Startup owners confront many challenges. Forming a good team is undoubtedly one of them. A passionate team is a pillar to realizing the vision of any start-up. However, due to the cash crunch, lack of branding, and experience in hiring, startups may face many hurdles in attracting top talent. To overcome such challenges, every startup needs a hiring strategy.
As you move along in this article, you will see a 11-step hiring strategy for startups that helps build a dream team that drives the company towards success.
Table of Contents
Step #1: Analyse the Cost-Benefit of Your Hire
Calculating return on investment is an indispensable aspect for startups, even while making a new hire. A new joiner might need training and time to adjust to the process and deliver as expected. However, not always do a startup have the luxury to provide such time for the candidate.
To overcome this challenge:
- Choose new hires only after making a thorough analysis of the ROI you expect of them.
- Have a clear sense of work that you expect the candidate to do.
- Estimate how much your company can benefit from their productivity.
- Quantify the benefits that this candidate will bring in the long run.
In your startup hiring strategy plan, include the following costs to make the cost-benefit analysis of the employee:
- Cost of Hiring
- Salary
- Taxes
- Benefits
- Training, and
- Onboarding
If the employee is remote, you may skip the equipment and infrastructure costs such as the internet bills and working space. Else, they also need to be included in the cost-benefit analysis list.
Now weigh this against the benefits that the candidate is going to bring in for you. It may be in the form of business leads, growth, and technical development, or other tasks that you are hiring them for.
Go ahead in making the hire only if the weightage is more on the company side. Else, you may end up in a negative cash flow situation.
“Any time is a good time to start a company.” –Ron Conway, Noted Startup Investor, SV Angel
Also Read: Remote Hiring Essentials
Step #2: Treat Candidates Like You Treat Your Customers
Candidates are often likely to fancy established companies over startups. The reasons can be many. From job stability and security to a sense of brand feeling, big companies draw most candidates’ attention with ease.
Hence, to win over the cream of the crop, pay attention to the candidates that apply for your openings. Respond to them right away to eliminate the risk of losing them to your competitors.
For a company, creating the first impression on an employee begins with recruiting. So, when working on your startup hiring strategy plan, make it a point to treat the candidates like you treat your customers.
“Always treat your employees exactly as you want them to treat your best customers.” –Stephen R. Covey, Author
Step #3: Leverage Employee Referrals
Candidates joined with referrals of the existing employees stick longer than outside hires. Besides, choosing a candidate through employee referrals cuts down the hiring costs too.
Thus, incorporating referrals in startup hiring strategy is a win-win to save both time, effort, and cost.
Hiring is the most important people function you have, and most of us aren’t as good at it as we think. Refocusing your resources on hiring better will have a higher return than almost any training program you can develop. – Laszlo Bock, Co-founder, and CEO of Humu and Author of Work Rules
Step #4: Try Non-Conventional Hiring
Who said the hiring strategy has to include only resume screening all the time? These are the times when out-of-the-box ideas win. A startup hiring strategy plan should embrace this principle too.
Try unconventional hiring methods to build your dream team.
You could meet your next CEO at a business meet or a seminar.
A top-rated technical architect may grab your attention at a business lunch, and maybe you are looking for such a candidate to head your Technology wing.
A blog or personal website that you come across might show you another candidate with the spark you are looking for.
Step #5: Understand the Power of Outsourcing Recruitment
Startups need candidates that can deliver from day one. Outsourcing your talent acquisition can often be the quickest means of finding pre-vetted candidates that can perform from the beginning.
Collaborate with proven recruiting agencies that can provide the top-notch talent you require. This way, you can maximize the return on the investment besides staying worry-free about choosing that perfect pick for the role.
Also Read: How to choose a recruitment agency?
Step #6: Leverage Gig Talent Pool
Hiring a freelancer or a contract employee is a wise idea for startups. Many freelancers love taking up challenging works that startups do offer. Besides, by hiring a freelancer, you cut down all costs related to software and infrastructure.
In the same way, taking in a contract employee for a short term will get the tasks done for you within budget. Depending on the wavelength match and the project needs, you could consider extending the contract or turning the employee into a full-time one.
Also Read: How to Leverage the Gig Economy?
