Four Tips to Hire the Right Talent for Your Startup

So you have a fabulous idea, concept, or product and are moving forward with your startup?  That’s great! A startup is full of promise and possibility and now it’s time to hire the right talent to make that possibility come to life. The team that you assemble, especially in the early days, will be crucial.

You will lean on this team of people as you grow; spending much of your time with them and building something great together. You will, as a team, play to each other’s strengths and buoy each other’s weaknesses to forge a new path in your industry. So who you have by your side is very important.

Assembling the right team, in the beginning, is essential to the success of your startup. There are so many factors to consider when finding the right people. What positions need filling, what type of person are you looking for, where do you find them, and when? Here are some tips for hiring the right talent for your startup.

Figure Out Who You Need To Hire

For your startup to be successful, you must assemble the right team and hire the right talent. Many startups fail because they have issues with business management. So, it is of paramount importance that you assemble a team that will propel your business forward.

So, who do you need to hire to create your dream team and give your startup the best chance for success?

Many experts would suggest that you should hire from top-down by positions or titles. Others recommend by personality type. If you can marry personality type with position, you will have the best combination for the dream team you’re looking to assemble.

Positions & Types:

The positions that are essential to your startup are the ones that provide internal and external strength to your business. They allow you to grow.

High-Level Leadership

A Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chief Operation Officer (COO) are key. The

CEO and CFO (Chief Finance Officer) are in charge of overall operations, while the CEO is moving the company’s vision forward. The CEO or COO can be you and your co-founder if you have one, or you can hire the right talent to fill this role if you prefer.

As a personality, your CEO is your leader. If a company decision has many opposing opinions, this is the person who will have the final word and be the compass for the ship that is your company.

Creating a Well-Run Company

If you are going to be your own CEO, then it would be in your best interest to bring on a VP of Human Resources. This is the person who can take on the sole responsibility for finding the rest of your dream team so that you are not saddled with that task.

In personality, the CEO should be the heart of your company. They should be sensitive to the business’s needs, the company culture, and the demands. They should also understand how all the personalities of your team must work together to form a cohesive and powerful unit.

If you have a VP of Human Resources, they may need to find a Production Manager.

You know what you’ve created, but they will know how to develop it and make others understand it.

This is the personality of stability, vision, and connections; the person who knows your industry inside and out. This is the person with experience but who can adapt as things change in your industry, and keep you on the cutting edge.

Top-Notch Sales and Service

Another key player is an amazing Sales Manager. This is the person who will create and cultivate leads, bring in sales, and close deals, providing you with the funds to hire more team members. This person must be passionate about sales, understand what they are selling, have the right tools to sell, and know how to sell it.

The Sales Manager is a personality that transcends, understands the product or tech, but is also someone who is going to provide helpful customer service. They will need to thereby create valuable customer relationships that will grow and serve your company.

Well-Managed Finances

And last, you need someone to handle the finances. While some positions are ideal to outsource like accounting, attorneys, payroll, legal and financial advisors, the position of Chief Financial Officer (CFO) should not be one of them.

It’s important to have someone to manage your company’s financial interests. This person will deal with everything from the day to day, to loans, or hiring the outsourced financial assistance that your company requires.

Determine What You Need From Your Hires

Now that you know the positions you are looking for, it’s important to identify the qualities that you will need in the individuals you seek. But it is also important to know what qualities you need in the body of the team that you ultimately assemble.

The What of Individuals

Your individual team members need to have some key qualities and attributes, regardless of position. If you look for these in your initial hires, you will be setting yourself up to create a real winning team.

You need to find people who understand and are invested in your mission and vision as a company. They also need to be able to wear many hats, which is crucial in the beginning days of a startup. Finding people who are strong in your areas of weakness will help your startup overcome any obstacles.

While you will be searching for people who are qualified, experienced, and competent, there is another element that may be even more important. You need people who are easygoing and can work well with others. Your team will be like a family, and that family needs to be able to live in harmony.

