The concept of having the right people on the bus comes from Jim Collins' book "Good to Great" where he emphasises the importance of having the right team in place for success.

The phrase "Having the right people on the bus" metaphorically suggests assembling a team of individuals who are not only skilled but also the right fit for the organisation's culture and vision.

Collins found that those companies who prioritised getting the right people on and the wrong people off the bus were more successful in the long term.

“If you have the right people on your bus, the problem of how to motivate people largely goes away. The right people don’t need to be tightly managed or fired up: they will be self-motivated by the inner drive to produce the best results and to be part of creating something great… And if you have the wrong people, it doesn’t matter whether you discover the right direction; you still won’t have a great company. Great vision without great people is irrelevant.”  
 

Jim Collins

Having the wrong people on your team, particularly your leadership team will cost you in time, energy and reduced engagement. The key message is take your time to hire, make sure the people that get on the bus are a good fit, they have the required skills but more importantly they have the right attitude.

Getting the right people on the bus

So who are the ‘right’ people?

While specific skills, knowledge and experience are important they shouldn’t be seen as more important than dimensions of character such as work ethic, humility, emotional intelligence, and dedication to fulfilling commitments.

The right people will be aligned with your purpose and values. When hiring it’s suggested that you spend as much time doing a cultural assessment as a skills assessment. At adapt we always conduct a separate cultural fit interview before we hire for any position. The cultural fit interview is best done by a reasonably senior person in the business who displays the behaviours that fit the culture you want. We recommend that the person doing the cultural interview be different from the person doing the skills fit interview.

After hiring, we strongly encourage our customers to use the probation period to be sure the person is the right fit for your business and that you are the right fit for them. If you are in doubt about the fit, don’t offer a permanent position, this is especially true if it’s a leadership position. With respect and high regard part company. The cost of bad hires is just too great.

Getting the wrong people off the bus.

Having the wrong people on the bus has such a negative impact on the culture and performance of any business. Most of us will do almost anything to avoid having to deal with dismissing people, but remember, letting the wrong people hang around is unfair to the right people. If you don’t act you will lose good people and you will reduce engagement and productivity around the person.

When you’re agonising about a people decision, Collins recommends asking yourself;

1. Would I hire them again?
2. If they walked into the office tomorrow and said they were leaving, how would you feel?

We suggest our customers do a simple Values Audit. Take each of your values and rate the person against you’re your values. You can use a simple +/-. If you’re feeling unsure ask others on the leadership team to also rate the person. If someone is NOT a values fit you must act for the good of the business. If they are a cultural fit, perhaps they are the right person in the wrong seat, again you must act quickly.

It’s about getting the right people on the bus, and the right people in the right seats and moving the wrong people off the bus – quickly.

If you are still building your team, particularly the leadership team who are going to be involved in building the strategy and leading the business we would strongly recommend you get the right people on the bus before you get too far into working out your strategy.

The ultimate throttle on growth for any business is the ability to get and keep enough of the right people.