Hiring a first employee is critical for any organization because it is setting the tone for your corporate culture. That’s not to say the employee dictates the culture, but that person will theoretically be representative of what you want your corporate culture to be like and will be the example of your corporate culture to all employees who follow.
So, that’s why it is so important to choose your first employee wisely? Here is how you can choose the right first employee to represent your organizational culture.
Play Matchmaker
The easiest way to ensure your first hire reflects the corporate culture you want your startup to espouse is by making sure that person has the traits you want your company to be known for. Make a list of those traits and right after you are done interviewing people, check off which traits they portrayed during the interview. The person you hire should be able to check off most or all of those traits.
Remember that your first employee will be 50 percent of your workforce (along with you) for at least a while. When you hire another person, they still represent 33 percent of your workforce and then 25 percent and so on. When you look at it that way instead of thinking about your first hire as being a single person, you realize just how important it is to hire appropriately.
Spend Freely
You may think this refers to spending money on job ads, but I’m actually referring to spending an appropriate amount of time on your first hire. Once you get your operations up and running, you should be spending between a third to a half of your time on hiring your first employee, according to Y Combinator president Sam Altman.
It’s imperative to hire someone who believes in what you’re doing with as much conviction as you do. Startups often hit rough patches and if you hire someone who is not willing to put in the same effort as you to make it work, you are already on the way to creating a poor company culture. Don’t underestimate the amount of time you need to spend on that first hire.
Hire, Don’t Hope
Sometimes you interview a person and even though they aren’t exactly right for the job, you go ahead and hire them anyway because you like them and you just kind of hope they grow into the position with your guidance.
However, that’s a dangerous precedent to set with your first employee. If you’re that lackadaisical with your first hire, it sets the cultural tone that you’re willing to forego the experience and skills necessary for a position and hire instead based on how much you like someone. It’s not that you shouldn’t hire people you like, but because a startup is usually a fragile entity, it’s better to hire someone who is as close to perfect for the job as you can get based on their past accomplishments and their motivation for the position.
Think Like an Investor
Your first hire isn’t just an employee, that person is an investment. Like any good investment, you want to see them grow and improve. You can help with this by giving them the training and resources they require to develop their skills and grow not only as employees, but as people.
The hope with your first employee, as with any employee, is that they will learn and stay in your company for a long time. To make that happen, you have to invest in their future. It’s an investment in the future of your company, as well.
Teach Trust
Companies that grow need to have delegation built into their culture and in order to do that, you have to be able to trust your employees. Empower your first hire to make decisions by giving them responsibility that they can build on.
You’ll need them to be a capable decision maker as your company scales up and you hire more people. The best time to start them on that path is when you can give them your undivided attention.
Wield the Ax (if necessary)
Part of good corporate culture is responsible hiring, but of equal importance is responsible firing. If your first hire is not working out, it’s prudent to be able to recognize that and let them go so both the company and the individual can move on. As harsh as it is to say, firing the right person can drastically improve your company.
Be transparent about it if you have to do it so you can set the tone for future terminations in your company. As unpleasant as they may be, they are an important part of a growing and maturing company.
Building corporate culture starts even before you make your first hire, but it’s when you bring in your first employee that your culture really starts to take shape. Hire accordingly and you will help create a strong culture for your startup.