Skill Up As You Scale Up eBook
- 1. SKILL UP AS YOU SCALE UP 16.11.2016 Free eBook @talentspark in/talentspark-community talentspark.scot
- 2. Contents Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 8 Page 11 Page 13 Page 15 Page 17 Page 19 Page 22 Page 25 Page 26 Page 29 Page 34 Page 37 Introduction Panel Introduction Building a strong founding team Why the founding team is key to your business Panellists on your founding team Attracting new talent & building an employer brand Creating an employer brand to showcase you company culture How to write a concise and compelling job description Top tips to making the right hires Panellists on employer brand & culture Ensuring you are legally compliant with your job offers - Morton Fraser LLP Maintaining your company culture as you grow Panellists on maintaining your company culture as you grow Managing your team across multiple locations The implications of Brexit on the Scottish tech ecosystem
- 3. Products and ideas grow, evolve and sometimes pivot in a totally different direction. Funding can always be found for truly game changing ideas and there will always be a host of competitors round the corner to shake up your market. However, more than anything else, early stage businesses live and die by the people that bring them to life. Scotland has a thriving start-up scene with companies across a range of sectors developing exciting concepts to make our lives that little bit better. There is a lot of support and advice on how to get started but scaling the business is a whole different ball game. Most experts agree; an innovative company can have all the potential in the world, but without the right people in place it is almost certainly destined to fail. Recruiting can be easy, but building a team of great talent isn’t. That’s why we’ve combined our professional knowledge with insight from some of the country's leading entrepreneurial knowhow to provide you with the tools to build a winning team. Skill up as you scale-up… for success. It can be easy to fall into the traps – employing friends without the right skillsets; creating a team of ‘mini- me’s’ who don’t provide diversity of thought to challenge the team; hiring for skillsets but not taking account of the cultural fit; recruiting for the now and not for the future and most importantly not taking action when things do go wrong. Are You Ready To Scale-up? We’ve looked at, amongst other things • Building a strong founding team and why it’s important • Creating an employer brand to attract the best talent • Maintaining your company culture as you grow • Managing teams across multiple locations
- 4. Add a little bit of body text Our Panellists Date: 16/11/2016 Time: 5.30 - 8pm Venue: Morton Fraser LLP, 2 Quartermile, Edinburgh John Peebles Maria Rooney David Hunter Phil Worms Colin HewittStuart McWilliams
- 5. Building a Strong Founding Team Aim for the Top of the Charts Diversity of skills is essential to success. It’s a bit like starting a rock band. You can’t have everyone playing the same instrument and you need to be able to balance the egos!
- 6. Entrepreneurial success is rarely the result of just a brilliant idea. It comes from the founding team’s never-say-die attitude and relentless execution. They are the people who build the business and shape its character. They establish the DNA – the values, culture and ethos of the business – that will run through everything that follows. So what makes a great founding team?
- 7. You need a great front man, (CEO) someone who can create the buzz and blast out the vocals to sell the story and create the vision. This role should be performed by a core founder, usually the individual with the strongest vision and the highest aspirations for the company. You then need to find your drummer. (Commercial Director) It’s crucial to have a baseline of sales or at least an idea of who your customer might be so you need someone to carry the beat and ensure you’re selling from the start. They will also ensure the tempo of your sales funnel ramps up to match the various stages of the business. Having someone attuned to user (or potential user) feedback allows for continual improvement based on market needs and means that you are developing a product or service that someone actually wants to buy. So many companies fail because the product or service is developed in isolation without consideration to the customer. Then, the quiet one. Your bassist. (CFO) Financial Management is so crucial in the early stages when funding is tight or as your business scales and you’re pitching for more. Cash flow is king so you need someone to keep a steady rhythm of financial management to ensure that you don’t burn through the cash before the next funding round is secured. It’s essential to be able to assess the viability and profitability of the organisation to create meaningful engagement with investors. Finally on the mixing desk you need a technical (CTO) whizz… constantly fine tuning and refining the proposition based on feedback and input from the other team members. Everyone needs to be focused, aligned and clear about who’s filling which role to meet targets and stay ahead of the competition. You definitely can’t carry passengers and you may wear several hats in the early stages. It doesn’t matter how many people make up the founding team, what matters is that you have all the key roles covered – technical, sales and finance – and that you are able to challenge and complement each other to work towards a common goal.
