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The most common mistakes in talent acquisition and tips to avoid them 1. When an apple is compared to a pear By far the most common mistake in talent acquisition is when candidates are compared to each other. This is wrong, not only because it gives you false results and you get pulled away from your original goal, but also because comparing an apple to a pear is simply impossible. Let us give you an example: a junior candidate with limited experience and a senior candidate with a wide range of experience have very different skills, knowledge, and expertise to offer to your organisation. The question should not therefore be whether the apple or the pear is better for you. The questions should be defined as follows: What is the talent need of the organisation currently? What is the work that needs to get done? What are the short, mid and long term results that you are expecting from this role? Then, prepare a clear job description and person specification and compare each candidate to your JD and PS. Who meets your expectations the most? Who offers the best value for money? Pro tip: use scorecards for each stage to record your candidate evaluations. 2. When there is 'Little me' hiring Although it's normal to feel drawn to those who are similar to us, it's not actually a good idea in business to make a decision based on "chemistry". You will need people in your team who are able to see things from very different perspectives and can grow your organisation with you in many different ways. It's highly likely that these people will have different personalities, ambitions, talents and skills and they will come from very different social, economic, educational, and cultural backgrounds. The more colourful your team, the stronger your organisation will be. Therefore, we suggest having very clear competency expectations and culture principles established, which will be the "rules", the common grounds for your team to operate by. For actual work, freedom and opportunities to be creative will enable individuals to bring about the best results. Pro tip: add competency-based interview questions to your scorecards, as well as questions based on company values to be as objective as possible in your assessment. 3. Not following a process It's easy to fall into this trap because everyone is busy, and some things really just seem unnecessary at that time. But if your process is designed thoroughly and you have tested its effectiveness, why change something that works perfectly? Maybe a candidate seems really experienced and doesn’t seem like they need to complete that test. Or perhaps they are really friendly and don’t need to go for a peer interview. However, these are almost always perceptions, and sometimes even unconscious/conscious bias. These mistakes can be very costly, so it’s better to avoid them! What other mistakes have you made in the past? What have you learned from them?

I didn't know. Did you? 🤓

Did you know? Berlin is Germany’s startup capital, with 468 startups founded there in 2023, one-fifth of the country’s total. An international market with residents from over 186 different nationalities and 49% of all startup employees being non-German citizens, Berlin has one of the most diverse workforces in the world.

No offense but it often feels like a rodeo bareback bull riding, doesn't it?🤠 Can you keep on top of it all, or will it be a complete crash and clash (not to mention the sores it leaves behind)? Here at Funded.club, we are all masters of our craft, and with us, there won't be such surprises! It's true when done well, Talent Acquisition is not a walk in the park. However, we have tried and tested technology, processes, and practices in place to ensure we deliver every time!

In these times of extreme uncertainty, let's hold on to optimism so we can bounce back to our normal energy levels. But what exactly is optimism, and what does it mean to be optimistic? There are three different types of optimism, and by being conscious and attentive, we can all work on ourselves to reap the benefits they offer. Dispositional Optimism People with high dispositional optimism acknowledge that while they may face challenges, they ultimately believe they’ll find solutions. This type of optimism is part of our personality, and we all operate at different levels. Explanatory Optimism This form of optimism relates to how we explain why things happen. If you have high explanatory optimism, you’ll take good things that happen to you personally and believe they’ll continue. You’ll also believe that bad events aren’t necessarily your fault and won't inevitably repeat. Interestingly, explanatory optimism is learned, not inborn. Unlike dispositional optimism, it’s a thinking pattern that can be developed with practice. By reflecting on life’s events, we can nurture explanatory optimism within ourselves. Unrealistic Optimism At times, we may feel hopeful even when it’s not entirely logical. We often expect good things to happen more frequently than bad things. It’s okay to indulge in this kind of optimism occasionally! While factors like inborn characteristics, genetics, childhood experiences, financial situation, education, and relationships shape our current state of optimism, we can all work to become more optimistic about the future. As we know, our minds can only create what we can imagine. By feeding them with optimistic thoughts, not only will we be more likely to achieve our goals, but our mental and physical health will improve as well. In fact, optimism has been linked to better cardiovascular and respiratory health, as well as increased life expectancy. Optimism can drive us to make healthier choices, build stronger relationships, develop a positive self-image, and manage stress more effectively. Food for thought: How do you think you can improve your own optimistic tendencies? Source: everydayhealth.com

Ever wondered why certain people are more effective than others? Do you want to be more effective at work and personal life? If so, you might want to consider Stephen R. Covey's suggestions on how to develop and implement 7 habits in your life that enable you to become more effective. The book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, has been a best-seller for over 30 years and millions of people have utilized its wisdom to create the life that they want. We recommend this book because it's not focused on theory and psychological analysis of the human mind. Instead, it provides practical explanations, background, and examples as to why certain habits are so fundamental to being effective and how we can internalise the principles behind them. Give it a try! What can you lose? Have you already worked on developing these or similar habits? If so, what has been the hardest aspect so far?

