ENTREPRENEURS TOP COMMON MISTAKES (4) - Hiring the wrong people

If you have been following my posts you probably remember that the ability to build strong teams was one of the common skills of successful entrepreneurs. Nevertheless hiring the right people is a problem for many entrepreneurs. Let’s try to shed some light on this problem.

Usually the startup’s demands are enormous during its initial stages. The entrepreneur is probably covering five jobs at the same time. She is extremely busy and she needs urgent support in terms of human resources. As a consequence, she has to add a new task to the list: hiring people. And you know what? “This is something that has to be resolved quickly!!” The entrepreneur rushes to hire some folks to help her to grow the business. Companies are hiring people all the time… “Come on… it cannot be that complex!” Yet, it is very difficult to find the correct person for a specific job. You need to spend time and effort to do it right. If you are lucky it will take you a couple of weeks. In many other occasions you will have to keep actively looking for the correct fit for months. Yes, that’s right: months!!!

Make sure you don’t look only at the candidate’s ability to do the job. You have to find the correct attitude, correct culture, and correct values for your venture. This is important for every single company at any moment but is particularly critical for a startup during its early stages.

Take five minutes to watch this video clip in YouTube and think about the hiring process required to select this flight attendant. Believe me! This is not just an exception. If you have had an opportunity to fly with Southwest I am sure you would have experienced something similar:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jy0Yf1CAsuQ

Do you think they were looking for someone who could just do the job?

Let me share with you some of the rules I have applied during my career:

1. Never compromise. Define clearly what you are looking for and search and search and search until you KNOW that you have found THE candidate.

2. All in agreement. As soon as you have two or three people in your team ask them to participate in the hiring process. If any of the interviewers considers that it is a NO, it is a NO for all.

3. Avoid, if possible, full-time employees outright. Find a way to test how they perform and how they fit your organization before entering into a full-time contract.

4. If despite all your efforts and attention, you make a mistake, correct it immediately. Keep in mind that attitudes are almost impossible to change.

Thanks for reading!