People who work as a team in a Startup have a massive effect and role in ensuring that their Startup not only gets off the ground but also becomes a success in the near future. For this to happen, the Startup HR Team & the Startup Founder has to have a right combo of skill sets to prove the business model works as planned.
It is also important that the Startup Team is capable to influence investors to finance the startup for its expansion and achievement of its goals. Hence we have covered here some 20 Strategies which a Startup HR team / startup founder / CEO must consider for building a skilled startup team :
Learn from your Business rivals. Assess and study their business models and identify major gaps in your startup. Business models may differ but the skill set required may more or less align with your startup model.
It is also important to identify and follow the most respected rival in your industry.
Before going to build a Startup team, it is inevitable to analyze the Founder’s skill set and capabilities. This would define the roles for those who are to be selected. For example , if both the co-founders are having technical expertise, its implied to sign up someone who does lever the marketing challenge and not hover upon the technical side too much.
Evaluate the competitors’ strengths and capabilities too. The gap between these capabilities needs to be filled up by hiring people with missing strengths to close the capabilities gap.
Hiring must also be based on the Startup’s core values set either unilaterally or in conjunction with the startup founder and/or employees. Develop a hiring process that screens for candidates who act in accordance with those core values.
Search for complimentary skill sets. If team members have different strengths and are essential to startup’s success, the chances of raising a fund may increase. It is important that the founders’ skills complement one another to help the venture grow.
Outsourcing may be a way out in some cases. It may be possible that the startup team may be doing good , but its expansion may be hindered due to lack of capital . In such cases, the Startup HR may go for selective outsourcing. It may be considered as a temporary solution till adequate capital is injected.
Rethink and redesign about the Startup’s required capabilities at regular intervals. Your startup may have entered a phase where you may have to shed off or replace certain team members based on their performance and appraisal. Frequent appraisals are a must in a startup to ensure the venture is sailing in the right direction and at the right speed.
Avoid overlapping skills . It is important to see whether the skills overlap among the Startup team. This may tend to create conflict rather than providing insights . In case of overlapping skills, its important to remove the member with less valuable skill set from the startup team. Such act may sound callous , but is inevitable .
Send job descriptions to people known to your startup who are well connected to potential employees and can recommend candidates to your Startup. Search for candidates with desired skill sets on social media platforms such as LinkedIn. Conduct detailed reference checks in order to get an objective assessment of the skill sets of candidates.
Before offering a permanent position in your startup, consider hiring candidates for a consulting assignment.
Know the actual number of headcounts your startup would need before proceeding for the interview phase.
Considering the Startup culture is also vital while screening the candidate. What behavior do you want to see in your Startup Team and how do you want your Startup Team to act / react and make decisions?
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