Hire For New Skill Sets
Business owners and top managers might focus on hiring individuals with particular strengths that mirror their own, because they know how to find them. While there is nothing wrong with that, you need to identify new skills that your organization does not currently hold and fill in the gaps. Often, unfamiliar skills are precisely the ones that your business will need to grow and gain a competitive edge.
For instance, currently, you might have a team that is so good at product design and operations. But they are not good at collecting and analyzing data. You want to find a data wizard to provide you with smart insights to make sense of what the information means for your business. This way, you will get more opportunities to grow your business because your new talent pool will enable you to make better decisions.
Leverage the Power of Networking
It's wise to embrace the fact that regardless of how intelligent you are, there are people who will always know at least a bit more than you in their area of expertise. This is where networking comes in - if you can leverage the power of your connections and their connections in turn, you have the best source of talent at your disposal.
It's normal to feel that someone might steal your ideas if you talk about it, but that should not stop you. Execution makes the difference between success and failure. Leverage your advisors, board members, family, and friends. Stay as open-minded as possible and be on the lookout for talent.
3. Go for Utility Players
When your business is still in its initial stages, you'll need to go for individuals and can and want to wear as many hats as possible. At this stage, it is usually not a great idea to go for specialists who are loath to walk out of their comfort zone and try something different. By doing this, you will be creating a team of employees with a wide range of skills that your business will significantly benefit from, and laying the groundwork for your C-suite team.
The good thing is that you will less likely be paying them to try new things once in a while. As your business grows, you'll have plenty of opportunities to hire specialists or bring in agencies with that talent. Think about coming up with an organization chart that entails functions only, without any names. Think of it as a game plan to enhance the growth of your business' team. Once a new employee comes in, share these things with them, and encourage them to ask for clarifications.
4. Incentivize The Behavior You Need
Whether you are an entrepreneur or a top manager of a company, the steps you use to build your team will significantly impact the growth of your company. Thus, you must only hire individuals who will move the business in the direction you want. If your team sustains a specific performance or behavior that you want to continue, you need to reward them accordingly.
This means primarily that you recognize and are sensibly impressed with their efforts. This can be done in many ways. A simple approach would be in the form of a small thank you note and acknowledging what they bring to the team. It can give you an excellent chance to retain and create rapport with your current employees. Offering stock options to early employees is a great way to set the right incentives as well.
5. Find the Right Funding to Grow
In the early stages of building a company, only two things matter - hiring and funding. We've covered the first, now to find out how to fund your new team. There are different ways to get finance as an early-stage company, but equity finance is one of the ones that are considered most important. This means selling stock to VCs, Angels, and sometimes Friends and Family. Another option would be debt. It can be tough for an early-stage company to obtain a loan, but there are other methods of debt funding. If the company is investing in new technology, a good option can be R&D finance. This form of funding allows a company to access its R&D tax incentive funding well in advance and is available worldwide, as, for example, financing the R&D tax credit in the UK or SR&ED in Canada. This enables you to reinvest in your team at a crucial moment, often on the steepest part of your growth curve.
6. Have High Standards
As a business owner or the company CEO, you must have high standards and make them known. Each of your employees must have objectives that are clearly defined. This will help you know who is performing according to the rules and who is not. However, you need to be approachable so that your juniors do not hesitate to share any issues with you. By having high standards and making them known, you will create an excellent environment for your team's improved productivity.
The Bottom Line
Growing your team should be your top priority as a business owner. Begin by drawing a clear organizational map and sticking to it. When adding new employees, make sure they have the complementary skills your business needs to grow.
