How startup founders can increase business success
How founders can increase business success with a Human Resources strategy
By Hason Greene, HumInt Labs, Inc.
It has been estimated that 70+% of new companies fail, and according to a recent study, not
having the right people or strategy are among the top reasons. No matter how good the product
or marketing effort, there is no substitute for a winning workforce strategy. After all, our people are
not only our most valuable resource, but they are in fact our only resource incapable of being
copied.
Often overlooked in today’s workplace — the strategy for organizing work, the process for
selecting talent, the foundation for a positive company culture, the mindsets and frameworks
required for companies to grow and prosper, and the implementation of an effective Human
Resources technology to support the above areas — are capabilities critically important to the
success of any size business. I have nearly 15 years experience working nationally with various
hospitality groups and startups helping to create better workplaces, improved processes and
practices, and increased performance by delivering actionable Human Resources solutions that
connect business strategy to workforce strategy, and that allow people to do their best work.
For companies that lack this direction, a differentiated workforce strategy may be the solution.
Provide your people a clear direction and strategy.
Organizations often fall into a ‘follow the
leader’ routine because, at least in part, their people don’t know the larger mission or direction. A
workforce strategy can provide that direction, with the why, what, and how. A differentiated
workforce strategically distributed can be the fuel a startup or small-to-medium business requires
to scale and ultimately succeed. The strategy is the framework from which all else flows. Get it
right and watch your company steal market share. Get it wrong and end up as another statistic.
Solve problems with strategy.
No matter how painful a client’s problems are, I always
recommend they start with their strategy. Business owners, founders and leadership teams often
get stuck on a problem that would really be a non-issue if they first asked and answered how it
ties back to their strategy. Surprisingly, a lot of problems wouldn’t be problems at all, such as
certain workforce risks and reputation crises. When you return to your original framework, you
often discover perceived problems should never have surfaced. The only reason they did is
because we got away from our mission, vision and values. We brush them aside, treat them like
marketing tag lines and not the actual blue prints for which they were created.
Develop your Human Resources capabilities.
For startups and small-to-medium businesses,
think of your senior-level Human Resources consultant as your very own Vice President of
Human Resources or Chief People Officer, except they work remotely part of their time. They
may take the form of an HRBP, a coach, an advisor or a consultant. Regardless of their title, if they are good at what they do, they will help you develop critical human resources capabilities:
workforce strategy, organizational structure, talent pipelines, company culture, learning and
development opportunities and other necessary but often overlooked capabilities. To often, small
companies dismiss the need for Human Resources expertise because of their size and/or the
cost but there is, at least in the beginning, no need to hire a full time six figure salaried Human
Resources executive; a consultant can do as good work if not better at a fraction of the cost. This
is because you would hire them on an as needed (ie. on-demand) basis. Furthermore, there is no
learning curve; an experienced consultant can jump right in and make an immediate, positive
difference in your organization.
Increase organizational efficiencies with a lean mindset.
Too many organizational structures
today are still overly hierarchical, with decision making authority sitting only at the top. This is
because founders are creatives and visionaries who bled and sweat to create their businesses.
They want to make sure the business maintains its direction, reputation and performance. They
believe the answer is to own control, to make all the decisions, to minimize mistakes. In fact, in so
doing, what they are creating is a bureaucratic organization, slow to adapt and afraid of taking the
necessary risks required to compete. The correct answer is a differentiated, dynamic workforce
strategically distributed with appropriate decision making authority attached to strategic roles. A
Human Resources consultant can identify strategic roles, key touch points and high potential
talent, and design a better organizational structure with progressive decision-making agreements
that capitalize on quick, strategic, trusted decisions by high potentials in strategic roles. The result
would allow founders and leadership teams to lead more lean and agile organizational structures.
Cut through the noise of Human Resources vendors.
At last count, there were over 800
technologies that all aim to optimize Human Resources processes and functions, with more being
created every year. A consultant can help you identify your goals and needs, and cut through the
noise, to find a technology solution that fulfills your needs. For example, for a recruitment
platform, we designed an automated workflow to identify and match candidates to positions,
which saved staff the time it would otherwise have taken to research and screen thousands of
resumes. With the right technologies automating mundane and repetitive tasks, your people can
finally start to perform value-added work. Bonus: enabling your people to perform meaningful,
value-added work increases engagement, satisfaction, moral and retention.
Most people spend more time engaged in work activities than not. Yet an uncertain economy and
unhealthy social fabric make workplaces more volatile than ever before. Add to that, the way we
treat our workforces — how we manage, recognize and compensate them — has a ripple effect
on our communities, societies and economies. In short, the human condition and our world at
large can benefit from a strategy that so many companies, organizations and workforces lack. To
respond, founders and leaders need to create and implement a workforce strategy that addresses these factors. They can start to make positive changes by working with a Human Resources
consultant to begin designing the future.