Building Up Your Bench: 5 Part System to Recruit, Retain and Motivate a ―Rock Star” Team To Scale Your Company
Keren Kang
TLDR: Process of successful hiring broken down and explained step-by-step. Dos and don’ts
Core Fundamentals to every Native Commerce Hire:
- Smart: You have to keep up
- Curious: You need people who will want to dissect things and see how they work
- Measured: They have to be okay with being measured and win (competitive spirit)
5 Part Hiring process: (Posting, Audition, Interview, Training, Rewards)
- The posting:
– Be specific: Specific salary information gets the better candidate
– Be real: Don’t be romantic, tell it as it is, and convince them NOT to apply for the job
– Goals: Tell them what they’ll be measured against and make the goals measurable
– Weeding out: Include random questions and ask them to answer in the cover letter; for example: why they like certain food
JW: If you are posting online, include a line in the description to post a keyword in the subject of their response email, so you can instantly week out everyone who did not read the complete job description. Outsourcers in India are known for this.
- The Audition:
– Interviews on paper: Have them do a test job to ensure they can actually do the work.
– Email Test: Test writing skills and have them write concise language.
JW: Be brutal in this audition. Challenge them and be detailed enough, but vague enough too. You want to see how the creativity comes into play. The worst thing you want is someone that needs everything spelled out for them. You want staff where you can share a concept and they make it happen. Sure, what they come back may not be what you had originally visioned. It just might be better. And that is what you truly want. You vision. Better.
– Favorites Test: 3 favorite websites, 3 favorite brands and why.
– Website Improvement Test: Ask them for a list of improvements from one of your sites.
– Skill Test: Graphic Designer: Have them design a logo and give them a deadline.
– Process Test: See if they follow a process to accomplish a result. Do they use competitive analysis before delivering a result?
The Audition is tedious and that’s the point. Hire the ones that really want the job.
3.The Interview:
Two parts (15 minutes each)
Part 1:
What drew you to this ad? Work (past work), Opportunity (why they didn’t get it on their past job) Salary (What they made in the past and why they feel they deserve more)
Trip up Question: Throw them off their rhythm.
Part 2:
Tell them what sucks. Be honest about what you hate about the job. One person can ruin everything so protect it.
Don’t hide the flaws and get their input on the problem.
JW: If you are demanding, tell them. If there is a pressure-cooker environment, tell them. Employers complain all the time about applicants lying on resumes and they can’t believe the audacity one would have to do such a thing. But guess what? Employers lie all the time about work environment, bonus structure, ease of promotion, etc.
4.The Training (Train in pairs, shadow their manager and assign a project with a deadline)
Week 1: Company & Tech Familiarity
Week 2: Get to know the job
Week 3: Assist the job
Week 4: Do the job
Assessment: Get to know their thought process and what can be improved.
3 month training to see if this place is right for you. (If you suck or you are toxic, you are out)
The goal for each new employee is to expand talents and autonomy. Provide feedback on projects completed allowing room for mistakes. Mistakes build ownership and this gets them closer to autonomy.
JW: Where I disagree with this advice is the three-month training period. No one should get three months training to see if they are up for the job. It is three-weeks…IF THAT. This business is fast paced and what is working today will probably not be working as well three months from now. If they can’t get up in running in two weeks, they are out.
5. Rewards: Show employees they are noticed.
Promotions are from within and keep in mind small perks like employee of the month, happy hours, etc.
Use Tech tools available to help manage your staff and know the pulse of your company.
JW: The perk my staff loves is I close between Christmas and New Years. When I was an employee, I hated that week. It was a dead week. I didn’t want to be there. No one wanted to be there. Let them spend the time with the families and back to work after the New Year to kill it.
**Productivity Hack
A tested employee gets 1-3 overseas assistants. This takes busy work off US employees allowing them to make breakthroughs.
JW: Let them deal with the headaches and the ditch digging supervision.
Important tips: Based on best questions during the Q&A session.
Interview different amounts or people depending on the position: Writers: Many, Graphic design/Web developer: when you find a good one hold on to them, etc.
JW: Writers, programmers and designers are the hardest spots to fill with excellent people who consistently show up. Don’t relax just because you found the programmer of your dreams, because in 11 days you may never hear from them again. Ever. It is just how some of them are, but more so online.
Employee process: If it’s a proven process, that’s what they need to do. To make a new process, bring in a senior hirer to make it.
Results based: You can work from home as long as you can prove you can do it. Set the expectation to be proactive.
Scale your team: Always hire the project manager first to establish the process and build the team.
Communication: Daily scrum meeting. Get them accustomed to a time when they will have to speak.
Deal breakers: Lying on the resume
Personality profiles: Don’t use them. They are bullshit.
JW: I disagree. Using the wrong ones is bullshit. Mine is awesome. Go ahead. Take it. It will nail you.
Bonuses: Never offer them. It’s better to surprise them instead of giving them the expectation.
JW: Agreed. Bonuses make someone hungry. I prefer bonuses to raises. Giving a raise breeds contentment.
Progressive salary: It’s not recommended since they might stop when they hit the cap. It’s better to offer something stable, along with surprise bonuses.
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