Building a business from the ground up is a demanding endeavor. It takes a high level of commitment and personal sacrifice to get a company started—sleepless nights, long hours, and at first, maybe not much of a profit margin. With that said, when we invest our time and energy into an idea that has potential for great success, it can be exciting, challenging, and immensely rewarding.
One of the most essential steps for startup success is finding the right people to help grow your company. While relinquishing control and delegating tasks to others can be difficult, the ability to balance and spread the workload is a skill business leaders today have mastered.
Of course, the most effective strategy for prosperity is by surrounding yourself with the right people. Seek out confident, enthusiastic employees that will not only make your company more productive but also enhance the overall company culture.
Since many startups naturally lack the time, money, and experience to staff up effectively, here are some essential steps to ease the process so you can get it right the first time.
Finding the Right People
When you’re starting the hiring journey, it’s important that you and your partners are clear on the role and responsibilities of the position you’re hiring for. This helps to avoid any confusion from the outset.
You’ll also want to hire employees that are dynamic, self-motivated and adaptable—as your business begins to grow and change rapidly, so too might the size and scope of their role. Be sure to hire not only for the needs of the present, but also for the future. Startups require certain go-getter personality types who can wear multiple hats as necessary.
You might even treat the interview process more like a casting session rather than a formal panel interview set-up. Remember, when building the right team for your startup, you should hire for skills that you can’t train for, since you’re essentially looking to fill a role rather than just reviewing a track record.
Get Social
During the hiring process, it’s important to diversify your outreach. With so much of our attention focused online, social media is a key area to optimize. As a startup you can attract interest in your business through a company website, but potential employees are just as likely to investigate your social media accounts. Social media snapshots give applicants a glimpse at office culture and basic expectations.
When posting available positions, social platforms like Facebook and Instagram are becoming increasingly more useful as a hiring tool for getting your message out directly. Those in your network who already support the business can quickly share any job postings with their own social following to maximize impressions and bring in candidates organically.
Keep Organized
Sifting through resumes and emails can be tricky, and when you are a growing business that lacks an HR department it can be a complete nightmare. And while someone may not be right for this specific round of hires, their interview might reveal them to be a unique talent you may like to keep in your back pocket as your business continues to grow.
The good news is that there are a growing number of affordable software programs available that can streamline the process for hiring and keep you more organized. Many of these programs allow you to rank candidates, add comments, and toggle seamlessly between resumes and other important employee documents all while viewing their profile. Some of them even allow you to email applicants directly though the software, keeping your communications clean and easy to track.
Background Research
Typically, most professionals will have a LinkedIn account they will share on request, but there is a lot about a person it can’t tell you. Once you’ve nailed down a shortlist of candidates, they’ll need to be vetted to make sure there’s no legal skeletons lurking in the closet. Or should they be from outside the USA, it’s a good idea to identify any Visa issues.
If you’re wondering how to get a background check, first you need to consider an affordable solution. Most are available online—and these new services will allow for rapid knowledge of your potential hire compared to lengthy and often costly processes that can come with using larger professional agencies.
Try Before You Buy
Don’t forget, you can always hire new employees as freelancers with the potential for a full-time role. A probationary period is a helpful and widely accepted way to hedge your bets. When the trial is up, you should have a pretty good idea of your newest team members’ strengths and weaknesses. Did they pass the test? Can they be trained to correct for any inexperience? Are they completely and utterly useless? A trial should reveal all of these things and allow you to save face in the process should things go awry.
Get Excited
While the process of bringing in new people can be daunting, it can be a really positive experience for you and the rest of your employees. Remember, you’re effectively gaining a new teammate who should be as excited to be working for you as you are to have him or her on board.
This excitement should be contagious, and help lay the groundwork for a friendly workplace which will be more productive. Naturally, all of this should inspire an awesome office culture that will attract more like-minded applicants directly to your desk.
