Afraid Of Hiring A Toxic Employee? Give Them The Beer & BBQ Test

BrianScudamoreFollowApr 1, 2016 · 5 min read

My company has $250M in revenue. What most people don’t know is I had to start from scratch seven years into the business because I hired toxic employees. The Beer & BBQ test was my solution.

A casual beverage with COO Erik Church. Photo by Katie Diane Photography.

We spend an average of 90,000 hours of our lives at work. This means that you probably spend more time with your team than you do with your own family. Despite this, most entrepreneurs and leaders neglect to focus on personality or cultural fit when they’re hiring.

I made that mistake myself when I was starting out as an entrepreneur, and the results weren’t pretty. Morale suffered. Productivity plunged. I was avoiding going into the office because it had turned into a negative environment filled with people who just weren’t my type.

It got so bad that seven years into the business, I literally took my eleven employees into a room and fired them all. Then I had to start from scratch and, over time, I turned things around by prioritizing compatibility during the hiring process.

Now we put an emphasis on hiring people who have the right skills and who truly click with one another — who work hard together and play even harder. Attention to cultural fit has not only made 1–800-GOT-JUNK? and my other companies better places to work, it’s helped us grow. Today, our revenue is over $250 million.

Here are two incredibly simple (and delicious) hacks I’ve developed to ensure that new hires mesh with our awesome company culture.

Hack #1: The Beer Test

As I started to rebuild my team, I realized that the recruiting process should be focused less on ticking off a checklist and more about trusting my gut. Once potential candidates were in the door, I started thinking,

“Do I like this person? Do I find them interesting, and interested? Do they have a passion for something in life?”

From this, I developed what I call the Beer Test, narrowing those questions down to one: “Would I enjoy grabbing a beer with this person?” It’s hypothetical (most of the time), but it’s incredibly powerful.

If the answer is yes, it’s likely the start of a great working relationship. Sure, it’s simple, but it cuts right to the chase, and it’s been invaluable in helping me put together a team at O2E Brands that I love working with every day.

Hack #2: The BBQ Test

As helpful as the Beer Test is, there’s one major problem: it only measures my gut sense. It doesn’t take into account how a candidate clicks with the rest of the organization, and it took one especially bad hire to make me see this blind spot and its potential consequences.

A few years ago, I hired a new CFO, in the hopes of taking 1–800-GOT-JUNK? to the next level. Although this executive was highly skilled and incredibly smart, this person just wasn’t a people person, and that became a real problem. People in different departments were reluctant to work with this new CFO, and we started losing some strong team members who had become unhappy with the work environment. Despite this executive’s awesome pedigree, we had to part ways.

But how did this individual wind up on the team in the first place? Well, to be honest, the executive had passed the Beer Test with flying colors. The executive also interviewed well and we even bonded when we discovered we had the same favorite movie.

From that oversight, I came up with another critical hiring hack: the BBQ Test.

The BBQ Test is all about the group dynamic. It’s a matter of asking,

“Would this person fit in at a backyard barbecue with my corporate ‘family’?”

If you threw the candidate into a group social situation with other employees, would she be able to hold her own, or find someone to connect with? A Beer Test is singular (do I like this person?), while the BBQ Test asks, “Does he or she fit into our community?”

There’s no need to actually fire up the grill: simply introducing a candidate to the rest of the team in-office works just fine. But if they don’t get the stamp of approval from most of the group — if there’s no connection from the start — chances are they just aren’t right for the company, no matter what their resume says.

Study Shows That Having A Close Buddy At Work Increases Engagement And Productivity

A culturally-aligned team, with members that get along and genuinely enjoy each other’s company, is a more engaged team — and a more productive one. One of the most important questions asked in the Gallup Q12, a measurement tool for workplace performance, is “Do you have a best friend at work?” The stats prove that having a business best friend, a buddy you connect within and out of the office is a primary factor in employee engagement.

And when employees are engaged, they’re more productive: the Workplace Research Foundation says that highly engaged employees are 38% more likely to have above-average productivity.

So the next time you’re hiring, look past just the candidate’s credentials and also put them through my Beer and BBQ Tests. These simple hacks have helped me assemble a dream team and will help you quickly assess the cultural fit of your candidates.

I’m the founder and CEO of O2E (Ordinary to Exceptional) Brands. I’m passionate about helping others grow small to medium businesses and corporate culture. Tweet me @brianscudamore

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WRITTEN BY

BrianScudamore

Founder and CEO of O2E Brands, including home-service companies like 1-800-GOT-JUNK?. DM me on Instagram @BrianScudamore

Through our series The Science of Barbecue, we’ve explored the processes of grilling, Caramelization, and Smoking; discussed how to make any meat into a succulent meal, and even the intricacies of marinating. All of these things make a feast full of flavor, but what IS flavor? Let us explore The Science of Barbecue – Why Grilled Food Tastes Good.

