Hiring the Right Way: My 5C’s Framework for Building a Great Team

When it comes to building strong teams, one of the most important responsibilities of any business owner or leader is hiring. Patrick Lencioni, in his book The Ideal Team Player, highlights the importance of finding people who are humble, hungry, and smart. I’ve taken inspiration from that model but developed my own approach—a simple, repeatable framework I call the 5C’s of Hiring.

Hiring is difficult and it is not a perfect science. In my experience, having hired almost 100 people across many different positions (mechanics, drivers, customer service, sales, marketing, IT, management), even with a good system in place, hiring is a crapshoot. If you do everything right, there is still only a 50% success rate* (meaning the person lasts 18 months and is a contributing member of the team). If you don’t have a good system and do everything right, the success rate approaches 0%. People are complex beings, even if they are honest and forthright. Change is a constant reality and as hiring managers, we control very little of it. The best we can do is control what we can control and be prepared to react to what we cannot.

(*see Leadership IQ’s study “Why New Hires Fail” - it very much supports the hiring process developed below.)

This is not an exhaustive guide to all facets of recruiting, interviewing, and onboarding (that’s a bigger conversation). But it is one of the most practical ways I evaluate candidates during the interview process. Note that these are in order of importance, meaning it doesn’t matter how competent a candidate is if they don’t have the character I’m looking for.

1. Character

The first and most important characteristic I look for is character.

For me, this includes humility, integrity, and alignment with core values. I ask myself: Is this someone I trust? Is this someone I’d want to represent my business when I’m not in the room?

Character is foundational because skills can be trained, but values cannot. A person who shares your values will amplify your culture; someone who doesn’t will quietly erode it.

There isn’t necessarily one type of character that is precisely perfect for all leaders and organizations, but there is a type of character that is unique to you and your values. I suggest knowing what that is and searching for it above anything else.

2. Chemistry

Next comes chemistry—fit on the team.

This is about more than “likability.” Many people are likable in a vacuum or one on one. Chemistry is about whether their personality, working style, emotional intelligence, and relational approach will add to the health of the group. In a healthy team, chemistry isn’t about everyone being the same; it’s about complementarity, constructive collaboration, respect, and the ability to work toward shared goals without unnecessary friction.

I’ve had employees who were very talented, but didn’t necessarily fit the company, culture, and position for which they were employed. Performance suffers in those instances. Sometimes a change of scenery, position, manager, team, or (as a last resort) company is the best for the individual as well.

3. Competence

Competence is the ability to do the job well “immediately” - or at least soon after training. Can they do the job: yes or no? Have they demonstrated or proven through their resume, experiences, interview, and references that they can adequately meet the needs of the job description?

Hire solutions, not projects. The right candidate should elevate the team’s overall capacity by bringing in strengths, skills, or experiences that improve the team and move the organization forward toward its goals.

That doesn’t mean perfection is the only option. But it does mean they have a proven track record of execution in the areas that matter most.

If not, but they fit the Character and Chemistry, is there another position within the company that they could fill that is a better fit for both parties? Sometimes you just want the right kind of person on the bus and the exact seat matters a little bit less to you and them. If they’re aligned to the mission, vision, core values, and goals, perhaps they just want to be on the bus too. In all reality, people’s exact roles and titles change over time anyway.

4. Capacity

Capacity is a person’s potential for growth. This idea is highlighted by the difference between intelligence (the ability to acquire) and knowledge or experience (that which has already been acquired).

Some candidates may be solid “B players” today—but with the right mentorship and stretch opportunities, they have the potential to become “A players” in short order. I look for curiosity above all else in this category, followed closely by adaptability, and the ability to learn and grow.

In fast-changing industries and entrepreneurial organizations, capacity often outweighs current competence. Someone who can grow with you is more valuable long-term than someone who is only strong in today’s skills.

5. Cost

Finally—and I do mean finally—comes cost.

Of course, every hire is an investment. Salary, benefits, training, and onboarding all matter. But too often leaders make cost the first filter, not the last. That’s shortsighted. I say that because every employee is an investment that should yield more return than they cost. And employees should be compensated fairly and commensurately with that return. We don’t pay someone their entire salary in one paycheck, so there is time to evaluate, coach, and actually manage our employees to excellence.

For me, cost is really about ROI. The question isn’t “What do they cost?” but “What return can this person generate for the business over time?”

Why This Matters for Small Businesses

While this isn’t the only methodology that works; I’ve found it is helpful to have “a” methodology that works.

Every hire in a small business has an significant impact. One bad hire can set you back months; one great hire can accelerate growth in ways you didn’t think possible.

By putting character and chemistry first, competence and capacity second, and cost last, you build teams that are not only skilled but also trustworthy, collaborative, and future-ready.

What’s Next

In a future post, I’ll share some of the tools and methods I use to evaluate each of these areas—including behavioral assessments like Predictive Index, the 6 Types of Working Genius, Wonderlic, background checks, and reference interviews.

But for now, I encourage small business owners to step back and ask:

• Does my business have a clear framework for how we evaluate candidates (and are my hiring managers following it)?

• Am I prioritizing the right things like alignment to my vision, mission, and core values?

• If I look at my last few hires, how would they stack up on Character, Chemistry, Competence, Capacity, and Cost?

The answers to those questions may reveal more about your hiring process than you realize.

👉 Small business takeaway: Every person you hire is an investment in the future. Use a framework that helps you make the right investments more often than not.