The selection of "people" for your company is always much harder than the selection of your "technology." In an era where broadband companies are still attempting to differentiate themselves with market-busting, whiz-bang technologies, it's still having great people on your team that leads to success over having great technology.

Most companies don't devote the same amount of time to "people selection" as they do to "technology selection." Think about it. Over the past six months, have you spent considerably more time in meetings with vendors and suppliers looking at new technologies, or more time in interviews with possible candidates to join your team?

If you think your team is made up of head-end equipment, distribution devices and cable-modem solutions, you're going to lose on the battlefield. The real team each of us takes onto the playing field every day consists of our managers, our associates, our service techs and our CSR's. Not our technologies.

Do we spend the right amount of time picking the best talent to build our organizations? Do we look at hundreds of resumes, bring in plenty of prospects, test them, quiz them and judge them before asking them to join our team? For many companies, the analysis for a $40,000 head-end is so much greater than a $40,000 a year new employee.

I think this is a big mistake. The foundation of a great private broadband company is its personnel, not its technology. In fact, our delivery of HBO is not dramatically different from that of the local cable company. But how we market HBO, how we handle the placement of the order for HBO, or how quickly we install HBO, can be quite different from our main competitor.

The best companies always seem to have the best talent. Finding the strongest players to join our team should always be a number one priority.

Jack Welch, the recently retired Chairman of General Electric, sincerely believes that the only way to succeed is with tremendous leadership surrounded by wonderfully talented associates. In fact, the underlying message in his recent autobiography is that the "human element" was one of the key components to building the most successful company in the world. One of Welch's biggest attributes was his ability to select and cultivate people inside his organization. He rarely emphasized technology as the primary source of his success.

Warren Buffett, the chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, also agrees with the concept that strong people are the character and backbone of any business he invests in. He recently told a group of entrepreneurs that he always looks for three qualities in a prospective hire: intelligence, energy and integrity. I couldn't agree more.

But so many companies still attempt to build a leading broadband services provider by upgrading their technology and not upgrading their staff. This is a mistake in any industry, but specifically in ours where service is the ultimate differentiation.

MediaWorks always tries to place a very large importance on the selection and hiring process of its staff members. And I can honestly say that in almost every case where a new hire didn't work out, it was because the process was rushed or hurried, and we skipped a few steps along the way.

A strong group of people gives you such a competitive advantage in today's marketplace. When your team is made up of caring, devoted, energetic people, it's easier to handle a disgruntled caller on the phone, or handle a re-connect in the field late on a Friday night. Response times are quicker, representatives are happier and more polite, and customer satisfaction soars. That's not the case with the so-called hi-tech, best- technology-in-town outfits.

Selecting technologies is an easy process. It's very objective. You analyze features, applications, and benefits against various price points. Selecting people is much harder. It's very subjective, as you analyze desires, skills, energy level, smarts and attitudes. I have always told our operations staff to hire on personality, not on experience. You can turn a good person into a good technician. You can't turn a good technician into a good person.

It's worked for us. I'm sure it will work for you too.

About the author
Bryan Rader is president of MediaWorks in Atlanta, one of the fastest-growing telecommunications provides serving multiple dwelling unitsin the Southeaster United States.