YOU’VE GOT GOOD TASTE

Taste is experienced through the use of both your tongue and nose. Your tongue is coated in about 10,000 papillae (pah-pill-ah), which are the little bumps that contain your taste buds. When you place something into your mouth it instantly comes into contact with them. Taste buds are a type of nerve cell that is activated by the chemical makeup of food. These chemicals change the specific proteins in the cell walls, sending message signals to similar sensory cells, who then pass this information to your brain as the perception of taste like sweet, sour, salty, and bitter.

The mechanics of taste are interesting in and of themselves. However, most of what we perceive as flavor, the taste of whatever you are eating, is actually coming from the aroma. The way a food smells. When you fire up the grill and toss food onto the red-hot grids, the Maillard Reaction occurs. The browning of whatever you’re cooking smells divine, activating the saliva ducts in your mouth, which will facilitate the transference of the chemicals that activate your taste buds. Smoking and Caramelization have a similar effect on your olfactory sense.

The taste map of the tongue that you are familiar with, illustrating that the tongue tastes specific flavors in specific places has been disproven. Taste can be experienced over any region of the tongue that has the presence of taste buds, although some spots may be more sensitive than others to specific tastes.

SO WHY DOES GRILLED FOOD TASTE GOOD?

Raw fruits and vegetables are edible, and even taste good, but for most food, it just tastes better when it’s been cooked. Flavor on food is developed and deepened when heat is applied. Caramelization, causes roasted vegetables to get sweeter, and meat becomes more savory thanks to the Maillard Reaction or Smoking. Proteins are broken down into amino acids, which then react with the carbohydrates present producing the scent and satisfying taste we crave. That is just the beginning. These processes, and other preparation methods, like seasoning, marinating, and injecting, accentuate the flavor profiles that you experience when eating.

IT’S A FLAVOR EXPLOSION

There are the four flavors that you already know, sweet, sour, bitter, and salty; but did you know that there are two others that you may not have a name for, but are very familiar with?

Umami:
Umami (oo-mah-mee) is a Japanese word that translates to deliciousness or yumminess. It is widely considered the fifth taste, although just being accepted in the international scientific food community. Umami can indicate protein in food. Coupled with the Maillard Reaction when we grill, it would signify, on a primal level, that food is fully cooked and safe to eat.

Umami flavor comes from one of three elements:

Glutamate: think saltiness like soy sauce and parmesan cheese. It naturally occurs in meat, fish, poultry, eggs, and seaweed, but has been artificially recreated in the form of MSG. It is an amino acid that is used by the body for the conversion of proteins into needed compounds in the body.
Inosinate: tastes like the hearty taste found in meat and fish. It is found in muscle fibers of animals mostly but can be artificially created from tapioca starch. This expensive flavor enhancer is known as kisodium salt or inosinic acid.
Guanylate: similar to the earthy taste of dried mushrooms. It is only ever used in conjunction with Inosinate or Glutamate. Another flavor enhancer that is produced from fish, seaweed, and yeast.

Umami is great, but when two umami compounds come together it is known as an umami-bomb or u-bomb; a complex flavor explosion. It is part of the reason certain foods taste so amazing, like grilled steak with mushrooms, chocolate covered pretzels, or **Sesame Chicken**. Add umami to your next barbecue, with a little feast, and you have a recipe for insane flavor that goes beyond just good. Try one of these umami leaden recipes.

TRY THIS AMAZING GRILL RECIPE FOR TANDOORI PORK CHOPS

Why Grilled Food Tastes Good - Tandoori Pork Chop

Fat:
Fat plays a huge role in how food tastes when it’s cooked. It’s the amount of fat that is in meat that influences the flavor; that is why we look for something well-marbled. Those striations of fat melt when heated. Amino acids and carbohydrates that are reacting to one and other through the Maillard Reaction are repelled by the water that makes up meat’s muscle fibers. Instead, those particles are being absorbed by the fat, which is what creates the aroma and taste in meat. This fat is also oxidizing during the grilling process, which brings out even more delicious aroma. Fat also feels good in the mouth. It melts and feels silky and smooth – think butter, cream, cheese sauces, and chocolate; or produces a satisfying crunch when used in conjunction with high heat – think French fries or the crust on a perfectly grilled steak. Finally, fat in food affects the way your taste buds react to food. Some flavors stick to the fat molecules prolonging the release of flavor on the tongue, giving you more complex layers of flavor and even aiding in the aftertaste.

TRY THIS RECIPE FOR BBQed CHEESE PIZZA

Why Grilled Food Tastes Good - Cheese Pizza

THE TAKEOUT

Next time you put something delicious in your mouth, think about how flavors develop on your tongue. Can you taste the separate components that make up the delicious whole? There is more to the Science of Barbecue than just how grilling works. Why grilled food tastes good involves preparation, cooking methods, and even the chemical components of the food itself. For more inspiration on making your own flavor bombs, check out our Recipe Blog for more inspiration and some great grilling flavors. Whatever you grill, now you know the science behind why grilled food tastes good.

Curated from – https://www.napoleon.com/en/ca/barbecues/science-bbq-why-does-grilled-food-taste-good