How to scale your startup with the best talent

The age of startups is still mature and strong. It has been estimated by Worldwide Business Startups that each year, 50 million startups are started; this translates to an average of 137,000 startups per day.

The perception that they are a paradise alternative to blue collar jobs is fading by the day. Currently, MBA holders are now ready to work for companies that have over 10,000 employees and also startups that have less than 100 employees.

This means that startups have to build a talent management capability early enough if they have to attract and retain talent to secure funding and grow their business. The sad fact is that most startups don’t take this road. Most startups are focused on getting more bodies through their doors and hope for the best down the road.

Now, for startups to secure top talent in their businesses, the six timeless best practices we are going to look at are used for entrepreneurial leaders to grow their business.

Hire for long-term purposes
Hiring with short-term thinking is a wrong way to approach talent recruitment. Most startups hire for the urgent tasks that are needed, instead of the talent they need down the road. Startups should focus on the level of skill needed in a leader or from a technical person, and not the immediate needs. It is important to know that every hire you make will contribute to your brand and in the attraction of more talent later on.

Startups should focus on critical time horizons. When you carefully plan for the next six, twelve- and eighteen-months windows, it can reveal important skills that may be required later. If you hire people who can learn the skills you need later and still deliver on the immediate needs, that is a great investment.

Identify the skills you are selecting for
This is a basic point, but vital. If you identify the attributes and skills you need, and how you can cultivate upon them, you are on the right track; a resume can’t tell you that. When you identify your own strategy and the needed capabilities, you are at an advantage. It is recommended for an entrepreneur to look at three critical areas when hiring the right talent. Leadership skills, the technical path, and the emotional maturity to deal with the unknown.

Candidates need to demonstrate their level of proficiency in the areas stated above through simulations, work product demos, behavioural interviews and other approaches that cement their confidence in what you are looking for, besides their career histories.

Hire remote employees
It can be tough to hire the talent you are looking for in your local area; if you find yourself in this situation, consider hiring remote employees. The advantages of remote hiring are that you have a wide range of talent to can pick from, you can get services from professional talent, and you also avoid incurring huge expenses on a monthly basis because you only pay them for services rendered. In case you don’t opt for remote employees, you can allow flexible working hours for your employees, such that, a few days a week employees work from the office while the rest of the week employees work from home. This can help keep your talent or attract new talent to your business.

Create roles that are scalable for people who are growing
Developing a futuristic organization is something that should be done with certainty. It is important for a company to shift from doing every kind of business to a more specialized business. An entrepreneur needs to design the future of the organization especially at key milestones that require funding.

What a startup needs when you need an MVP funding is different from the initial round of investment from VC’s in what is called Series A funding. Many startups are run by inexperienced people who are not aware of how to scale their businesses. If clear roles are not formed with clear expectations, the right people might not know what to do unless they are told on a constant basis. When a business establishes learning processes and routine coaching practices, it helps to ensure that getting the right knowledge to the team help when the business scales and specialized work becomes the norm.

Don’t delay releasing some talent.
It is not easy to avoid early business turnover which most leaders are not prepared. During the development testing phase, preparing for pitches, and executing short-term objective, leaders can lose skills just like that. It might be due to the wrong hire, need for different skills, or failure to provide coaching. Whatever the case, don’t ignore the need to upgrade your talent, if you delay it, it can cause pain to your business later.

Great practices for talent management are not for mature organizations only; every startup can instil the disciplines needed to attract the right talent, and develop the talent for long-term viability. It will cost you dearly if you fail to invest now.