Following these 12 unspoken rules of talent acquisition can foster better teamwork and collaboration
Because teamwork makes the dream work
Acquiring talent can be tricky especially if your startup just took off. You are looking to acquire the best talent the industry has to offer, and yet you often end up hiring newbies and amateurs. So, what will it take for you to find the best talent in the industry? Almost all entrepreneurs ask this million dollar question only to find that answering it is often too difficult.
To make it easier, entrepreneurs should practice unwritten rules to acquire the talent they deem necessary for turning startups successful. As such, these rules should help their organisation prosper in the longer run. Here are 12 unspoken rules to acquire talent for an online startup:
1. Value referrals
Hiring processes are changing faster than ever before. So much so that your online startup will benefit more as the person you hire knows the what your business is all about. So, upon hiring, the person will straightaway hit the ground as they have the knowledge about your products and company. In short, hiring employees through referrals take a little time to adjust to the work environment and ethos of the enterprise.
2. Ask pertinent interview questions only
Usually, new startups take a long time preparing interview questionnaires. Due to lack of experience, they often end up including irrelevant issues that offer no value to the hiring process. Also, they delay the recruitment and create unnecessary obstacles in hiring a much-needed talent. Avoid asking such questions so that you don’t end up losing a genuinely talented employee who might become a valuable addition to your online startup in years to come.
3. Hire troubleshooters
A lot of startups fail to organise a final hiring plan merely because they lack a clear direction. Ironically, most startups aim for building and selling the product instead of serving and solving client’s problems. The shift in focus means that the company is not focussing on a long-term hiring goal. To make matters worse, most managers lack the wisdom behind hiring an employee who can address customer’s queries. This is important as such employees can bring a lot of customers to your company as they know how to satisfy their questions. Keep in mind that the clients don’t care how you solve their queries; as long as you address them, they remain satisfied.
4. Let the recruit make mistakes
Startups are all about learning new things and pushing the limits. The moment you hire a new employee, expect them to make mistakes. They say that error is the first step to learning and rightly so. No employee ever learned new things without making mistakes. Think about it; employees make mistakes while trying new things. If they didn’t, they didn’t strive to acquire new things. At times, you need to overlook their mistakes and let them learn. After all, onboarding new employee is more than just work. They come with a fresh mind and an attitude to do things in a new way. Their previous experience can become the cornerstone to making changes in your startup provided you find it doable for the company.
5. Wait and watch
Sometimes, you need to play the game of wait-and-watch instead of hiring a new talent in haste. For instance, ClothingRIC, an e-commerce startup, practices to hire the best match for the post instead of compromising the vacancy to an incompetent employee. Though the waiting game doesn’t go well with most startups, it pays off big time if the startup is keen on hiring the best talent for the job.
6. Empower
Hiring is not about asking your employees to do the daily job and go home; it is more than that. You are looking to hire the best talent and paying them well, so why limit their potential against the same old routine? Tell them what you expect and why they are hired. Be concise in explaining things like why the company needs them and ask without hesitating that you want them to push the limits. This will likely ignite them to the extent that they’ll come up with suggestions about what they need to do the job the company expects from them.
7. Give them a reason to love the job
Usually, talented employees like to work in a friendly workplace environment. Co-workers who trust and protect each other are likely to support new appointees. David Niu, the serial entrepreneur, and angel investor believes that colleagues who work together and value each other are likely to bring more productivity to the company.
8. Judge the impact
As a leader, you should understand a talent who could think deeply and understand their role in the enterprise. Look for a candidate who knows how his work will connect with other employees and the company. Overall, you must look to hire employees who possess the ability to organise their priorities and be able to contribute their share in increasing the value of your online startup.
9. Be a team player
Startups, particularly the fresh ones prefer talent who know the value of teamwork. Online businesses are all about going global, so your business will need employees who find it easy to work in a cross-functional work environment. Going global means a lot of things, one of them is to maintain a diverse workforce without overlapping responsibilities. Inevitably, your search for talent who understand their weaknesses and strengths and empathise with other team members to bring out more productivity.
10. Take ownership
Fresh talent, no matter how many promises they had shown before the appointment, can run into difficulties. If yours did, don’t give up on him just yet. A quality talent is not the one who dwell on mistakes, but one who keeps moving on and complete the job. Attitude is another important factor that helps you evaluate your employees and see if they have the potential to go on. Mostly, you need talent who could identify the problem, take responsibility, fix it and move along.
11. Polish the diamond inside the coal
Each year, companies in the US spend over US$164 billion on employee development, training and education. Despite that, startups often overlook the importance of absorbing talented employees into their corporate culture. Not every brilliant talent can feel confident first up. For them, being at the new workplace is like the first day at school. Naturally, they’ll feel uncomfortable and awkward. Don’t be judgmental on how they behave, rather help them understand how things go around at the workplace and give them some room. In due time, they’ll begin to feel confident and increasingly productive for the business.
12. Fulfill their needs
Even new hires require a few things to ensure to give them all they ask for. Don’t let them stroll across the office looking for basic things like the water cooler, computer or other necessities. It would be better to have these things available before the new hire arrives on the first day.
By keeping these unspoken tips on hiring the right talent for your startup, you should be able to hire the right candidate for the job.
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