There, I said it. The post title probably sounds a little harsher than it actually is, but here's the thing...the culture of a company is its heart and soul; it's perhaps the one aspect of its DNA that is non-negotiable.
Over the past 2 years, I've played my part in trying to build the company (or at least the workplace) of the future. Part of our essence is the belief/philosophy that we walk our talk; we live in the heart of the storm; the epicenter of change....etc.
We've experimented ourselves with different types of formula - looking to balance or counterbalance marketing services experience with "social media insider" expertise, amidst a start-up atmosphere.
The fact remains...some things can be taught and others cannot; some things are natural and other things are forced; some things are either in you or they're not.
Over time, we've crafted (work in progress) our own internal checklist of what constitutes a crayonista. Some of it is attitude. Some of it is aptitude. Now - using people like Tony @ Zappos as inspiration (everyone within Zappos is on Twitter), we've decided what is mandatory and what is optional.
Here's one of the mandatories: if you aren't already blogging, don't bother applying for a position at crayon.
Sound harsh? Perhaps. Will exceptions apply? Of course, but they will be few and far between and will be considered under exceptional circumstances.
- I wonder what your reaction to this is?
- How many people within your organization are charged with "social media", but - themselves - are not walking the talk?
- Do you agree or disagree with this position?
- What gates or checklists do you have in place in your organization?
- What gates or checklists do you wish you had in place in your organization?
I'll also mention 2 additional points:
- Shameless self-promoters need not apply (just because you have a blog doesn't give you a sense of entitlement; your content needs to be original and quality; if you're blogging to get speaking gigs, good luck with that...) In addition, blogging as an empty shell is probably lower on the prioritization list. I guess it comes down to the difference between going through the motions and actively engaging/participating in the "conversation"
- We've thought about several other "gates" as well e.,g. people need to be actively tweeting. Like Zappos, this is something we feel strongly about...but I'm just not sure I want to put this on the same level of importance/pedastal as "blogging", which is truly a marquis representation of this new conversational model.
Thoughts?
