5 Key Strategies for recruitment in a startup

Recruitment in Startup: Recruitment is never an easy topic to talk about. Even the best companies struggle with getting the right people for the right job. In a startup, this challenge is even more complex because the profile you’re hiring for needs more than a few specialised skillsets. I’ve always found that startups look for a different personality of people altogether.

Uncertainty handling, being open to challenges, risk taking are a few characteristics to name. Some of these characteristics are similar to what you expect from an entrepreneur themselves (Related:Top characteristics of an entrepreneur)

Recruitment in a startup

Expert talent is not cheap or affordable, they always have better offers in hand. How can you ensure to keep them motivated? Will you run into trust/longevity issues?

Most of people are afraid of startup because of stability, structure and HR issues which are usually non existent. As you already know, it is not a simple thing to conduct recruitment in a startup.

If money is your only motivator, then you’d definitely have to rethink your approach. It is impossible to compete with the big payers out there.I can admire the pride in being a startup founder, but it’s not the way the rest of the world sees us. For an employee starting work with, you’re just another company!

Understand why people want to join your startup

Start with the motivation. People must have a strong reason to join your startup. Think about it – a startup is inherently risky. Why is someone taking that risk?

The early hires in a startup are most important. If they don’t have a strong reason to join you, then you’re right to be scared and a cautious. The early hires in a startup influence rest of your teams and future expansion. Make sure that they’re the right fit culturally and align with your values.

Equally, make sure that you extend the same courtesy to them by clearly sharing your values. With that, here are a few key strategies to think about while recruiting for your startup.

Recruiting for Attitude vs Expertise

Of course, the primary requirement for a talent is the need of expertise which you either don’t have. This could either be time or just pure talent which you don’t have.

Although this is a primary requirement, it would be foolhardy to address this in isolation. In the interview, if you are not focusing on the attitude of this person, then you are certainly missing a key trick.

Vision: Short term vs Long term

How long do you want this person to be with you? If you are looking for a passive resource, this can be either addressed as a contractor or outsourcing. In some aspect, the outsourcing works well if you have a project to complete. At times it can be a bit more expensive but will save you the trouble of the entire hiring process.

If you are looking for a long term resource, it is of greater importance to look at someone as to how they are anticipated to grow with the company. On that note, it is equally important to share this journey with someone.

Do you want partners or followers?

This ties with the point above. If you are looking for a short term, maybe an idea to look for contractors or suppliers.

For the initial few employees at least, you need to be looking for partners who can take this vision forward. You don’t just want followers, you would need someone to create the structure and vision with you. A key facet would be to set things right at the start and create the journey for future employees.

How to motivate them?

This is often difficult, to constantly keep someone motivated. This can only be achieved through a vision that is openly communicated. They are usually easier to spot since they stand out.

As a startup, you would want people who are self-starters and motivated. You simply wouldn’t have enough bandwidth to create a continuous process around it.

However, the risk-reward should be adequate. This could be either in the form of shares or stocks or even a % of partnership which the said person can be happy with.

Sharing the vision and getting buy in

A startup needs leaders. In most cases, it is not just about the founder. Most startups go through this phase where a founder is pitched as a unilateral leader. I find this approach an extremely fallible one.

As a startup grows, you can’t do everything on your own. It is all about your team and powerful visions to make a change. A great vision can act as the glue to hold people together and build a compelling outcome for the future. As founder, I believe the toughest challenges is to create and maintain that team.

Following this note, I would love to share this thought by the CEO of salesforce,

The secret to successful hiring is this: look for the people who want to change the world.

–Marc Benioff, Salesforce CEO