Recruitment and Selection Strategies for Building a Strong Team

Entrepreneur’s Toolkit: www.marsdd.com/entrepreneurs-toolkit.html

HR Workbook 1: Building an A-Team
HR Workbook 2: Compensation
HR Workbook 3: HR at Work

Creating an HR plan: Butteriss on human resources
Building HR processes, policies and procedures
Compensating employees
Hiring your friends: Is it such a good idea?

Video: Human Capital: Building high performance teams
Video: Human Resources Management

Margo Crawfordbusiness sherpa

business sherpa group
trusted. capable. results-driven

Start-Up Recruiting
Building Your A-team


Introduction

GOAL

Share practical realities of building an
A-team in a start-up environment

Tips, tools and lessons learned


Introduction

September 10th 12:00 – 1:00 PM (Room CR2)
focus on recruitment and selection when
building start up teams
compensation and rewards strategies/tools
unique look at sales recruitment and sales
compensation plans


Background

Business Sherpa
  Virtual VP of HR supporting start-ups, early-stage
companies and social venture enterprises
  25+ years of HR experience (10+ years in start-ups)
  HR Professional of the Year Ottawa 2006
  Co-founder of Meriton Networks (optical networking
start-up) from formation to sale 8 years later
  Supporting start-ups in Toronto and Ottawa over past
2.5 years as Business Sherpa


Unique Issues of a Start-up

Founders
  May be in leadership roles whether they should be or
not!
  Founders are the foundation with biases & preferences
– some good some bad

Money
  You have it ….then you are running out of it
  Over-filling the ranks will consume your cash quickly


Unique Issues of a Start-up

Geographic Challenges
  Where you form may not be where your ‘talent’ lives
  Customers will impact who and where you recruit for
some roles

Market Timing
  Don’t get multiple shots at hitting the market window
at the right time – anticipating vs. reacting even more
critical
  Miss-hiring and losing time can be a devastating blow
vs. an annoying inconvenience

Building a Team – Recruitment 101

Your best shot at getting it right

Plan well

Search creatively

Choose wisely


Financial
Technical

Customer
Milestones

Milestones

Milestones
Milestones

Recruitment
Early Seed Proof of Formation

CEO

PLM
CFO

CTO
(P/T?)
Customer Funding Concept
BD

Lead
HR
(P/T?)

BD/
Series A

Sales
V.1
Customer Product

R&D Sr. R&D
Trials
Year 1
Ready

Marcomms
Company
Launch V.1 GA
Strategic

SE’s
Product

R&D
Revenue

QA Int./Jr.
Strategic

Admin.
Support

Sales
Customer

(Hunter)
Sales Series B
Year 2
V.2
(F/T)

VP
CFO

Sales
Repeat Product
Aim

Sales
+ Margin
New Revenue
Sales
Accounts
VP

(Farmer)
V.2 GA Year 3
Marketing

Product
Yearly
Accountant COO?

Repeat Revenue
Sales Growth
HR
(F/T?)

Sales
Support
Hire

V.1
New Sustaining
Accounts Series C
Year 4
Planning around key milestones = precision hiring

Repeat Quarterly
Support
Customer

Sales Revenue V.2
Growth Sustaining
New
Accounts Year 5

IPO/M&A

Ready Aim Hire

Key Observations About Recruitment Milestones
HR Admin.
CEO CFO Accountant COO?
(P/T?) Support HR
CFO (F/T)
Recruitment (P/T?) (F/T?)

R&D Sr. R&D VP
Milestones CTO QA Int./Jr. Marketing
Lead R&D Customer
BD/ Marcomms VP Sales Sales
Sales Support
PLM SE’s Sales (Farmer) Support
Sales (Hunter)

Identify Pillar Hires
  Key to success, but timing may differ depending on budget, sector,
market, technology, customers, etc.
Creatively Fill Gaps
  Functions must get done, even if you can’t hire
  Consider all options advisors; part-time/virtual support; contract out;
technology licensing
VP-level Not Necessarily First Hire
  Consider what must get done – do you need a ‘doer’ or a ‘builder’?

Ready Aim Hire

Key Observations – Recruitment Milestones
HR Admin.
CEO CFO Accountant COO?
(P/T?) Support HR
CFO (F/T)
Recruitment (P/T?) (F/T?)

