Successful companies or organizations are built by the quality of their staff. And this is because employees are usually, the ones who make the business, the company of choice for customers.

Employees become the first ambassadors of the company, interacting with customers about the products and services of the company. The quality and depth of their decisions, level of creativity, agility, and innovation, particularly in this era of volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity, determines the survival or collapse of a start-up, more so when the competition is fierce.

But how do you create that great team as a start-up? What are the attributes and characteristics new employees need to create that great and crucial team? From our research within the African context, the following characteristics should make the list of what to look out for.

Mission Driven

Every startup should aim at hiring employees who have a sense of the context within which the start-ups is operating and the forces shaping the future of that world. Employees who are conscious of the fact that each of their actions impact on the bottom line should be your preferred choice.

Mission-driven employees go an extra mile outside of their contract for the company because they believe the company is “theirs”. Because they are mission-driven, such employees stay alert, learn new ways of thinking, focus on their ability to adapt continuously, so that they can engage with customers, as company ambassadors and amaze them. These kinds of employees are not so easy to find, except with scrutiny during the recruitment exercise.

As a start-up, have a mission statement to give the employees a direction of the overall goals of the enterprise.

Self-motivated

It is not uncommon to see the entrepreneur, who holds the blueprint of the business, extraordinarily busy at the early stages of the start-up. The entrepreneur must oversee all the aspects of the company.

Recommended article: 5 Essentials for Start-ups’ success in the Digital Economy.

Some start-up entrepreneurs, start their enterprises with a strong foundational mission that serves as a guide and motivation for the employees during the early days.

However, you turn to realize that as the business grows, systems and processes need to be incorporated to keep everyone on track and work towards same goals and strategic objectives.

When recruiting, therefore, you need employees that can envision the immediate future, how crucial their contribution to creating that future is, and the steps needed to take everyone there with very minimal supervision.

It is, therefore, critically important, to go for employees who understand the necessary building blocks that will be required in the process and can remain self-motivated to give you the entrepreneur and the senior management, adequate time to focus on strategy issues.

Employees who are willing to sacrifice

By their nature, especially in Africa, startups have limited capital. That means that you may not be able to attract the best skills and talents required at the early stages of the enterprise. What you need are employees who can wear many different hats and step in to fight fires, wherever and whenever necessary. You need employees with deep functional knowledge with the heart and minds to go the extra mile without having to make early financial demands that can easily derail the cause or measure their value only by what they do between the hours of 9 and 5.

Settle for employees who look for ways to help beyond their normal job descriptions.

Sacrifices by employees working for start-ups, especially in the early stages, is inevitable. Such sacrifices may include working for long hours and therefore, not having quality time with family and friends, and sometimes, even financially.

Hence, when recruiting, have a thorough study of the applicants and choose those who can and are willing to look beyond immediate rewards and work in preparation for their future managerial roles. A great start-up employee must be willing to thrive in ‘organized chaos”.

Result orientated

Every start-up entrepreneur will tell you that, starting an enterprise is not a child’s play. That said, the least you want to see in your team is an employee who is a square peg in a round hole.

Being result oriented is an important characteristic you should not compromise during recruitment.

There are so many employees whose CVs are attractive to the eye, but practically empty. They love to talk but have little to show in practice. You don’t want to have a team member who promises so much but does very little due to lack of the requisite skills and a learning attitude. You need employees who will appreciate that working in a start -up is a lifelong learning enadeavour that does not support intellectual complacency, especially in this technology driven markets.

Hence, your role is to identify people who as the company grows, will want to develop their skills, and grow with the company. That way you can help them attain the skills and competencies required to navigate the challenges ahead.

Running a start-up is a tough call for an entrepreneur, especially in Africa, but such guidelines, inclusive of many others, could make the journey less cumbersome.

Join the discussion at our monthly career and start-ups intelligence series and learn more.

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