Important steps to take during the initial growth stages of a company
One of the most underrated secrets of a successful startup is the ability not only to make a good product, but also to build a great company.
These two aspects are closely intertwined: a startup will not be successful without an excellent product, no matter how cool the company is, but a startup will not be able to maintain success without creating a good culture, and no matter how cool the product you offer.
Successful companies do not grow on their own - their culture is actively formed by management from the very early stages, and then every day is supported by each individual employee. But if the formation and maintenance of culture turns into idle talk, the company begins to lose ground and inevitably falls into decay.
The development of culture always goes hand in hand with work on a product: that is, it is necessary to develop a corporate culture, and at the same time devote most of the time and resources to creating a product that will force competitors to step aside.
So how should you act at every stage of a company's growth?
Translated to Alconost
Initial hiring phase: first ten employees
The first ten people employed will determine the culture of the company over the next 20-50 years. Therefore, it is incredibly important to 100% correctly form the "backbone". I think we can even say that the path to success is paved with companies that could not find the right top ten.
A “right” employee is a person who expresses a vision of a startup, and not only at the moment: he needs to continue to contribute to the company's mission over the next three to five years. Will this person stay with you in case of trouble or leave you?
There are several common mistakes that are made in the early stages. For example, expressing your vision does not mean being like you. The company, consisting of a dozen of my copies, will most effectively sit in a puddle - I need people who are different from me, who are better than me.
In addition, culture cannot be “crushed” by talents - but at the same time I will not work with someone who is not considered a good person. It is clear that “good” is a subjective assessment. I do not mean that the employee should be deprived of all sorts of vices - but you constantly run into incredibly talented developers, “sales people” and marketers who don’t put the rest into anything. If you hire such people, then the damage to culture will ultimately exceed the financial benefit: it is impractical to take on a team people who are rude or with whom for other reasons it is very difficult to maintain relationships - and no matter how cool they are specialists.
So do not rush to hire, do not lose your head. Once, for so long I selected one candidate out of two that during this time both managed to find another job. Everyone was an excellent specialist, so I’m sure that they have built an excellent career. But even if time could be reversed, I would have done the same: it’s better not to take anyone than to hire a person who does not fit.
Nevertheless, when rejecting a candidate, check your cultural intuition every time: was the candidate inappropriate - or should the culture be adapted to a wider range of characteristics?
Photos - cokada / Getty Images
From a club for their own to a company: from ten employees to twenty
The growth of a company from 10 to 20 employees is felt as a transition from a “club” to a real company. There is a need for official communication and mechanisms that will ensure the smooth operation of a large team. I call this the “rule of ten”: 10 is the maximum size of a work team for which no rules are needed.
A dozen people may well get along with their own unofficial processes, unspoken rules and natural communication. But as soon as you become more, you need to write manuals, rules and documentation. We are not talking about corporate paperwork, but about small measures taken as necessary: you need to book conference rooms, workers working remotely need instructions, you have to deal with the rules for going on vacation, and the like.
You need to act on the fact, thoughtfully: you wait until something breaks, but then not only fix the problem, but eliminate the possibility of its occurrence in the future. After all, it’s still more pleasant to feel like a member of the club, but in order for the club not to turn into a locker room, you will need some formalities.
I would recommend organizing a general meeting of company employees as soon as you have 10 people and discuss the rules, duties and prohibitions on it. I have no idea what kind of “club” you have, but after hiring an 11th, 15th or 18th employee, you can quickly feel out of place. Therefore, make sure that this does not happen.
The time has come to begin to actively build morale and stimulate employee engagement. Introduce feedback mechanisms and collect data about what works in the company and what doesn't. Employees should get used to using it: if you do not receive feedback, this does not mean that everyone is happy - most likely, your system simply does not work, and it needs to be replaced.
