Take a culture-first approach to operational growth

The United States entered the shortest recession on record in 2020 and rebounded with an economic boom during 2021 and 2022. Operations teams proved invaluable during this period of volatility, and many organizations realized they need more operational capacity moving forward.

Now, we’re entering a second slowdown — one that many experts predict could lead to a mild recession — and organizations are having to reconcile their operational hiring needs with an honest look at the economy. If you’re interested in growing your operational capacity in the next six months, here’s what you need to know:

Culture wins all battles.

In our experience, new hires who mesh well with your company culture will almost always provide value to the team. This is especially true if your company values are well thought out, pre-established and considered in regard to every new hire.

At Charles Aris, we follow six core values that guide us every day. We use these core values to help accomplish our cause, which is to change lives, transform businesses and enrich communities. Every new hire shares these values and cause, which has been especially useful as we continue to grow our own operations team.

We recommend that anyone scaling significant operational growth do so with a culture-first perspective, so that all team members are sufficiently aligned on their short and long-term goals and can remain value-oriented even during times of economic volatility.

Specialization reinforces culture.

The more exposure your team has to one another, and the more specialization individuals can pursue within their role, the healthier your overall culture will be when onboarding new team members.

After we onboarded a significant number of operations team members during 2022 and 2023, we assigned everyone to one of nine internal groups made up of employees from all departments. These groups offer biweekly check-ins for team members to stay updated on company news, share best practices and collaborate on projects.

Each of these groups also offer members an opportunity to grow their specialty area within the firm, which helps foster unique subcultures that reinforce our values. Internal work groups, committees, clubs and team-specific activities are also useful to foster healthy specialization within your company.

Responsibly budget for your new hires.

If you’re truly interested in taking a culture-first perspective to growing your operations team, over-hiring — the first step towards layoffs — should be avoided at all costs.

We’re seeing that now across many organizations that over-hired during the last two years, and its effect can be devastating to company culture. We recommend directly integrating your human capital and accounting teams to effectively plan for growth. At Charles Aris, we know the right talent is invaluable, but you must also budget accurately and approach hiring initiatives responsibly.

The takeaway:

Operations teams are in high demand, but a possible recession poses a risk to many organizations’ growth plans. We believe taking a culture-first perspective to bringing on new talent will prove advantageous whether we see a recession or not.

To ensure all new hires are a strong cultural fit, establish your company’s values and engage with candidates who you believe will share your mission and best represent your organization. If you’re finding such candidates and adequately fostering this culture after their onboarding, your organization will benefit from having a sturdier foundation for success.

Visit our “About Us” page to learn more about Charles Aris Executive Search.