Step #7: Handpick Employees with Startup Experience
Often, candidates may need to juggle many roles in a startup. The working experience in startups is way different from those in established companies. Startups love candidates that are fast, quick, and agile and can deliver results in short timelines.
Thus, your perfect candidate should also be a Jack of All to save time and cost. Hence, prioritize candidates who have experience working in startups and are familiar with the startup work style and culture.
Hire people who are smarter than you are—whose talents surpass yours—and give them opportunities for growth. It’s the smart thing to do and it is a sign of high personal humility. Bruna Martinuzzi, author of The Leader as a Mensch: Become the Kind of Person Others Want to Follow
Step #8: Make the Maximum of Recruitment Tools and Technology
Filtering candidates and scheduling interviews is a time taking task. When you do not have a full-fledged human resources team, handling the whole recruitment process can be more than daunting.
This is why your startup hiring strategy plan should make the maximum use of recruitment software and tools. They automate and streamline the end-to-end process from job notification to onboarding. It leaves you with ample time to focus on other aspects that need more attention.
Also Read: List of Best Recruitment Tools
Step #9: Assess the Candidates Holistically
Startups need candidates that can handle multiple tasks with no qualms. Thus, look for skills in the candidate that is beyond your need for filling the role. In your startup hiring strategy plan, incorporate assessment techniques to test their out of box thinking skills in your hiring strategy.
While interviewing a candidate, see how good they are at problem-solving. Pose questions about their interests and expertise beyond their skill set mentioned in the resume. You never know how the candidate might turn a savior in handling the challenges your company might face as it moves ahead.
Also Read: How to personalize recruitment?
Step #10: Tweak your Hiring Strategy to Attract Millennials
Millennials love exploring new challenges. Paying special attention to millennials in your startup hiring strategy plan is imperative. They need a workplace that satiates their thirst for learning and growth in addition to paying a big fat paycheck.
- Provide facilities for learning, training, and scope to share their ideas and thoughts freely.
- An open-door policy will give wings to the thoughts of passionate and enthusiastic workers and will retain their interest in your company for long.
- Millennials are increasingly preferring flexible job options. Provide your candidates with the freedom to work remotely or from the premises as per their preferences.
- Pass the message that you are hiring reputed universities and campuses to draw fresh and energetic talent into your team.
- Grab the best of the millennial talent from the applicant pool by mentioning policies that encourage their learning and certifications.
Also Read: How to hire and retain millennials?
Step #11: Establish a Strong Brand Presence through Content Marketing
Branding through content marketing is an often-ignored aspect when it comes to hiring strategy. Remember that candidates will research your startup to understand what you do and who you are.
Startups need to be visible to the candidates and clients equally. Leverage the power of content marketing to build your branding and emerge at the top of the competition.
- Establish a brand presence for your startup and draw the audience’s attention towards your brand through effective content marketing.
- Maintain an active appearance on social media.
- Share your expertise through blogs. Answer readers’ woes through innovative posts.
- Make a dynamic presence on forums and content platforms. Talk about your services and also about the pain points of your prospective customers.
Thus, all these content marketing efforts will amplify your branding, thus drawing the best talent towards your startup.
I’ve learned over the years that, when you have really good people, you don’t have to baby them. By expecting them to do great things, you can get them to do great things. – Steve Jobs, American business magnate, co-founder of Apple
Running a startup begins with forming a team that works seamlessly under any challenging situations. Choosing performing candidates that fit into your dynamic workplace and that can deliver from day one is not easy when you follow a routine hiring strategy.
Include these steps mentioned above in your startup hiring strategy and attract the best candidates to propel your brand’s journey.
- Are you a startup owner looking for vetted candidates?
- Confused between hiring a full time candidates or freelancers?
- Planning to save costs by leveraging plug-and-play teams?
Cloudely Inc. is known for its global tech-recruiting capabilities, in full-time
and part-time staffing. We have been providing high-calibre vetted tech candidates to industry giants in the USA and India for years.
Get in touch with us to form your dream team in your budget and timelines and accomplish your startup’s vision.
You can find us here: LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Mail us at hello@cloudely.com. Schedule an appointment at your convenience.
