The Great Resignation wasn’t ginned up by corporate media to sell advertising impressions — if you’re trying to hire, the struggle is real.
Since the pandemic began, the percentage of workers who quit their jobs reached a 20-year high, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
A Pew Research study found that most workers exit for one of three reasons: They’re not making enough money, aren’t being offered opportunities to advance, and perhaps most importantly, many feel like they’re being disrespected.
These factors mean that early-stage startups can no longer compete on the basis of salary and benefits alone. Instead, hiring managers must convince prospective hires that they will be joining a supportive culture where they can expand their skills while contributing to (and participating in) the company’s success.
There’s a very limited supply of talent and probably the largest demand I’ve ever seen, so it’s really important for people to think about how to differentiate. Glen Evans
To learn more about how founders can optimize the recruiting and hiring process, find and develop talent, and uncover some best practices for closing candidates, I spoke with Glen Evans, a partner on Greylock’s core talent team, at TechCrunch Early Stage.
“The state of the job market is more competitive than I’ve ever seen it,” said Evans, who has two decades of experience overseeing recruiting and team building at fast-growing companies including Slack, Facebook and Google. At Greylock, he leads a team that advises portfolio companies on recruiting and talent acquisition.
“There’s a very limited supply of talent and probably the largest demand I’ve ever seen, so it’s really important for people to think about how to differentiate and build the foundations and the habits to get talent right in the early days,” he said. “It’s not rocket science.”
Create a structured, repeatable recruiting process (and keep it simple)
Before staffing up, Evans said founders and hiring managers should first develop a process that can scale as the team grows.
“I’ve seen a lot of companies do this very loosely, and it leads to a lot of problems down the road,” said Evans. “Create a process that is structured, organized and repeatable, where you have clear lanes and clear coverage areas for the interviewers. Don’t make it too rigid, but have some structure so you can train new hires.”
Each person involved must have a clearly defined role, but it’s also key that each aspect of the hiring process aligns with marketing, branding, product value and the company’s overall mission. To promote cohesion, train employees on basic best practices for interviews and create scorecards that highlight desired criteria.
“Scorecards will help you align to the signals, have the right questions, create some structure and then communicate it to make sure people are following it,” said Evans. “They’re not hiring by gut instinct — they have actual facts that they can tie back to why this person will be a good hire.”
Foster a recruiting culture, and invest in it early
The catchphrase “always be closing” originated in a drama about high-pressure real estate sales tactics, but it’s also a mantra for early-stage founders in team-building mode. Evans said team members need to carve out time every week for recruiting, meeting candidates and tapping their networks to source new hires.
Despite the costs, Evans said he advises the companies he works with to invest early in recruiting.
“That might be partnering with an external recruiter, [or] it might mean hiring a recruiter a little bit earlier than you normally would. I’ve actually seen recruiters land at Series A companies, where I think in the past, they might get hired into B or C,” he said. “You get somebody great in the door to help you with this function, and it can definitely be a needle mover.”
Conserving runway is top of mind, but Evans said it’s a mistake to let hiring budgets dictate who gets hired, and when. “Don’t give away too much too early, but have a plan for those first 10 hires, and then another tranche of equity that you want to reserve for the next 10 to 20 hires.”
Source smarter, not harder: Customize your pitches to candidates
Before you can create a job description that perfectly encapsulates what you’re looking for, reach out to the professionals in your network, especially if you’re hiring for a role outside your experience.
“If you’ve never done a marketing hire, go talk to a great marketer,” said Evans. “If you don’t know one, network and reach out to them. Learn which interview questions to ask, what you should look for: what skills, what experience, where are they working?”
Posting your job listing on AngelList or LinkedIn is just the first step. It’s likely that the person you want to hire already has a job, which means managers must map the talent they hope to attract, using tailored outbound messaging for maximum impact.
“Find out what’s important to them first,” said Evans, who prefers to ask prospective hires to describe their dream job before diving into actual interview questions. “Take note of all those things and be a great listener, because those can be used to tailor the pitch and help close them later.”
Add some tension to the hiring process and move quickly
Don’t try to guess how far along a candidate is on their job search or if they’re considering other offers: Ask them directly.
“Most candidates will tell you, and some won’t,” said Evans. “But if you’re a Series A or a seed startup, and they’re also interviewing at Google and Netflix and Facebook, there’s something off there.” Without being aggressive, ask applicants directly if they’re interested in joining an early-stage company and how well they understand the inherent trade-offs.
“You might get them to opt out,” he said, “which will save you a lot of time later.”
If you’re interested in hiring someone, there’s a high probability that someone else is, too, “so move fast, be deliberate and be thoughtful about how you approach them — create that great experience,” Evans said. Touch base with candidates after initial interviews to see how they’re doing.
“If you get an interested candidate, move fast and show that you’re interested, because they have a million other opportunities,” he said. “You’re going to want to stay on their radar, and throughout the process, those touch points will also help you understand how they’re feeling about the opportunity.”