Hire team players
Getting employees to interact collaboratively in that environment goes back a step further. It begins with bringing team players into the organization.
“We don’t do any enforcing. Our culture enforces,” Jarvis says. “People who can thrive in that kind of environment tend to be here for a really long time and have great careers. And people who don’t operate that way, there’s a little bit of a white blood cell factor. … Half the battle is getting the right people in who buy in to that.”
The 72andSunny partners have brought in a talent director and a chief culturista — who has both a background in advertising strategy and experience as a life coach — to screen candidates in terms of their team-oriented culture.
For example, they talk to candidates about environments that they’ve been most successful in. Sometimes, experience can speak for itself. If candidates have been active in team environments before, they’re probably comfortable at the firm. For example, people with athletic backgrounds often do well at 72andSunny.
“One of the things you learn really well in sports is that you can’t control the past and you need to turn around and perform very quickly,” Jarvis says. “Things like guilt and blame and victimhood, all that stuff is not productive.”
But the specific language candidates use when discussing their previous experiences and future goals can be even more indicative of their ability to push themselves in a team environment.
“There’s a lot of us versus them in advertising, like the suits against the creatives,” Jarvis says. “If there’s even a hint of that, I would say that’s kind of an automatic veto.
“If people feel like where they are or the ideas [they have] are good enough for them and they’re completely satisfied, they probably wouldn’t be interviewing with us. We’re attracting people who want more out of their careers and more out of themselves than a lot of companies in our industry are currently providing.”
Candidates don’t get through the 72andSunny interview process without meeting a lot of employees, and each interaction acts as a cultural filter. But the crucial key is having a position completely devoted to finding that fit and having someone in that position who can clearly communicate the expectations of your culture.
“Making that investment in recruitment and hiring … has been helpful,” Jarvis says. “You have to be really up front with people in the beginning: ‘Hey, this is what you’re signing up for and this is what it’s like. If you don’t want to do that, that’s fine, but you need to be aware that that’s what we’re doing here.’”
If you devote the extra effort up front to finding team-oriented players, you won’t have as much difficulty getting them to take advantage of your collaborative environment later.
