Hint: Stop treating the symptoms.
Most of us who have worked at startups can relate to seeing an organization that has grown too quickly and has not yet put into place the building blocks of a healthy, sustainable, scalable culture. All of these companies seem to be facing the same set of challenges.
When I initially meet with CEOs and leadership teams, they will often say, “We have (100/300/1000!) people, and we don’t have a consistent way of measuring performance, we have too many job titles, our onboarding is decentralized, and compensation is all over the place. Can you help us build processes for each?”.
Sure, I can build that, but what is the end goal? Are you going to be the leader of this company for the next 40 years, and everybody’s going to retire with a gold watch? Or are you trying to build a company culture that is innovative and agile, that can actually scale along with your business?
With startups, it’s usually the wild west at first, and then all of a sudden things reach a tipping point where both employees and leaders seem to crave process and formality, but we have to take a step back and remember- that’s not why people come to work for startups. Employees aren’t joining these innovative brands to work in a corporate environment riddled with process.
As a leader, think about what you are really trying to build. Before implementing any HR or Talent related process, ask yourself the following:
What do you want the organization to look like in 5–10 years?
How long will the tenure of your average employee be?
What are the most important components to fostering an environment where people can come and do great work?
How will your personal values align with the values of the company?
And the most important question — What problem are we trying to solve?
Once you have successfully (and honestly!) answered these questions, then you can dig into the mechanics of how to realistically address the underlying needs of employees. For example, if the problem you are trying to solve is providing people with an answer when they ask, “How do I know if I’m doing a good job, and when can I expect to progress in my career at this company?”.
Do not get tempted to fix this with a standard compensation and leveling program. You need to identify the core issue rather than just treating the symptom. Having a consultant or even a full-time Chief People Officer come in and build a big grid with fabricated levels and salary bands based on flawed data is, I’m sorry to say, not the solution.
If you think by telling an employee where they fit in that grid, along with their lower and upper salary band is going to make them feel better, you’re kidding yourself. Not to mention, you’re now creating a new problem. If your solution requires a laser, do not go in with a machine gun. When I’m working with clients, I drill down to help them get to the right question, not just the right answer.
Be realistic with yourself about what you are trying to build. Don’t look at other companies and attempt to emulate what they do. I often hear clients say, “What does Facebook do? What does Google do?”. If you are a startup with 200 employees, you don’t have Google’s resources. It’s okay to look at larger companies to get best practices, but you need to be super clear on what YOU are trying to build and what is realistic at each stage of growth. Then you need to communicate clearly to employees on how you will get from here (today) to there (dream state) when it comes to your employment proposition and employment brand.
When I’m working with clients, I drill down to help them get to the right question, not just the right answer.
If you want to address the issue of morale, there are two ways to handle it- you can get ahead of it and play offense, or you can lag and play defense. If you give people hard problems to solve, the resources with which to solve them, and tell them the ‘why’- letting them figure out the ‘what’ and ‘how’- you will never have to figure out how to boost morale, it will simply be a byproduct of this formula.
(Inspiration + Context) x (Smart People + Hard Problems + Resources) = Great Company Morale
As a leader, your only job is to hire smart people, set context, and get out of their way. I’m not saying all process is terrible; I’m merely challenging you to do with your organization what you are trying to do with your business — disrupt the status quo and innovate.
*Ellavate is a professional services firm specializing in Human Resources Consulting, Executive Coaching, and Talent Acquisition Strategy. Our team is based in NYC, Los Angeles, and Seattle.
