iHire’s Core Values Series: Collaborative

Few people work entirely alone these days, and it’s pretty rare to find someone who has never had to work as a team. But have you ever worked as a member of an interdisciplinary team? Have you ever brought something to the table – skill, knowledge base, or experience – that others did not have?

At iHire, being collaborative is one of our core values because of our diversely talented workforce:

“We are active and connected members of the company and our teams, working together to achieve common goals. Face-to-face when possible, we contribute, listen, process, learn, create, and share information to advance each initiative and achieve success.”

We pride ourselves on being one solid team, regardless if that team crosses department lines. We are all working toward the same common goal! Our individual contributions are made by listening, learning, and creating. With so many different backgrounds and experiences, why not share our knowledge with others to improve and achieve success?

According to the Chess Media Group, there are 12 principles of collaboration:

Here is my take on those 12 principles:

1. Know the importance of both the individual and the company.
2. Put business value before technology. Understand the why before the how.
3. Listen to feedback and understand. What are employees passionate about? What keeps that person engaged?
4. Learn to empower and support your team and then get out of their way.
5. Leaders need to be on board. If they’re not, why should the team be?
6. Fit collaboration naturally into the flow of work.
7. Think long term. Go beyond the tools and consider education, training, and reverse mentoring.
8. Measure what matters – KPIs! 25% of companies measure performance, yet 50% are not sure how they are doing.
9. Make collaboration your only option! You will have challenges. What is your next course of action?
10. “Be like water making its way through cracks.” – Bruce Lee. Adapt when things change: technology, behavior, and processes.
11. Use collaboration to respond faster and build a repository of ideas that you can then build into products and services.
12. Collaborative people are happier, more engaged, and given a sense of purpose. Work-life balance is met!

Collaboration not a new concept by any means. Companies like Google have been operating in this manner for years and many employers are following in their footsteps. We know now that by embracing an amazing company culture to include the value of collaboration leads to employee engagement and retention. Every employee knows and understands their importance and contribution to the overall organization. 

That wraps up our series on iHire's core values! I hope you enjoyed learning more about our organization's unique workplace culture. Tune back into the blog or visit our press page to stay in the know!