Success is a product of variety of factors. Hard work, unique skills, and the perfect timing are important, but also elements outside your control such as luck. The more you remove the latter from the equation, the better off you and your team will be. Building a great culture, hiring skilled individuals and forming an amazing team allows you to determine your own luck.
1. Investors invest in people, not ideas
As much as you like your idea and believe that the market conditions are perfect, the truth is that most companies will change and adapt their product down the road. Look for example at Slack, which was created to build a game. Or Instagram, which started out as a Foursquare-like check-in app. What those companies have in common, is a strong team that was able to take fresh ideas and build new products until they became the success they are today. The people working at those companies were able to adapt, change and build a great product. Great investors know that, despite the importance of a potentially big market or a significant enough problem to be solved, the team is the key reason for success and therefore a determinant to eventually invest.
Great people build great products, get great customers and build a great company. As simple as it sounds, doing it right is very difficult. Of course, you will face a lot of challenges in the early days, but the more successful you are, the bigger your teams get, the harder it will be to keep your team members aligned and your company on track. Empowering your team and getting out of the way is key, but only if you hire the right people.
3. Great people attract great people
Almost nothing is more attractive for a talented job seeker than a team of highly skilled colleagues. With every great person that joins your team, the team gets better, and it will also get easier to attract the next person. Hiring is a self-fulfilling prophecy and it gets simpler over time. The hardest part obviously is to get everything started. How do you hire the first employee if you don’t have an amazing team that everybody is talking about? Solving this ‘chicken-egg’ problem is crucial for getting your company off the ground.
4. Culture is more than the sum of every team member
Even if you hire only smart individuals, despite their respective skill sets, you won’t automatically create a high-performing team. Great teams are generally a group of amazing individuals mixed together in the right way. The glue between the outstanding senior engineer and the young up-and-coming designer and the magic that makes sales work well with the product is having the right culture. The job of a leader is to facilitate discussions, offer a vision and set the guard rails. Nothing defines culture more than actions, and your team can’t do it right unless you provide the guidance they need.
5. Make use of a recruitment consultant who knows the vision and culture of your company
The faster you figure out if somebody fits in your team and the quicker you can evaluate the skills of an applicant, the better it is for you and your company. It is important to understand that it’s not just about you interviewing a candidate. A good way to save time is to use a recruitment consultant who knows the vision and understands the culture of your company. Gemini Personnel can, for example, set-up a hiring process that involves your team.
Every growing company faces challenged, so the best thing to get help from an experienced recruitment consultant with industry experience, since he or she will be aware of best practices when it comes to hiring in your industry. Since it’s all about people, hiring will make the difference between success and failure.
Looking for someone to support your hiring process? Please contact one of our consultants via gemhq@gemini.com.hk
Source: www.entrepreneur.com