And continuing the topic: you will have to make real events to unite the team from impromptu moments of informal communication. And I do not mean a rope training or a “fall in confidence” game, but something really interesting, which takes time off — so that everyone is present and no one has to sacrifice their personal lives for success at work.
From company to cult: from twenty employees to fifty
In general, the growth from 20 to 50 employees turns out to be quite long (especially according to the sensations), and when you get to this mark, the company's culture has usually settled down - it's time to begin to form a cult.
Management should at least a couple of hours per month jointly evaluate messages in your feedback systems and change the work of the company in accordance with them. At each of these monthly meetings, it is necessary to put forward at least one initiative that will allow the company to become better as a place to work.
Improve the mission statement, the core values of the company and hire those who will help not only cope with the growing number of employees, but also provide them with everything necessary to ensure that they are satisfied and loyal.
A cult will form, but it will still be difficult for you to get a job. One of the reasons why this stage takes so much time is that you have to not only learn to act more efficiently with less resources (scaling), but also be very scrupulous in hiring - as a result, the company gradually becomes so cool that no one thinks doesn't want to leave her (at least for now).
If in your region there is a competition in which the best local enterprises are selected and awarded - you are welcome. Achieve victory every year. If there is no such local competition, run a similar internal program. Once or twice a year, anonymously interview employees (let it become one of the few essential elements of culture) for 40-50 points related to their career, personal growth, attitude to the company, ask what they like in the company’s actions, don’t like what they would like from the company. Survey results can be made open to all.
And, perhaps, this is my personal whim, but I am distributing high-quality T-shirts with the company logo in front of the employees - so that everyone has a few pieces: the cult needs to be distributed.
From cult to corporation: fifty employees or more
Every cult comes to an end. When you already have fifty employees, the time comes to grow further - and here there are difficulties. The rules are becoming stricter, for the survival of the culture it is necessary to promote it more intensively - from a startup you turn into a corporation.
I will give an example. If it is not necessary to work from nine to five within your culture, you will have to decide what time frame you expect from your employees, how it is monitored and how it can be done more efficiently. And so with everything: associate the rules directly with the core values of the company.
This will not be easy, because it is now that the thirty-first employees will have to dissolve in many new specialists. Therefore, the "old people" are likely to accept the new rules with hostility and will believe that they should be forgiven for more weaknesses and mistakes. And some may start to fade.
Every cult comes to an end. When you already have fifty employees, the time comes to grow further - and here there are difficulties.
Here it is very important to emphasize that each case must be considered individually - it is difficult, but it needs to be done only once. As a result, you have to make a choice - it is at this stage that employees begin to drop out.
The cult does not let anyone go - but they leave the corporation for one or two. So you have to become a support for the best employees: take an interest in their family and other matters outside the company. Be active in communication. If some rules start to interfere with those you don’t want to lose, get rid of these rules.
And then - no matter how crazy it sounds - divide the company, return to the "rule of ten." You need to try to restore the efficiency, cooperation and relationships that were in a small company with a dozen employees.
Find a way to make everyone work and communicate in groups of no more than ten people. If you have different departments, then their organizational structure should not have units larger than ten employees. If you work with various projects, the working group for each should consist of no more than ten, and if more resources are needed, borrow from other groups.
Do the same on a social level. If you are already fifty, a joint vacation becomes expensive and impractical - instead, company-sponsored clubs and events should appear. In my last startup by the time we were 50, there was already a professional development program, a poker club, movie nights, a ping-pong league, hackathons, book clubs and so on. All this was not necessary, but we tried so that everyone would find something to their liking - formal or not.
Why use the "rule of ten" in the case of 50 employees? The reason is that, as mentioned above, at this point the culture has already settled. It’s very difficult to form a new one for more than fifty people, so it’s better to improve, develop it and share the best that you can find with an eye on the “rule of ten”. This will stimulate innovative spirit and engagement; your culture will become a secret weapon that will help grow from 50 people to 50,000.
About the translator
The article was translated by Alconost.
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