Israel is known as the Start-Up Nation, and rightfully so.
Currently there are about 7,000 start-ups (!) in Israel, in addition to the more senior high-tech companies found in the country. Each company recruits for a variety of positions and each seeks to manage many open positions, and so the competition to attract professionals increases.
In a press release issued in February 2019, Global Data analysts Company stated that “Israel is one of the dominant leaders in the entrepreneurial world thanks to its high-tech achievements accomplished over the years. Israel has 95 companies listed on the NASDAQ Stock Exchange, third only after the US and China. With Tel Aviv as a center of attraction, the number of start-ups per capita in Israel is the largest in the world”.
Part of a successful start-up is a precise recruitment of employees. This is especially true regarding small start-ups, where successful recruitment of an employee can promote a product, while an unsuccessful recruitment of an employee can, in some cases, cause the company to close.
From experience, I can say that, for the most part, start-ups (unlike senior companies in the economy) are looking for employees that have a unique “DNA” that will fit their organizational culture and their development environment. Most often, they will seek creative, self-driven and highly motivated people, who can see the larger picture, who deeply care about their personal and professional growth, who wish to take part in the technology solutions employed by the organization they belong to. They will seek people who know how to work in teams and have the relevant capabilities to do so, those who wish to be at the forefront of technology and can actually help and contribute to the success of the company during its critical stage.
The initial stage in recruiting start-up employees begin by establishing a specification of the company’s organizational culture and understanding what “organizational DNA” the company wants to produce. After clarifying this matter, you will be able to work with the recruiting team and sketch a precise professional and personal profile of the employees you wish to recruit to the organization. At the same time, you should collaborate with the marketing department and brainstorm the manner of communicating all the things it is important for you that others will know about you.
The more you invest in proper marketing of the company and in strengthening your employer’s branding, you will be able to attract stronger candidates.
3 Key Guidelines For Recruiting Employees (Or: How To Properly Manage Talents’ Recruitment Process?)
- Marketing the job to the candidate and creating value for a candidate to choose you – It is true that candidates come to you to be interviewed and apparently you select the candidates you prefer, but it is important to remember today candidates interview the recruiting companies just as the companies are interviewing them. just to make this point clear – strong candidates in the market have about 5 job offers on LinkedIn at any given moment, and if these are candidates who are actively looking for work, it is most likely that they will also have at the same time, 3-5 job offers and contracts in hand, from which they will have to choose. Nofar Gotlieb, our recruitment manager, says that this is the reason it is important to create value for the candidate from the stage of the initial interview. That is, to explain to the candidate about the Company, its product and the vision behind it, and not provide information that relates only to the position – make him or her know why it is better for them to work with you. What is your Added Value? Why choose you and not a different company? At the same time, make sure that you also provide the candidate a chance to speak and make sure you listen and understand what motivates him or her and what are the reasons he or she are looking for a job. If you can offer to provide it, you can offer added value, and you should make sure that you emphasis this during your conversation.
- Management of a precise and fast recruitment process – Since every strong candidate today has several offers at the same time, a quick response and a precise process – are critical here for completing a proper recruitment process. Therefore, establish an effective, focused and quick recruitment process – conduct combined interviews (e.g., combine professional interview with HR + an exam on the same day), and schedule the candidate once more, twice at the most (and even then – be efficient and make sure that the candidate will meet a number of people during the same day). In addition – create clarity at the initial stages of the process – explain to the candidate what the recruitment process includes and how many stages it involves.
- Creating an experience for the candidate – Today, more than ever, in an era of dominant social networks and information is accessible to all, the candidate’s experience in the process is critical – for candidates to want to work for you, make sure you end the recruitment process on a good and positive note, even if you decide not to hire that candidate. Make sure to return a negative answer to any candidate interviewed and you will receive more points if you explain to him or her in a short sentence why you chose to continue with another candidate. If the candidate reached advanced stages of the process – make sure you talk to him or her on the phone, tell him or her that you will be happy to stay in touch about future positions, and most importantly, let the candidate feel that you really appreciate the time and effort he or she invested in arriving to the interview. A candidate who feels that he or she was really seen during the process, will send his or her friends to you. (See “Friend brings a friend” section below – the most important recruitment resource for organizations!).
In the 2nd and final part of “Successful recruitment of startup employees”, we will discuss about how to begin and ways to reach all these talents and succeed in recruitment for your startup.
* Prodware Israel is the Israeli operations branch of the global Prodware Group. It helps organizations reinvent themselves in the era of digital transformation. It is a key player in the global IT industry.
Prodware has also collaborating with Brooks and Keret Company, and together they provide employee placement and outsourcing services with specialization in start-ups. Additional information is available on Prodware Israel website.
This Article Was Written By Keren Tirosh, VP of Human Resources & Nofar Gottlieb, Recruitment Manager Of Prodware – Israel.
Contact Them at ktirosh@prodware.co.il or ngottlied@prodware.co.il
