Science called - it asked for better communication

I read a cool article in the Autumn 2009 strategy+business magazine about what recent neuroscience research tells us about the social nature of high-performing workplaces. Communicating better and reducing uncertainty is a necessity for increasing productivity and retaining staff.

One of the studies, that unfortunately applies to too many work environments, discusses how uncertainty has the ability to block work from getting done and encourages bad decisions. When something is certain, or familiar, "neural connections in our basal ganglia have 'hardwired' the situation and the responses to it. This makes it easy to do what someone knows how to do, even to focus on more than one thing. Like driving and talking on the phone."

Enter uncertainty ... Will we get funding? Are we hiring/firing? What is everyone else working on? Will the new project need me? Uncertainty registers in the part of the brain called the anterior cingulate cortex, as an error, a gap or tension - something that must be corrected. Just a wee bit of uncertainty can be exciting. It can produce adrenaline and make us be more creative, prod us to think outside of the box and deliver more. Tip the scale a bit and get too much uncertainty and you have some real problems. "Not knowing what will happen next can be profoundly debilitating because it requires extra neural energy. This diminishes memory, undermines performance, and disengages people from the present. When perceived uncertainty gets out of hand, people panic and make bad decisions."

Doing poor work is one thing. But disengaging is another thing altogether. It's frightening to think your star performers are looking to 'correct' uncertainty by looking for new jobs that seem to be more stable.

I think in the vast majority of situations, people can handle more complexity than they are given credit for. They can handle knowing the problems and the variables behind them. Good leaders understand the importance of communicating regularly and meaningfully. Creating the perception of certainty builds confident and dedicated teams.

For example, sharing business plans, breaking down complex projects into discrete steps, sharing rationales for change, maps/plans of an organization’s structure, specifics about restructuring, and articulating how decisions are made help people feel more confident and build trust. 'Transparent practices are the foundation on which the perception of certainty rests.'

There you go. If you want your team effectively multi-tasking, concentrating, and not looking for other jobs, doesn't it make sense to communicate more?

Recruiting Interns

A friend of mine has a cool start-up that is really gaining traction. She wrote:

"I thought of you yesterday, Matt. I'm dealing with hiring interns (it's been a nightmare so far!). I hired an intern who worked one day and then asked me if he could use me as a reference on his resume. Ugh. Remind me again why you love this process so much! : ). You're freaky!"

Here were some of my thoughts:

• Don't sacrifice on quality, but give on everything else. Look for an impressive, creative, or a cool past job experience. Compromise on work assignments, hours, days they work, tools you can get them, exposure to cool projects, whatever .... Give them free reign, a "professional playground." Make sure you give a real resume building experience and make that appealing to applicants. This will likely mean that you can't rely on them to deliver for your next deadline (or format that boring report) but they'll bring value.

• Pay something. If you can avoid making the internship unpaid, do it. Pay $5/hour stipend, train fair, buy lunch... Anything you offer makes a big difference over the other completely unpaid opportunities out there.

• Write a fun, creative, different, but realistic posting - this is a lengthy topic by itself, but spend some time. Explain your company, what you are looking for, the perks, and make it fun! Free posting spots should be able to give you what you want. I like www.startuply.com (its free). Another good place to start an intern search is, of course, www.craigslist.org.
  

• Add fun screening questions that applicants must answer in order to get a response. This helps cut through the spam-of-crap applicants and can give a real glimpse of personality, drive, and quality. For example, Tell me a joke? Which of our current clients do you like most and why? What was a favorite viral video in the last year and why? Simple questions relating to the work are good too! What resource would you use for arranging travel from SF to NY? What are some common tasks of a PR company? State you are busy and will only respond to applicants that answer all of your questions. Very few candidates will respond to individual questions and the ones that do will really want the job.

This is certainly not an exhaustive list, but I've found these steps helpful. What are good recruiting tips you have used? How have your internship experiences worked out?

The Dark Phase

I recently wrote about Mark Jung's presentation about the phases of a start-up. While not technically a part of the '5 phases' and referring more to an individual (i.e. the founder), Mark also talked about a 'Dark Phase'.

During the Dark Phase you ask yourself if you still believe in yourself and the company? What does failure mean? How are you coping with failure? You wonder how the carnage could have been prevented? (I love that Mark used the word carnage). You reflect on the amount of responsibility or blame you should take? What do you do now?

There are no answers. They are tests.

I think 'Dark Phase' is a great term. It's comforting. Everyone has setbacks and failures. Everyone hits entire periods of darkness. Knowing that it's normal and expected helps. It's how you respond that matters.

The Phases of a Startup

I once had a phone interview with an applicant that had seen more than his share of start-ups. He heard me talk about our team and was able to accurately describe the open office layout and our office communication style (mostly yelling across the room). He heard where we were with manufacturing our product and with our funding rounds and was able to translate these things into an understanding of the roles of our team, the processes we did and did not have, and where we would need to beef up in our next hiring round. He just seemed to get what start-ups are all about.

I thought about this as I talked with other start-ups. And I began to see more and more commonalities between each of them. They have ups and downs, growths and layoffs, and stages of development. It's official {I'm noting the date and time}, I am now interested in the phases of a start-up.

There are plenty of folks out there describing start-up phases - there are 4 phases here and 3 here and this one is good. However, awhile back Mark Jung, former IGN CEO (Now Vudu CEO) did a presentation at Stanford Technology Ventures Program outlining phases that I find valid and particular pertinent to an HR practitioner at a start-up.

