What an unexpected hire can reveal about the people worth betting on

I’ll be honest with you. When Conner came into my life, I wasn’t ready for her. 

I’d met her through a work-based learning program at her high school, where Mark and I sometimes speak to students about professional development. She attended one of those sessions. Afterward she did something most teenagers wouldn’t do: she came and found me, not to ask for anything specific, just to talk. 

I gave her a few minutes. I asked what she wanted to do with her life. She mentioned glassblowing. I pointed her toward some people I knew in that world, figuring the conversation was done. 

Then she heard me tell her teacher I was looking for help in my garden. “I can help you in the garden,” she said. I handed her my card and told her to reach out if she was serious. 

I went on vacation. She emailed me. I told her I was away. The following week she wrote again: “Are you back?” 

I didn’t have a job description, a curriculum, or a game plan. I just had a persistent teenager and a garden that needed tending. So I gave her a time and told her to show up. 

She was early. She hasn’t been late once since. 

What Showing Up Actually Looks Like 

Conner works mostly outdoors, which in Georgia means you earn your keep. She weeds, plans and plants the beds, transplants seedlings, manages irrigation, and walks the property checking for what needs attention. On rainy days she comes inside and helps with whatever’s needed. She asks the kind of questions where you can tell she’s storing everything you say. 

We hosted a garden party in the spring, and watching people walk through what Conner had helped build was one of my favorite moments of the season. She put in the work, and she got to see people enjoy the results of it. She told me that seeing a finished product makes her proud of herself and helps her trust herself more. 

That kind of confidence doesn’t come from being told you did a good job. It comes from actually doing one. 

Early on, I had a hard conversation with her about professional presentation in public. The kind of conversation that’s uncomfortable to give because you care about the person receiving it. She listened and later applied the advice without getting defensive. That moment told me more about her character than anything she’d done in the garden. 

When she spoke about her experience in front of our local Rotary Club, she described herself, in her own words, as “a clean slate they took the time to invest in.” 

Why So Few People Get This Far 

Here’s what I know about employee development after decades of building and managing teams: most business owners wait too long to invest in people, and then they’re surprised when those people leave. 

Gallup’s most recent research found that only 30% of U.S. employees strongly agree that someone encourages their development at work, down from 36% just a few years prior. That’s not an HR problem. That’s a people problem. And it costs far more than most owners realize when the person walking out the door was someone worth keeping. 

The fix isn’t a formal program or an annual review. It’s choosing to notice people before their résumé makes it obvious you should. 

Conner didn’t have credentials. She had persistence, curiosity, and the willingness to show up on time to a job that nobody handed her. Those traits don’t show up on a job posting. You only find them by paying attention. 

This is exactly why building a reliable team requires more than hiring for what someone already knows. The best hires I’ve seen, in our business and in the businesses we support, are people who had the right attitude long before they had the right experience. 

What Happens When You Actually Invest 

I didn’t expect to get as much out of this arrangement as I have. 

Watching someone go from uncertain to capable, from waiting to be told what to do to just doing it, that does something to you. It reminds you why investing in people matters, not as a philosophy but as a practice. 

Mark sees it too. We talk about Conner the way you talk about someone who has quietly become important to your life. Most employees have a story worth knowing, and the owners who take time to uncover what’s driving the person in front of them are the ones who keep good people longest. 

The business case for this kind of investment is real. Gallup research shows that in low-turnover organizations, highly engaged teams see 51% less turnover than their less engaged counterparts, and the engagement that produces that result starts with a manager who bothers to notice what someone is capable of. Recognizing that capacity in the people already around you is one of the highest-return things a business owner can do. 

That’s what HireSmart Cares is built on. Mark and I believe that young people, given a real chance and someone willing to show up for them, will do the rest. Conner didn’t need us to hand her anything. She needed someone to open the door. 

The Same Thing Happens in Business 

I see this dynamic play out constantly with the business owners we work with at HireSmart. When you finally find the right person and give them real responsibility and real trust, something shifts. The work gets done, yes. But more than that, you stop feeling like you’re carrying everything alone. 

That shift is worth examining. The way your employees know they’re valued isn’t a perk or a policy. It’s whether someone paused long enough to see what they were actually capable of, and then gave them a chance to prove it. 

The kid I didn’t want to hire turned out to be one of the best things that ever walked into my life. She came in uncertain and left every single day a little more sure of herself. That’s the whole point, in a garden and in a business. 

If you’re ready to build the kind of team that runs without you carrying it, I’d love to talk. 

Click here to schedule a free consultation. 

Frequently Asked Questions 

1. What doesinvestingin employees actually look like for a small business owner? Investing in employees doesn’t require a formal budget or a written program. It starts with noticing what someone is capable of before their résumé confirms it, assigning real responsibility, and following up with honest feedback. Small, consistent actions like a direct conversation, a meaningful task, and genuine recognition add up quickly. 
2. How do I find employees who are reliable and self-motivated?Reliability often reveals itself before the hire is even official. Pay attention to how someone communicates before they start, whether they follow through on small commitments during the hiring process, and how they handle feedback whenit’s given. Those signals matter more than credentials alone. 
3. Why do so many employees disengage even whenthey’regood at their jobs? Gallup research consistently shows that employees disengage when no one at work seems to notice or encourage their development. Skill isn’t the issue. Feeling invisible is. When people stop growing, they start leaving, even before they hand in notice. 
4. What is the ROI of investing in employee development?The return is measurable. Gallup has found that highly engaged teams in low-turnover organizations experience 51% less turnover than disengaged teams. Beyond retention, engaged employees produce better work, generate fewer errors, and contribute more fully to the business mission.
5. How doesHireSmartVirtual Employees select people who are a good fit? HireSmart accepts roughly 1% of applicants, puts every candidate through a 40-hour certification program, and maintains a 98% successful placement rate. The goal isn’t just to fill a role. It’s to find someone with the right skills and the right character to grow with your business. 
6. What isHireSmartCares, and how does it connect to HireSmart Virtual Employees? HireSmart Cares is the nonprofit arm of HireSmart Companies, founded by Anne and Mark Lackey. It supports Filipino scholarship programs for the children of virtual employees and U.S.-based youth career development initiatives in agriculture and the trades. The belief behind both programs is the same: invest in people early, and they’ll exceed your expectations. 
7. What ifI’vehad bad experiences with hiring in the past? Most hiring problems come down to misaligned expectations or insufficient onboarding, not bad people. Anne’s approach, whether in her own garden or in the businesses HireSmart supports, centers on clarity, genuine investment, and giving people the tools they need to succeed before holding them accountable for results.