One of the most complex parts when creating a company is create the best team.
Beyond their studies and their resumes, there are many other aspects that you must take into account when forming the human capital that will help you carry out your business idea.
Remember that the structure of a startup is very different from that of an already established company; Therefore, the characteristics of the people you will need must be in accordance with the stage of development in which your company is.
For this reason, we want to share the experience of Frederic Kerrest, co-founder of Okta; who in the Mashable portal for the United Kingdom, describes 5 questions that you must answer to create the best work team.
Also read: Learn to delegate like a true leader
5 questions that every entrepreneur should ask when hiring to create the best work team.
1. Are your employees builders or builders?
You can view a number of traits, skills, and knowledge while you’re hiring. But when the ultimate moment arrives, there are only two types of people you can hire: builders or executors.
The thing is, knowing who to get on board at the right time can make the difference between the success and failure of your business.
Builder features.
Builders are focused on innovation. They transform existing systems and create new ways to execute your vision. They also take the idea of your product and not only make it a reality, they add features to it that you never would have imagined and make it more enjoyable for customers. They also find clever ways to reach new sales channels and share your ideas.
Characteristics of the executors.
Implementers, on the other hand, can grow your business infrastructure massively. They excel at following established processes and methods. The financial and legal areas are two examples. Without saying that they never contemplate innovation, they will be less focused on creating new processes; because their energies will be focused on meeting your goals in the best way.
Builders and implementers are indispensable at different stages of your company’s growth, but as a startup leader, initially you must hire buildersbecause they are the ones who will help you build your business from scratch.
2. What is it that you don’t see in their resumes or resumes?
The qualities of the ideal employee for a startup depend on the startup itself. In a company, the ideal candidate prioritizes customer success above all else. Communication, transparency, integrity, talent and teamwork; They are not things that you can see clearly in their resumes.
Let’s look at customer success. We believe that if our clients are successful, so are the companies. It’s that simple, which is why it’s ideal for the employee to have the customer in mind from the start.
Not everyone is going to have everything you’re looking for, but I’ll be sure to look further. Find in them the values that go hand in hand with yours.
3. Do they offer you different perspectives and experience?
Without a doubt, talent is the most important quality for any employee in any company; simply because talented people want to work with talented people.
That is why you must prioritize when creating teams with candidates who provide different values. In my experience, I think the biggest mistake founders make when building their leadership teams is selecting candidates from too few candidate pools. For example, they usually choose people they know.
At Okta, we look for people we have worked with in the past but are very careful to avoid hiring people with similar knowledge and experience.
We want diversity, we want people who can contradict us and take our ideas further. You don’t find that when you have a team with similar resumes and points of view.
If your list of candidates is full of diversity, talent and with people who seek teamwork; you are going for the good way.
4. Do they see the opportunity that you see?
Your company’s core team will influence all decisions made in the early stages. Which is why with my co-founder Todd Mckinnon at the start of Otka, we sought out co-workers, advisors, mentors and mentees and asked if they knew builders that could be adapted to the team.
We wanted to create a team of people we could trust, who understood our vision, and who were just as excited as we were by the opportunity in front of us.
There was a reason we knew we could tempt our candidates out of their jobs at bigger companies: opportunity.
People want to create an impact, and they often jump at the chance to create a superior product that makes that possible. Instead of offering high salaries or private yoga classes, Give your new hires a seat at the table, where the opportunities are.
5. What will keep them building?
Of course, we’re not so naive as to think we shouldn’t offer them benefits, but I’ve seen that benefits don’t always mean high wages.
Sometimes it can mean expensive office coffee machines, 3 screens per person, ergonomic chairs, and rest hours throughout the week. If it costs a fair amount of money to keep your team attentive, productive, and comfortable (and as much as possible happy), it will be worth every penny; particularly if your team works late into the night.
The heart of the true success of companies are people. They are the ones who will bring your vision to life, once you have the right ones, the rest will come easily
By answering these 5 questions, you will be able to look at hiring from the right angle and create the best work team 🙂
And remember, if you are really interested in creating your own business, you can read our book “How to create a company while working: Discover how to manage your time, manage your money and motivate yourself while creating a company and working for another” , where you will find all the information you need to found your own company, without having to leave your job.
