Having worked in HR for startups the past 15 years, it’s become clear that, despite the chaos and ambiguity they're known for, there are some commonalities as they’re setting up, hiring, and scaling their businesses.
I’m not the first (or last) to say it, but I like to think of any founder and their business like a marriage. Both generally require passion and a belief in sustained success, and we derive distinct identities from both. Both take guts and resilience, and both take effort to thrive.
It is worth adding that I’m not a marriage expert. Also, this example can be subbed for a relationship you feel is meaningful, and that needs care and cultivation (close friendships, owning a home, or growing a garden). I use marriage as there is a legal obligation, much like in founding a company. Marriage is also widely understood, and, as someone who is married, there are many similarities to running a business (which is also something I’m familiar with!) And I’m a terrible gardener, so there’s that.
So, if we’re comparing the two, then thinking of HR as just payroll and benefits is like thinking your wedding is the destination of your relationship. Anyone who’s been married knows that a wedding, and all of its glitter and buildup, is simply the beginning. As with most things in life, there are ups and downs, and building the partnership you want is work. Good work, but work nonetheless. In marriage, it’s of course with your partner (and maybe the family you may have); in business, we’re talking about your relationship with your clients as well as with your own team.
Let’s acknowledge the fly in the ointment, too: many marriages and businesses fail. 2024 data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, shows 20.4% of businesses fail in their first year after opening, 49.4% in the first 5 years, and 65.3% in their first 10 years. Yikes. Marriages don’t tend to fare any better as nearly half in the US end in divorce or separation. Double Yikes. Both marriage and careers are long and winding journeys. Even if a relationship is fleeting, its impact can be felt throughout the entirety of your life and career, and in both examples, you play a crucial role in making it count.
So the net of it is this: anyone can get married, and many do; anyone can start a company, and many also do! How can thinking about your people and cultivating a solid people strategy help to ensure your business grows?
You have to want to grow together In a family, everyone needs something different from you to understand how to navigate this family world, how to chart their own path, and they need support when life happens and things get hard. Most importantly, what works for one person may not work for another. I’m sure many of you have experienced what happens when, under the same roof and using the same parenting style, kids grow up carrying some unsettled emotional baggage. Therapy is a booming business for a reason, and unlearning maladaptive behaviors and beliefs is difficult, intensive work.
This also applies to your business: each employee is motivated by, measures success, finds fulfillment, and seeks growth in different ways. As a founder, a big part of your role is leaning into this growth mindset, as well as hiring leaders who understand why this is important. After all, “people don’t leave companies, they leave managers.” This isn’t anecdotal: In one Gallup study of 7,272 U.S. adults, 50 percent of employees left their job "to get away from their manager to improve their overall life at some point in their career."
And all of that turnover is expensive to your business! For every person that leaves, BuiltIn estimates this to cost you 1.5 to 2x of their annual salary.
Addressing the growth gap —recognizing and supporting each employee's unique development needs—keeps your people engaged and fulfilled, and also keeps them from leaving your company. Ignoring this gap perpetuates the same cycle over and over and undermines your team’s connection to your company and vision.
The Student Becomes The Teacher Marriage means teaching, and learning from your partner and family. For instance, I’ve said many times my husband brought a deep love of music to my life, and in turn, our kids now teach us about new music they love. This is great, because as an aging millennial, I’m embarrassingly and hopelessly out of touch on what’s cool these days. These shared interests create shared memories, which are the glue to any family over time.
Building a business means hiring and carefully enabling and empowering your people. Investing in this growth ensures your vision is amplified and you’ve got high potential employees who carry your torch, and bring innovative ideas to the table. What’s more? 94% of employees say they would stay at a company longer if that company invests in their learning and development. Growth gives you better leaders and better leaders mean better outcomes in many ways for your team over time.
Learn How to Fight Well Let’s face it: disagreements are inevitable. You don’t need me to tell you that - Google does a pretty good job on its own.
Healthy tension, or the productive disagreement between two or more individuals, where all parties agree on a shared objective but disagree on how to get there is important. I’ve always said to teams that there has to be a home for dissent, and without it, progress is stalled. The key is to ensure there’s a shared or common objective to all of this tension that keeps you grounded and aligned, and building this muscle takes healthy structure and support around your team. There needs to be an ecosystem with shared goals, roles, and the opportunity for collaboration. And there has to be psychological safety, trust, and accountability.
This all orients around how you view performance as an organization: something you ignore entirely, a necessary evil (maybe you need to be SOC or ISO compliant), or an opportunity to channel your team’s talents in important, mutually beneficial ways. Keeping performance at the center of your people strategy gives you a better opportunity to make decisions, mitigates making the same mistakes over and over, upskills your employees, and ensures a culture of transparency, among many many other benefits.
Let me end with this: none of this is easy, but anything worth your time and energy rarely is. Finding your allies to make building a solid foundation for your people is worthwhile, and it all starts with the first step. Sproutwise is here as your partner to help you start small so you can scale smart.
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