Solving the hiring challenges of Start-ups.

In the last five years, my childhood friend Eddie has been dreaming and planning to launch his e-commerce business. Who can imagine how happy he was to see his dream come live on the 1st of July, 2016. We celebrated this achievement as he joined the big league of e-Commerce founders.

Just like most startups, Eddie started his journey as the founder and also the only employee of his nascent enterprise. A month later, as the little mustard seed began to grow, it dawned on him that he cannot run the business alone, he needed a team.  That was when the fear and headache started. Who should he hire? Who can he trust with all his innovations? How will he cope with the excesses of total strangers who know nothing about the origin of his business? He confided in me and sought my help and that’s when my thought started going back and forth on Eddie’s travails and that of other startups.

How important is the first set of employees to the success of any start-up like Eddie’s?  What should they consider in hiring their first team member – some who might become part owners in the future? What qualities should they consider most important? How can they spot “dangerous” candidates?

Are you having similar challenges like Eddie or about to start your own business? It is extremely important for you to know that if you make the right hiring choices, you will definitely get great rewards. However, if you get it wrong at this stage, the continued existence of your new dream is in grave danger.

The first step will be to have a hiring plan. This should state what the manpower needs for your startup will look like in 2-3 years time. 

• Identify potential roles in your organization.
• Identify knowledge and skills that potential hires must possess.
• Identify the industry standards on remuneration and determine if you want to play above or below it.

The second step will be to determine when you actually need to make your first hire. Most startup executives have found out that the earlier this is done, the better if your budget permits. It is also pertinent to note that not making any hiring decisions to save cost may actually be hurting your business, as you may be underproducing or losing a new revenue stream due to lack of relevant manpower to fill those gaps. 

You will also need to determine at this stage the number of staff needed and explore creative ways to make the few people hired do more without burning out. It will also be important to determine if your hires will be full-time employees or on contract/consulting basis.

The next critical step will be to hire. This step is very important to the success of your new business. 

Generally, it is best to hire people who have broad knowledge in many areas, with a specialist knowledge in a particular field.

At this stage, it may also be beneficial to hire people for their potentials, not just on past work experiences. The best hire would be one who shares similar passions as you and believe in what your organisation stands for and hope to achieve. Hire people who have demonstrable skill or ability in a particular endeavour, even if it's a hobby. The amount of time and energy the potential hire puts into a personal venture to make it work speaks a lot about their work ethics and values.

Also, if possible, have the senior members of your team meet and interview the potential hires to ensure that everyone agrees with and feels comfortable with the hired candidate. It is also at this stage that cultural fit is prioritised. Ensure that you have a written "culture code" and examine all potential hires by this code to ensure that they match what your "dream" hire looks like.

Be as open as possible throughout the hiring process such that your potential hires understand that you truly want them as stakeholders and partners of your business.

The next step will be to actually find people and hire them. This can be achieved by writing a clear and concise job description that states exactly what needs potential hires will fill at your new startup.

Get creative at this stage, your job ad should include both soft and specific requirements so as to attract a sizable pool of qualified candidates. Describe your startup and show what unique benefits potential hires will derive by working for you.

Try traditional and niche online job boards when posting your ads and be sure to check up on various online communities where candidates with the required expertise that you are looking for are members.

Once you have narrowed down to your desired candidate pool, keep the entire recruitment process short and interactive. 

So who are those not to look for in staffing your start-up:

• Managers who are already used to leading large groups of people and whose default is delegation. The majority of your projects will require people who will both come up ideas and execute them.
• You also do not need to hire people who are in it solely for the money. At this stage, you need people who are as invested in your business as you are. This gives them the persistence and drive and fulfills their need to be successful.
• Finally, do not be quick to hire your "carbon copy". Look for people who have different skills, background, and outlook on life. You need people who can also think differently, challenge some ideas and come up with new and creative ways of solving everyday problems. 

• Courtesy: Chidinma Ike ACIPM, SPHRi

5 Books to Read This Summer

Here in Seattle, summer is a gift you earn by gutting out nine months of rain and gloom. The skies are clear, there’s hardly any humidity, and the nights are cool. Best of all, you sometimes get the chance to sit outside reading a great book.

This summer, my recommended reading list has a good dose of books with science and math at their core. But there’s no science or math to my selection process. The following five books are simply ones that I loved, made me think in new ways, and kept me up reading long past when I should have gone to sleep. As a result, this is an eclectic list—from an 800-page science fiction novel by a local legend to a 200-page nonfiction book on how Japan can get its economic mojo back. I hope you find at least one book here that inspires you to go off the beaten path when you get some time to yourself this summer.