- 8. Your Founding Team The Key To Securing Investment Guy Martin "Having invested in a number of small businesses and run my own company for 13 years I know how important having the right founding team is to a successful scale up. " Scaling a business depends a great deal on funding. There are obviously a number of sources for this but the first thing any potential funding partner will look at is the founding team and how well they operate. Obviously there are other elements to a successful company but in the mind of an investor they very much start and finish at the feet of the founding team and if there is no faith in that team then there is unlikely to be any funding. So what are they looking for?
- 9. For there to be any chance of a business successfully scaling up there needs to be a clear vision that everyone buys into. The founding team have to provide that vision and inspire the passion and drive throughout the rest of the organisation to ensure everyone is pulling in the right direction. Discussion and debate is at the heart of successful business leadership but as a founding team it is essential to present a common vision. V i s i o n D u t y Commercial Investors are also looking to be assured that the people running the team have the requisite skills to make a commercial success of the business. They want to see a significant return on their investment so if they have little faith in the commercial nous of those in charge they will take their money to the next start up or they will replace those in key positions. It’s important there is a sense of purpose and a duty of care for the business entity and it’s people. While the leaders of the business are focused on delivering success it can’t be to the detriment of their team.
- 10. Potential investors need to have faith in the strength of the founding team. Tough decisions need to be made and made quickly. If there is a sense of indecision among the founding team this won’t inspire investor confidence. Decision Making Stomach for a Fight Fun Finally, something I’ve noticed is that the best businesses out there all generally seem to be having fun. They know how to work hard but they are all acutely aware that it’s essential to enjoy what you do too. Scaling up a business is hard work. Investors are looking for people who have the stomach for the fight, who will work the long hours and lead by example, setting the tone for the business. As mentioned investors won’t accept passengers and will quickly identify the weak link in the team and will want them replaced.
- 11. HowImportantisyour FoundingTeam John Peebles - It is essential you recruit the right people at the right stage of business. Working in and running a start-up or scale-up business is a fast paced environment and you can’t carry passengers, especially when they are in decision-making positions. The right experience is essential at every step of the process, I’ve found people very often can’t learn quickly enough. However I also firmly believe that you have to balance that experience with the right values alignment. We are focused on creating the ultimate human organisation but this is reliant on everyone at within the leadership level buying into our values and living them. The investors we work with also share a passion for our values. Much as the right founding team is important in attracting investment so the investors have to buy into your values too. David Hunter – I think it’s essential to be honest with yourself and know your own capabilities. The focus has to be on building the best product or service on the market and ensuring that the company as a whole is successful. Ego can’t get in the way of the end goal. For instance, I have a strong technical background and have been central to the technical development of Shot Scope but I knew to ensure we produced the very best product I needed someone with the even greater technical ability than I have. Lewis our CTO has brought a whole new dimension to our product. Combining this with even greater customer insight has made a real difference.
- 12. Maria Rooney - The characteristics that the founders at Fanduel demonstrated from the outset are still very much in evidence today. If I was to describe them collectively I would say they are ambitious, risk takers, tenacious, innovative, people focused and collaborative. Despite being based in the UK, they pioneered an entire industry with the introduction of their daily fantasy sport product which they launched in 2009. The ownership and autonomy that they fostered within the team has resulted in a strong sense of loyalty and commitment to the company. The remaining founders balance being close to the detail with leading the strategy; they have trusted the team around them to hire the right people to make the right decisions for the business. The optimism that they have helps employees to remain focused even during the times of adversity that start-ups face. They remain open with their communication and make themselves available (through structured and unstructured channels) for people to talk to which is important as you scale your business. Colin Hewitt - The ability to deliver is vital. When you’re working in such a small group, especially amongst the founding team who should be leading by example, everyone has to be hitting their targets. Also, as mentioned, understanding what skills you need at different stages of your business journey is so vital. This has been very important as we scale up. Natural tensions have emerged as we've grown - which is us hitting our own limits.
