Startups face the unique challenge of building a team in a short time. Human Resources is probably the last department that emerges within startups. This makes startup hiring challenging and is a great responsibility as the success of the startup primarily depends on the people who work for it. If you are working on your startup, going through this hiring challenge list will help you plan better.
1. Navigating hiring without Human Resources
Most startup founders do not have experience in hiring or the budget to bring a human resource team on board. If you are in the same boat, you are probably using your network to its limits to find the right person for the job, but there is always something missing. Start with what skill sets you need and which ones would be good to have. Most people obsess over ‘nice-to-haves’ too much and hire someone who is not the right fit at all. Even better, freelance your hiring and make your life effective and easier.
2. Fewer monetary benefits to offer
It is a known fact that startups cannot compete with the salaries of established businesses, especially if they have not captured good venture capital yet. However, this should never be an excuse to settle for a mediocre team. Try innovative ways through which you can let the candidates know that there are other fringe benefits of joining your startup. You can hire a consultant and discuss a strategy regarding that option. Popular ways of bringing the best candidates have been providing them shares or incentives that reduce their day-to-day expenses.
3. There is not enough time
You have a double challenge: finding someone excellent in a short time. Most startups only get one out of the two. The luxury of having months at your disposal to finalize hiring is only for big businesses that have built themselves to a point where other employees can take up the work if there is an empty spot. With startups, everyone already has too much on their plate.
To solve this, stick to a short process and make it simplistic. Even when you are tempted to have four meetings before hiring, stop yourself before it hurts your startup. Think more about the return on your effort. However, if you want your sweet time to think, outsource any immediate tasks until you find yourself in a good position to make decisions.
You always have the option of being more flexible by offering remote jobs to candidates that could be extremely valuable to your startup. Do not lose hope, as this is a game of patience and persistence. Hold on to those, be mindful of the challenges, and be in a good position to take off your startup. You can always reach out to Synerge for vetted and expert freelance talent for your startup!