R&D Sr. R&D VP
Milestones CTO QA Int./Jr. Marketing
Lead R&D Customer
BD/ Marcomms VP Sales Sales
Sales Support
PLM SE’s Sales (Farmer) Support
Sales (Hunter)

Building Up Headcount – Easy Solution
  Very tempting to over-hire early in order to accelerate timelines
  Can seriously affect the burn rate; or consume future key headcount
Be Prepared to Swap Out
  Reality of limited time/funds/people
  Think strategically

Consider Timing
  Recruitment can take from 1 – 3 months; plan accordingly

Ready Aim Hire

Establish Key Recruitment Funnels
  Initially based on your pillar hires
  Based on key hires over time
Continue to Fill The Hopper
  When sourcing candidates, keep all funnels in mind – fill the hopper as
good candidates uncovered

Development Sales Product Marketing
Mgmt.


Ready Aim Hire

Finding Talent – time & $$$
High Cost
Process
Executive Search

Head Hunters Spending more $$$ does
not necessarily reduce
time nor improve results.

Internal HR

Employee Referral
Program

Job Board
Social Networking Employee Trusted Individual
Low Cost Recommendations Word of Mouth Endorsement
Process
Low Credibility High Credibility
Sourcing Sourcing


Ready Aim Hire

Resources To Help

Internal HR Team
  Full time may not be affordable
  Virtual HR being widely adopted for start-ups – can provide tremendous
value in supporting effective recruitment at a fraction of the cost of
head hunters

Networking
  Tremendous networks to support companies: team; MaRS; Board;
advisors; investors; former colleagues; schools


Ready Aim Hire

Recruiters
  DO NOT handoff your recruitment – requires time and management
  Expensive 20% - 25% of starting salary – use selectively
  Keep focused on roles that are most challenging
  Manage tightly and demand results – or change
  Use limited recruiters at once – can be very overwhelming otherwise
  Select firms that have specialized in your sector
  Terms: contingency only and no exclusivity

Executive Search
  Use only as needed and for most senior level roles
  Typical terms 30 – 35% of starting salary and usually a retainer involved
  Used very strategically and NOT as the first tool in the tool kit


Ready Aim Hire

Typical Approach:

Website (maybe?)
Job
Descriptio
n POST Job Boards

Paper

Engage
Recruiters


Ready Aim Hire

Typical Result:

Job
Onslaught
Descriptio
n of
responses

Engage
Recruiters


Ready Aim Hire

Signs of ineffective Recruitment:
  Looking at resumes sporadically – as they come in OR as you can get to
them
  Interviewing candidates weeks apart
  In a continual state of wanting to see who else might be out there
  Changing requirements while recruiting
  Interviewing on the fly
  Preparation for an interview is re-reading the resume

Reality of start-up environment
  There are many pressures and fires to be put out – recruitment will not
remain the highest priority throughout the recruitment process
  Resources are thin – so support to manage the process is often not there
  Conditions constantly changing


Ready Aim Hire

Keys to Effective Recruitment in a Start-Up:

1.  Process

2.  Description

3.  Choice


Ready Aim Hire

Process
  Tight recruitment process will save time and improve results
  Create a project plan for each recruitment effort
  Have all resources work to this plan and key decision points

Stage 1 – create a recruitment funnel
  Job postings – on targeted sites
  Recruiters – internal and external as appropriate
  Strategic search – source from networks

Stage 2 – develop long list
  High quality match resumes only
  Do not screen ad hoc – review large sets of resumes at once
  Do not allow recruiters to feed resumes in a trickle

Ready Aim Hire

Stage 3 – identify short list:
  Best matches
  Aim for 6 – 8 - do not start interviewing until you have this
Stage 4 – 1st round interviews:
  Make interviews structured and consistent
  Interview with others – efficient; easier to assess candidate (can
have several interviewer groups)
  Prepare questions – connect to job description
Stage 5 – 2nd round interviews/testing:
  Introduce a ‘testing’ component – e.g. do a presentation for you
  Aim for 3 top candidates
Stage 6 – references and offer:
  Get permission for references (think about who should conduct
references) Margo Crawfordbusiness sherpa

Ready Aim Hire

Sample Recruitment Plan:


Ready Aim Hire

Description
  Becomes an essential filter for automated and
manual search mechanisms
  A guidepost to keep selection on track

Job
Descriptio
n

A vanilla job description will
produce vanilla results.

