Nurturing A Culture of Success

Jon on October 9, 2014

Luke Partridge, Director, Asia MitchelLake, was recently invited to participate in a start-up accelerator program run by Silicon Valley-based seed and early-stage venture capital fund Garage Technology Ventures and a Singapore based venture accelerator centre providing business incubator services, iAxil. Luke provides a guest post below.

As part of the program, I was fortunate to be invited to discuss the topic – ‘Nurturing A Culture of Success’. The attendees were all budding entrepreneurs at different stages of development of their start ups but all shared a heightened level of inquisitiveness of how to build successful teams from Co-Founder down. My fellow panellists and I shared our views on what were some of the key ingredients in establishing the right framework and what to look for when it came to hiring, growing and maintaining a great business.
Whilst the focus of this discussion centred around the start-up community I firmly believe conscious and proactive thinking around How and Who you hire crosses all businesses at every stage of maturation. This topic could obviously fill several hefty tomes with content but let me share with you some of the take-aways from the session and how we saw the foundations in building the best team possible.

The following is a summarised blue print of what we partner with our clients to look for in addition to recruiting for our own business at MitchelLake. As a business owner, Co-founder, investor or key decision-maker you will be called upon to use your judgement to either advise or directly impact crucial hiring or on-going personnel decisions. Create a mutual agreement or company covenant that you will not stray from.
These agreements, or PACTS (because this acronym fits my point particularly well), will set the bedrock of success for great teams moving forward.

Personality – equally interchangeable with Passion but the holistic make up of an individual and their differing facets and emotions makes a workplace diverse, stimulating, challenging and generally a better and more productive place to work. Large enterprise spends millions of dollars in harnessing and leveraging this diversity and inclusion, not simply to make their HR policy page read favourably on their website but with a recognition that everyone benefits – ambitious employees relish the opportunity to bounce ideas off each other and this variance of perspective channelled towards a business outcome will inevitably ensure the client or audience is the winner. Good ideas have been strength-tested, iterated and improved as a consequence. Passion though is the non-negotiable as this motivation and drive is infectious.

Appetite – hiring for this trait is particularly important in start-ups when the job description is less defined and whilst people will bring a level of functional expertise to chosen roles there is also an expectation that you will also need to fulfil the requirements of a business ‘decathlete’. This is an ability to multi-task, be flexible, define the strategy in the morning and pick up some toner for the printer in the afternoon, be self-motivated and selfless and also empower those around you to think in the broader context. An appetite for holistic thinking and helping drive a business forward is crucial – myopic and ‘not on my job description’ thinking is toxic and should not be tolerated.

Culture – again a topic all in its self but the founders and investors on the panel made it clear that that first hires into your business will have a huge impact on your culture and will help set the tone for future hiring. A documented understanding of what your business stands for is important but more imperative is how that is practically brought life…the ‘walking the walk’ cliché is probably the best one to use here! A former CEO of Mozilla, John Lilly referred to founders as ‘the keeper of the narrative’ but all employees should be living and breathing the story. Being conscious of what your culture is, how it evolves and how this is communicated both internally and externally is key. Julia Hartz, co-founder of Eventbrite refers to culture ‘as the glue of your business’ permeating all decisions that you make.

Talent – as your business grows, understanding the skillsets you need, at what level and when will increasingly take more of your head space. Given the pace of change within rapidly scaling businesses you should be conscious of hiring for roles that employees can grow into rather than quickly outgrow. Different businesses will obviously have a diverse range of requirements for talent but being open to contractors, out-sourcing and flexible access to expertise can help keep your bottom line more manageable and give you access to specialists as your business requires such as peak development cycles, legal, accountancy and HR services.

Systematic – this is where you can learn again from the larger businesses and the processes they have in place to streamline your hiring. This refers to a hiring methodology that is not as robotic or automated as it sounds but more to ensure you are on plan and that you have a proven model that works. Typically the timeframes are shorter in a start-up environment but best practice is as relevant for a new business as it is for a global MNC – this should include everything from on-boarding, the interview process, mapping out what your organisational structure will look like in 3-6-12 months and beyond, employees individual objectives, recruitment policy and social/celebratory plans for success and milestone achievements. If you are transparent, communicative, consistent and innovative with the above you will have built a fantastic framework to build your culture from.

As I mentioned, the above is not an exhaustive list but more what I see as crucial (and often overlooked) tenets for the best hiring and cultural outcomes. Ben Horowitz (from VC Andreesen Horowitz-fame) refers to the elixir of success as ‘People, Product, Profits…in that order’….the PACTS you take with your business partners should ultimately reflect that.

Want extra reading? Take a look at Ben Horowitz’s blog.

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Author

Inspired by the internet boom, Jon Tanner co-founded the MitchelLake Group in 2001 and has been advising startup, scale-up and enterprise clients on leadership, executive search and talent acquisition for digital ventures and initiatives for the best part of two decades.

Whether the challenge is about inspiring change, driving growth or entering new markets, it is likely that Jon has a reference able story, insight or introduction that can help shed light on a way forward.

As Group CEO and Managing Partner of our global search practice, Jon is based in Singapore and works across our international hubs in APAC, North America, and Europe. He directly supports global clients, collaborating with the broader MitchelLake team and continuing to build our collective ecosystem of exceptional talent and partner organisations.

Jon is an active early stage investor and passionate supporter of entrepreneurs, ventures and innovation in Asia Pacific and beyond, including interests in SocietyOne, Biteable, Blackbird VC and Genos International.

