‘No brilliant jerks’: How this HR leader leads a pack of quantum geniuses

Building connections and creating community are the silver bullets for any successful workplace culture, one HR leader has said.

As the head HR for a quantum computing start-up – working with “people that are incredibly intelligent, very well-educated, high saturation level of PhDs” – Diraq people and culture manager Mel Kramer (pictured) told HR Leader that, despite the differences between workforces in different industries, the importance of maintaining humanity in work culture is crucial.

One of the struggles that recruiters face is hiring the right person early, Mel accepted, and that is why she adopts a strategic approach in her interviews.

Kramer said that her selection process intensifies when interviewing candidates who say “what they think you want to hear”.

“It is around making sure that they understand from the get-go that we don’t tolerate brilliant jerks,” Kramer told the masthead.

Working in a company facing the potential expansion overseas, Kramer stressed that it was crucial for them to have “culture champions”.

She told HR Leader that the interview is a good place to spot this type of worker.

“There were ones that just in the questions they were asking of me … about the culture and leadership … [that I knew] that they are people that I can help to be culture carriers,” Kramer said.

Everyone adds to the culture

While Kramer stressed the importance of hiring people who would fit in with the culture, she noted that this does not mean she would want everyone to be identical.

“It’s not about getting people who will just fit in with the mindset. We [must] encourage people to challenge each other, but challenge each other with kindness and respect for each other’s opinion,” she said.

In order to find the right people who are adaptable to the team culture, Kramer said, the way that worked for her was being open and transparent about what the workplace is like and what it offers.

“For example, going from a massive multinational [sic], that’s very established [with] lots of resources … coming to a start-up that’s pre-product, pre-revenue with not a lot of structure, and certainly not a lot of cash, lying around – that doesn’t suit everybody, and that’s OK,” she said.

“It’s better that we find that out, you know, during a recruitment process, so people can select out rather than joining and then going, ‘oh my god, this is chaos’.”

“People self-select out when we’re really open about our culture and about exactly what it’s like to work and our organisation.”

Selection process and handling cross-border culture aside, for Kramer, setting up a space for employees to get to know each other was paramount in creating synergy in the workplace.

She told HR Leader that she found success creating communication channels for employees to engage in non-work-related activities to develop rapport and add a sprinkle of humanity to their workplace connections.

“At the end of the day, everyone who works at the organisation wants the same thing. You are all rowing in the boat in the same direction,” she said.

“We’re all human. I find [that] the more opportunity you can find to connect with somebody at the human level, everything else becomes way easier.”

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Carlos Tse

Carlos Tse is a graduate journalist writing for Accountants Daily, HR Leader, Lawyers Weekly.