- 13. Attracting New Talent & Building an Employer Brand Founders need to become transformational leaders focused on inspiring the team to push boundaries and pursue big goals, uniting round a shared purpose. Just when you think you’ve got your team and situation figured out, things change. In a growing business there comes a time when you have to stop thinking small and step up. Jane Kennedy
- 14. It’s important to recognise that the dream team that you envisioned for your StartUp is not necessarily going to translate as your business grows. It’s extremely difficult to achieve a team of qualified go-getters who will nurture your business as if it’s their own. Trying to find individuals with the right blend of mindset and technical skills, prepared to do ‘whatever it takes’ to realise the dream, without the emotional (or equity) investment of the founders is a challenge! Start by defining a clear picture of what you’re looking for. Create a strong employer brand to define what you want for the future of a company so that new employees know what they are buying into. This should be an extension of your existing brand values so that your internal customers are fed the same message as your external clients. You need to create and commit to a process for how positions are defined, promoted and filled. What does the interview process look like; who needs to be involved in the hiring process and who has the final say? It’s also important to give consideration to how new individuals fit into the hierarchy and salary scale and what the on-boarding process should involve to ensure that your new employee fully understands your company and their place in it. Read on for our expert team’s insight into how to create a winning culture, write a compelling advert and to hire the right people.
- 15. In such a competitive environment differentiating your brand to attract the best talent can be a real challenge. The first thing to say is your brand is not just the logo that sits at top of your headed paper or on your website. It is there to represent the organisation you are creating based on the values and the ethos of have instilled. The key to this is to be honest and establish something you believe in. You will find it hard to maintain a mindset for your company and encourage others to believe in it if you don’t. Put yourself into the mind of your customers, both internal and external, and identify what you want them to feel when they have any interaction with your company. CREATING YOUR EMPLOYER BRAND To Showcase Your Company Culture Jennifer Telfer Download any guide into branding and you’ll find a range of approaches. However, having worked with a number of successful companies we’ve found there are a few key building blocks that will ensure you are on the right track to building a home for your brand.
- 16. Every brand has a story. How it came into existence, how it has got to where it is now, what has made it the organisation it is today. People are interested to hear what has gone before but this also provides you with a foundation from which to build your house. Brand Story The Foundations Brand Values The Ground Floor Brand Personality The First Floor Brand Vision The Rooftop Your brand story will then dictate the values upon which you will build your company. These will provide you with the blueprint that will inform the decisions you make going forward and will help you create the customer touch points that will build a picture of you company in their mind. They will dictate everything from the way your company is represented on social media to the creativity in your advertising; the tone of your communication to the layout of your offices and the customer feedback system you implement. Your brand personality emerges from your values. This is the personalisation of your business and how you’re organisation is perceived by those working with you and for you. All your communication channels should reflect these personality traits so put yourself into the mind of your customers, both internal and external, and identify what you want them to feel when they have any interaction with your company. This is the final part of constructing your brand. Your vision encapsulates all the other elements into one clear statement that your whole organisation can rally behind. It could be to establish the number one company in your market, you might want to become the best employer brand in the country. Whatever your vision is make sure it is built on sound foundations.
- 17. How To Write A Concise & Compelling Job Description Michelle Lownie Job and Person Specifications tend to be focused on the skills and experiences a company require of a new individual. Sometimes these can be cut, pasted and copied from others and then amended which tends to come across as confusing. Taking time out to think about the role and person you require can be highly beneficial.
- 18. As an organisation scaling up it needs to be more than a list of duties and responsibilities. What is going to attract your company to an individual over and above a recognisable and stable brand that can provide predictable but stable employment? Before considering a move a candidate will want to see a compelling, well written job description that sells the company, the role and the vision. You want to attract the best candidates for your role giving you access to top talent rather than fielding out candidates who are unsuitable. Show candidates that your role could be career changing and strategic for their future, help them visualise their input and align their goals and aspirations to your company. You need to of course to provide: Don’t forget that it also needs to comply with Employment Legislation. Role definition Person specification Skills, experience and relevant qualifications Company Culture & Environment Salary, Benefits and the opportunities Sell what top talent in the market is buying –which doesn’t tend to be big salaries and inflated job descriptions.
