Building a great business as an entrepreneur is tough work and it gets tougher if you don't have the right people helping you on your startup journey. This means your business is only as good as the people you bring on. But finding these people and knowing whether they are the right fit for your company and team can be quite hard.

“
It takes one person to birth an idea,
but it takes a community to build it.
”

So how do you find these talents who will help your business grow? Here are a few tips.

• Identify What you Need

Understanding and identifying why you need someone for a role in your startup is very important and is the first step to successful recruitment. This is important because it will help you identify the skills you need for that role and how they will help you scale your business.

In most cases, a resume won’t necessarily tell you if you have found what you need. For some roles, video interviewing can be used to enable you to identify these key qualities you are looking for so you can look out for some things that you need for your business. Some of these will include the candidate’s technical depth in their role, their leadership skills, and the zeal to continuously learn and acquire new skills for their role’s success.

As much as possible, ensure the skill-identifying process is an evidence-based selection approach that increases the confidence you are actually getting what you say you need.

• Aligned Goals and Culture

It’s never too early to consider how to design the culture of your organization for now and the future. When forming a corporate culture, the scale-up phase of your company's growth is crucial, therefore when hiring people, keep vital aspects like inclusivity, fair compensation, transparency, and your goal and values in mind. 

Sales are generated by culture, which also fosters long-term connections with clients and increases staff commitment to the success of your business. Hiring individuals who share your enthusiasm and future-focused outlook are ideal because it will increase employee engagement and retention. After all, the common mayhem of the startup world isn’t permanent, but you want a stable environment for your talents and the right guys who align with that on your team.

• Find Complementary Talents

Sometimes we like to look for ourselves in other people and we naturally gravitate toward people that are similar to us.

In talent recruitment, you don’t need all your talents to be like you and think 100% like you. You want a team who can hold their own, and you need a diverse pool of smart minds who while aligned with your goals can think outside the box and help fine-tune your ideas for innovations. 

• Hire for Now and for the Future

As an entrepreneur, you are not just building for the next few months, you are building a business for the long term. As such you should think of your talent acquisition process in the same light. Several startups hire with very short-term thinking based on the urgency of tasks that need to be done now.

The problem with short-term gap hires is that you have to deal with replacing the gap in a few months when you should have been capitalising on talent gains. High-impact hires on the other hand with specialised skills and unique expertise will generate results for your company, irrespective of the area - revenue, strategy, delivery, or growth. These hires also have the capacity to inspire others and drive the team to success.

Finally, having the right team for your startup in Africa is very important. They can make or mar your scale. Even investors from various platforms like Bantaba won’t invest in your startup if they don’t believe you have the right team in place.

Also, it’s completely fine to make a few misses but as the leader, the onus is on you to quickly identify and rectify these. Also, you can seek professional help from HR consultants to fine-tune what you need and help pick the best candidates.