Forget The Hoodie! How Start-ups Can Win Top Talent Against Big Corporations
Amidst all the hiring challenges that new tech companies face, hiring the best of the best is now a competition they can win with a new choice of partner.
Businesses of all types are vying for the best of the best, the cream of the crop, to bring those talented individuals into their organizations and empower them to transform things from the inside.
In this war, start-ups have a very difficult task ahead of them because they lack a lot of resources that large corporations use to persuade top talent to join them. Start-ups have to be very strategic if they are to win the talent battle against larger companies.
In this article, we’re going to look at exactly how start-ups are doing that.
Why does hiring matter for start-ups?
Before we get to the how, it’s important to start with the why. A start-up company relies on high-quality hiring in the early stages of their development because they need skills to deploy on their mission. Entrepreneurs are only as capable as the team they build around them. It takes talented, ambitious, and skilled people to take a vision to fruition.
The difference between an A-grade employee and a B-grade employee is substantial. In tech occupations, "high performers are an astounding 800 percent more productive" according to McKinsey.3 Getting the best talent in at the start builds a somewhat self perpetuating, productive culture, as top talent only wants to work with top talent.
The need for the right people is further exaggerated by the fact that start-ups are working on borrowed time. They don’t have the long-term runway just yet and every small decision that they make matters. Every hire has an outsized impact on the company and so it’s absolutely crucial that they can compete for the very best.4
Why do start-ups find it difficult to compete when hiring?
In the recruitment landscape, start-ups find themselves in a difficult bargaining position for a number of reasons:
- They are competing with large companies who have vast financial resources and can afford to pay much higher salaries.5
- They are competing with companies that have well-established, well-equipped, talent acquisition operations.
- They are competing with well-known brands that attract top talent just through their status in the marketplace.6
- They have limited experience with recruitment and so they often lack the expertise and know-how that more seasoned recruiting teams possess. Most notably specialist hyper-growth talent acquisition knowledge.
These are just a few of the disadvantages that start-ups face, it really feels like a mountain to climb. Let’s look at what their options are in light of these challenges.
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What choices do start-ups have?
The hiring options for most start-ups fall into one of three categories:
- Agencies. A start-up can employ an agency to source candidates on their behalf. This tends to be rather expensive for smaller companies and there's limited control over which client agencies prioritise or who they supply their best candidates to. Lastly, when hiring is unsuccessful their strategic guidance is limited. They are too removed to appreciate the nuances of your organisazation and often lack the strategic know-how to identify and remove blockers.
- Advertising. A start-up can choose to do it themselves and advertise for the talent they’re looking for through a wide range of distribution channels. This takes a lot of administrative effort for a relatively low reach. It redirects resources away from the core competencies that are growing the business itself.
- Personal Network. A start-up can rely on the personal networks of its founders, leveraging their social capital to acquire talent. This doesn’t work though if the founders have a limited social reach or if they use familiarity to select talent rather than an objective assessment of someone’s skills and suitability for the role.
There has to be a better way, surely?
The Best Course of Action
Ba Dum. Tsh. You knew this was coming, right?
We weren’t just going to leave you in the lurch. We have some solutions for you.
The only way that start-ups can truly compete for top talent is by leveraging what makes them unique – their employer value proposition. As a company, you need to reflect on those aspects that make you stand out from the rest. What is it about you that would persuade the right people to join you on the journey?6 This storytelling really matters.
Start-ups must also level up their ability to choose the best people. As a business, you need to crack the top talent code, untangle the DNA that makes exceptional people exceptional, and build a robust assessment framework that filters the best of the best. Taking the bias and guesswork out of hiring makes all the difference. It's how you identify the gems that might otherwise fall through the cracks.
Finally, start-ups must pivot with the challenges of hiring in real-time. Whether it's a global pandemic restricting the supply of talent, or the varying abilities, mindsets and motivations of the hiring team, the talent acquisition operation must adapt. The ability to spot a blocker and remove it fast is a game changer. It's the secret to hiring high calibre talent and scaling your business at pace.
The Value of an Outsourced Partnership for Start-ups
In order to make the step change, start-ups can now turn to an outsourced partner that provides an end to end talent acquisition solution from developing your appeal as an employer to retaining the best and the brightest. You can bring in specialized talent acquisition skills, knowledge, and tools without breaking the bank. These partnerships strike the balance between the professional skills needed, and the cash flow constraints of a young company.
Move to an outsourced partnership and you'll be in good company. In 2021, outsourcing increased by 30% on average7 and startups are are predicted to have an even "higher adoption of outsourcing" 8 to improve "cost reduction, flexibility, speed to market, agility and access to tools / procesess".9
By utlising an outsourced talent acquisition solution, you can unlock tremendous untapped potential and compete for the very best because you are leveraging the expertise of a partner who’s done it all before. If you do things right:
- You can cultivate a hyper-productive culture that is built on the foundation of top-class hiring decisions.
- You’ll appear more attractive to investors who value the professional services you have access to.
- You won’t drain your bank balance through other expensive hiring options.
- You’ll be able to hire faster and scale rapidly.
