Entrepreneurship 101: Recruiting and Building Your A-team

Entrepreneurship 101: Recruiting and Building Your A-team

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  Margo Crawfordbusiness sherpa
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  business sherpa group trusted. capable. results-driven Entrepreneurship 101 Recruitment and Building Your A-team Margo Crawfordbusiness sherpa
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  Introduction GOALS WHY effective recruitment is critical WHEN to recruit using a comprehensive plan HOW to execute an effective recruitment campaign Margo Crawfordbusiness sherpa
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  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 Margo Crawfordbusiness sherpa
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  WHY Effective Recruitmentis Critical Money:   Always limited   Over-filling the ranks or hiring poorly will consume your cash quickly Geographic Challenges:   Where you form may not be where your ‘talent’ lives   Customers will impact who and where you recruit for some roles Market Window Timing:   Don’t get multiple shots at hitting the market at the right time – anticipating vs. reacting even more critical   Miss-hiring and losing time can be a devastating blow vs. an annoying inconvenience Margo Crawfordbusiness sherpa
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  KEY to EffectiveRecruitment Recruitment Mantra: Plan well Search creatively Choose wisely Margo Crawfordbusiness sherpa
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  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 Revenue New 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 Repeat Quarterly Support Customer Sales Revenue V.2 Growth Sustaining PLAN WELL - around key milestones = precision hiring New Accounts Year 5 Margo Crawfordbusiness sherpa IPO/M&A
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  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 Sales VP 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. Consider Timing   Recruitment can take from 1 – 3 months; plan accordingly VP-level Not Necessarily First Hire   Consider what must get done – do you need a ‘doer’ or a ‘builder’? Margo Crawfordbusiness sherpa
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  Ready Aim Hire Tight Execution is Key Reactive Recruitment is not Effective Position Filled Recruitment Need Candidate Hired Need arises Job Offered Ongoing Ongoing Posting Created References Business Business Job Posted Interviews Scheduled Resumes Screened Phone or Forwarded Screening Margo Crawfordbusiness sherpa
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  Ready Aim Hire Tight Execution is Key Focus in on a tight plan in the context of a big picture Ongoing Business Recruitment Plan Market Knowledge Margo Crawfordbusiness sherpa
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  Ready Aim Hire Excellent Recruitment Begins and Ends with an Excellent Description Job   Descrip,on     Provides clarity around what you need   Becomes an essential filter for automated and manual search mechanisms   A guidepost to keep selection on track Margo Crawfordbusiness sherpa
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  Ready Aim Hire Features of Excellent Job Description   Clearly articulates ‘table steaks’ skills   Paints a real picture of the ideal candidate – know what success looks like and describe it   Sells the opportunity through role, technology, industry, etc.   Has a deadline to match recruitment plan Margo Crawfordbusiness sherpa
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  Ready Aim Hire Margo Crawfordbusiness sherpa
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  Ready Aim Hire SOURCING: 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 Margo Crawfordbusiness sherpa
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  Ready Aim Hire Typical Approach: Only reaches individuals actively looking Website (maybe?) Job   Descrip,on   POST Job Boards Paper Engage Recruiters Margo Crawfordbusiness sherpa
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  Ready Aim Hire SEARCH CREATIVELY – can be a strategic advantage:   With social networking – you can easily reach “passive” candidates   Contemporary methods fundamentally change the game plan:   FROM: Those that cost a lot and reach millions of candidates   TO: Those that cost little and reach targeted audiences   User groups   Business/professional networks   Professional associations   Alumni associations   Etc.   Print ads – very costly and have limited effectiveness   Web site – may or may not be an options (stealth vs. launched)   Word of mouth – ALWAYS USEFUL – employees, advisors, board, investors, colleagues   Social networking tools are critical Margo Crawfordbusiness sherpa
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  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
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  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 Margo Crawfordbusiness sherpa
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  Ready Aim Hire Tips on effectively using Linked In   Post opportunities – about $150/posting   Push out to relevant user groups   Tweet it!!   Let your contacts know   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 – think about other key hires you can fill   Update company’s profile – update key events Margo Crawfordbusiness sherpa
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  Ready Aim Hire Google Ad Words Pro’s   Can reach even further   Can bring candidates right to your career page   Can measure effectiveness of campaigns   Very cost effective Con’s   Need to understand and learn how to develop solid campaigns Margo Crawfordbusiness sherpa
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  Ready Aim Hire CHOOSE WISELY   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 of ‘settling’ on a candidate AIM FOR A CHOICE OF 3 Margo Crawfordbusiness sherpa
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  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 or suspect or make candidates comfortable can take away from the evaluation process   A highly faulty process!!! Be aware of this and plan accordingly. Margo Crawfordbusiness sherpa
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  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 Margo Crawfordbusiness sherpa
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  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 $ $$   Provide verbal and written offers (make sure you have a solid employment contract) with a deadline to accept – so you can go back to other candidates   Once offer is accepted – keep connected to the candidate until they are in the door and in seat Margo Crawfordbusiness sherpa
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  Best Recruiting Tips PLANWELL   know what you need to hire and when SEARCH CREATIVELY   $$$ spent ≠ saved time or quality results   Use all the tools available – be creative and aim to reach passive candidates CHOOSE WISELY   Most effective recruitment has a clear job description, a tight execution plan, and results in choices at the end of the process Margo Crawfordbusiness sherpa
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  THANK YOU! QUESTIONS orCOMMENTS Margo Crawfordbusiness sherpa