Read Justine JEANNE’s account of her vision of the role of HR throughout a startup’s life cycle.
HR and the startup life cycle
“Having analyzed the missions of an HR manager in a start-up, let’s look at his or her roles in relation to a start-up’s life cycle.
Let’s start by recalling the main phases a start-up goes through. Five key stages can be identified: ideation, creation, bootstrapping, scaling and expansion. Let’s decipher these five moments, putting the role of HR in each of them into perspective.
Ideation symbolizes the birth of the concept in the mind of the future founder(s). At this stage, the start-up is only made up of the founders and associates; naturally, we don’t find the “HR” people. And yet, surrounding yourself with the best partners is vital if the adventure is to continue. Being in sync (intellectually, financially, technically…) with each other is essential. At this stage, the first HR challenge is to define the company culture: what are we looking for in our day-to-day work together?
Then comes the creation phase. This period transforms the idea into a business. Usually, the first “prototype” is created. Now it’s crucial to find the right skills, and to find them quickly, so that the project can move forward. At this point, the first hire or hires take place. Hiring means employees, and legal and contractual obligations. So you need to find someone who is competent in these areas. If hiring an HR manager is not the priority, at the very least, you need to be assisted by a legal expert (lawyer, chartered accountant, etc.) to ensure that you don’t fall foul of the law. These first employees will have a special role to play: they will see the product grow, experience the first successes, but also be challenged, and even suffer a few failures. During this stage, the founder generally assumes the role of HR: he or she is responsible for HR/administrative tasks. At the same time, everyone is highly motivated, and to keep the euphoria going, it’s important not to neglect employee recognition. But how? You don’t have to spend a fortune, but saying thank you, underlining the quality of the work done, the daily commitment, and sharing a convivial moment are all that’s needed.
Then, the bootstrapping begins. The product enters the market and more and more people join the start-up. During this third phase, the number of employees can triple or quadruple to more than twenty. Recruitment is crucial, as is the integration of new employees: onboarding is the key. Everyone needs to feel at ease and know what they’re doing here and why. At this stage, the founder(s) must make a choice: recruit a dedicated HR manager, or have one of them train and take the lead in this area. The start-up is around two-three years old and at a turning point: it’s double or quits. Its resources and their well-being must be a priority.
Once significant sales and a stable position in a critical market have been achieved, we enter the penultimate phase: scaling. Everything accelerates: fund-raising, customers, growth and, above all, headcount. In some cases, a start-up can reach a hundred people. A dedicated HR manager is needed to streamline all Talent Acquisition processes (especially recruitment). At the same time, the first arrivals work alongside the newcomers, acquiring a certain seniority.
We are also faced with the departure of the first “old hands”, those who saw the company grow. HR is faced with a major challenge: attracting ever more new talent, without neglecting the old hands: building loyalty among these people, who are key employees in terms of skills for the company: they know the product by heart and its various developments. Creating links between all departments and all employees is fundamental to our strength. On a day-to-day basis, the HR manager will respond to employees’ expectations, support managers and propose HR strategies to optimize resources and boost performance.
The final stage is expansion. As the company continues to grow and expand internationally, everything becomes processed. One person is no longer enough, and an HR department is created with specialties such as skills development, administrative management, etc. However, it’s important not to compartmentalize this department too much if we want to keep the initial start-up spirit and avoid a heavy, age-old bureaucratic spirit that would run counter to this very soul.
The evidence is clear: from the outset, awareness of the role of people, their motivation, well-being and day-to-day skills, is essential if we are to succeed in the complex start-up market. Of course, other factors come into play, but let’s not forget that a company is nothing without its human resources, because you can set up a company without money, but not without people.”
Justine JEANNE
HR at ASTON iTF
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