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Companies are always looking to recruit great employees. These are workers who adhere to the company’s mission, vision, and values, and are willing to go beyond what’s asked of them. However, if you’re not careful, you might end up with an office of Super Chickens.
You might be wondering, what exactly are Super Chickens and where did the Super Chicken Model of Leadership come from?
University of Purdue professor William Muir wanted to study productivity in the workplace. Instead of using humans in his study, Muir turned to chickens. In the study, there were two types. The first group were the most productive of the flock, the “dream team” of chickens if you will. They consistently laid the most eggs. The second group were the average ones. They had successful egg production and got along well together.
Muir studied these two groups of chickens for six generations. In the end, he found the group of Super Chickens, expected to be the most productive, were hyper-aggressive and had the lowest productivity. However, the friendly chickens did very well and increased their egg production by 160% after six generations.
Transferring this concept over to a business atmosphere, Super Chickens in the workplace are the highly productive employees who don’t work well with others. These employees are the “Know-It-Alls,” putting other ideas down, and placing themselves ahead of the team. While these employees might be productive, they don’t contribute to the company’s overall growth.
If you have one of these poor collaborators on your team, the best way to make a change is incrementally. The key is to work on creating an environment where everybody’s ideas are treated equally to discourage the creation of Super Chickens.
These concepts factor into recruitment as well. Employees need to know exactly what type of company they are applying to. Make sure your company has a Culture Statement and seek to find talent that matches. Consider asking potential employees questions about how they would incorporate your values. Also, have an open-door policy with ideas. With Digital Air Strike’s People Logix, we’re here to help cull the roost and limit the number of Super Chickens you hire. By making sure every employee is active, engaged, and a great team-player, your company will be more successful (and friendlier) than ever.