Ready Aim Hire

Features of Excellent Job Postings for Start-Ups

  Clearly articulates ‘table steaks’ skills
  Paints a real picture of the ideal candidate
  Sells the opportunity through role, technology, industry, etc.
  Has a deadline to match recruitment plan


Ready Aim Hire

Reaching Out – advertising your GREAT opportunity
  Job Boards – 2 types
  Those that cost a lot and reach millions of candidates
  Those that cost little and reach targeted audiences
  User groups
  Business/professional networks
  Professional associations
  Alumni associations
  Etc.

  Print ads – don’t!!! Useless for start ups for $$$
  Web site – may or may not be an option (stealth vs. launched)
  Word of mouth – ALWAYS – use advisors, board, investors,
colleagues
  Social Networking


Ready Aim Hire

Social Networking has completely changed the game…..
  Previously company phone lists were a protected asset
  Now – access to everyone
  Problem is the clutter has multiplied
  One network can access millions
  Everyone is a ‘friend’ and can recommend a candidate – with no way of
validating the quality of the reference

SO how do you
find and reach
your stars? Margo Crawfordbusiness sherpa

Ready Aim Hire

Best Professional Networking Tool

Pro’s
  Access to millions of professionals in all industries, professions
and geographies
  Career focused
  Provides access to contacts useful beyond recruitment
Con’s
  Access to millions of professionals in all industries, professions
and geographies
  Unreliable filtering of quality candidates
  Adoption just picking up in Canada – network is still light

Ready Aim Hire

Tips on effectively using Linked In
  Post opportunities – about $150/posting
  Take every opportunity to build network in all geographies and
industries
  Use search capabilities
  Reach out to candidates – customized and personal
  Leverage common contacts, or marquee roles/industries/
technology
  When searching – look at what other funnels you can fill
  Update company’s profile – update key events


Ready Aim Hire

Choice
  Biggest failure in recruiting is to have one to choose from
  THIS IS NOT A CHOICE!!
  Never stop at the front end of the process (filling the funnel)
until a candidate is hired
  Do not be left in a default position

AIM TO HAVE A CHOICE
OF 3


Ready Aim Hire

Choosing is the biggest challenge of all!!
  Who YOU like the best may not be best for the company
  Interview – a balance of asking and selling – hard to know what you are
seeing
  Comparing candidates over a protracted process is difficult to do
  Interviews easily drift off course
  Interviewing is mentally exhausting
  A tendency to like or dislike; be cynical or wanting to make candidates
feel comfortable can take away from the evaluation process
  A highly faulty process!!! Be aware of this and plan accordingly.


Ready Aim Hire

Mitigating the Risks:
  Prepare questions based on the job description – ask questions that tell
you something
  2nd round of interviews can be very telling

1st Interview: 2nd Interview:
Company – asking Company – selling
Candidate - selling Candidate - asking

  Interview several candidates over a couple of days – keep it very tight
  Know your biases and plan around this
  Interview with someone else – so you can mentally rest and evaluate
during interview
  Big believer in ‘testing’ – or putting candidate in-situ as much as possible
  Finally – put your concerns on the table….in fact force yourself to find
some to put on the table

Ready Aim Hire

Making an offer:
  WAIT – check references first!! ALWAYS
  Do your homework
  Understand where they are at/expectations
  What can you pay
  What is the ‘bundle’ you offer (salary, benefits, options, role,
opportunity, sector, technology) – this is the offer – not just $$$
  Provide verbal and written offers (make sure you have a solid
employment contract) with a deadline to accept – so you can go back to
other candidates
  Once offer is accepted – keep connected to the candidate until they are
in the door and in seat


Best Recruiting Tips for Start-Ups

1.  Know the pillars you must build upon.
2.  $$$ spent ≠ saved time or quality results.
3.  Use full scope of recruitment tools.
4.  No not hand off recruitment
5.  Most effective recruitment:
  Tight Process

  Clear Description

  Have Choices


Best Recruiting Tips for Start-Ups

6.  Descriptions are your best filter and
guidepost to keep recruitment on track
7.  Never make a default choice – aim for 3 solid
candidates to choose from.
8.  Know the biases risking the process – mitigate
these.


Questions

Thank You!


Recruitment and Selection Strategies for Building a Strong Team

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