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What are the best talent management programs for start-ups?
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6 Answers
Catherine,
While there are a host of vendors who have very robust and capable products to assist with your needs, there are other things to consider as well. Iterms to consider are:
1. Licensing model - is it per employee per month or a flat fee? As you grow do you get preferential pricing due to economies of scale? As a start-up there is a likely a desire to minimize up-front investment and only pay for what you need, yet be able to support a larger workforce at some point in the future
2. Delivery Model - licensed, locally installed software is available, but might not necessarily be appropriate for a start-up. Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions might make more sense, where you subscribe to the software and access it over the internet. Little to no IT support is necessary in this model.
3. Regional/Global Needs - while there are a number of robust solutions available, if your company anticipates the need to work with a geographically disbursed workforce across the globe the needs become more difficult to meet. More established, enterprise class solutions are more likely to have encountered the need to obtain and maintain Safe Harbor Certification for employees in the EU, maintain multiple data centers around the globe, and have support operations to meet your needs 24/7.
While there are some interesting options which might be well suited for a start-up environment like Sonar6 and Rypple, please be sure to take into consideration the needs long-term before you make too substantial of an investment.
Start-ups are generally populated with people who possess the technical skills that surround their product or service and seldom have much in the way of management skills.
I recommend beginning with the basics. There are literally hundreds of training and development companies that offer reasonable solutions but the thing to emphasize early and often is consistency. Pick a management methodology and stick with it. Everyone uses the same tools.
If you are unable to apply this discipline, then you will end up with the "patchwork quilt" of management methodologies that most organizations suffer from.
The "we're too small for that" argument doesn't wash. You are never too small to apply tried and true management techniques.
Set measurable goals, hold effective/efficient meetings, hold everyone accountable for results and instill a coaching/learning culture. You'll find that things are easier that way.
Hi Catherine,
I'm all for "Lean" solutions regardless of the size of company or situation. Start ups are particularly vulnerable to ineffective and over priced solutions that take the focus off the work required to launch and build a company beyond the pull of gravity. Here are the top targets for your talent management program based on my work with many start-up and small businesses:
1. Hiring for high performance fit - Getting the right person in the right job. It is all about hiring "A" players or as Godin suggests, "Linchpins". Recruiters (and board members) are not a strategy for accomplishing this. They can source multiple candidates for you but they won't be effective at identifying which will be the "linchpin" that you are needing.
2. Leadership/Mgmt development - many people attracted to start-up opportunities are mavericks. Others come from large enterprises where there were an abundance of resources to get things done. The leadership team needs to be in sync and able to move quickly. If the leadership team uses 5% of their time to support a continuous improvement development strategy you'll find the "people" growing with the company. This will allow you to avoid major changes at the top in one or two years. Your leaders need to be skilled in being a "manager-coach" to those working for them.
3. Establishing key accountabilities for each position and measures of success and identifying the competencies required for the position. [this is not a job description] This is referred to as job benchmarking. This supports #1 above and provides clarity once a person is hired. It provides the manager with a framework for being a "Manager-Coach".
These three initiatives are very cost effective, quick and easy to implement without bogging down resources and 100% business results oriented.
Catherine,
What makes a start-up a great place to work is that everything moves so fast and a lot of the barriers that exist in larger companies don't yet exist there. When it comes to managing talent in a start-up, you've got to do it in a way that will work with the start-up's culture: fast and with low overhead.
The beauty of a start-up is that everyone has the same goal: keeping the doors open and the lights on. Instead of spending a lot of time worrying about complicated talent management programs, focus on what really counts: recognizing individual's contributions quickly and in public.
Hopefully everyone is contributing, but some will be doing even more. When this happens, taking the time to pause, identify the contribution and what it means to the company, and then celebrating in a way that involves as many people as possible will reward both the individual and everyone who helped them.
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Hi Catherine. Being new to this forum, please excuse my ignorance, but for which country are you asking? For Canada, I would say:
1. Drake International's Exponential Impact TMS
2. Taleo
3. Hallogen
Greetings Catherine,
If you are a startup and are not looking to pump too much in your programs yet, I would suggest Microsoft Database and Microsoft Access. They integrate well with other programs once you are ready to upgrade due to more available data. Plus, they go well with website forms, and are very easy to manage and edit. And the extra bonus is that if you have the Microsoft Suite, they're already included.
Best,
Junior Sanchez {LION}
Chief Executive Officer
RIFT SUCCESS
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