Establish Your Employer Value Proposition
The employer value proposition, or EVP, is similar to the unique value proposition you use when pitching to customers and investors. The difference is that with an EVP you are of course focusing on the employee experience, rather than the value of the product or service. There are a variety of EVPs you can use, so try to use one that strikes the right balance between being unique and realistic. Some startups can overpromise, which results in new hires quitting early, so try to avoid that.
Build a Sourcing Strategy
A classic mistake startups make is to rely on post and pray recruiting – They post a job online and wait for candidates to apply. Unfortunately for them, this causes them to miss out on top talent. Sourcing, on the other hand, involves a more proactive approach.
In sourcing you go out and hunt for the candidates you need. You might look on social media, like LinkedIn and Github. You might also host meetups and local events. There’s a wide variety of things you can try, but the governing rule is to be proactive in searching for candidates. This helps you to find people you’d otherwise miss. To learn more about creating a sourcing strategy read this.
When you are sourcing people use the employer brand you’ve build to convince them to listen to your pitch. Without an employer brand sourcing is going to be much more difficult.
Create a Strong Career Page
Potential candidates will review your website to inform their decisions, so you want to make sure your startup has a solid career page.
Building a good employer brand for your startup takes time, but if you work to do it in both your early days as well as when money is starting to flow you’ll be in a better position to hire candidates who can help you succeed.
Human Resource Issues in a Startup
EMPLOYER BRANDING
19