Startups are easily seen as an innovative company owing to their ability to continuously develop technology and facilitate new inventions. Unfortunately, startups also often fail because they are unable to maintain teamwork and/or fail to bring in the right people to the organisation. Analysing more than 100 startup failure post-mortems, CB Insights found that failing to maintain a diverse team is the third most common reason for startup failure. A diverse team with different skill sets is critical to the success of a company. However, the research revealed that most founders fail to recognise the need for a diverse team and they often bring in the right people late to business, resulting in fumbling company management.

See also: Guide to be an Effective Human Resource Manager at Startup

The need for HRD in startup

When startup entrepreneurs can get the most reliable CEO or CFO, they often lack proper HR training, hence, unable to get the best out of a team, reported CB Insights. Typically, new-built CEO or CFO can work well enough in the first few months but when the startup begins to settle, they cannot keep up the pace, resulting in an operational hole.

For that very reason, the presence of a human resource department is important to even small business like a green startup. Having HRD, startups can build up better skills needed to ensure the scalability of a business. Besides, employing HR professional to your startup HR department can bring the best talents and support the life of an organisation.

HRD checklist for startups

Nevertheless, handling a startup might not be a piece of cake even for an HR professional with years of experience working at corporates. Startup is a run-on business which finds it tough to comply with the employment law. For example, they might lack rules and procedures for maintaining a business, unlike larger companies that are more settled. Additionally, startups often have a small operational budget which makes it harder for HR to express themselves in building an engaged team. Therefore, here is HR startup list you should not miss in creating solid HRD team. 

To ensure performance and code of conduct within company:

• Make sure you have a fool-proof employee policy which complies with standard law. However, you can modify policies and procedures to suit your startup needs.
• Create an easy and solid employee engagement strategies.
• Build an effective team by gauging the power of working in teams. Always include your team in every small decision (this works best for a green startup).
• Do train and develop employees equally within an organisation. As best as possible, shoo away every bias of hiring manager that prevents recruiting diverse teams. 
• Encourage the use of technology and innovative methods to cut hiring costs.
• Support employees with small gestures and rewards.

To recruit & maintain new top talents:

• Prepare the basic such as job description and qualification. Don’t be too specific in your job qualification. This is an early stage of business life, having too specific points will discourage candidates to apply.  
• Make sure you advertise your job with interesting copywriting to encourage top-talent to apply. You can write “It could be a tough moment to work with us but it is so rewarding. We believe in providing care in the way we would want our loved ones to be treated…. You don’t need any experience, you just need to have the right attitude and be legally allowed to work here.”
• Advertise your job in a platform such as LinkedIn, Glassdoor, Facebook, or Startup Jobs Asia. You can also do free internal advertising by asking your current team to post on their social media wall or status.
• In the interview session, do look at a candidate’s attitude and potential. Also, employ various kinds of people to create a diverse workplace. The more diverse your company is, you can achieve better success in the future.
• The last step is to not forget the onboarding process. Introduce your new hires with startup culture and their responsibility. Tell them what you expect from them and that they can reach you whenever they need.

Read also: Labour Law HR Should Know When Employing Interns