HR believes in innovation and not management skills

The role of an HR in startups is to drive the workforce through effective action and not by means of their position

Needless to say, both large and small companies face a number of HR challenges such as recruitment issues, communication problems, setting up of roles and responsibilities, processing of remuneration, etc. While in larger corporations HR is responsible for specific functions, in start-ups they take on multiple roles. The role of HR professionals in start-up companies is primarily to drive the workforce through effective action and not by means of their position. They have to play multiple roles and don various hats.
Some of the key processes that HR professionals in start-ups have to focus on:
-          Retaining right group of talent
-          Creating appropriate job descriptions
-          Dividing job roles/responsibilities
-          Set up proper communication between the team members
-          Working on the basics of recruitment
Being different…
“HR folks in start-ups are a different blend of individuals who keep challenging themselves to do more. They are driven and have enhanced skills in their domain which makes them different. Often they wear multiple hats and have to be more innovative to attract, retain and develop talent without adequate resources, especially during their foundation days,” says Vishnu Iruvanti, HR Manager, Myntra.com.
Manpower is inadequate, funding and resources are scarce; yet HR professionals in start-ups have to be able to create something big from almost nothing. As Iruvanti says, “Constraints always bring out the best in people.”
Innovation is key
The way HR manages people in a start-up makes all the difference, innovation is critical. According to Deepak Singh, general manager, Nature’s Feast (an e-grocery company), “In smaller companies the key word is not management, but innovation.”
He further adds, “In bigger corporations it is people management for HR, but in smaller companies it is a combination of passion and the ability to change the game as they go along. They need to identify the strength and the weakness of the human resource and set practical targets.”
HR in smaller companies has to think of out of the box solutions for everything from job descriptions to engagement of employees. Sahil Baghla, co-founder, Bluegape.com (online fan merchandising store), says, “In a start-up we do things which no one has done before, instead of people with 5 years of experience in something, we look for people who can learn fast and have a raw skill set. We look for raw intelligence and those who can perform well in a team.”
For a start up, people are the competitive advantage in the market, and HR can make all the difference by hiring and managing right.