- 19. At Talent Spark we are regularly asked by small companies and start-ups to advise them on their recruitment process for growth. This is the perfect time to advise as the people who are working with you at the start, while they might not be with you all the way through, are the people that help you build the brand and ethos that will define your company. Top Tips For Making The Right Hires Megan Vinten
- 20. We get asked to assist with scoping out team structures, writing job descriptions, refining interview processes and advising on salaries & benefits packages. In doing this work we have identified our top hiring tips for the start-up with lofty ambitions. This is a difficult balance to strike. As a growing company you need to be aware of the shape your company will take in the future and need to hire the right skills and people to help you get to this. However you also have an immediate requirement that you need to meet. Take time to think about how you can strike the best balance between these two situations – for example looking for a CTO who will eventually be able to manage a technology product and lead team won’t help with the current requirement of someone who is hands on to help building a product. Hiring a Senior Engineer who has the capacity to grow into a CTO role but can get stuck in solving your current problem might be a happy-medium. Always plan for the future but don’t forget your current needs
- 21. Finding the right person-fit for a company scaling up can be difficult. The fact that a lot of skills are currently in high demand, mixed up with lower salaries typically offered by smaller companies and your vacancy suddenly seems very difficult to recruit. You don’t have the cash to provide huge salaries – so what else can you offer? More and more we are seeing candidates asking about other non- financial benefits; additional holidays, options to buy/sell holidays, flexible or home working arrangements, extended maternity/paternity leave and equity in the company. Really think about what you have the ability to offer and speak to candidates about what’s important to them. Be Competitive Be realistic in what you expect from candidates. Which skills and experience are really essential and which ones could a good candidate probably learn? Which ones could potentially be put on hold until the next hire? Don’t create a wish list
- 22. Employer Brand & Culture Our Panellists On...
- 23. We have tried to keep it reasonably simple. Our staff are the bedrock of everything we do as an organisation. We want to create the ultimate human organisation whose staff are the reason for our success. In keeping it as focused as possible we have two simple elements that are key to our organisation; Mechanism – Administrate is built on a values based culture. The values we expect people to hold are ingrained in everything we do. They motivate me and they motivate my team. Learning – Our brand is built around the shared dream of the UHO, and the way we’re going to achieve that is through constant learning and improvement within the context of our values. However this is wasted if your organisation loses its identity as it grows. This is your essence, it’s what differentiates you from the competition. Creating the right brand is what differentiates you. It sets you apart and can attract the talent you are after. Unless you are passionate about golf our product doesn’t have the universal appeal that others do so it was essential we created a culture that appealed to our target market. We focused on an American style culture with open offices, flexible working, drinks after work either in the office or out as a group. In my opinion the other important ingredient to creating a brand people want to work for is to operate an open and honest culture. We have a warts and all approach and every quarter we’ll do a Q&A so that the staff have the chance to ask questions and talk to any of the leadership team. John Peebles David Hunter
- 24. Focus on what you’re passionate about and make sure that that is coming across clearly to the outside world. The best talent will have an idea that they are good and will look to identify with that success People that are right for other companies won’t be right for you - so we try and be real, and communicate that as authentically as we can. We don’t try and pretend, but we also recognise we could do a better job of communicating really what we’re all about. Building a brand to attract talent follows the exact same principles as building a brand to attract customers. Strong brands are authentic, relevant, and distinct - those principles employed correctly will always attract new customers and likewise top talent. From an outside perspective, we have all the trappings of a Silicon Valley start-up with ping pong and fully stocked beer fridges but if you took that all away tomorrow, we also have the strong foundations in place that are important in both attracting and retaining talent. We focus on culture, diversity, innovation, employee development and communication and our employees are our greatest advocates as they champion FanDuel at events and through the recruitment process. Colin Hewitt Maria Rooney
- 25. For start-ups and small businesses, recruitment can be a daunting process with the key to avoiding pitfalls being preparation. Before you get started, organise employer's liability insurance, set up a payroll system, register as an employer with HMRC, and check with the Pensions Regulator whether you need to set up a pension scheme. When advertising the role consider the main tasks and objectives, and the qualifications and skills required of any candidates, as well as job title, salary range, and hours. To avoid discriminating use neutral language (salesperson, rather than salesman) and avoid loaded terms (such as ‘youthful', or ‘active'). After interview, you can issue a job offer conditional upon getting references and evidence of the right to work in the UK. Check that the salary is in line with the national minimum wage. Ensuring You Are Legally Compliant With Your Job Offers Morton Fraser You must issue a contract with certain required information. Whilst sample documents are available online, it is better to have documents tailored so you can ensure the terms both meet the legal requirements and reflect the needs and culture of your business. Employers in the technology sector, for instance, should include duties dealing with confidentiality and the ownership of intellectual property.
