The process of hiring a new employee can be complex and tiring, let alone if your business is a start-up. Start-ups are unique business’ and rely much more on their staff achieving their goals and overcoming challenges that most larger business no longer require.
A key strategy in hiring for a start is, hire for potential not just track record. Past success is always great, but in a start-up, industry potential may be greater. Look for a person who has a strong interest or passion for the type of work your start-up is doing and see if their values align. Measure what potential you can unlock their skills and determine if the job position will give the applicant a chance to succeed and you’ll likely see results.
The culture fit is crucial. This is usually the hardest to pinpoint but it’s always important. Basically, it’s the fit between personality and organization. You will need to examine the behavior, attitude, and mentality of an applicant to see if they’re the right culture fit for your business. There is no guide to fitting into the right culture, it’s more of a feeling and unspoken understanding. Trust in your hiring staff to make the right decision and ensure they ask applicants questions non-work related to find out more about their personality.
Lastly, look for trainable people. Regardless of experience and culture fit, you will always need to train the new person. In a start-up industry training is essential to continued success. If the applicant is hesitant to new ideas or training styles and prefers to do things “their way” you may be setting you and them up for failure. Furthermore, ensure their ability to adapt to changing environments since the start-up field is constantly changing. Being unwilling to be coached or help coach others is how most new hires fail in their first year with a start-up.
Well stated.