When you launch your startup, the idea of hiring and taking on an entire staff and becoming a fully fledged employer may seem lightyears away. However, when your business has finally found its feet and has established itself amongst its industry rivals, you might be surprised at just how quickly you need extra hands and minds to help you achieve your vision. Expanding your business is part of being an entrepreneur. You could rest on your laurels and be complacent, but that doesn’t drive you. Instead, you are ambitious and want to strive for further success and dominate your industry.
Whether you expand globally, try to reach a new demographic or expand your product range, you’ll need more people to keep your supply chain and logistics going. Your cash flow is important to you, so you must make sure you recruit in an affordable yet worthwhile manner. Take a look at this ultimate guide to hiring the best staff for your expanding startup.
Practicalities
Depending on the sector in which your startup sits, there may be specific checks you need to carry out or legislation you need to adhere to before you make the final offer to your favored candidate. A company called Checkr provides a whole host of screening tools to ensure that you carry out the appropriate checks. This is whether it’s a criminal record screening or a simple drug screening.
The logistics of recruitment can seem like a minefield. You need to construct a job description and announcement, advertise the position, review resumes and conduct interviews. This can be time-consuming especially if you don’t have much time on your hands, to begin with. If you try to do this in-house, you could end up with a rushed recruitment process and possibly hire the wrong candidate. Instead, consider outsourcing to a specialist recruitment firm. These individuals have a pool of talented job seekers on their books and can search on your behalf. They will work with you to find your perfect candidate based on the job you are hiring for and the ethos of your company. All you have to do is conduct the interviews and decide if any of the candidates fit the bill.
Ethos Sharing
More important than any qualifications or experience is the ability of the candidate to fit into the ethos of your company. You could be impressed by an individual with a high-quality college degree from a top institution along with their years of experience in a FTSE 100 or Fortune 500 company, but do they smile? Have they got a sense of humor? Can they work in a team? It is this final question that is the most crucial.
As a startup, it’s imperative you have a team of staff who work cohesively. This leads to a boost in staff morale and greater levels of productivity. Having a collective of bright minds that work well individually will lead to fragmented work and a lack of collaboration. Instead, to generate new ideas, you need a team of people that are willing to bounce ideas off of one another. This is where your responsibilities take hold.
You need to facilitate the opportunities for your workers to have those water cooler moments. As such, you need to be swapping the individual booths of desktop computers with collaborative working pods. Consider an open plan office where a positive buzz can permeate your office atmosphere. Make it clear there should be a hum of noise, a positive atmosphere and plenty of meetings amongst your colleagues. When you invite a candidate in for an interview, you want to show off your ethos, your vibe, and your great working environment.
Show What You Have To Offer
Any recruitment process that is a one-way relationship is doomed to failure. Sure, you want the best candidate and you need to explore what a new staff member can bring to your company. You also need to demonstrate what you have to offer. A startup is often seen as a less desirable place to work than a world-class blue-chip company. However, sometimes the best things really do come in smaller packages. Being young and finding your feet within your chosen industry means any potential new starter will be joining at the early stages of any product or service launches. They will be able to have a real impact on your company’s progress and they’ll be able to feel and see tangible results.
As a startup, you will have many roles to fill. Some candidates will welcome the opportunity to work across a variety of disciplines. Doing this means they are broadening their experiences and enhancing their own resumes. Be positive and honest. While you cannot offer the most lucrative salary package, you could have a training plan in place or professional development program that shows you are willing to invest in the careers of your staff. Showing any potential candidate you care and you value your staff team will help them hold you in high regard. You need to make a candidate want to work for you. If you can do this with the best and the brightest, then you are halfway there.
Being a new employer is daunting especially when you are used to being the employee. When expanding your business, the role of a boss becomes all the more demanding. Having the most worthy people to delegate to by hiring the right staff can make your life so much easier. However, don’t worry and take your time when it comes to recruitment. If you want to complete the process in-house, ensure you have the resources to do so effectively. Or you can always rely on a specialist recruiter to find you the ideal candidate. With any luck and by following this guide, you will soon be recruiting the perfect new staff members for your cohesive team. Here’s to YOUR success!
Carolyn R. Owens has over 25 years of proven experience and serves as a Career Strategist, Leadership and Life Coach. She is the Chairwoman and CEO of Infinity Coaching, Inc. where they help you up-level your skills so you can up-level your income. Infinity Coaching, Inc. provides one-on-one and group coaching, organizational training, and personality assessments. Carolyn is certified to give both The Energy Leadership Index Assessment and Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) Assessment. You can find out more about both assessments and other products and services at https://infinitycoaching.net.
