A Friday series exploring Startups and the people who make them go. Read all If the Shoe Fits posts here

As the importance of culture in startups becomes ever more obvious, founders are faced with this question.

“How do we keep our corporate culture as we grow?”

The answer is “Through a lot of hard work and tough hiring decisions.”

There are no shortcuts; no easy way; no app for that.

Unfortunately, that’s not an answer many founders want to hear—or do.

First, you have to clearly identify absolute company values—those with no wiggle room—which takes time and effort.

Next, it means interviewing far more candidates than when all that matters are skills.

Finally, it takes the toughness to walk away from sometimes dazzling candidates who, no matter how brilliant and skilled they are, just don’t fit.

It’s far easier to teach a skill than instill/change values and/or attitude.

So the next time you find yourself in this situation stop and think—is it worth selling your company’s culture down the river just to avoid more interviewing.

It’s your choice, but everyone will end up sleeping in the bed you choose to make.

Image credit: HikingArtist

Do you need to code to manage software developers?

Do you need to know circuit design to manage hardware engineers?

If you answered ‘yes’ then you’ve bought into one of the most common myths of management.

It exists because people are commonly promoted within the department in which they were originally hired.

But not always.

Neha Sampat is not only a woman, but also CEO of cloud software firm Raw Engineering, where, among other things, she runs a team of web developers.

She is not technical and certainly doesn’t code.

She attribute her success to the culture she’s built and her attitude towards her people.

“If you have the right people and the right personalities on a team, it’s magic. The smartest thing I have done in my career has been to surround myself with people who are experts in areas I know nothing about.”

Of course, that requires being secure enough in your own skills and hiring choices that you don’t need to be the smartest person on the team.

The same applies to KG Charles-Harris Charles-Harris (who, as his time permits, contributes here). He is a serial entrepreneur and founder/CEO of Quarrio, which just won the 2014 Overall Winner & Most Disruptive awards given by the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) in the “NextGen” Big Data category.

KG puts enormous time and effort into hiring the right people, then gets out of their way and trusts them to get the job done.

Or as Sampat says,

“I am very deliberate about expressing how much I value people’s knowledge and their presence on my team.” (…) “My job is to be an enabler and to give my people the resources they need to make things happen.”

Good management and communication skills are as crucial to success as good coding—perhaps even more so in the long run.

Flickr image credit: Juhan Sonin

Startups, and those who love to work in them, operate on the same premise—what you see is what you get—from the beginning.

The beginning starts not on the first day of work, but from the moment they first connect.

Candidates expect the company to reflect its products and its reputation, as well as the hiring manager’s.

Those hiring expect candidates to reflect their resume and reputation.

In practice, that means the person who reports to work is the same person who interviewed, i.e., the same attitude and interests they had when interviewed and hired.

If a different attitude walks through the door on start day it must be addressed immediately.

If the start-day attitude turns out to be the candidate’s true colors, but doesn’t match the company’s culture it is best to face the hiring error sooner, rather than later when the damage is already done.

By the same token, if those hiring presented a scenario of fairness, a strong team, intolerance for politics and the opportunity to make a difference, then that is what the candidate expects.

If the founder or manager presented herself as a motivator, innovator, team-builder, mentor-type during the interview that is what the candidate expects.

If the company’s or managers’ true colors are different from those presented during the interviews then, not matter how hot your startup, don’t be surprised when your new hires walk.

Flickr image credit: Marc Lane

Startup founders to Fortune 50 bosses constantly complain about the time-eating effort it takes to build a great team.

It’s as if they want the fun of fishing without all the bother of poles, bait and hanging out where the fish are.

When a founder is ready to build a team, there is one critical action that is too often ignored—consciously create the culture first.

The order is crucial because a good cultural match is far more important than knowing the programming language du jour or other “hot” skills. (This is true in any size company.)

The majority of the my 3400+ posts deal on one way or another with the importance of cultural fit, as do thousands of articles such as this recent one from Entrepreneur.com.

But it is the lessons from entrepreneurs like Moz’s Rand Fishkin that sink in best.

There are two attitudes when it comes to investing in people.

The common one considers it a cost that should be minimized.

The more astute believe it provides significant ROI.

Providing benefits can raise productivity and reduce turnover no matter the size or type of business.

Training is just as important (in England it can even stave off a corporate manslaughter charge).

