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Starting a small business in India? Learn as one entrepreneur in India discusses her challenges with hiring a team for a small business.
By Rashmi Vallabhajosyula
Rashmi Vallabhajosyula is the founder of Altius Consulting. Altius is a consulting practice that creates innovative marketing solutions for business challenges.
As a small business owner, one of my constant challenges has been recruiting, enabling and retaining talent. Since I run a service business that is completely dependent on the knowledge and skills of our employees, ensuring that we have great talent is indispensable. In this article I would like to share some of my experiences and learnings at Altius Consulting. I hope they prove useful to you.
As an entrepreneur, you live and breathe your venture; your energy and enthusiasm are completely focused on it. You can see that it’s just a matter of time before the venture makes money and can pay top dollar for great talent. Meanwhile, your current focus may be on hiring smart people at reasonable prices. However, this is easier said than done.
The job market is quite hot, and talent commands a huge premium. Some fellow entrepreneurs have confessed to me a feeling of being stuck in a vicious cycle: you can’t hire great talent as they come with high price tags, and in the absence of great talent, breaking through to the next level is difficult.
But Entrepreneurs have a secret weapon that most corporates can’t touch: Inspiration.Never miss real stories from India's women.Register Now
But Entrepreneurs have a secret weapon that most corporates can’t touch: Inspiration.
But Entrepreneurs have a secret weapon that most corporate’s can’t touch: Inspiration. The dream that drives that you to work your butt off at your business is something invaluable. Share the inspiration in your interactions with stakeholders like investors, employees, on your website, in your public relations and marketing activity. Lo and behold! You are no longer perceived as a cash- strapped startup, but as someone who is out to change the world. This shift in perception will make all the difference.
A well defined recruitment process is something everyone believes in; unfortunately, most of us haven’t got around to writing it down yet. This could typically be the case for a lot of startups. The workload is immense, you need the guy to join last week, and you go ahead with hiring the person who seems like the best option, hoping it will all just ‘ work out’. In some cases it does, while in some cases it does not.
One useful rule of thumb is to pay close attention to your chemistry with the potential employee. If they don’t seem to be someone who you want in your team right away, it would be best to ‘shop around’ a bit more. Also, while it is intuitive to hire people who you like, do remember that you need to put your business first.
It’s a common story; you hire a smart person, train her, handhold her, show her the ropes and a day comes when she announces that she does not see where her career path lies and ‘maybe it’s time to move on’. The angst and frustration that you feel is something I completely empathize with. But, take a step back and think of a banyan tree. As it grows its branches throw out roots, and moving outwards, soon these roots help the banyan grow stronger. All the alumni from your company are still a part of your network. While they may not work with you, make sure they have enough reason to help you grow. They could make great talent scouts, business development referees and sounding boards. As friends of your company they can contribute a great deal while not costing you much more than the occasional coffee.
All the alumni from your company are still a part of your network. While they may not work with you, make sure they have enough reason to help you grow.
Talent is a constant requirement for all businesses in growth mode. Yet, few of us invest resources in building talent pipelines. Hiring people with the right mix of skills and attitude is rarely achieved by just gathering resumes from HR agencies. Setting up a pipeline requires us to answer the following questions:
– What are the top 3 attributes I am seeking in all my potential employees (for Altius, it is Attitude, Humour and Drive). Ideally, a pen portrait of the kind of person you are looking for helps.
– Where would I find this dream hire?
– What would make my company a ‘dream career destination’ for him?
– What policies & operations do I need to put in place to get this going?
– While this is not a comprehensive list of all the questions that you need clarity on, it’s a good place to begin.
The right mix of people can help take your small business to great heights. Design and implementation of forward looking hiring practices is your first step in making it happen.
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People say that women are the greatest enemies of women. I vehemently disagree. It is the patriarchal mindset that makes women believe in the wrong ideology.
The entire world celebrates International Women’s Day on March 8, 2024. It should be a joyful day, but unfortunately, not all women are entitled to this privilege, as violence against women is at its peak. The experience of oppression pushes many women to choose freedom. As far as patriotism is concerned, feminism is not a cup of tea in this society.
What happens when a woman decides to stand up for herself? Does this world easily accept the decisions of women in this society? What inspires them to be free of the clutches of the oppression that women have faced for ages? Most of the time, women do not get the chance to decide for themselves. Their lives are always at the mercy of someone, which can be their parents, siblings, husband, or children.
In some cases, women do not feel the need to make any decisions. They are taught to obey the patriarchal system, which makes them believe that they are right. In my family, I was never taught to make decisions on my own. It was always my parents who bought dresses and all that I needed.
14 years after her last feature film Dhobi Ghat, storyteller extraordinaire comes up with her new film, Laapataa Ladies, a must watch.
*Some spoilers alert*
Every religion around the world dictates terms to women. The onus is always on women to be ‘modest’ and cover their faces and bodies so men can’t be “tempted”, rather than on men to keep their eyes where they belong and behave like civilized beings. So much so that even rape has been excused on the grounds of women eating chowmein or ‘men will be men’. I think the best Hindi movie retort to this unwanted advice on ‘akeli ladki khuli tijori ki tarah hoti hai’ (an alone woman is like an open jewellery box) came from Geet in Jab We Met – Kya aap gyan dene ke paise lete hain kyonki chillar nahin hain mere paas.
The premise of Laapataa Ladies is beautifully simple – two brides clad in the ghunghat that covers their identity get mixed up on a train. Within this Russian Doll, you get a comedy of errors, a story of getting lost, a commentary on patriarchy’s attitude towards women, a mystery, and a tale of finding oneself, all in one. Done with a mostly light touch that has you laughing and nodding along.
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