- 26. As You Grow Maintaining Your Company Culture
- 27. Leadership is important in any business but it is vital when you are growing. Growth usually brings about change and creates periods of instability where everything is amplified- whether that’s positively or negatively. Leadership is not to be confused with Management. In a small team it’s easy to supervise your team; you know what they are doing and how they are doing it but as the team increases you don’t have the time to supervise them in the same way. You have to clearly determine in the business who is managing and who is leading the team. A relaxed culture of fun and freedom is great for a small group, but can be tough to manage with larger teams, however not impossible, if you’re dedicated and determined. The environment you’ve created is a big part of your company identity and working out how to maintain or evolve it as you grow is essential to bringing the team with you. Leadership is about looking after people, fostering the right cultures and behaviours and setting the tone for the business for the future.
- 28. Most problems in a growing organisation result from a lack of communication. In a small business employees have sight of the whole company they feel connected to the leadership team and the brand, ethos and values of the organisation. As the company grows they need to understand the changing needs of the business – what’s expected from them and what behaviours may not now be tolerated. In reality, this is the time to create a structured system of appraisals, reviews etc. It’s best to have this in place before you are big enough to really need them. If you start with the right practices the growth of the business will be much smoother. Introducing a system when you are already trying to battle growth and change makes things more challenging. If employees are engaged and involved they feel inspired to come up with ideas to help grow the business. Your best performers will get other opportunities and if you don’t work to make them feel valued, trusted, involved or motivated then they’ll move elsewhere. Reflect on what’s worked effectively in the past and consider means to continue/develop the procedure. Correcting a negative culture is much more difficult than stopping it forming in the first place! Could you maintain innovative, agile ways of working with smaller cross functional teams focussed onto individual projects? Can you keep communication from the top effective with internal newsletters? Would regular team meetings and social activities keep the right mix of fun and focus? Most importantly create a system of feedback which allows the team to comment on the new ways of working to ensure they remain engaged and continue to feel involved.
- 29. There is no easy solution to maintaining your culture as you grow. It takes time and hard work but you have to be very intentional about it.Spending time refining and perfecting your training is vital as this has to grow with you to reflect your organisation. Something that not all investors want to hear is that it takes investment too.You have to invest significant amounts of money in your processes and training if you are committed to creating and maintaining the winning culture that has helped you get started.I find regular one to ones are a good opportunity to maintain the personal culture we want to foster here. Maintaining Company Culture John Peebles
- 30. At Shot Scope we have designed our approach to recruit for personality first and then for skill.We have a very young ambitious culture here and we want hungry people who demand success. Generally our workforce is young and we find they tend to have the stamina and passion to sustain the pace we look to maintain in our business.But we are committed to this approach and believe this commitment will help us maintain our culture. Maintaining Company Culture David Hunter
- 31. For me it’s about keeping the energy levels up and being clear on what your company is all about and where it’s going -that’s still something a lot of companies are trying to figure out -so it’s tough in the early days. Apple has a different culture to Facebook which has a different culture to Amazon. The culture will develop out of the direction you’re taking as a business and the strength of the relationships,the energy and the vision that people can bring to those roles. What matters to me is that it's authentic and not fake,that people are genuinely excited about their roles and are moving more towards their strengths and the team is evolving to fit the gaps. On top of that -we’re looking into systems that will serve us better,to allow us to clarify our objectives company wide,and make sure we’re communicating as clearly as possible as we grow,helping people understand where they fit in,and what they can bring which is unique to them. Maintaining Company Culture Colin Hewitt