The year in review and expected trends for 2014

Jon on December 31, 2013

Market focus: Australian technology and digital recruitment industry

It has been an interesting market generally in 2013. While we continued to experience consistent demand for talent in our area of focus, the market seemed generally a bit reserved. We feel that in part this was to do with an unusually long election cycle. It was as though some businesses at the higher end of the economic food chain were waiting for an outcome before they committed to significant investments in people and major projects. Additionally we observed ongoing structural changes across publishing, telco, banking and retail. Some industries are embracing change faster than others but there has been a significant shift towards business growth opportunities in digital customer / audience, devices, cloud services, data and insights. Organisations are seeking to develop new ways to monetise and leverage their core assets in emerging channels and markets in the face of emerging or imminent competition from new entrants.

We feel strongly that many RPO and large scale panels are being challenged around specialist talent demands. Running recruitment as a process either internally or as an outsourced service is a volume based, margin driven exercise. Most panels and arrangements have been built on this model. This has worked well for general sourcing across a large business hiring across their traditional roles which for most has been a more efficient means to control recruitment costs. For the past couple of years these traditional arrangements have started to fail in key specialist areas that are part of a broader structural change in the economy.

There is some great talent locally but the vast majority is fully utilised in high demand technology, digital media and marketing. With the levels of demand and growth we are experiencing there is no doubt our clients will continue to look internationally for returning and migrating talent to meet growing demand for talent in certain pockets.

Specialist areas of demand require specialist expertise, international research based sourcing, market mapping, developing new employer propositions and cross market competitive intelligence. A low margin, volume based model tends not to support these activities in a sustainable way.

Our main points for 2014:

In short we expect to see companies re-calibrate their recruitment strategies for certain categories including change and innovation that will support significant hiring growth in these areas through 2014 and beyond.

We expect to see a continuation of demand for international talent in these categories but also an increase in demand for talent in overseas markets driving more competition locally for top tier expertise. A falling Australian dollar could exacerbate this issue making other markets more attractive to talent here and opportunities here less economic for offshore talent.

We are also expecting to see more clients looking to grow from ANZ into international jurisdictions particularly within strategic Asian markets where they will need to compete for executive and specialist talent. This will also require new strategies and sensitivity to the cultural nuances, opportunities and challenges that these markets present.

Jon Tanner on LinkedIn.

Author

Inspired by the internet boom, Jon Tanner co-founded the MitchelLake Group in 2001 and has been advising startup, scale-up and enterprise clients on leadership, executive search and talent acquisition for digital ventures and initiatives for the best part of two decades.

Whether the challenge is about inspiring change, driving growth or entering new markets, it is likely that Jon has a reference-able story, insight or introduction that can help shed light on a way forward.

As Group CEO and Managing Partner of our global search practice, Jon is based in Singapore and works across our international hubs in APAC, North America, and Europe. He directly supports global clients, collaborating with the broader MitchelLake team and continuing to build our collective ecosystem of exceptional talent and partner organisations.

Jon is an active early stage investor and passionate supporter of entrepreneurs, ventures and innovation in Asia Pacific and beyond, including interests in SocietyOne, Biteable, Blackbird VC and Genos International.

Back at the beginning again

Jon on November 23, 2013

Thanks to a couple of awards nights recently this 12 year old is feeling a little bit like an over night success.

I recently caught up with a good friend who had just arrived back very pumped from their induction at a very large digital business based in Menlo Park. My comment over lunch was that with all the massive investments we have seen in digital customer channels, devices, data and insights over the last two decades it still feels like we are only 10% of the way through this wave of change. His response “they were talking one percent where I’ve just been”.

When Phaedon and I started MitchelLake in 2001 we had no idea that 12 years later we would still have the opportunity to feel like an overnight success. It has been equally challenging and rewarding to build a business out of the wreckage of the tech boom that occurred in the late 90’s. Over the past decade we have seen businesses in our ecosystem startup from nothing to become global mainstream brands. We continue to see devices invented that begin as curiosities transcend to become possessions you struggle to imagine life without only a few short years later. It seems every accessory will soon come with the option of being smart and connected. Light bulbs, toys, watches, glasses and ninja blocks (if you haven’t seen them look them up, they’re fun).

Our journey so far has provided us with an abundance of opportunities to meet and work with many incredibly clever, passionate, and motivated people many of whom we are now fortunate to regard as close friends, colleagues and collaborators. We have also been lucky to be woven into the narrative of some fantastically successful ventures and projects. Not all have been roaring triumphs but even those that have failed have generated lessons, focus and inspiration to build the foundations of significant progress.

Last Friday night we were genuinely excited and grateful to be awarded “best boutique agency” at the Thomson Reuters Recruitment Excellence Awards. This came a week after the BRW again included us as one of Australia’s 100 fastest growing companies. I just wanted to take the opportunity to thank our brilliant team (present and alumni) and all the outstanding individuals and organisations who have worked with us as candidates, clients, suppliers and partners over the past twelve years.

Things just keep getting faster, smarter and more connected. Here’s to riding out the rest of this wave. It may yet be bigger than we originally thought.

Jon Tanner on LinkedIn

Author

Inspired by the internet boom, Jon Tanner co-founded the MitchelLake Group in 2001 and has been advising startup, scale-up and enterprise clients on leadership, executive search and talent acquisition for digital ventures and initiatives for the best part of two decades.

Whether the challenge is about inspiring change, driving growth or entering new markets, it is likely that Jon has a reference-able story, insight or introduction that can help shed light on a way forward.

As Group CEO and Managing Partner of our global search practice, Jon is based in Singapore and works across our international hubs in APAC, North America, and Europe. He directly supports global clients, collaborating with the broader MitchelLake team and continuing to build our collective ecosystem of exceptional talent and partner organisations.

Jon is an active early stage investor and passionate supporter of entrepreneurs, ventures and innovation in Asia Pacific and beyond, including interests in SocietyOne, Biteable, Blackbird VC and Genos International.