How To Hire The Right Staff For Your Startup

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Hiring top talent for your startup is crucial to building a sustainable organisation. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to hiring. Just think about the skills and competencies required in different industries, business models, and different functions in your business. Technology is a critical function within the company, and hiring for that requires different kinds of thinking.

I would even go so far as to say that everybody within an organisation needs to appreciate technology and have a digitally oriented mindset, especially at the beginning stage.

When defining the role of a job opening, tie it into business objectives and make clear the expected business outcomes of the role. Most startup company owners fail to do so with roles that are non-business related, like technology.

Take, for instance, a B2B digital marketing agency looking for a Google Ads specialist. Defining that role would include, for example, deciding how many high-value accounts that role will manage. The next step would be identifying the skills required to deliver on established business outcomes.

Although a purely technical role might do, these would need to be both technical and non-technical. Here, by defining the technical skills, keep customer-facing at all times. Think of the technologies your customers will need built and not the ones you are best at. The outcome of that tech hire must be that your tech skills must become a part of your client’s requirements. If you have limited knowledge of the new technology area/capabilities and are unsure about the required skills, consulting with someone with relevant expertise and experience is a better approach.

The next step is attracting prospective talent to the position. It involves creating a job description, identifying the channels for advertising your opening, and setting up an upfront schedule so that candidates can apply and be ready to work. It ensures that the selected employees have the appropriate experience and will not need much coaching after joining. Since the focus is on serving the customer as much as possible, a person who has worked within the client’s industry clearly understands their requirements and challenges. It may involve hiring a freelancer.

However, it may break up your workflow since hiring various individuals involves time and energy, which are particularly limited in startups. Being a startup or a small company where resources are scarce and having a mentality not to put many resources into your hiring process also works well. It helps to quickly identify talent, particularly in technical roles with limited knowledge. A typical process would begin by screening through resumes and looking for candidates with a related background or experience. Afterwards, you may arrange a test or a straight interview with the candidate.

In technical roles, technical tests or one-day project experiences in-house are a sound check. The interview team must include experts in different areas to give a candidate a fair test of all required skills. A B2B Technical roles interview panel should consist of one person who has the appropriate technical expertise, one who knows about the most common customer challenges, one who has the business background to determine if the candidate’s skills are in line with the business model, and one who can assess a candidate’s soft skills and their fit to the role, the team, and the company.

Conclusion

To hire the best employees for your startup, you must first define the business outcomes you want the new employee to deliver. The next step should be identifying the technical and non-technical skills required to perform these duties.

Consulting others with appropriate experience would be beneficial if you lack the necessary skills. The next step will be finding appropriate channels and media for engaging prospective employees. It helps you reach a broader audience and ensures you hire top-notch employees. Next, you must carry out the selection process, which involves written tests or direct interviews.

Please read the full article on Start Up Magazine

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