different idea, and they don’t necessarily have to overlap. For example, if a client orders and infographic, maybe value added could be for us to deliver the digital version to them a week earlier than planned. Meanwhile, the new hire may be thinking value would be learning new skills and making another mark on the world, and my value would be having a client happy enough to recommend our services to a friend. Value is not mutually exclusive, nor does one party have to lose out in order for another to have a smile.
Growth
Each new hire should find plenty of room to grow, test their strengths, and shore up weaknesses. That’s what life is going to do to people at every turn, whether they like it or not. Having a job that allows for structured growth in the process can make a huge difference to people.
This is not a predictable thing, so it’s not something we can guarantee right away. However, I’d like to get Insanitek to a place where we could help a variety of people easily. This would mean over time I grow so I can provide more resources for people. Everything from getting people to be able to analyse themselves and make those decisions to actually having resources to help them achieve it.
Efficiency
Everyone is individual, and they have different places that they are in when they land with us. Thus, efficiency for one person may be slow for another. Once we have the ability to help people grow, doing so efficiently for them will be a huge step. And, not one that I can easily guarantee will happen right away as we put training programmes in place.
Eventually I will have efficiency for Insanitek as well as the new hires in order to help them help themselves. But first, we need to get more new faces with a variety of needs and backgrounds to push our own growth.
As you can tell, we don’t have these foundations in place yet.
These are the principles that I’m striving to make a reality for Insanitek and our team. Eventually I’ll find the right combination of software and humans to make it all possible to have an internal learning library while also having a hands-on approach. One day at a time, one skill taught to one individual at a time. It will become reality rather than just a thought process foundation.