Seveneves, by Neal Stephenson. I hadn’t read any science fiction for a decade when a friend recommended this novel. I’m glad she did. The plot gets going in the first sentence, when the moon blows up. People figure out that in two years a cataclysmic meteor shower will wipe out all life on Earth, so the world unites on a plan to keep humanity going by launching as many spacecraft as possible into orbit. You might lose patience with all the information you’ll get about space flight—Stephenson, who lives in Seattle, has clearly done his research—but I loved the technical details. Seveneves inspired me to rekindle my sci-fi habit.

How Not to be Wrong, by Jordan Ellenberg. Ellenberg, a mathematician and writer, explains how math plays into our daily lives without our even knowing it. Each chapter starts with a subject that seems fairly straightforward—electoral politics, say, or the Massachusetts lottery—and then uses it as a jumping-off point to talk about the math involved. In some places the math gets quite complicated, but he always wraps things up by making sure you’re still with him. The book’s larger point is that, as Ellenberg writes, “to do mathematics is to be, at once, touched by fire and bound by reason”—and that there are ways in which we’re all doing math, all the time.

The Vital Question, by Nick Lane. Nick is one of those original thinkers who makes you say: More people should know about this guy’s work. He is trying to right a scientific wrong by getting people to fully appreciate the role that energy plays in all living things. He argues that we can only understand how life began, and how living things got so complex, by understanding how energy works. It’s not just theoretical; mitochondria (the power plants in our cells) could play a role in fighting cancer and malnutrition. Even if the details of Nick’s work turn out to be wrong, I suspect his focus on energy will be seen as an important contribution to our understanding of where we come from.

The Power to Compete, by Ryoichi Mikitani and Hiroshi Mikitani. I have a soft spot for Japan that dates back three decades or so, when I first traveled there for Microsoft. Today, of course, Japan is intensely interesting to anyone who follows global economics. Why were its companies—the juggernauts of the 1980s—eclipsed by competitors in South Korea and China? And can they come back? Those questions are at the heart of this series of dialogues between Ryoichi, an economist who died in 2013, and his son Hiroshi, founder of the Internet company Rakuten. Although I don’t agree with everything in Hiroshi’s program, I think he has a number of good ideas. The Power to Compete is a smart look at the future of a fascinating country.

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, by Noah Yuval Harari. Both Melinda and I read this one, and it has sparked lots of great conversations at our dinner table. Harari takes on a daunting challenge: to tell the entire history of the human race in just 400 pages. He also writes about our species today and how artificial intelligence, genetic engineering, and other technologies will change us in the future. Although I found things to disagree with—especially Harari’s claim that humans were better off before we started farming—I would recommend Sapiens to anyone who’s interested in the history and future of our species.

This was originally published at gatesnotes.com.

·         

Written by Bill Gates

Bill Gates

Photos: This is What Happens Each Time a Man Connects with a Woman Sexually

 

 

Each time a man connects with a woman se.xually and releases his life form energy within her, he leaves a part of his information (DNA) in her birth canal.

If she doesn’t clean herself, his energy remain inside of her. That imprint can often create illusional s.exual addiction to the individual.

When someone decides to have multiple partners, it can sometimes send mixed emotional signals within the inside of the body’s vibration system. Women must be careful of different energies or spiritual forces polluting their internal temple. You are a
sacred doorway, where life is intended to pass through, respect yourself, use your gifts wisely!

Just think about it and ask yourself… Ever wonder why they call it s.exual intercourse (INTER-Course)? It’s an inter(nal) course that unites man and woman, mind with mind, spirit with spirit, or energy with energy. This is something that a condom can’t protect you against because energy is behind the elements of all flesh.

There is no such thing as “Casual” Se.x or “Friends with Benefits”… No, No, No, I Don’t Think So!!! Intimate activity intricately entwines the energies between two people.

S.ex creates a powerful exchange of energy between those involved. These connections, imprints and debris are left upon the mind, soul and spirit for a long time because they are not easily purged or cleansed.

‘Casual se.x’ with multiple partners can intertwine the energies and spirits of a lot of people into your own aura if they are not severed and cleansed. You become joined to every person with whom your partner has slept, as well as all the partners those people had.

This type of “soul clutter” can be felt by your partner’s subconscious. Even if they are not completely in tune or aware of the extra-curricular s.exual activities, they still are able to sense the subtle disturbances of multiple energies and/or familiar spirits that have entered causing restlessness and inner turmoil.

The longer and more intimate the contact with another person, the more powerful the reinforcement and the interaction of the bond becomes, and all the more difficult it is for them to untangle and leave.

Ladies, this is deep. Se.x is deep and spiritual, mind who you throw your legs open for.

culled from: Tiwa Tiwa on Tiwa's blog