For the success of any startup, it is important to establish a human resources strategy that matches your business plan. While it may seem obvious, there are many times when talent management takes a back seat to bigger business issues that arise. Allen Woo, a successful people developer who has guided a number of businesses globally, explains how startups can meet and overcome human skills challenges.
When starting a new business, a company faces two important problems: developing its product or service and finding its first customers. Both of these factors can cause problems in creating a team that does not lag behind.
Too often, people’s skills sit back and are not talked about. The power of the fast and the startup prevents the inventors and businessmen from thinking about the progress of half of their team and their employees. As the business grows, the skills required to run the business are different when the business has 5, 25, or 250 people.
If an entrepreneur really believes that teams and people are the most important thing of the company, it is important to create this HR plan in the organization from the first day. According to Woo, “You have to think about the best way to present your ideas, organize your progress, help people think about their career path and manage career problems. It’s easier to start in the early stages of a business than to overcome the problems that accumulate when the business is bigger.”
What happens is that most startups don’t have an HR manager from day one. The president or VP of marketing or engineering, who is in charge of human resources, has his other duties and does not have time to think about skills and human development. Although we have a natural desire for these HR issues, these leaders face other problems and often have training in the work of HR.
However, the people in any organization need to be trained and developed. They must be able to learn new skills as the business takes off. If you have good talent, you should make sure that they are trained in the current technology. Is it dangerous.
If we want to have a learning organization, we have to think about taking existing talent and developing it. It is more expensive to replace someone than to develop the skills you have. For the survival of the organization and given the speed at which we are experiencing these problems, companies must think about the progress of half of their employees. Leaders should consider whether employees can not only do their current job, but also whether they can fill the next two positions as the company grows and develops.
Until you have an HR manager, the CEO will take care of these things. You need to instill how to give feedback and develop people. In the early days of a startup, having a resource manager can help. The most important thing is that these traditions are based on people from the first day.
Employers should ask themselves some questions: Are they giving their employees the tools they need to do their job well? Are they giving them the tools to develop their careers? Do they allow them to do everything they want to do? Woo adds, “In the beginning, as in a large company, if you are the manager of an organization, understanding your team’s hopes, goals, and desires of your team will allow you to put your team at work in a situation where it will be highly motivated.”
If people believe you care about them, it’s amazing what they can accomplish. Therefore, the question a leader must ask is whether he really knows the team’s goals and how he can help achieve them. It is a state of mind that has a medium-term vision rather than a commercial vision of people’s development.
A good leader can always push to expand their comfort zone. When things go well, they can be raised. Leaders can give people specific tools, such as coaching, to develop skills, but they also need to push and challenge people. Above all, do not forget that, especially in the beginning, it must promote communication, the connection between colleagues, motivation and team skills.