Hiring for Start ups!
– My way of doing it –
March 10/14 – Today we hired a new staff. The tedious procedure of hiring led me to think how important it is to hire successfully especially in a startup business. For example, if the company has 2000 employees, then 1 bad hire won’t have a significant impact. But if a company only has 2 staff, then the wrong hire will represent 50% of the personnel.
Having been hiring people for my businesses for long years, I have learned to “look” for the right people and consider the following:
– Good fit. Do I see her a good fit for our team? Does s/he look like one who is going to conform to the culture of the work place? In my interviews, do we share the same long term vision of which direction the company is heading? A new worker who is able to uphold teamwork, value mission and vision of the company will help a great deal in assisting the organization to reach its targets. It’s important for everyone to be in sync in our vision.
– Passion. Does my survey or background check of this potential hire reveal if s/he has great passion for what s/he does and the organization s/he has worked for? Or does s/he simply do things just to earn money? A worker who enjoys doing his job is actually the best one. Such a worker is committed to his job and can even become innovative which will give the organization an edge in the market.
– Attitude. Grumpy staff do not have a place in my company since they represent us to our external stakeholders which means that they can create a negative image for the company. On the other hand, a person with positive outlook in life can create positive image for the company.
– Work ethics. During the job interview, does the potential hire manifest professionalism in the workplace? Does s/he look and sound like someone who respects colleagues and customers?
– Work under pressure. Does this person show that s/he can work under pressure, able to manage stress well and do multi-tasking? I believe that these are needed for a company that’s just starting and is determined to survive fierce competition. Hence, I choose employees who have a proven track record in performing under crunch situations.
– Job knowledge and skills. For me, attitude has more premium than knowledge and skills. Of course, it is important that the potential hire has the “basics” for the job. All the rest, I can manage but I don’t have patience with someone who doesn’t have the right attitude.
– References. I’ve always made it a point to check out the past work experience of my potential hire. What relationship did s/he have with his/her boss and colleagues? What impression did s/he create with the clients? I believe that this bits of information are important because clients and former colleagues know the person much more than I do. They know his/her strengths and weaknesses and going by their comments, I am in a better place to make decisions that can spell the future of my business.
We can’t find all these in one person; that’s a tall order. But if the potential hire has more of the qualities, then I can live with that. it’s a simple merit-demerit formula. But I take extra caution on which are the merits and which are the demerits. At the end of the day, I’ve always put good fit, passion and attitude on the top of my list.
“What you sow is what you reap.” Put in the right person and you get the right results.
The information in the article is very useful. I always learn something from your article that I can use in my every day.
I have learned that success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles one has overcome
Glad to be able to contribute. Indeed, success comes with many definitions depending on a person’s view of it. One’s measure of success may be different from someone else’s. And I couldn’t agree with you more: it’s not much what we have achieved but it’s the rising from every fall.