Let’s talk about something that gives most startup founders the most concern–hiring good hands. The prospect of always hiring or firing new managers can be insanely daunting. It’s no fun to catalog every noteworthy prospect and then having them perform disappointingly. Plus, chances are, if you’re parting with so much to pay them, you’re depriving other worthy applicants a chance at a job.
The good news we are going to help you with ways to find and raise managers that you’d be proud of for your startup.
Hiring managers from from within can deliver numerous benefits to your startup.
It’s really about potential, not performance
Sure, performance is a measure of expertise, and necessary to identify a manager, but you need to see beyond performance to understand an employee’s aptitude for growth, communicating superbly, building a team, and influencing the startup.
Ironically, some of your staff will show high performance, but just aren’t cut out to be managers. Here’s why you should always give more weight to potential than performance on the managerial scale.
Getting your own in-house talent is way cheaper
It is way cheaper developing your work force than hiring from the outside. In-house leadership development programs are great ways to evaluating and identifying your potentials further down the path.
Recruitment firms would pre-screen outside applicants– often a percentage of the newly-hired employee’s salary. They don’t even know your staff needs as well as you do. Also, they may not necessarily recognize your hiring priorities. They may help in screening of prospective hires, but you are responsible for paying for hours of unproductive interview time.
Consider job rotation
Rotating your employees through different roles and functions within the organization will challenge and stretch their skill level. Giving them unfamiliar responsibilities will get them exposure to new skills, and expand their expertise.
You already know who’s an effective leader, the original thinker, and the voice of reason on your staff. This means you can carefully review, develop, and plug in the right person for the job role – the one you know from years of working side by side. This way, you’ll know what you’re getting.
Look out for those driving for results
You should consider employees who are driven to achieve beyond expectations. The first sign to look out for is a passion for the work itself. Such people seek out creative challenges, are open to learning, and take great pride in doing a job well.
Finding management replacement in dedicated employees can boost their morale and help them recognize that career opportunities within the company are attainable. These kind of managers are able to deliver more results because they know that dedicated effort may lead to a promotion.
Having said these, it should be noted that employees don’t necessarily have to move to the next level to receive well-deserved incentives.
Examples of other incentives include:
- A salary raise without a promotion.
- A one-time bonus for a job well done.
- An increase of vacation time.
- Additional decision-making authority.
- A better working environment.
- A more impressive job title.
Hiring managers from within may not always be the right decision. However, promoting from within can provide many benefits.
Startups who offer in-house managerial recruitment shorten the learning curve and maintain productivity levels without missing a beat.
As always, if you have a few hot contributions of your own, leave them in the comments!