The 5 Phases are:

1. Start-up and inception
2. Growth
3. Unfortunate setback
4. Rejuvenation/Rebirth
5. Transition

I think it's possible to look closely at these stages and use them as a guide. When you see the 'growth' period ahead, you know it's time to put basic workplace policies in place and initiate your hiring plan. How do you best divide up functions and roles as new people come aboard? It would be nice to be prepared for the 'unfortunate setback' and, as best is possible, proactively address employee concerns and problems.

I like this list Mark Jung! Thanks. I wonder if there are characteristics of each phase or indications of a transition to the next phase? How many of these characteristics are common across start-ups? How much can we learn about each phase?

Respond to Job Seekers

With this tanker economy, there's been no shortage of articles and anecdotes about the shabby treatment doled out to job seekers - like here in Terry Frost's blog and this NY Times piece.

There is increased, and valid, criticism about the lack of communication with job seekers, even final stage candidates. I know it can be absolutely overwhelming to find and navigate a candidate through interviewing and onboarding. Responding to every applicant that floods your email on top of that seems undoable. Especially, at a startup where there is more to do than fits in a day - usually without a dedicated HR rep. As we open a new position here at my company I want to do better.

Here are a few strategies I suggest to help:

#1 Add some additional tasks to the job posting, and make it clear you'll only respond to applicants who respond to your additional requests. For example, ask applicants to name their favorite product in your line and why. Perhaps it's just asking them for the last book they read and loved? These additional, and non-traditional, requests can give you clear insight into an applicant's personality. More importantly, they serve as an immediate screening tool to gauge genuine interest. Seekers spamming their resume widely and blindly stand out like a sore thumb - as not being specifically 'into' your opportunity.

You can also use the posting to notify applicants that it might be as long as a week or two before they hear from you while you receive and screen folks.

#2 Be strategic in your posting location. For many positions, craigslist or careerbuilder will bring a barrage of nongermane candidates. Start instead by posting on focused job boards, hopefully yielding more qualified applicants, and fewer of them. For example, if you are looking for a QA Manager, start with devBistro or QAjobs. I also like to narrow down the field with industry specific sites, like CenterNetworks. Startuply should produce applicants more likely to be prepared for a start-up. Most of these niche job boards are free or extremely affordable (read $10).

#3 Develop an applicant triage. Keep the process moving along.

* The 'No' Pile: For those that are clearly don't fit your specifications, log them in a 'no' folder right away. I once had someone with only 1 year gravedigging experience apply for an embedded Linux developer spot. Schedule 30 minutes on your calendar to shoot these people a nice template email informing them it wasn't a match this time.

* The 'Maybe' Pile: If you don't move them to the 'no' pile with a quick hiring panel pow-wow then shoot them a template email asking them to hang on until 'x' date a couple weeks out. Tell them you have numerous candidates and your hiring team needs time to receive all applications and get together to review them.

* The 'Ohh looks good' Pile: Communicate regularly and personally with these folks and let them know where you are in the process. In fact, get to know them and how they react to the real challenges your team faces in the process. If there are too many in this group to correspond with easily, you need to transition more of them to the 'maybe' or 'no' pile. When someone drops from consideration, do your best to tell them why.

There are free open source Applicant Tracking Systems out there. OpenCATS might do the trick by helping you store applicant info and see where you are in the communication process. You can use a spreadsheet or even manila folders.

We can do this. Leaving job seekers in the lurch is not only unprofessional, but it severs a potentially powerful network of future friends, contributors, partners, and customers. I've built relationships with rejected candidates, one who later referred a perfect match for an open position and another who turned into a major customer. If someone applies to your company, it's likely they have related interests and connections you don't want to lose. Communicating with applicants is representative of your company as a whole - it's basic branding, and its basic courtesy.

Fast Growth Factors

Companies with the fastest revenue growth (we're talking 1,007% over the past two years) list key HR functions as their top two most important factors for success. Oh yeah!

Measuring HR's value is difficult, so it's very nice to have some 'hard' evidence. Well, yes I know, it is a fairly small survey and it's from Canada :-), but nonetheless yesterday's newswire release dished out some sweet candy for HR, especially HR fast growth start-ups.

The survey identified The Profit Hot 50. "These firms are young, tech-savvy and hungry - and hold lessons for entrepreneurial firms of all ages". The leaders identified the top most important factors in their fast growth. We'd expect to see the importance of the business generating capital, the need for industry experience, and having strategic sales.

But give it up for the top two factors on their list <drum roll please>:

1.) Retaining good staff

2.) Recruiting good staff

It makes sense, right? Yeah! It's very nice to see examples of real success backing up what I already view as key. Use this 1,007% growth to help others see the value, to guide investments of time and money, and to prioritize in retaining and recruiting!

Come With A Solution

My first real job was at a small boutique HR consulting firm here in New York. By many accounts, I was thrown into the deep end and I love being forced to learn a lot quickly.

One pearl of wisdom I learned at this time has helped me in my professional career a great deal - and I feel it has particular relevance at a start-up. It's a simple concept: Come with a solution.

Employees should be expected to take initiative. They should be given responsibility, they should work on meaningful projects, and have tools and mentors at their disposal. Naturally, questions, dilemmas and problems are par for the course - but every employee should think through possible outcomes and present them, along with a proposed solution.

If your team isn't doing this, ask them to. It will help you quickly navigate the tons of decisions that need to be made and more importantly it will empower employees and help them grow professionally.