The determinant question: are you ready to start employing people directly? Is your organisation mature enough to hold this responsibility in a stable way? Or should you rather continue working with contractors and freelancers? Let's kick off the thinking process to evaluate 🤓 And if you want to talk things through with an expert, don't hesitate to book a free consultation session with us https://buff.ly/3RZSXIq

What is transformational sustainability and what growth opportunities can it offer to the startup ecosystem? Transformational sustainability occurs when sustainability becomes an integral part of an organization’s business strategy. More than an initiative, sustainability becomes core to the values of the company. Transformational sustainability takes action to solve the world’s most pressing problems and promotes profitability in the process. It enhances business value, in part by changing the definition of value and the scope of the beneficiaries considered. Transformational CEOs are not just driving sustainability from the top down, but also taking tangible steps to bring along their entire workforce. As Transformational CEOs remodel their organizations from the inside out, they distinguish themselves across 3 key areas: leadership, ecosystem engagement and innovation, and technological maturity. Transformational CEOs engage broadly with their ecosystems–almost 70% align with partners to jointly report sustainability measures. 50% have established entirely new business networks or platforms as part of their sustainability efforts. Almost 70% of Transformational CEOs are confident that their digital infrastructure enables new technology investments to efficiently scale and deliver value. Transformational CEOs also embrace hybrid cloud platforms and other exponential technologies to improve performance. Organisations led by Transformational CEOs achieve better sustainability outcomes and better business performance, with higher average operating margins and EBITDA—even amid disruptive market dynamics. In summary, Transformational Sustainability is not just a tickbox exercise in strategy development and business operations any more. When deeply embedded into an organisation's internal mechanisms and external partnerships, it creates better business outcomes for the organisation and its partners as a whole. As Transformational Sustainability paves a new pathway for economic growth, there will be an increasing number of business opportunities for startup organistions to join successful partnerships by offering innovation, technology and digital solutions, better management solutions and improved engagements. Funded Club is actively working towards supporting a customer base comprising at least 50% social businesses, sustainability solutions and good causes in 2024. We aim to bring the best possible talent to these organisations to help them grow efficiently and increase their positive impact on our collective future. Source: IBM Institute for Business Value

Bill Gross has been running his technology incubator, Idealab, since 1996. During this time he and his colleagues have created over 150 companies with more than 45 IPOs and acquisitions. Bill Gross believes "the startup organization is one of the greatest forms to make the world a better place. If you take a group of people with the right equity incentives and organize them in a startup, you can unlock human potential in a way never before possible. You get them to achieve unbelievable things." With his nearly 30 years of experience, he set down, analysed, and evaluated what could be the top 5 factors that make a startup succeed or fail. He found that the most important contributor to success is timing. Although team and execution comes second, the timing of launching the business/service/product matters the most. Important, of course, to have a great idea, chose the right business model, and raise adequate funding. However, assessing timing he believes is the most important factor of success. He says that "the best way to really assess timing is to really look at whether consumers are really ready for what you have to offer them. And to be really, really honest about it, not be in denial about any results that you see, because if you have something you love, you want to push it forward, but you have to be very, very honest about that factor on timing." Do you agree with Bill's summary? There is one factor in success we CAN always support you with, and that is the Team factor - no.2 on Bill's list :). Bringing together the right people at the right time to push things forward and make things happen. Get in touch when you're ready 🚀 Until then, we are rooting for you! To watch Bill Gross talking about the top 5 factors in success, click the link in the comments.

We believe in Unicorns! And we believe in you, too when you tell us you need to find and hire super rare developers, sales and marketing talent 😉 We are the trusted hiring partners of many startup and scale-up organisations for Executive positions, niche talent, co- founders, and C-Suite members. Trust us, we'll hunt them down for you! 🪄 Let's book a call to discuss your needs https://buff.ly/3RZSXIq