A thought on apples….

The cost of a standard Red Delicious apple at my neighborhood grocery store (these days the Riverside HEB) is about .99. The cost of an organic, pesticide-free, Gala, Honeycrisp or Pink Lady apple at my (also) neighborhood Whole Foods costs anywhere from $1.99 up to $2.49. That’s a 150% increase in cost. That better be one damn good apple.

Here’s the catch though. I used to buy those .99 Red Delicious apples, when I was down on the cash flow, working for a very small, un-funded start-up (that nonsense story another time) They would sit in my fridge, uneaten, for weeks, until they became grossly dehydrated and looked like weathered old people hands and I threw them out. Granted, I only wasted about $5.00 by throwing them out, but…wait for it…..the bigger point: I threw them out. I NEVER ate them. I wasted the money, and I ALSO wasted the health benefits (which you can’t put a price tag on)  An apple a day, I’ve heard, keeps the doctor away. Unless you’re talking about the acupuncturist….that guy is legit.

These days, the green is flowing smoothly, and I delight in a trip to Whole Foods to pick out my weekly assortment of lovely, glowing, organic apples. And I eat every single one of them. They NEVER go to waste. I ate TWO just this afternoon. no joke.

WHY, you might ask, is this?

You see, I was just never all that excited about the dull, lifeless, starchy, no-taste cheap apples in my fridge. It had nothing to do with perceived value, it’s an apple for goodness sake. It had everything to do with taste. with juicinesss. with the way the fruit felt in my mouth, the way it crunched. The Whole Foods apples are laden with delicious, indulgent, almost ethereal, juicy, down-home honest-to-god apple goodness. The cheapies were just ok. They actually kind of sucked. I never got excited about them. I never was like “wow, I can’t wait to eat this apple!” and if you know me, you know I get excited about most food.  So I didn’t eat them. I ate the other food in my pantry that got me excited (probably chips or crackers at the time) These days, I eat at least an apple a day.  And I am for sure healthier and happier because of it.

But Meg, how is this going to help me hire the right people for my organization? Ahhhh……that’s right. Down to the point of the blog.

Don’t hire bad apples.

Don’t spend money on people you aren’t excited about, people who don’t feel right, who are cheap (not inexpensive, there’s a difference) Who don’t make you say “Wow, I can’t wait to work on that project with so-and-so” These aren’t just your resources who get the work done. These people are the foundation of your team, Your Agency, Our State. Just like the apples, if you hire “bad” people and then they sit around doing nothing for you, you’ve lost not only money, you’ve lost something much more important: the core building blocks who make your agency a place to get excited about. Those people and the environment you and them create contribute in such a positive way to the greater good of all Texans. That almost tangible feeling of excitement, of positive energy, of teamwork, of shared vision and passion – that feeling is out there and if you hire the right people you can and will create it.

Here’s a point: I don’t mind spending 150% more on an apple that I know will get eaten as soon as the next stomach grumble pops up (in my case, usually within the hour). The money isn’t even a passing thought, because I am getting so much more out of that apple than the $2.49 I spent on it.  Those damn expensive, juicy apples give me such a good feeling, such a spring day walk-in-the-park, hand in hand with the hubby and the dogs kind of feeling, I would probably spend $5.49 on them.  You can’t put a cost on that. The same should be true of your organization. Just like the apples, the people you hire can make your day a walk-in-the-park or a 100-mile foot race through Death Valley (people actually do that, but I’ve heard it kind of sucks and it’s really hard to train for) 

Here’s another point: It’s hard sometimes to judge good apples from bad. Sometimes those apples are just inexperienced. Sometimes they just need some coaching. That’s the art to the hiring process and, honestly, part of what makes my job so much fun. I love talking to people, sharing with them the cool team you have created, and figuring out if they’ve got what it takes now or in the future to contribute in a real positive, groovy way to your organization.  

Team up with a trusted staffing partner and together, let’s determine what are the core values that make your department and your agency special. Let’s develop a hiring plan and a people focus that creates something so good, something so special…..that we can patent the process and retire rich.  just kidding. Let’s just work to create an amazingly phenomenal organization and team of people who love what they do, create positive vibes wherever they go, and, who ultimately, make your life and your job, a walk-in-the-park.

Let’s get some great apples on your team.

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