- 32. The definition of a winning start-up culture will be different for different people. We have tried to maintain the behaviours that were so successful from the outset and to embed these with new hires through our recruitment and on- boarding process. There is an evolution that needs to take place when your headcount increases dramatically and you are no longer a ‘start-up’. As the culture evolves,it means you can be more thoughtful in terms of what makes a great culture,the early days are about product development and meeting the needs of the customer and board. As we have grown,we have defined what our culture is,articulated our values,conducted surveys to understand where we are working well and also what needs to be improved to ensure that we are always moving forward. Controlled growth is important and understanding the changes and the impact on employees is crucial.The CEO and board members have taken employees through the tech cycle journey to demonstrate the highs and lows that come with it,bringing employees on this journey helps them to see what is ahead of them and they become passionate about being part of making history. Maintaining Company Culture Maria Rooney
- 33. It can be a real challenge to maintain the start-up culture if the company has to look overseas for key skills.What makes many start-ups attractive,and successful,is the flexibility for employees to take on different roles but this is difficult to fit alongside the Home Office requirements that sponsored workers only carry out the particular job they were hired for. Similarly the Home Office system requires employees to work full time and for companies to closely monitor attendance and output,which can be difficult where a start up's culture involves flexible or remote working. These problems can be overcome with careful planning but a start-up needs to seriously consider how they will meet their obligations to the Home Office if they look to hire workers from outside the EU.Putting simple procedures in place,and making sure staff are aware of these,can go a long way to preventing issues from arising. Maintaining Company Culture Stuart McWilliams
- 34. Managing your Team Across Multiple Locations Managing a team that's spread out in many locations can present huge challenges, even for the most experienced leaders. How do you ensure that everyone feels they're treated fairly, if you see some team members much more than others? How can you prevent remote team members from feeling isolated? And how do you get all members to buy into the team's objectives and stay on track?
- 35. Have a strong communications strategy. This is especially important if your team members are in different time zones and speak different languages. Make sure that the technologies you use – such as instant messaging, VoIP, and teleconferencing – are reliable. Frequent technology failures are frustrating for remote workers who can't easily pick up the phone if the video suddenly fails during a virtual meeting. Encourage your sites to integrate and allow employees to visit the other locations occasionally to get to know their colleagues in other places. You want the team to feel connected and integrated towards a common goal. This is especially important when the team is internationally spread. Language and cultures can create invisible barriers to communication so beware of the challenges of translation and interpretation of what’s really being said. Finally, when your organisation spans several countries or continents make sure you find people who really buy into your organisation – you need to ensure that they will be loyal to the ethos and values of your business.
- 36. Technology is key to ensuring effective communication across multiple locations. All of our five offices have large theatre areas where we all gather and take part in our weekly all company calls which are also broadcast to those dialling in from home. Company days are held twice a year across all locations where we share not just business updates but also cultural updates and of course our social events. We have had held forums to discuss virtual working to ensure that our meetings are effective and inclusive and we have also created chat rooms for people to still have the water cooler conversations even if they are sitting in different offices. Different communication channels are needed depending on the message so to ensure that the message is received consistently, we consider the best medium to communicate key messages. There is still the need for regular face to face contact and employees travel for project work and team meetings. We operate across different time zones and we have a lot of creative people. We aren’t policy heavy so we manage teams with a view of what we can make happen rather than what we can’t. We strongly believe that what we put in, we will get back tenfold. Our culture is based on trust so employees can manage their working hours in a way that is going to suit them.
- 37. The Implications of Brexit On The Tech Ecosystem In Scotland
- 38. I think Brexit will be a challenge for tech startups in Scotland, particularly in terms of staffing. A number of my clients have recruited heavily from the EU in recent years and there are concerns about whether staff will be able to stay or not, a recent Chamber of Commerce survey said 5% of companies had experienced resignations due to Brexit! Early indications are that staff who are already employed will be able to stay but we can't be of sure of this and I recommend EU nationals consider applying for registration certificates or residence cards to help protect their position in the UK. It's a really simple process and only costs £65 so it's well worth the investment. We don't know what the post Brexit system will look like but in all likelihood it's going to be harder for companies to hire from the EU and this will be a significant challenge for the sector.
- 39. @talent_spark in/talentspark-community talentspark@edenscott.com With Thanks To Our Panellists 0131 550 1100