If you started off running a small business, or launching a start up as a first time entrepreneur, you might find yourself surprised by your own success! If you suddenly expand from a small concern to a big business with a big turnover, you need the staff to keep the ball rolling. You need to go from the small, flexible start up you were to a formalised corporate business that can stand the test of time. Too many businesses avoid this responsibility and collapse under the stress of their own growth.
Today we’re looking at how you can staff up and skill up reliably, and build the team you need for long term success in the business world.
Executives
The hardest jobs to recruit for are your executives: your high level decisionmakers, who’ll be turning your goals for the business into strategies the rest of your employees can put into action. They are, effectively, your generals and you need to be able to trust them all the way.
Lower levels employees can be found relatively easily through standard recruitment sites. A clear job description and an interview to ensure they have the experience to do exactly what you need them to is sufficient.
Finding executives is harder: you can expect anyone at this level to be highly qualified. Finding people at the right stage in their career, with a personality that fits your business is trickier.
Networking
If you’re more of a serial entrepreneur you likely have a helpful network already built up. You mix in executive circles, and your Twitter feed could well be topped by exactly the right person letting the world know they’re looking for a new challenge. You know them from a conferences and collaborations and fire off a message, and the problem is solved by that afternoon. Cultivating a network is extremely valuable.
The Professionals
If you’re newer in the world, less of a serial entrepreneur, or your network is simply running a bit dry, you need to broaden your pool. Searching the executive recruitment agencies London has to offer for one that specialises in your niche is a good step: they take networking as a full time job and can take the legwork out of generating a shortlist of candidates.
If you’re looking for real choice when you’re filling a position, this is a great way to go: they can find you candidates you would never have been able to unearth, as they aren’t limited by being a single person with a single person’s cognitive biases.