Hiring staff with the right stuff

One of the most challenging aspects of a start-up is hiring.

At the end of the day, an organisation comes down to its people and how good they are at what they do. This is especially important in start-ups where employees cannot hide behind a partitioned cubicle.

Every dollar matters and every resource counts, so having the right team is generally the difference between succeeding and failing.

Budgets and forecasts are usually done around financials, however, forecasting your human resources is just as important, especially if you think you’ll be growing quickly.

As a founder I’m always looking for great people, as it’s very important to have an understanding of what I want the company to look like in the future.

I have created an organisational structure of what I’d like the business to become over time, in terms of positions and roles. In the same way as I would forecast revenue and costs, I have forecasted human resources.

I created a high-level organisation chart that projects the future organisational structure of the company. This can be shared with employees so that they understand your vision for the business as well. If you incentivise employees with an introduction payment, they will look for staff as well and become recruiters working for you.

At the beginning of the start-up, most of the work is done by the founders. They do almost everything in the example above, however over time as the business grows, or if you raise funds to fast track your success, you’ll need to put the right people on the right seats ahead of time to accelerate growth and scale.

This diagram is important as it provides some clarity about what the company will look like ahead of time. Every time I meet with someone in business, I ask myself whether they would be the right fit for someone on my chart in terms of culture, skill, etc.

If I like them, I will add their name to the position and start a conversation. I’ll also look to other organisations and try to work out who is behind their excellent work.