How to Hire in Uncertain Times
By Jessica Shambora
November 5, 2009
Who's
hiring? Hardly anybody, yet. But as you dream about recovery,
you'd better be thinking about how to upgrade your talent.
You'll be hiring again someday. Really.
We talked about hiring at the recent Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit, where this year's theme
was "Betting on the Future." A session called
"Building a Standout Start-up" was led by two
CEOs who are in major hiring mode. We thought we'd share
some of their expertise.
 Susan
Lyne, who left the helm of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia
(MSLO) to run the much-buzzed-about Gilt Groupe, is in a hiring
frenzy. When she joined the company a year ago, there were
55 employees. Today Gilt Groupe employs more than 300. That
equates to adding 10 employees every week.
When
she arrived at Gilt, Lyne inherited a policy: No one can be
hired after being interviewed only by people in their intended
department. "They always have to meet with two or three
other departments so that there's a consensus—so
there's a cultural fit," Lyne says. This can mean
six different interviews for some candidates.
It's
worth it. "It's often hard to articulate exactly
what makes a fit," the Gilt boss explains, "but
people tend to know it when they see it. So if you can get
someone out to enough people, you tend not to make the same
mistakes."
Gina
Bianchini, CEO of Ning, co-lead the "Standout Start-up"
session with Lyne. She launched her company, which helps you
build your own customized social-network, with the help of
Netscape founder Mark Andreessen. What does she look for in
recruits? Exceptional passion and comfort with uncertainty,
she says.
Bianchini
illustrated her point by telling a story about hiring Ning's
chief technology officer, Diego Doval. She found her Doval
by reading his blog. The fellow was getting his PhD at Trinity
College in Ireland and, she says, clearly had a passion for
"large-scale distributed networks," which is what
Ning is all about. He was from Argentina—which turned
out to be quite appealing. "He was telling us in our
initial conversation how in one day the price of bread would
go from 50 cents to $50," Bianchini explains. "I
was like, 'You're hired.' Because that is
truly the reality of a start-up situation."
Bianchini
seeks "people who have been through high highs and low
lows," she says, recalling the dotcom bust in 2001.
Back then, she was struck by how many people showed up in
her office with "looks of terror." Many had come
from big companies; that's what everyone was doing then.
Although she was much younger than many of these execs, she
found herself telling them: "You're going to have
to chill out. You're going to have to just get it together
because this is an uncertain situation, but we need to move
forward."
She finds
herself saying the same thing today.
All the
more reason to hire wisely. And then you have to build the
culture. Lyne certainly knows about culture, coming from Martha
Stewart Living Omnimedia and Walt Disney (DIS). At Gilt, where
so much talent is coming on board so fast, she says she has
to communicate more than ever before. So every morning at
10 a.m., Lyne holds an "all hands" meeting for
any employees who want a daily update on the company's
doings and direction.
Culture-building
also includes events like bowling nights and Halloween dress-up.
These are also ways to "democratize perceptions"
of Gilt's leaders, Lyne says. Translation? "I'm
not great at karaoke," she adds.
P.S.
We agree that comfort with uncertainty is a must for any leader
today. Former Avon (AVP) President Liz Smith, who recently
left to become a CEO elsewhere, has talked about it. So has
new Xerox (XRX) CEO Ursula Burns, who says that the best managers
"make a decision, and when they find out it's
not right, they change and get on with it." American
Express (AXP) CEO Ken Chenault, in this post, noted one of
his favorite quotes from Darwin: "It is not the strongest
species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the ones
most adaptive to change."
The opinions and views expressed in this publication are for general information only and are not necessarily those of Mutual of America Life Insurance Company. |
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