I’m about to send out an email to all of our customers detailing our two new hires: Ben Haga and Daniel Ballenger. Ben will be working full-time in a support role at Simpli, and Daniel is our summer intern for 2006. Daniel replaces Mooneer Salem, who was a valuable part-time employee of Simpli for 2 years before leaving this summer to move on to an internship in software development. Russ is also leaving us at some as-yet-undetermined point in the future to go after a different job tack. Once Russ leaves, I will be the only Simpli employee left who was not hired in 2006.
I’m often asked by customers and friends how I handle employee turnover. In particular, it’s tough for business owners like myself who hire almost exclusively entry-level employees. (My only two non-entry-level employees were in the COO position, which was held by C last year, and which is held by S this year.) Hiring and managing employees is easily the toughest job of any business owner. You want employees who have passion for what you do, but it’s hard to motivate without giving away equity or large salaries (neither of which is my company planning on doing in the near future.) You learn that most job seekers have unrealistic salary expectations and/or few qualifications. You receive resumes with broken English (my favorite was the one that started with “Myself [first name] [last name]“, which was a running joke at Simpli for a few weeks!) And, of course, you have the inevitable heartbreaks both ways — employees that you want to hire who suddenly find another job during the interview process, and employees you do hire who turn out to be disappointments.
But in the meantime, you also find incredible people who are willing to pour their heart into projects, work until they’re exhausted, but come away with smiles on their faces. (Personal favorite: when one of my employees resigned in order to take on a job in the security industry, which was his true passion, he turned to me and said “This was the best job I have ever had. Thank you.” He said it with such seriousness and sincerity that I almost cried!) You find those who believe in your vision and who love interacting with both servers and customers.
We do have a lot of turnover. Is that bad? No, I think it’s typical for a company that hires at the entry level. Our employees ramp quickly, gain job experience, and then in 8-12 months, move on for greener pastures in a field they love. I have learned to not only accept that, but embrace it. And many of them keep in touch and regale me with stories of their new adventures. (Once passionate about work at Simpli — always passionate about work they love, and always willing to send customer referrals our way!) I don’t hesitate to give out good reviews when former employees deserve them — and the vast majority of the time, they do.
Hiring isn’t easy. It is always hard to find the right person — one who fits in with your organization and who loves tech as well as people. And, for me, one who accepts that “support tech” is an entry-level position that probably won’t finance a new house here in the Valley, but will give them a ton of real-world, on-the-job experience. I now hire mostly from referrals from friends; I don’t use job sites much. There is a time and a place for job sites; for entry-level support techs, they don’t seem to work as well as friends and customers who send us their kids, their friends’ kids, or their young friends who need resume boosters.
Right now, I’m very excited about the future that is in store for Simpli. Our new employees mean support tickets will be answered and resolved even more quickly. They also mean we can finally get started on some projects (*cough*VPS*cough*) that I’ve wanted to do for quite a while, but haven’t had the time to research. We are growing quickly, but not so quickly that we’re dropping things on the floor. New employees bring fresh ideas, and fresh ideas are welcome here. The next few months should bring quite a lot of change!
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June 6th, 2006 at 4:11 pm
Turn around is a reality there, simply because the kind of people who might want to hold entry level positions for all their lives can’t afford to live in expensive places like silicon valley. Remember not everyone is motivated to compete with everyone.
At my most recent job there were a couple really bright and talented people who managed just fine on their ‘entry level’ jobs, simply because the task was easy to master, perfoming the job well at a sucessful company meant job security, and at least around here, the hourly wages were more than adequate for someone determined to be frugal and live the life of an entry level worker, and because the job was fun.
As long as your datacenter is in the heart of the valley, turnaround will be high, because the only people who are worth hiring are those who need a career stepping stone of a several months of OTJ training, and experience with a solid reference for future employment.
June 13th, 2006 at 3:09 pm
As you said, entry level positions are very hard to keep. Its actually not just a single industry, but all industries that have that same problem — a position that can not truly expand and continue to grow (such as a small organization with limited mobility) makes for a difficult position to retain a long term employee.
I’m stepping into hiring two employees at the moment and will most likely be faced with similar situations, though in my case there are a few differences since those being hired are sales and have no income limitations based on a salary base. It does make a difference.
Continue improving both your business and the employees that work for you, for as long as they do, and you’ll be able to continue growing.
June 13th, 2006 at 9:09 pm
I wonder what your current employees would say if you asked them what it would take to make them happy in their current position (waiting until the “exit interview” is too late, in my opinion).
After all, any turnover of talent hurts the company - skills and knowledge leave, it takes time to hire and then get the new folks up to speed with the undocumented stuff that the former people knew (I’m not picking on you - this happens everywher).
June 13th, 2006 at 9:10 pm
Er, I meant to say (no preview!) what would your current employees say would make them happy enough to STAY at simpli for a few more years.
June 16th, 2006 at 2:54 am
Sounds like you have a good bunch of people working for you!