“Hire people who are better than you are, then leave them to get on with it. Look for people who will aim for the remarkable, who will not settle for the routine.” David Oglivy

Your startup is growing fast and you need more helping hands to take you to the next level. Congratulations on reaching this far on your journey as an entrepreneur, it is going to get a lot more exciting from here on . Hiring is perhaps one of the most critical as well as the most difficult functions that any company has to undertake. There is a reason why Jack Welch has stated that Head of HR should be at the same level as the CFO at a company. What a lot of startups end up doing when things are in a tizzy with growth is to hire the next guy who looks good on paper. We did the same in a couple of ventures earlier on  and suffered as a result. This is not a process you want to rush, each hiring decision you make is going to have a impact on your business and the smaller your organization the larger the impact. 

The entire objective of hiring is to find a resource who possesses the skill sets, abilities and personality traits which match the opening position. To identify skills sets and abilities is relatively straight forward. If you are looking for a web developer you will require proficiency in certain programming languages and cognitive abilities which can be gauged through the applicants resume, portfolio and ability tests. The tricky part comes when you are looking for specific personality traits. Not every web developer will be suited for your team. If you are a highly structured and analytical team and you find a brilliant developer who however has a strong preference for unstructured working environments you are most definitely going to have a problem very soon.

When I am consulting clients on hiring these are three factors that I ask them to identify prior to the development of a job description ;

1. Work place preferences: Some workplaces thrive in unstructured environments while others require a routine to function in. Other places value team work more than solo operations. You need to correctly identify what preferences have been put into place by your current team. This will allow you to define and clearly communicate to the applicants the environment they are going to be working in.

2. Intellectual capabilities: This is where you identify what sort of intellectual capabilities you are looking for in the designated role. Will the resource have to be involved in creative development work or heavy research position or in a position where he/she needs to be making many decisions. Each will require you to keep a look out for particular characteristics.

3. Personal Attributes: If your position requires the resource to motivate and energize teams then you will require someone who has high levels of energy and the capability to energize. They will require them to have immense passion and the ability to infuse it into the organization. If your position is research heavy and it doesn’t require the individual to be in such a position this attribute will not be necessary. Other attributes such as personal drivers are very important. Some individuals are purely driven by monetary compensation while others require less and more personal satisfaction. 

Formalize your list into a framework and you will be clearer as to what sort of individual you need to succeed at your organization.

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