5 Ways to hire & retain good people at start-ups

A good team is very much required at start-ups to scale-up their business after the volume of work starts increasing. Finding a right person is difficult for even bigger companies,but for start-ups its almost uphill task. A lot of time and energy is being spent by founding members in identifying bunch of right people, talking to few ones, selecting right ones and then finally motivating them to join.This is just one part of the story, the other bigger one is to retain them for long time. There are certain issues which makes the whole recruitment & retention process quite problematic. The few ones which need attention are:
1. Lack of Right Source/s for Identification of Candidates : Most of the start-ups don't have any formal channel to identify right candidates. Some of them try to get candidates from networking events while others try to get through some referrals. The cost of buying a database and then trying to identify right candidates is not justified for start-ups. Eventually the whole hiring process becomes damn slow and pain-point.
2. Compensation & Other Benefits : Start-ups typically don't want to overspend and hence evaluate each and every financial decision cautiously. While defining salary and its structure they take all measures to minimize the cash outflow. A lot of people don't appreciate stock-options, even though tried by start-ups to attract & retain people.
3. Attitude of Founding Members : Start-ups typically are started by bunch of people who are passionate and do have higher risk-appetite. Sometimes, their passion becomes obsession and they believe that they hold all rights to handle each and every thing, be it any small decision or big one. Sometimes they don't realize that the person joining a start-up will start believing in the same vision and should be suitably placed & rewarded.
4. In-appropriate Projection of Company's Image : In some cases founders show a rosy picture to prospective employees while few ones discuss all problems and warn them to be ready for failure. This kind of mis-representation leads to employee dis-satisfaction at later stage.
5. Next One would be Best One Syndrome: Sometimes people don't want to stop their search and always keep on evaluating new people all the time. They think there is always a chance of finding better person than last identified person.

For any start-up handling all these issues is not easy. There are ample number of limiting factors, restraining them to solve these issues. According to my opinion and learning " 5 Ways to hire and retain good people at start-ups" are as follows:
1. Formulate Structured Candidate Identification Process : The ad-hoc methods of finding right candidates may not work out and yield desired results. A few structured ways of candidate identification are:
-- Visiting colleges in nearby areas to get entry-level people. Establish good relationship with few colleges to acquire good talent pool.
-- Shared HR or Database for group of 3-4 companies. This would lower the recruitment cost significantly. Also typically a start-up don't require huge numbers to be filled in immediately. Also in some cases a candidate not compatible for one vacancy may be well suited for other one.

2. Better Compensation Offer & ESOP's : Start-ups should give best offer to candidates to keep them interested in the company. The employee stock-option trust should be formed in the very beginning. Also stock-option for each employee should be worked upon and communicated to him/her beforehand. The financial value and projections should also be highlighted to the concerned people. In case of initial stage start-ups, such offer holds very high value and should be leveraged appropriately.

3. Creative Freedom : In terms of responsibilities initial bunch of people should be given enough freedom of planning & execution.The creative freedom holds the key as far as hiring & retention is concerned.

4. Project Balanced Image : When talking to potential employees one should always portray balanced image of the company. At one hand is freedom, responsibilities and growth while at the other is lower brand value & money. Setting right expectations in initial stage would help start-ups in long-run.

5. Come out of the Next One would be Best One Syndrome : One can search for right person forever and won't make any progress, but that is worst strategy. The company should make an offer to a candidate as soon as they find someone fulfilling good number of variables laid down by the company. Some of the missing variables can be developed over a period of time. Also there is significant impact on company's overall strategy and execution in case of such delays.

Building a great team, meeting time-constraints is the key to SUCCESS for any start-up.