Did you know that the number three reason startups fail is they were unsuccessful hiring the right team in the beginning?
Because of this, we want to look at what you should do and look for when putting together your new company’s team.
Let’s look at five tips for startups making their first few hires.
Tip #1: Hire Early
If you can afford it, begin hiring your staff as soon as you need them. While the budget might be tight at first, you’ll benefit from having extra brainpower in your early days.
Plus, you might find that someone who joins your startup in the early days is more invested in your company than someone you hire in year three.
When you hire early, you can get more done. It’s easy to delegate tasks so you can focus on growing your business.
Think about all the things you could get done if you add some help, and the added expense soon seems worth it.
Tip #2: Check Aptitude
Any good candidate can put forth a good resume and cover letter, and many of them are great during the interview.
Important to you, though, is whether they can start, roll up their sleeves and get to work.
Vet your new hires thoroughly. Then, ask them to complete a task for you.
For example, if you’re hiring a marketing person, ask them to design a product email for you with a fruitful call to action. Or, if you’re hiring a sales person, ask them to sell you something.
This helps you separate the great resumes and interviews with those who also have some actual aptitude.
Tip #3: Use Multiple Interviewers
Let’s say you have a partner, and you’ve already hired a product developer.
When conducting your interviews, you want each of these team members to interview potential new hires.
Because a startup begins small, you want to ensure that each member of your team is fit for your company culture.
It’s vital that you all can get along with and work well with your new hires. Interview your best candidates several times to make sure the fit is right.
Tip #4: Take Care of Legalities
Hiring employees and paying them involves some legal-ease.
Before making your first few hires, you want to make sure you consult a lawyer or outsourced human resources team.
You’ll most likely want an employment contract, policies and procedures, an employee handbook, information on benefits, and more.
You’ll also need someone to help you with the federal, state and local paperwork and filings you need to take care of when processing payroll and managing employees.
Tip #5: New-Hire Onboarding
The most important thing you can do for a new hire is to have a terrific new-hire onboarding experience.
Your onboarding should involve more than a half day session covering your policies and procedures (which, by the way, you should have before hiring anyone).
Create an agenda for new hires that spans over a week time frame. Assign them a mentor if you can spare the time.
Not only should you talk about job expectations and go over the employee handbook, but you want to firmly install your company culture in the mind of the new hire.
They should be as well-versed in your mission, vision and goals as you are.
Final Thoughts
Taking the leap and hiring your first staff members is scary and exhilarating all at the same time. It means you’ve actually “arrived.”
You do want to follow these tips, so you make sure you hire right the first time around.
Having to let employees go and then conduct the job search, interviews and on-boarding all over again takes time away from your work and costs you a lot of extra money.
Finally, help your new team members feel like they’re part of the family. Provide them benefits, have an open-door policy, and provide them with the resources they need to be active, productive members of your team.
Are you a new startup ready to succeed? Are you looking to get your new business off the ground and watch it rise to success? We are here for you. We can help answer your questions and guide you through the process. Outsource your HR duties, finances, payroll and more to us. Contact Escalon today to get started.
