Talent – the single most important reason why companies come to India. However, this could be one of the most challenging activities in a highly competitive market. It is very common to see some engineers have multiple offers and pit one company against the other and try increase their compensation. Core team joining only for money can be a disaster down the road. We’d need people to join for the mission, nature of the work and backed up with a “good” salary. This is where a great Site Leader can make all the difference and can attract talent on his/her own and use the network to spread the word and attract talent in a cost-effective matter. Some of the key decisions at this phase include:
- Identifying the number of key/senior engineers with the required skill set and experience levels and how to compensate them (see next two bullets)
- Where to position the company w.r.t salary levels vis-à-vis comparable companies (should it be in the 80-90 percentile or say 50-60 percentile).
- Incentives like annual bonus, variable pay linked to performance, stock options and other benefits (insurance, contribution to super-annuation etc.,).
- Ratios of engineers to tech-leads/managers, number of entry level engineers, interns and a long term growth plan. Avoid the temptation to hire entry engineers till there is enough tech-lead bandwidth to guide them.
- Nature of work in the short and longer term. Engineers get drawn to work that is on the cutting edge. It’d be very difficult if only maintenance work is moved.
Good to know:
- While there is no dearth of talent, it is time consuming to onboard engineers, especially the senior ones. Typically, companies in India have notice period of 30 to 90days and the process drags. Expect about 5-6 months to get tech-lead type people, about 3-4 months for people with 3-5years of experience, on an average.
- Good number of people will accept the offer and do not turn-up on the day they promised to join. This can be anywhere from 10-30%. Hiring plans therefore should therefore over hire (atleast the mid-level positions). There are several best practices to keep the candidates engaged till they join.
- For start-ups, the concern from most potential hires would be on the runway length that is remaining (and for established/bigger companies, the concern would more be on nature of the work). It is therefore essential for the hiring team to be broadly open about the investors, how the company’s business is, potential funding rounds in the future etc., and even the plans of exit (IPO/Sale). It adds credence if it comes from the founders/senior execs (see next point)
- Involvement of founders and senior execs especially for fence-sitters is a must. While the Site Leader and the local leadership should be able to close most positions, senior execs taking time to explain the mission etc., will go a long way in increasing the yield.
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