We all like to get along! Sometimes we do the best we can do to avoid conflict, appear supportive, and be a team player. Be careful if that is how you have built your recruitment agency. You may be insulating yourself and your business from the facts that could make you better, stronger and more able to adapt to changing conditions.
I am not suggesting that you hire argumentative consultants and employees, but you may want to offer those closest to your business the ability to voice a point of view that is unique. Most people don’t want to be different and see value in getting along, so when you find someone or some way (see ideas list below) to release the truth or expression of a contrary point of view, grab it and hang on!
The buzz word is “diversity.” Listen for it; you will hear it everywhere. In your recruitment agency it is about finding a way to release vendors, contractors, employees and partners from the convention that says they must “go along to get along.” Allowing your closest partners to express diverse points of view is a skill that should be nurtured. You should expect and encourage people to be nice when disagreeing but they should never have to apologize for holding a point of view that is not identical to your’s or the team’s. Conformity will ultimately stunt the growth and innovation in any business including a recruitment agency.
Try this:
- Ask for all points of view on an issue before deciding.
- Make sure everyone in a meeting expresses themselves before ending a meeting.
- Assign the role of “devil’s advocate” to a team member.
- Offer an anonymous “I have a different point of view” box.
- Plan a “Do the Opposite” day where people are encouraged to push back on the status quo.
- Reward a different or alternate point of view publicly.
Consider the costs to organizations, large and small, when dissent does not or cannot surface. Encourage your team to “rock the boat” sometimes. It beats letting them sink the ship or toppling it over!
