Ok, so you just closed a round of funding or have already started generating some revenue, and you’re ready to hire. Congratulations on making it this far!
Hiring your first twenty employees can be an exciting and daunting experience for a founder. It’s a serious commitment and a critical step to building your initial team that will propel your start-up forward.
Here are some tips to help you navigate this stage in your start-up’s growth:
Create a strong company culture.
Your company culture will be the foundation of your start-up and will play a significant role in attracting and retaining employees. Consider your values and mission statement, and communicate these to your employees to create a strong sense of community and purpose.
Identify your hiring needs.
Before you begin the hiring process, identify the roles and skills you need to build your business. Once you have identified your hiring needs, you can start building job descriptions and requirements for each role so your employees know what each of them will be responsible for.
Develop a hiring strategy.
To attract the right candidates, leverage your network and partner with recruitment agencies or job boards. Consider your interview process and make it unique to your start-up, including the questions you ask and the skills and attributes you're looking for in candidates.
Build a diverse team.
Diversity is important for any company, particularly for start-ups. A diverse team can bring a range of perspectives and ideas to the table and help your company innovate and grow.
Consider hiring for potential.
When hiring for your start-up, consider hiring for potential rather than just experience. Candidates passionate about your mission and with a strong work ethic may be more valuable in the long run than those with extensive experience in a specific field.
Be transparent and upfront.
Don’t sugarcoat what working at your start-up is like. You may have all the right intentions of what you envision the company to look like down the road but be true to yourself and those you’re hiring to let them know what it looks like to be employed by your start-up RIGHT NOW. Candidates may like the idea of being part of your start-up story but not the sacrifices that come with it. It’s ok if they withdraw from the hiring process - better now than later.
Offer competitive compensation but don’t play the matching game.
Attracting top talent can be challenging for start-ups, especially when competing with established companies. Consider including benefits, stock options, bonuses, and flexible work arrangements to make the offer more attractive. Pay fairly and avoid matching salaries for candidates coming from larger, more established organizations. They’ll join for the wrong reasons and you’ll create an internal pay inequity that becomes difficult to manage as you scale.
Invest in onboarding and training.
Once you have hired your employees, invest in onboarding and training to ensure they have the knowledge and skills they need to succeed. Don’t forget about the mandatory health and safety training requirements.
Make difficult decisions.
Retention is critical in the early stages of a start-up, but be quick to part ways if you know it won’t work. While losing a key employee can significantly impact your business's success, keeping a toxic employee can have an even larger impact on your team, which often takes time to recover from.
Hiring your A-Team is a critical step in building your start-up. All the tips above will set your start-up up for success and create a strong foundation for future growth.
If you need any support or have any questions, feel free to email me or book a free 30-minute chat to discuss your specific needs.
📷: Photo by Clemens van Lay on Unsplash