Company growth: from five to three hundred

The 16th autumn ISDEF conference was held at the end of September, traditionally over 150 IT businessmen gathered in Vinogradovo, Moscow region. One of the old-timers of ISDEF, the founder and chairman of the board of directors of the SearchInform group of companies, Lev Matveyev, was going to make a report on the growth of the team a year later, in 2018. But at the round table at the end of the conference, he provoked questions about the company's business growth - and Lev told in a concise article how to put together a reliable team that would help create a great product, grow a company with a multimillion turnover and successfully enter international markets. Practical recommendations from an IT entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience.

I have never liked coaches and consultants: if you constantly teach, there is no time to work. Then all practice becomes obsolete (if it ever was) and only the theory remains. I was always interested in the experience of my colleagues, and for this, ISDEF was once organized.

The beginning of any business is a few like-minded people who are passionate about one idea. All get high on what they are doing and move the company forward. Problems begin with expansion - when you need to hire line specialists. I propose to talk about this.

Today in SearchInform 300+ specialists and representative offices in 10 countries of the world. I filled a lot of lumps with recruitment and made a few rules for myself.

So hire people, ...

1. ... which is "small".
   
   My opinion: all people are by nature lazy, but in varying degrees. Sometimes laziness is not interrupted by any money. Someone may well be content with a cheap car and a room in a communal apartment. He has no incentive to earn more, you only need to maintain life at the current level. Such workers are good at ordinary positions, it will be a stable employee who will stay with the company for many years. But on the top level or, God forbid, on top positions, such an employee will become your problem. Top manager must be the engine.
   
   
   
   Business development requires those who want to raise the level of their own lives and do not have an artificial ceiling. Those who see in your business an opportunity to grow for themselves. Such people will be rooting for him, moving him to a new height. Because they will understand that so will grow their income. Set them clear goals, give adequate rewards, and they will show the result.

   
   
   

2. ... who love their job, not the boss.
   
   “Love” to the authorities may at first create the illusion that a person is especially devoted to the company and is ready to move mountains for you. This is mistake. Employees who get high on their business, professional tasks and goals that they face will be rolling mountains. I myself was a programmer and sat at work much more than 8 hours a day. I remember how it delays: if you find a thread to a bug, then you will sit for two and three extra hours to solve the problem. Courage from work, in my opinion, the main component of the success of a specialist.

   
   
   

3. ... who are willing to argue with the leadership.
   
   Good employees always conflict a little with management. They do not look you in the mouth and do not adhere to the postulate "the boss is always right." Just because business owners are also often mistaken, and the help of competent specialists is necessary. I agree with Jobs' statement: “It makes no sense to hire intelligent people, and then indicate what to do. We hire intelligent people to tell us what to do. ”
   
   
   
   I do not need a "Chinese dummy" who agrees nods to every word of the chief. In order to protect the company from losses and unnecessary risks, a good employee will enter into a dispute with the management, lead arguments and eventually win.

   
   
   

4. ... who own the situation.
   
   This criterion primarily applies to managers. The head of a department or direction must clearly know the situation and be able to describe it at any time of the day or night. My team does not have a manager who could not tell what his subordinates are doing today, what tasks the department has for a week and what results the department has achieved in the last few days.

   
   
   
5. ... who are ready to "run a long distance."
   
   Usually the first half a year a new employee works with full efficiency. Therefore, a period of six months or a year is not an indicator for employee evaluation. It is not necessary at this time to “fall in love with an employee”, to feed him with bonuses and, all the more so, to offer a share in the company in order to bind him more strongly to the business. Look at the employee in a year, or better. 2. Is he still giving all the best? Then he is truly "your man."

And a little more about how to motivate and retain valuable employees. Recently, our HR director showed me statistics on employees. It turned out that the staff turnover is 0.3%. On average, the company employs 3-5 years. How do we achieve this?

Whatever may be said about motivation, money is the most obvious (and effective in my experience) way to encourage people to work more and better. Schemes are different, the main thing - never change the conditions for the worse unilaterally. I generally adhere to the rule: "It is better to overpay than underpay."

If a person has failed something seriously, then this is a leader’s mistake: he didn’t control it and didn’t dismiss him in time. If the specialist has fulfilled the due date, and you promised him a share,% or premium, then the word must be kept. Employees must be confident that everyone is being honest. It gives confidence in the future.

A good specialist, in addition to money, is motivated by the tasks that the company sets itself. Of course, there are those who do not care how to earn money, but I do not understand. And now I'm not talking about them, but about key personnel for your business.

The following rule: "Do not require from the employee the same as from myself."

This is the fault of many (especially beginner) entrepreneurs. The psychology of the business owner is clear: he raises him as a child, and also invests in it. But we understand that no outsider (even a relative) will belong to your child, just like you. And do not require this. Business is the same story. Employees or even junior partners treat work differently than the owner of the company.

In the first stages, when you are just starting a business, both you and your subordinates will have a special excitement and enthusiasm, but with the growth of the company you will have to restructure.

Of course, you have a choice: either you constantly make sure that everyone works as much as you work, or calm down and accept the reality: people will work less than you, but still fulfill their duties.

And if at the first stage it seemed to you that you need 5 people for business development (the same as you, of course), then you realize that you made a mistake: you need to hire 20 employees who will do the same amount of work that five how are you.

The third rule: "Do not break people in control." It logically follows from the previous one. I myself have seen more than once how some managers see only workers' units in their employees, they do not understand and do not accept that specialists have their own interests, values, and life outside the office as a whole.

When there is no such understanding, the manager tries to stuff the employees into the frames he creates and becomes a micromanager. There is no place for business: you need to check how many accounts the accountant issued, how many bugs the tester found, how much code the developer wrote, and whether the cleaner cleaned the floors. People under such pressure get irritated, “break”, and then leave. The remainder that you will have after the "dropout" - those who will simply show activity, but in practice - hatch time and pull the strap, well imitating high employment.

The principle of “trust, but verify” works in our company. Own DLP and time control system notify if an employee is not working or trying to harm the company.

Lev Matveyev, Chairman of SearchInform