I have spent a fair amount of time discussing hiring at a small business - both the first employee as well as hiring practices. One of the great concerns for me though, and one that may concern the potential hire, is that there is no real corporate ladder to climb. How does an employee move up, improve their skills, etc. in a company of just a few employees? I certainly didn't expect to be able to provide much corporate mobility, but like so many other times, I was wrong here too - because the business continued to grow.
After a recent interview, one of the comments was that the interviewee may be too smart and get bored with entry level sales. So, should we choose to hire that person, it will be up to us to manage that. Perhaps he doesn't stay entry level very long. Perhaps he goes along to trade shows and conferences to interact face-to-face. And perhaps, he has no interest in any of that, and wants to come in at 9:00 on the dot, and leave at 5:00, and not take his work home with him.
Regardless, it is important to explain that to the candidate up front. Some people coming straight from college may expect great opportunities. Those from a large corporate environment may expect multiple levels of management and bureaucracy. Others may have no interest in management, but simply want the opportunity to show off their skills. All of these are options, so it is up to us to identify the drive and capabilities of the employee, to identify opportunities for that person, and to identify exactly what we're looking for as owners. Here's a few examples from the Big Bang staff and how it's worked out for them:
Chris was the first dedicated software developer I hired permanently. We had known each other for years and were close friends. Chris had absolutely no desire to move up. He did not want to manage other developers, nor really even be a project manager, and he made that clear immediately. It worked out perfectly for both of us because, at the time, there was no one for him to manage anyway! He wanted to code, and code is what he did - late at night, early in the morning, weekends. It didn't matter - he just wanted to make it work.
When we hired Justin for support, it quickly became apparent that we had a bright one on our hands. He was excellent with our customers and with our software, but relatively fresh out of college, he wanted more. So, he busted his butt for us. He took additional programming courses and got his programming certificate. He started working with our software development team (which had grown beyond Chris) and they started to give him projects to work on. We sent him to Android classes, and he's now got his own Android app.
Nate and Kelley head up Marketing and Sales. When Nate started, he was the Marketing department. When Kelley started, she was the Sales department. Now, we've hired a couple people in sales, are interviewing another, and have started to migrate Tish from sales to marketing because she has her Master's degree in Marketing. So, not only has she started to move into a different role, but so have Nate and Kelley now that they have direct employees.
Perhaps there actually is in fact a bit of an corporate ladder forming at Big Bang after all, albeit small, which hopefully continues to provide opportunities and challenges for those that want them.