Startups - Hire Fast, Fire Faster!

Thursday July 18, 2013 , 4 min Read

Once the founding team is formed the hiring horror starts; for the team forming the next layer. Inspite of numerous articles written on the subject, including this one, hiring has remained an unsolved mystery of the business-world, globally. Like Management & leadership, I have come across many styles practiced when it comes to hiring. Some say, “take your time and look for a perfect hire, because cost of wrong hire is very high”, to some saying “hire for smartness and attitude, but ensure you train them well”...with my several years of experience in the talent acquisition domain, not as a recruiter, but as a line manger, Consultant, CEO, I have come to a conclusion that hiring styles should be dominated by the stage of business you are in; aka whether you are at a startup, growth, scale, stable, enterprise stage.

This article is about hiring at Startups and 4 reasons why I say to startups – “Hire Fast, Fire Faster (if need be)”!

1. It aligns with the Startup philosophy:

Isn't startup philosophy around experimenting; failing; improvising and moving on? Isn't startup about discovering the true business model after unearthing several blunders you committed along the way? Then shouldn't hiring be also aligning with this philosophy? Ronnie Screwvala, one of the most successful entrepreneurs of our time recently said that "if you are not embarrassed by your first product quality, then probably you launched very late"! If we take this analogy to hiring, then I would say hire fast, believe that the hire will workout; if not, let's get someone else - faster!

2. One hour interview is not adequate to judge

Startups waiting to hire the perfect match, still base their hiring decisions on a one hour interview. It is no brainer that the candidate is going to put his best facade during the interview to get the job. None of your brilliant questioning is ever going to reveal a person's true work ethics, team compatibility, pro-activeness, sense of accountability, personal values etc. they will be only seen 1-2 months down the line once he/she starts working with you. Many Founders live with the reality of wrong hire causing extreme damage to the venture and the candidate’s career (who probably would have excelled somewhere else).

3. Real-time Skill Upgrade

Startups require real-time skill upgrade almost on daily basis. As a founder myself, when I have my daily dose of information upload through Flipboards, Yourstory and other 'happening' information sites, there is an urge to quickly implement some of the new approaches, techniques into my own venture. But is the team in that constant state of skill upgrade to make that happen. Some team members do and they are the ones who start becoming part of your core team. But the laggards - sorry we can't afford to have them contribute only to the monthly burn..

4. Imitate hiring styles of western countries, not just their bean bag culture

Having spent many years in the west, I have seen startups and SMEs being brutal when it comes to Firing a non- performing human asset. But does it impact the employee morale, nope, firing has been the single largest reason why work ethics and attitude of employees in the west is so centred around their work and true contribution. There is least complacency and highest productivity within the 8 hours they work.

So in conclusion, hire faster, base your hiring decisions on your gut. Having someone come onboard faster and starting the work, is better than waiting for a perfect match and loosing time. Because speed is going to be most important element for your 'first-mover-advantage' idea! Finally there is no right or wrong decision: taking a decision and trying to make it right is key; but if it turns out to be wrong, take another decision!