Design a business with the proper attitude toward teamwork and human capital, and with the right combination of people, it will be unstoppable en route to the kind of success that is only limited by the imagination. And with the right team in place, imagination itself becomes a plentiful and automatically renewable resource.

Recruitment is the first step, and the ideal place to start scouting for star players is at home. But before assembling the team, it is necessary to know the mission and purpose of the business. Recruiting the best quarterback in NFL history will be little help if what the team really needs is receivers who know how to catch the ball. Some owners pick employees for their individual talents without regard to how those skillsets integrate into the bigger picture. Other employers hire employees before they even know what their own company’s core values and vision for the future are.

Before you hire your first employee, it is first important to create a business philosophy and mission statement that defines your company. Perhaps your core values, competencies, and a unique positioning statement were articulated when the business plan was first drafted, but they need to be revisited and refined, refreshed, or recommitted to memory as tangible guidelines.

Some entrepreneurs view those original documents as little more than a means to an end. After they use them to impress investors or to convince lenders to provide startup capital, they dismiss them as no longer relevant. In doing so, they miss the whole point of such fundamental blueprints. Unfortunately, if that is how they perceive these basic outlines of goals and ideals, that means that they have no clue how to lead others in a realistic and viable way.

The blind leading the blind is no way to run an organization, so smart and successoriented entrepreneurs always pay close attention to the building blocks of the business. Defining the focus of one’s efforts and then continually redefining it as goals are met and strategies evolve is a process that delivers value at every level of the operation. Before recruiting employees, the business’ focus needs to be taken to heart, sharpened, and clarified.

We get what we ask for, and until we know what we want (and why), there is no point in spending time and money to hire employees. The first and most important step in recruitment is to craft a powerful vision statement.

Unleashing the Power of Vision

Without a vision statement, a business is like a society with no culture, or a team with no passion for winning Core values help to put our ideal corporate vision, brand identity, and business ethics into words so that they can serve as a framework and guide for ourselves and others. With such a powerful resource in hand, it is possible to implement a practical search for employees who exhibit the traits needed to ensure business credibility, continuity, consistency, and creative growth.

The vision statement must clearly spell out the following:

  • Who are we?
  • What business are we in?
  • Who are our clients and customers?
  • What makes us different from our competitors?

The mission statement or vision statement defines what is acceptable or unacceptable behavior. It forms the central theme or philosophy regarding customer service, and it becomes a game plan for executing every detail of the business from a specific agreed-upon and shared premise. That shared vision becomes the backbone of the business and the glue that keeps teams working cooperatively and successfully through any challenge and in any environment. Teamwork fueled by the power of vision can make a company a wonderful place to work and learn, and can make growth and profitability possible in any market cycle.

Once a business’ values are articulated, they permeate and underlie each and every decision that is made. Whether you are trying to decide which products to add to the line or determining what kinds of employee benefits you want to offer, your business vision will influence everything you say and do going forward.

When recruiting team members – whether from inside the business or from outside – the vision statement is emphasized, explained, and delved into at great length.

Interviewing for a position in the company becomes a process that is all about qualifying for membership and inclusion on a team that shares the ideals, ethics, culture, passion, and goals articulated in the vision statement.