Hiring
challenges in Start Ups
With over $5 billion
worth investment in 2015 and 3 to 4 start ups emerging every day, India has
paved its way to secure the 3rd position in the world in terms of
the number of start ups.
Start up business is a
trend today with people excelling as entrepreneurs every day. They today
believe in having their own identity by coming out of their comfort zone of 9
to 5 and creating and inventing something better like never before, making
lives much easier for all. With less initial investment, more support of the
regulations, high consumer demands, resulting in a true revolution of start
ups.
Multiple factors like
business model, marketing strategy, finance, timing, ability of the
entrepreneur etc. determine the success and downfall of a start up. One such
factor that will help driving the business throughout is having a good team in
place. A team that can translate your vision into business success is an
absolute must.
Having said that,
hiring the right talent for a start up becomes a strenuous job. Though start
ups are an excellent source of learning and development, people today hardly
look out for a future with start ups. Because working for one, demands more
responsibility, ownership and passion for work with less pay out as compared to
the market trends. It makes one wear many hats. Hence, finding the right fit
definitely becomes a priority and challenge for the recruiter at any point of
time.
Challenges that each
one of us as recruiters would face while sourcing the right candidate at the
right time for any start up:
1.Managing
the hiring within the budget and with no compromise on quality
Everything
needs to be managed efficiently with limited budget when it comes to start ups.
It implies for hiring too but with no scope of missing on the quality
parameter. Start ups cannot afford to have a bad hire. Also it isn’t the fault with the job seekers
who look for good package as everyone has aspirations and definitely the need
to cope up with the current standard of living.
Initially
it may be surfaced as a challenge to hire experienced professionals, however recruiters
should not give up and look for similar qualities (if not the same qualification and experience) in a fresher or a
less experienced and try and give them the opportunity to prove their ability. With
the fresh minds and thoughts, these talents can do wonders (if backed up with necessary training and guidance) for your start
ups.
2.To
find out thoroughly passionate folks out of the lot
There
are umpteen job seekers in the market with appropriate qualification and
experience, still not all would be passionate for their work. The need of a job
will definitely make them sound confident and passionate but that necessarily
need not be seen while being on the job.
It’s
a big task to source the kind of people who truly love and respect their job. Not
many would go beyond their KRAs and do something big. Hence recruiters should
sharply understand the details of their achievements which help identifying their
performance consistency and tasks done beyond the routine job requirement.
3. Finding
the talent at the right time of the business
Today
in this very volatile economy, predicting the business situation is quite
challenging. Hence under this uncertain business scenarios, company need
sufficient people on board who can fulfil the changing business needs and grab
the most out of the opportunity. With less or insufficient people at work,
company may lose the work and at times good clients. It may also happen that the
limited workforce is overloaded with work, leaving them unsatisfied.
This uncertainty can be
thoughtfully managed by properly planning the manpower requirements beforehand (usually considering your industry trends). One
thing that delays the talent hiring is lengthy interview processes. It can be
curtailed by wisely taking quick decisions.
4.Sourcing
talent that gives strong brand, attractive benefits/perks, comfortable
infrastructures a side and opts for a challenging project
Good
brand, attractive packages, amazing infrastructure, strong employee base - who
would say NO to such opportunity. Though unsaid, people do look for these
things when they hunt for a job. It becomes a difficult task to make the
candidate understand of the challenging opportunity that is waiting for him/her.
To
overcome this, recruiters can first understand the candidates’ interests,
ambitions and priorities. It is important to understand the candidates’
priority and validating the same with your objective. Start ups definitely offer
bundles of learning and opportunities to the one who really looks forward for
it. One will be involved from conceptualization till the implementation and be
a part of all successes and pain areas.
5. A
Talent that perfectly fits your culture
A
candidate who fits all other criteria of the job should also be imperatively
assessed on the cultural fit. If the candidate is unable to match himself with
the culture, it is likely that he/she may quit the job at an early stage of
joining.
When
you look in for a cultural fit, you need to first know mission, vision and
values of your company. What is the mindset of the candidate and whether it
matches with your thoughts and experience? The candidate may have high
expectations from the company which should be right away cleared during the
interview rounds. This will make the potential candidate take a fair decision
on joining.
6.People
who can spice up their routine work and bring in more of creativity to the
table
People
at first go may seem enthusiastic and a go-getter but that necessarily does not
assure innovation and creativity. Start ups can scale up and compete with the
big fish only when there is creativity and newness to each small thing.
Doing
things differently, can give the start ups an edge over the other big
competitors. You can design interview tests that will bring out creativity of
the individual. Also you can create culture of innovation within the
organization by compelling teams to come out with new ideas and thoughts
7.A
resource that is highly committed to the work, company and its objectives
Every
individual come with their own defined life objectives hence they may join you
for various reasons but that necessarily need not be your company’s objective.
Some may join to merely learn the process or gain the experience with no
intention to contribute while few may turn up to use your company as a bridge
to reach their dream destination.
Hence,
with these hidden agendas of each, getting the right pick for your organization
becomes a continuous challenge.
For
these kinds of hiccups, recruiters should be thoroughly sure of the kind of
person they need. Start ups highly require folks who believe in them, their
vision and their ability. People who will own up things when given the
responsibility and will act as the real owners for the organization be it in
good or bad. Get people who have been volunteers for various initiatives in
their professional or educational background.
8. Promoting
your brand in a right way and to the right crowd
Start
ups do attract good talent but the brand needs to be placed rightly in the
market. It is every time painful when you approach a candidate and introduce
yourself, they fail to recognize you. In such a case, convincing them to join
you is even more stressful.
Before the brand’s
visibility, it is very much required that you make yourself visible to the
target audience. This will happen when you start interacting, meeting and
attending various workshops, seminars, training sessions where networking will
play a major role. Social networking sites definitely stands on the list, but
getting yourself noticed through philanthropist activities, as sponsors for tournaments
will give the entire branding strategy a boost. It is very much necessary that
recruiters themselves sound highly positive when describing about the company.
Conclusion:
With the unavoidable
presence of these roadblocks, entrepreneurs can still have a good team in place
by creating right working environment, culture that promotes growth and
development both professionally and individually and drafting policies and
strategies that benefits organization and employees.
- Content Courtesy: Ms. Preeja Sarin
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