Startups in India are redefining HR management practices. The risk-reward perspective is in
India is well known for its entrepreneurial and highly-educated talent base, and is the third largest pool of scientists, engineers and technicians, after the US and Russia.
More and more attention is being paid to how it will continue to develop its intellectual and managerial talent and management practices in order to achieve an international standard that will take it into the future. The country’s centuries-old history of entrepreneurship across almost every industry sector has been founded on its people’s sound business fundamentals and passionate commitment to success.
This article will quickly outline the competencies of top executives at startups today, and the high level of innovation and creativity required amongst HR practitioners seeking to attract and retain top talent to drive the success of nascent organizations in a globalizing Indian environment.
Profile of Successful Entrepreneurs
Many startups need help identifying their true talent needs and communicating a compelling vision to potential candidates. A focus on an executive’s mindset, as it relates to their technical and managerial skills, will unveil characteristics that are mission-critical for startups compared to more established companies.
Specifically, it is essential to find individuals with:
- a high level of innovation management to create the new and different;
- a high degree of personal commitment and courage in the face of seemingly impossible odds—requiring optimism and resilience not to get deflected by the extent of rejection and skepticism that they will inevitably face;
- personal flexibility and the ability to inspire others around a well defined vision and purpose; and
- the energy and drive to operate and deliver results in an inherently disorderly and chaotic environment, executing in the absence of an external “organizational” support structure for the daily routine and mundane tasks necessary to meet the bottom line.
Without these traits, otherwise sound and capable executives are rendered completely ineffective in a startup environment. But the challenge doesn’t stop there—after finding people with these criteria, it is critical for HR managers to take the time to assess their cultural and other fitment with the medium- to long-term strategy of the company. While during the initial stages of operation the cultures of one startup will be quite similar to another, over time they will become more differentiated as the businesses mature, requiring senior managers who embody the corporate ethos.
Attracting and Keeping the Best People
Many startups believe that they are in competition with established big brand companies for the best people, which is often an erroneous assumption. In fact, the profile described above of people who aspire to join startups are vastly different from those who want to be part of an established big brand company. In fact, the real competition is from other startups with the ability to attract and retain these potential candidates.
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People who join startups typically have a greater risk-reward appetite that translates into their looking for a reward that is commensurate with the risk they perceive. As a result, they expect a certain level of fixed compensation and base pay, combined with some “sweat equity” linked directly to their contribution, either in the form of performance bonus or stocks.
But beyond compensation considerations, companies must recognize that entrepreneurial employees need to continuously feel involved and engaged during the ebbs and flows of business cycles, and to accord them with a clear sense of involvement and benchmarks for success. Large corporations afford an opportunity to work in an environment that mitigates external business risk factors while providing the advantages of scale and size. However, those who opt to work for startups typically like to challenge the status quo, creating something new and different in an environment that is perceived to be “quick and agile” rather than “safe and steady.”
Recognizing all of these factors, some of the most successful startups have employed the following practices to attract and retain talent in the face of any initial hurdles they may face in terms of branding or financing:
- Being upfront and honest about the challenges;
- Using referrals to identify like-minded candidates;
- Marketing themselves as affiliated with recognized brands by virtue of investors, advisory board or business partners/alliances;
- Ensuring the founders are true role models;
- Recognizing that the earlier an employee joins the new venture, the greater the risk-reward at stake is; and
- Not paying lip service to “sharing the gains,” but actually committing to doing so.
New and fresh approaches to talent management like these will enable India to sustain its tradition of entrepreneurship well into the future.
“You have been told that, even like a chain, you are as weak as your weakest link. This is but half the truth. You are also as strong as your strongest link.” - Kahlil Gibran
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written by pondicherry times, December 13, 2009
anyway
can u please post topic on about future perspective of indian industry management
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Thanks and Regards/-
Jason Webb