Hiring is one of the most important aspects of running a company, so it can be surprising to find that many managers approach the task without much of a plan. "Going with their gut" is frequently employed as a hiring practice, and while that can yield some good results on occasion, it can also result in a hodgepodge group of employees that are mediocre and don't do inspired work. While each member of team may be a good employee on their own, the fact that there was little attention paid to finding team members that feed off of one another's strengths and compensate for one another's weaknesses means that the team will fall flat.

Companies can try to offset their hiring failures by sending their employees on corporate retreats for team building exercises, but these have been shown to have little benefit. While the employees may enjoy the time spent on a ropes course, and it may heighten the sense of community around the office, the retreats don't have much of an impact on how employees approach problem solving tasks in groups while in the office environment. Instead of investing in trendy solutions, follow these age-old practices.

Look for drive: Ambition is the most valuable quality that you can find in an employee because all other qualities benefit from it. Employees who are driven to be successful will work together out of necessity, knowing that they can get more done when they put their heads together. A big mistake that managers frequently make is to fill an empty position with someone who looks good on paper but lacks the motivation necessary to keep up with the rest of the team.

Hire people with skills that complement each other: This should be obvious, but many managers miss the point. How many companies have suffered because their teams are full of crack salesmen who are great at closing deals but clueless at customer service and retention? A lot. It's human nature to seek out those with flashy assets who can bring in a lot of revenue fast, but to ignore the need to support their revenue-generating abilities is to risk having one's customer base break down. And when it does, those crack salesmen will be out the door before you know it.

Give them autonomy: Nothing stifles a group's creative powers like a boss who thinks he knows better than everybody else. Unless you want your team to fall into mediocrity, give them the room to do things the way they think is best. After all, they're the ones who actually do the job, so why wouldn't they know the ins and outs of their individual domains better than anyone else?

Task them with solving a problem:  When given a challenge that necessitates their full cooperation as a group, the complementary team will show the extent of their virtues. The work will be distributed according to each member's strengths and weaknesses, and the problem will get solved much better than it would in a mismatched group.

Companies become great when they put together great teams. Those that fail at this task languish in mediocrity, no matter how talented the individual hires are. In addition to making great hires, the company must facilitate the group's interactions as a team. In most cases, this can simply mean getting out of the way; in others it can mean providing a technological solution to a communication problem, such as teleconferencing equipment.

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