Highlights: Start with Heart
By Christine French Cully, Editor-in-Chief, Highlights for Children
A few years ago, independent filmmaker Tony Shaff made a documentary about Highlights magazine called 44 Pages. The film follows the creation of the 70th anniversary issue of our iconic children’s magazine and introduces viewers to the small, cheerful, and admittedly quirky team that passionately plans and produces each monthly issue. After seeing the film, many viewers, only half-jokingly, asked where they could send their résumés. A positive work environment, it seems, is the holy grail for many looking for more satisfaction at work.
The film features a small number of our employees, a team closely knit together by a shared dedication to our mission. (We have different groups working to create three other children’s magazines, books available at retail, digital apps, a podcast, and more—and we have colleagues in our Ohio business office 500 miles away.) And while it is not what the director says he set out to do, one of the film’s big takeaways is the reveal that our editorial office is a happy place to work, occupied by people who are unapologetic about their passion and work collaboratively and respectfully with staff and freelancers every day.
After the film’s release, in Q&A sessions around the country, friends, families, and strangers asked, “Is this true? Does 44 Pages accurately depict a day in the life of your editorial team, when a camera isn’t rolling?” And the answer—validated by even former employees who have seen the film—is yes. The characters in the movie are not acting but, rather, are presenting as their authentic selves. This, too, is consistent with our culture of humility, dedication to the mission, and focus on the work.
The film elaborates on the challenges that come with an editorial headquarters located in Honesdale, PA, a small community 100 miles from NYC, the publishing mecca. For some, the geography makes our success even more curious. How do we manage to attract smart, competent people who find joy and fulfillment at work and sometimes stay many years?
As the executive involved in most hiring decisions, I’ve answered the culture question many times. And when I do, I share my belief that the key to building and sustaining a strong culture is to hire well. For us, this means that we hire first for passion and affinity for the mission—and then for experience and skill set. On paper, many employees on our campus may not, at first blush, seem especially qualified for editorial roles at the most widely read children’s magazine. Two majored in Ancient Greek. Another is certified in Environmental Studies. Over the years, we’ve hired a sports writer, a political science major, English literature majors, an engineer, and a few music majors. But the common, crucial credential on all their résumés was hands-on experience with kids—some of it work experience, much of it volunteer work. And we’ve found that this makes all the difference.
Of course, these hires also had strong skills. And the few who did not have the ability to learn. It’s far easier to teach craft than it is to teach passion. People who possess the right skills and abilities abound. People who possess both great skills and great heart for the work are rarer—and worth holding out for. These are the people who engage deeply, form personal relationships with peers, and, some studies show, often enjoy better physical health.
Hiring people who genuinely embrace our mission has served well not only Highlights but also the local community. To stoke our employees’ enthusiasm for doing good things for kids and families, we urge them to also share their passion with the community. In the summer, for example, several of our employees take an extended lunch hour to read aloud or play games at the local community center that serves kids free lunches. During the last school year, we supported an employee who shared his love of chess by founding an early morning chess club at the local elementary school (two-thirds of the school participated in it). Another employee leaves early once a week to lead a Girl Scout troop.
We view these kinds of “extracurricular” activities as win-win. The kids in the community are the direct beneficiaries, but we benefit too. Working face-to-face, side-by-side with children the age of our target audience beautifully informs our work as children’s content creators—and reminds employees who do different but also important work at Highlights that they, too, can help advance our mission, which they embraced upon their hiring.
When we make passion for the organization’s raison d’etre the leading criteria for hiring, we develop a collection of employees who all want the same thing and are pulling together from different vantage points in their various roles to achieve it. They’re often a more natural fit with an organization’s ethos, and they intuit the cultural expectations that are undocumented but understood. At Highlights, these expectations are in no small part about kindness and respect. Our reason for being—to “help children become their best selves by publishing content and creating experiences that engage, delight, and foster joyful learning”—is one that attracts some of the world’s best people.