The What of the Team

In the spirit of your team acting like a family, certain elements of your team dynamic need to be in place to ensure success. These will be the backbone of your company’s culture and instrumental to the success and productivity of your team.

You must seek diversity. Your team will be strongest when you actively look to have people who differ from you. This will give a greater opportunity for ideas, points of view, input, and talents that you would not have brought to the conversation yourself.

You must also intentionally create a communicative culture. Everyone on your team needs to be able to express themselves and know that they are being heard. At the same time, everyone must be eager to listen and understand the thoughts and ideas of others in order to have a positive and enriching work environment.

There are still two more elements that all others will thrive or die as the result of. Those are trust and respect, in equal parts.

Your team must value each other’s unique roles and respect those differences. They also need to trust in one another and support each other in order to be successful.

What Questions To Ask

To find the right talent, you will have to talk to many potential employees. So, how will you be able to cut through the sea of unqualified candidates to find your perfect team?

You have to ask the right questions.

The questions you ask need to elicit answers that can give you an idea as to whether the person in front of you embodies the values that you seek in your team. So try asking questions that are less about their specific resume and more about how they react to situations and others.

Try questions like

• What’s one thing that upset you at your last position and how did you deal with it?
• What are your goals for the next year and how will you accomplish them?
• If you have a full list of things to do, how do you go about prioritizing them?

To Hire the Right Talent, Cast A Wide Net

To hire the right talent for your startup, you need to look in the right places and be creative in asking for what you need. Before you can find the talented team member you seek, you have to effectively describe what you are looking for.

You need to write an inviting and captivating job description that will make potential team members want to throw their hats in the ring. Share your unique vision and perspective. Tell them what makes your startup different and why they would want to be a part of this new world you are creating.

Make sure to be clear about what you expect from them, why you need them, what their specific role is in the structure of your company, and what their compensation will be.

Once you have figured out how to articulate what you’re looking for, you need to know how to find them and help them find you.

Recruitment Agencies

They are usually very connected and can cast a wide net to help you find exactly what you’re looking for. Skilled recruiters can be one of your best assets in matching you to just-right candidates.

Contractors

You can hire a specialist who will either seek out the talent for you or support you in finding them. But, this can be very expensive.

Networking

The most cost-effective approach may be to network with candidates via social media, industry events, recruitment sites, and job sites. However, this is a more hands-on approach and will require more work from you.

Timing is Key

Timing is everything in so many aspects of life, and your startup is no different. Knowing who you’re looking for, what you need from them, and how to find them, is crucial to the success of your start-up.

But, when do you hire your team? Some would say that you should hire your product development staff and salespeople first, thereby allowing you to scale up staffing when your product is selling. Others would say to staff from the top-down.

Your method of choice depends on your particular startup and its needs.

The most important thing is that you do not heksitate to snap up the people you need. The right talent will, no doubt, be highly sought after by several other companies. So, if they are the talent you need and they are available, move swiftly.

Now Hit the Ground Running

Your startup has all the potential in the world to be an amazing success. But finding the right talent for your team is vital to that success. You know what your startup has to offer the world, what you want your company’s culture to feel like, and what your goals are for your company. You just need to hire the right talent to share that vision.

Remember, to first figure out who you need. What positions and personalities do you need to create your core group to start. Are you hiring top-down or looking to build up sales first? Figure out which strategy is appropriate for your startup, then move to assemble your superstar team.

Don’t forget that what you are looking for is just as important as who. You must find people who have the qualities and abilities that mesh with your company’s vision. And these disparate personalities must combine to form a cohesive team. Remember, you will be spending much of your time together, so you’ll want your team to blend easily.

Once you know who and what you need, you will have to find them and move quickly to do it.  Cast a wide net by using a variety of resources. Recruiters, specialists, job sites, and networking are all great ways to acquire talent. And once you find them, snap them up quick!

Following these four tips, you will not only find the capable and experienced professionals you need but people who fit your company culture. If you hire the right talent for your startup, it will give it the best shot at success and create a work environment that is great for you and your entire team.