Hiring in the City of Angels
Jeff Bartlett
Entrepreneur and growth leader of digital marketing and media business. Building a World Class Team and a billion dollar company
When we started ConsumerTrack, I never would have thought adding great people to our Team would be a challenge, much less our biggest challenge. When you have 5 to 10 people in a small office, working hard together, eating lunch together and growing together, the last thing you are thinking about is how are we going to hire another 100 people this great. It seems easy.
Fast forward to 20 people, 30 people, 50 people and heading towards 100, and things don't get so easy. Sprinkle in the need for passionate people with specialized skills and experience all mixed into maneuvering around long commutes and candidates considering offers from multiple "Silicon Beach" tech companies, and things get really challenging.
If the challenge ended there, we would figure it out and great candidates would see why an opportunity at our Company is very attractive because of what we do, the success we have had and most importantly, the great people that are already part of our Team.
But we have to get through all that AND make sure we hire the right people that not only fit our culture, but individuals that we believe can help grow our culture. People that want to impact the Team and community around them.
I probably spend 2-3 hours EVERY day recruiting. I am not a recruiter. I do not have a spare 2-3 hours daily to throw around. I am part of an incredible Team that drives the growth and success of a fast growing digital media company, but my most valuable time each day, outside of supporting and developing our current Team, is focused around finding great people to add to this fantastic group. Individuals that will add to our #greatness and lift up everyone around them. Individuals that the rest of our Team will be super happy that they joined us.
I have worked for many companies in my career and had many different roles. I have relentlessly focused on growing our current Company for almost 12 years now, and out of everything that I have done, hiring incremental great people in Los Angeles in 2016 is probably one of the most challenging things that I have worked on. Fortunately, it is also one of the most rewarding when done correctly.
Los Angeles is now a true mecca of Technology and innovative companies. Individuals with talent, passion and a desire to learn and grow can write their own ticket, choosing from dozens if not hundreds of interesting companies with various levels of opportunity.
My job is now to show these talented individuals why an opportunity at our Company should be interesting to them, based on their goals, their interests and what they want to be a part of next.
The best thing about this challenge is it forces us to be better everyday. It helps to drive us to be a great Company and have a dynamic culture that individuals want to be a part of everyday. It motivates me to improve my own leadership abilities and my commitment to support every individual on our Team.
READ MORE - https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/nothing-beats-great-team-jeff-bartlett
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Owner at BizSplice, LLC
8 年Okay Jeff, so I just read both of your articles but each talks about your history, your struggles, your mistakes, your journey. You mention great teams and great culture but all the specifics are very "fuzzy" and nondescript. Not everyone defines "great" the same way and regardless of common skill sets, everyone has specific needs that make the work/life balance doable for his or her personal situation. For what it is worth, here is my suggestion - write another post on who your company is, what it FEELS like to be a part of it, what do co-workers and your culture value? Some companies value "work hard play hard" and may not be great places for new parents. Some value individual freedom and offer daily "core hours" for meeting but allow workers to do their own thing outside of that window, which would be a good thing for new parents. The list goes on and on about the differences, but the point is you want to present a candidate focused, engaging, inside-your-company's-SOUL picture of ConsumerTrack that allows candidates to "see" your vision and mentally test drive what it would be like to be there with you and your team and if it aligns with his or her ethics, morals, values and alternative life demands. I truly believe if you start focusing less on what you need and focus more on what you have to offer, the awesome people you seek will find you.
Warehouse Management, Procurement, Inventory Management, Logistics Management, Supply Chain Management, Store Management
8 年Interested
Vice President | Engineering | Futurist | Artificial Intelligence | CTO | Speaker | Advisor | Board Member
9 年It was an honor to serve consumertrack for many years. It's definitely a unique company with an innovative approach to overcome obstacles.
Director of Technical Program Management
9 年Great company - great culture!