You Can’t Hire a VP That You Don’t Love
Recently, a good friend of mine running a Hot SaaS Start-up asked me if he should hire a particular VP of Product candidate I knew well. The team he’d be managing was a big thumbs up on him. The board was in favor. And I knew this VP. This VP is a 10/10. But … it wasn’t […]
Where did the ‘Human’ in Human Resources go?
Twice in my career, I’ve hired Connie Laughlin. She’s a great HR and Resource Management executive. Interestingly, her last employer has had to downsize and now she’s on the other side of the fence. Instead of hiring others, she’s the one looking for a job. And, she’s noticed something I’ve heard a lot about lately: […]
Time is the Enemy of HR (and its Employers)
HR Processes Are Stuck in First Gear – Still Most HR functions have been automated. Tedious, labor-intensive activities such as payroll calculations and benefits administration were automated years ago through combinations of tools such as ERP technology, IVR, standalone HR solutions, etc. For the most part, most HR solutions in use today are still at […]
If Your VP Sales Isn’t Going to Work Out — You’ll Know in 30 Days
We’ve talked a lot on SaaStr about how to make that critical hire: the VP Sales. I’ve done it right, and I’ve done it wrong. When it’s good … it’s just so good. It all clicks. But when you make a mis-hire, it’s about the worst mis-hire you can make. Because you’ll lose not just […]
Salaries rising, hiring heating up, and less relevant salary surveys
“Psst … hey buddy, can I interest you in changing employers for a nice signing bonus?” In HR circles, there’s been a great argument going on for years about the War for Talent. Essentially, there are those lamenting the lack of trained personnel for key roles. Some people blame schools/educators (for not teaching market-relevant skills), […]
Startup Lessons Learned: Hiring
I spent 3 years at Get Satisfaction, going from around 10 employees to 70′ish at the peak. Leaving was not an easy choice but after 3 years I needed to do something different, not better just different; I detailed my reasons and next move here. After much contemplation I decided to write a blog post […]
By The Time You Give Them a Raise, They’re Already Out The Door
There’s an endless amount written on the ‘net about hiring Rockstars. Finding them, not settling, and all that. That you need to spend 20%+ of time recruiting (I said that myself here). That the #1 most important thing you can do is put together a great team. Which is absolutely true. But the #2 most […]
IT Jobs Recovery Continues, Picks Up Steam
There have been a spate of news stories in the IT press covering the state of IT hiring. Once a quarter or so, I look at the job posts in Dice.com across many different keywords – a useful proxy for the IT hiring market at least for the U. S. Three months ago, IT hiring […]
Friday Rant: Apple & Beyond – Hiring the Right People to Preclude Procurement Fraud
Procurement fraud is a topic that continues to gain increasing attention, albeit in a quiet sort of way. I am hearing about it more and more, from headline grabbing stories such as this one highlighting employee fraud and IP thef…
Startups Need Starters
Just a short post for my Helpstream Learnings series today: Reading 37Signals latest book, “Rework“, has crystalized a few thoughts I’d been having since Helpstream. It’s a great read, BTW, if you haven’t already checked it out. This particular post is about Starters. The authors of Rework want to drop the term “entrepreneur” and switch to […]