It’s a well-documented fact that attitude/cultural fit are the most crucial factors when hiring, so where’s the sense in dumping people who are not only good cultural fits, but also possess institutional knowledge?

The graphic elegantly sums up the fear of the cost minimizers and the pragmatism of the astute.

One boss lesson that really needs to sink in is the true cost of replacing people.

• A decade ago replacing cost 2-6 times the annual salary and although the dollar amount has risen I’m sure the multipliers haven’t gone down—they’ve probably gone up, too.
• Losing the wrong person at the wrong time has the potential of crippling or even destroying the company.

As to ROI, look no further than Frederick Reichheld, founder of Bain & Company’s Loyalty Practice and author of Loyalty Rules!, and other loyalty books, whose carefully researched studies that a 5% improvement in employee retention translates to a 25%-100% gain in earnings.

That is one hell of a return for creating a culture that does the right thing by investing in its people.

Flickr image credit: Peter Baeklund

Research by two economists at Kellogg Turned up an interesting insight.

“…CEOs with a military background are much less likely to engage in corporate fraud compared to their civilian-only peers—up to 70% less likely, in fact.”

The problem, to my way of thinking, is that those studied came from a different military culture than the current one.

“…biographical data on chief executives from the 800 largest US firms each year from 1980 and 1991 and from approximately 1500 publicly traded US firms from 1992 to 2006.

The current military is a bit different than the one they were a part of; you might even say it’s not your father’s military any more, let alone your grandfather’s.

The Air Force cheating and drug scandals come at a time when a large number of senior officers in other branches of the military have been investigated, penalized or fired in connection with allegations of sexual improprieties, sexual violence, financial mismanagement or poor judgment.

None of this means you should avoid hiring ex-military, since cheating is just as, if not more, prevalent in the civilian population.

What it means is that you should interview everyone, at every level, carefully and not make assumptions based on generalizations or previous positions.

Flickr image credit: Mike Baird

If your focus is to foster innovation you are unlikely to do it by hiring in your comfort zone.

Tech managers around the country are whining about the lack of available talent, because they ignore those caught in the 2008 crash and those who don’t fit the typical profile.

Autistic people are so far outside the box that the idea won’t even cross most managers’ minds, but it’s crossing the smartest—including SAP.

“By concentrating on the abilities that every talent brings to the table, we can redefine the way we manage diverse talents. With Specialisterne, we share a common belief that innovation comes from the ‘edges.’ Only by employing people who think differently and spark innovation will SAP be prepared to handle the challenges of the 21st century.” –Luisa Delgado, SAP human resources chief

When hiring you have a choice.

You can chase the same people as everyone else or you can turn your back on the tried and comfortable; there is an enormous amount of talent just lying around for the taking.

At least there is for the good managers who understand that their real job is to build, develop and support their people.

Flickr image credit: wallygrom

A Friday series exploring Startups and the people who make them go. Read all If the Shoe Fits posts here

Wally Bock, who provides some of the best and most pragmatic content available on being a boss, shared the story of Ron.

I’ve known many Ron-s in my time, both male and female, and the managers who hired them—hired them even when they knew better.

They ignored the red flags and rationalized away any information or signals that contradicted their desire to have the Ron on their team

Often the Ron came in as a star; the person who could save the project/product or bailout the team.

But stars can turn into shooting stars, since their reputation and achievements are often a product of their skill at managing up.

How many Ron’s have you hired?

Image credit: HikingArtist

What is the most important thing to remember when hiring?

The one thing that can keep you from hurting your team?

The one thing you should never forget?

You may interview for skills, but you hire whole people.

Flickr image credit: Syefri Zulkefli

A Friday series exploring Startups and the people who make them go. Read all If the Shoe Fits posts here

It will come as no surprise that most young people want to work for startups or small biz.

Of those aged 19 to 29 who were surveyed, 47 percent work for companies with less than 100 employees, and 30 percent work for medium sized companies that have between 100 and 1,500 employees.

Or that they aren’t the top preference for larger companies.

Another study found that older, more established companies are less likely to hire younger people than are newer companies.

“Ah ha,” I can hear you thinking, “That proves I’m hiring the right talent.”

Are you sure?

Or does it just prove you are hiring deep within your own comfort zone, as are those in large companies?

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Flickr image credit: HikingArtist