I'm getting to be a real pro at coming into things midstream and trying to catch up.
It is much easier to hire your 20th person than your 1st.
Especially a new role, it takes a long time for me to settle into a role but it's exciting as well.
It was my first day at work - and beginning my training on the job, I was given the job of writing cheques and entering their details. The branch was surrounded by hordes of people... soon, they had to close the gates to manage the crowds, and they started pushing in.
When you hire someone, you are investing in them.
Certainly, we continue to bring in new people. We'll hire, net new, over 4,000 people this year, and attract great people into the company. I'm very bullish about the employee base and what it can accomplish.
It's hard to learn a new guy each time out there.
Some companies have a very well-defined program that they bring young people into to help them figure out what they really like to do to get them exposure to senior management early.
It's counterintuitive to take a long time to hire someone, but it will save you enormous amounts of time and money later. Our biggest mistakes in hiring stem from speed.
Every new HubSpot employee has to go through training to learn how to use the software. That's a good idea, and it also keeps me from having to worry about what I'm supposed to be doing here or why Cranium, who hired me, still has never come by to say hello or talk about what he wants me to work on.
Today, when I hire, I look for people who want to be trained and molded.
Sometimes you can line up with a quarterback after getting traded or going to a new team, whether it's the draft or whatever, and it not go smooth.
Any time you go into a new environment, you have to learn a new system, there are adjustments you have to make.
Every player settles into a new league in different ways.
Get the best people and train them well.
No matter how you hire, ensuring the systems are in place to manage the process will be critical in allowing you to find the right people to carry the standards you set. Don't neglect that duty!
When you are new and working with senior artists, it is their responsibility to make you comfortable.
It's normal to have early difficulties when you get a new manager with a new concept.
All too often, new hires have a different expectation of their job and responsibilities than the organization does. Any miscommunication during the recruiting process needs to be cleared up ASAP. Whenever possible, give new employees a written plan of objectives and responsibilities.
Most companies overlook the most basic of all training functions: the onboarding of new employees into their corporate culture.
You don't want to jump in on your first day on a show and start improv-ing and changing the show.
If you are going to fire this person or hire that person, do it all in a concentrated period. The Band-Aid gets ripped off, and everybody goes back to work.
If there is one thing that offers challenges to small companies as they start to grow and expand, it is the hiring process... every single area. The issues that can arise run the full spectrum, from 'finding good help' to that ubiquitous catch-all 'training' and everything in between.
My normal is craziness - moving around and jumping from team to team and having to get used to different guys in a short period of time.
Any rookie is going to go through a transition process that's going to be tough.
