If you have ever hired employees, at some point you have likely experienced a feeling that the employee was simply not in agreement with your goals and vision. Either he doesn’t exhibit the same conscientiousness, or doesn’t possess the same work ethic, or he lacks motivation, or something similar. In short, he isn’t rowing in the same direction as you. Get Everyone in Your Boat Rowing in the Same Direction addresses the cause of this, as well as the solution.

Individuals are ultimately motivated by what they regard as important, that is, what they value. Their values determine their actions, their motivation, their work ethic, and many other characteristics. When employees possess values that differ from the owner (and the business) they are essentially rowing in a different direction.

The result is frustration, slow progress (if any progress), and a lot of stress. Every stroke you take forward is offset by their stroke in a different direction.

Many owners go through this process a number of times. They often try different tactics to try to change their employees. They might try playing nice guy, or running a very tight ship, or a number of other methods.  But ultimately, many throw up their hands in despair. “I can’t find good help,” they declare, and swear to never hire another employee. They keep their business small, because they conclude that they can count on nobody but themselves.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. An owner does not have to resign himself to staying in the bucket, or accepting reckless, uncaring employees.

If individuals are motivated by their values, the solution is to find employees who share your values. If values determine the direction we are rowing, then shared values are the key to rowing in the same direction.

This does not mean that employees must have values that are in perfect alignment with yours. If you like golf and he likes baseball, it likely won’t impact your working relationship. But the basic values must be shared. For example, if customer service is important to you, your employees must share this value.

Because we posses free will, it is possible to change our values. It is possible that an employee can embrace your values and make them his own. But this is not something that we should count on, and it can be a major source of problems. It is far better, and more effective, to find employees who already share your basic values. In other words, don’t try to impose your values on your employees—hire individuals who already hold them.

Of course, this requires some effort on the front end—during the hiring process. More importantly, it requires some thought and effort on your part before you ever begin looking for an employee.

Before you can identify the values that you want in an employee, you must first identify your own values. This is not a casual exercise—it requires some careful thought. Often, we hold our values as loose approximations. But we must explicitly identify those values if we hope to be able to express them. We must be clear about what is important to us if we are to share that information with others, and find employees who share those values.

Secondly, we must identify the values of our business. While it would seem that our business would reflect our personal values, this is not always the case. Often, the values of our business get molded by others—employees, customers, and perhaps vendors. Often, the stated values are different from the values expressed in action. We must be certain that if our business values are not in alignment with our personal values, we make the necessary changes.

Again, we need to be clear and explicit about the values of our business—what is important in the context of the business. Only then can we begin to seek employees who share those values.

It is important to realize that this isn’t necessarily an issue of right and wrong. There are many legitimate values that a business can hold. (There are certainly some wrong values—such as cheating customers.) The goal is to identify the facts. Then, if our business values are unacceptable we can begin to change them.

Identifying potential employees who share our values is both an art and a science. Doing so requires asking open ended questions, and then carefully listening to the answers. Questions such as:

What is important to you?

What did you like about your last job?

How would you handle …?

These allow the candidate to express his values, often in subtle ways.

When the values of the owner, the business, and the employees are in alignment, everyone is rowing in the same direction. The owner can set the goal, and everyone will help to get the boat there. Not only is that a lot less frustrating, you can get where you are going a lot faster.