Finding adaptable, resilient staff key for start-ups to remain agile

Each hire must count, given the uncertainty and challenges faced by early-stage firms

- Choo Yun Ting

Resilience, cultural fit and a can-do attitude – these are some key qualities start-ups look for in new hires as they seek to build agile teams that can work in uncertain and fast-developing environments.

Identifying the right talent is crucial, start-up executives and mentors told The Straits Times, given that each employee plays an integral role in helping the business scale, and one wrong hire could have more severe repercussions than in a larger organisation.

Talent recruitment platform Glints, which works with companies ranging from early-stage start-ups to large corporations, places a priority on cultural fit.

It has a recruitment stage called the “who” interview, where it asks about the candidate’s personal and professional experiences to see if he or she has similar values to the team, said Glints commercial director Yeo Puay Lim.

He noted: “In an early-stage start-up, you go through a lot of challenges together as a team, but what is important is that you make sure you bring the right people on the bus, it has to be the right bus for the people, and then you find them the right seat.”

Ms Sandi Sadek, chief people officer and partner of investment firm B Capital, said each hire for a start-up is critically important.