By by Anastasia Misarvidis-Tyshing, Legally Yours Intern.
Steve jumped off the event by addressing how to recruit for a scaling business with four key points:
What has changed in the last 12 months?
Covid-19 has made a number of material changes over the past 12 months. Most notably a shrinking workforce and a booming market. Due to the closed borders and the need for individuals on visas to return home, there has been a reduction in Australia’s workforce. During this time, everyone has realised that the light at the end of the tunnel might be a little further than initially thought. Because of this, these online scale-ups are benefiting from the online e-commerce industry. According to Steve, it is key to give people what they need when they need it, flexibility is essential, and start-ups need to adapt to this new market through offering remote and flexible working arrangements.
How can start-ups and scale-ups recruit at a pace?
While the market is moving fast, you can’t make rushed decisions. It is important to have a dedicated resource internally or externally for recruitment. One key tip Steve had, was to reduce testing and combine interviews to make sure the interview process is as effective as possible. Finally, you need to be able to clearly articulate your business and get your offer letters out quickly!
Resourcing at different stages: the different challenges at 1-2 people vs 20-30 people?
This is the area where most mistakes are made as the role can be completely different. Having someone who can deal with the ambiguity at the start of your business is very different from the laser focus needed for a more established business. Additionally, due to the smaller size of the current workforce, if you do find yourself hiring from outside of the start-up space, it is important you make sure prospective employees can deal with the ambiguity of the start-up journey.
How do companies stand out and sell to candidates? Evolve the recruitment process?
If you want to stand out, you need to have a selling point - a beginning, middle and end. Let employees know they are going to have the chance to really impact your business. In the recruitment process, transparency is key! Finally, make sure you use speed and agility in getting your offers out.
Next up was Ines, with three main points within her presentation:
What is the difference between employees and contractors?
The simple answer is Employees have entitlements under the law, Independent Contractors have entitlements under contract.
Employees can be full-time, part-time, and casual. If you are an employee, you are automatically entitled to the National Employment Standards which include annual leave, sick leave, carers leave etc. Employees will have an avenue to complain through the Fair Work Commission, which unless resolved may escalate to more serious legal avenues for compensation.
One common misconception voiced by Ines was that contractors are cheaper. While this may be the case some of the time, there are certain pitfalls of hiring contractors that start-ups should consider - don’t save pennies for the sake of pounds.
What legal documents do you need when recruiting for your start-up?
- Letter of Engagement: Start date, salary/pay, hours of work, penalty rates & loading, leave entitlements, termination policies
- Fair work Information Statement: flexibility arrangements, employment termination, right of entry, National Employment Standards, workplace rights etc.
- Super Choice Form: get the superannuation details (pay that super, and the PAYG)
- Tax File Declaration Form
- Emergency Contact Information
- Make and Keep notes: Have a file for each employee where you can store all their employment documents as well as any correspondence pertaining to their employment in the future.
How do you protect your IP when working with contractors?
While Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDA) can be found online they are unlikely to be as effective as an NDA tailored to your business. For example, if a clause is too broad or too narrow both circumstances may be interpreted against you, to your detriment. Instead, a tailored NDA can identify exactly what your business is seeking to protect in order to make sure your start-ups commercially sensitive information or intellectual property is protected.
Want to know more? You can watch the full Hub Talk at YouTube here.
Or watch the full session below.
Summary About this Presentation
Recruiting is hard but recruiting for start-ups can be even harder. The process of finding new people and building a team is already a challenging process, but throw in the pace, scale, and complexities of a start-up into the mix, and you've got something entirely different.
In this Hub Talk, learn about how the job market has changed in the past 12 months, how start-ups can evolve their recruitment process to stand out and attract the right candidate, and what legal considerations founders need to understand when building a team for their startup.
Key takeaways that attendees can expect to learn from the session:
- How to adapt to the rapidly changing recruitment landscape
- How you can learn to stay ahead and adapt to this evolving market, and how you can stand out against other start-ups to attract candidates resourcing at different business stages
- 10-person team vs 50-person team and how they present their own unique set of challenges and opportunities
- How to recruit candidates at scale - ways to automate, make recruiting more efficient building your employer brand
- How to sell your start-ups to potential candidates, what to highlight in the job ad, how to talk about company culture in the interview, what the candidate can hope to gain from working for you
- What is the difference between employees and contractors?
- What legal documents do you need when recruiting for your startup?
- How do you protect your IP when working with contractors?
About the Presenters
Steve Grace, The Nudge Group
Having successfully built and sold two profitable businesses from the ground up, Steve Grace knows a thing (or a thousand) about what makes a business successful.
Steve’s new venture, The Nudge Group, was born from a genuine desire to help businesses grow from start-ups to unicorns. After months of research and testing different methodologies, Steve has developed a new and original recruitment model that gives early stage and rapid growth businesses direct access to top-tier talent and specialist expertise without the traditional price tag. Steve is also the founder and host of the Give It A Nudge podcast.
Talking to founders, CEOs and investors on the show, Steve enables them to tell their unique stories. The Nudge Group’s mission is centred around your story: understanding it, showcasing it, and finding talent aligned to it, to achieve long-term goals for everyone.
Ines Brcic, Melbourne Law Studio
Having spent the last 10 years working in law and then striking out on her own to start Melbourne Law Studio, Ines appreciates exactly what kind of effort goes into building a successful business.
Specialising in Commercial and Business Law, she has spent the best part of her career advising start-ups and SME’s on all the way in which they can stay out of trouble and protect themselves.
Ines has been a proud Mentor and Coach at Insight Academy of Entrepreneurship since 2018 and has enjoyed helping new business owners explore the thrill of running their own business, all the while supporting them in making smart legal decisions that serve as the building blocks of securing hard work and dedication.
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