Gun.io’s framework for reducing hiring risk
Few things slow the velocity of innovation like a lack of bandwidth and expertise. Oftentimes, the best ideas get put on the back burner, because committing to them means also committing to a time and resource-intensive hiring process (one that runs the risk of not even working out). It’s a perennial catch-22 that usually ends in casting those ideas aside until the justification to take on that risk can be made.
What if you could reduce those hiring risks? What chances would you take if you knew your next hire would be a perfect match, would have the skills to tackle those big ideas, and wouldn’t reduce your current team’s velocity?
The decision to grow a team is not one that is taken lightly, regardless of what stage your company is in. It’s exciting to see the progress that necessitates adding talent, but it’s also a little harrowing to think about the potential pitfalls. When we look at the traditional hiring model, we see the following risks:
- The hiring process is time and resource-intensive
- Necessary skills aren’t always uncovered in the hiring process
- Culture fit and soft skills are challenging to ascertain through interviews
- Turnover is extremely costly
Why do we care about it so much?
At our core, helping businesses grow and succeed is why we do what we do. Having bootstrapped for a decade, we deeply understand how risky every hire feels, regardless of the available hiring budget. When that risk is diminished, your company can grow, thrive, and reach milestones; that’s exactly what we want to help you do.
Our framework
Budget approval aside, there are considerations for the amount of time and resources it takes to go through the hiring process. And what if you get to the end of that process, only to discover that the person you hired isn’t a great fit? You’re back to square one, and your innovative ideas are pushed to the back burner. Again. Here’s how we tackle those problems.
Focus your resources
The hiring process always takes a little longer than you thought it would, especially if you’re looking to add someone to the team with a very specific set of skills. The traditional hiring model takes, on average, 35 days and costs your team 65 hours of lost work time. We don’t need to bust out the calculator to tell you that’s a significant spend, and one that’s largely invisible when the main focus is on what you will be offering the potential team member.
There are a growing number of AI tools that help you with sourcing, vetting, communicating, and even interviewing potential candidates; ChatGPT can help you write a tailored job description that gets qualified candidates. Taking advantage of tools like these can drastically reduce your time commitment, freeing up resources to focus elsewhere.
Working with Gun.io can reduce that hiring time to 14 days and a time commitment on your end of under 6 hours. Every candidate is hand-vetted by a member of our team, and when it comes time to hire, we do the sourcing, interviewing, and contract management for you.
Uncover the hidden gems
Generally speaking, the smaller your team is, the more versatile every hire you make needs to be. A front-end developer with experience in JavaScript and node.js is a good hire. A front-end developer who has those skills and also has familiarity with UI/UX best practices, material design, and can build user flows in Figma is an irreplaceable asset. Uncovering those extra skills doesn’t come easy when you’re faced with a daunting stack of qualified resumes.
What is a must-have, and what is a nice-to-have? Beyond the basic necessary skills, what aspect of the job is the most difficult or time-consuming to teach someone? Unicorns are rare, so get as close as you can, and prioritize the secondary skills based on the bandwidth you can spare to get them up to speed in places they may be lacking.
We take the time to understand what every client is looking for in their new hire, which includes understanding long-term goals, short-term milestones, and places where a specific set of skills could be a huge value-add. At the same time, every developer who joins our platform is fully vetted by a senior-level software professional on the Gun.io team. In addition to ensuring their skills meet our exacting standards, we do a deeper dive into their work history to uncover those hidden gems that make them a valuable addition to your team.
Find people you want to spend time with
Through the course of the traditional interview process, you might schedule one interview to see if the candidate is a culture fit. Maybe you talk about what they do outside of work, or how they handle difficult situations in the workplace. But when it comes down to it, all you really want to know is: are you someone I want to be around for eight hours a day? Does your personality mesh with the team? Is this the environment that will help you grow?
Doing a deep dive into a candidate’s work history can help you identify cultural elements that made them successful in previous positions. Gun.io’s WorkStyle assessments help to ascertain how someone may function in a certain role, and whether they’re more likely to be the person who loves to hammer out line after line of code or the one who thrives when orchestrating the whole project.
In addition to the behind-the-scenes work we do, each person on the platform has gone through multiple meetings with members of our team. We know how they do in a 1:1 setting, whether they show up to a group meeting with their camera on, and what their Slack etiquette is like. And we use all of that knowledge to match you with developers who will fit your company’s work flow and management style.
Minimize turnover
Let’s say you’ve gone through this whole process, and the person you finally decided on doesn’t work out. Costs of the sourcing, interviewing, and vetting aside, you’ve now also dedicated onboarding resources to that pool, and it gets deeper by the day. Our approach to reducing hiring risk has its roots in ensuring turnover is as minimal as possible.
Let’s start with two words: fractional hiring. It’s the cheat code to growing your business when all the signs are saying it’s a risky time to hire. By bringing in talent on a part-time or contract basis, you can grow your talent pool as your business itself grows. The contractor you can only afford for 15 hours a week right now may be the same contractor who builds the features that allow you to eventually bring them on board full time. All the while, your budget remains healthy and your product’s reach grows.
Contract-to-hire is a great way to test the waters with a developer, and is one of the most popular ways our clients bring people on full time. It means a lower risk on your part, as you’re not committing those fully burdened costs (401K match, PTO, insurance, etc.) until you can be certain they’re a good fit.
At Gun.io, we stand behind our process and do everything we can to get talent on your team that we believe will be successful. Frequent check-ins with both clients and talent gives us the opportunity to discuss changes, offer up solutions, and find common ground. If a problem ever arises with a contractor that can’t be addressed, you’re not back at square one: we will find a workable solution, including getting new talent onboarded quickly.
Wrapping up
The hiring landscape may be dotted with murky waters, but that doesn’t mean it has to be hard to navigate. As with any journey, every risk you can remove increases your chances of success. Hiring with Gun.io reduces your risks, so you can keep the focus on innovating your product, chasing the big ideas, and justify taking chances.
