Building Successful SaaS Operations for Growing Companies — A SAAS NORTH Panel Summary

This was one of the best panels from SAAS NORTH Conference. There were lots of great takeaways for HR managers at rapidly growing companies. The folks on the panel were:

• Annika Reinhardt (Compensation Professional of Talent Collective)
• Larissa Holmes (VP of Talent at Borrowell)
• Aydin Mirzaee (CEO at Fellow)
• Pablo Srugo (Associate at Mistral Ventures)

Throughout the panel they discussed these topics:

• HR is shifting away from a traditional approach, to people and talent roles
• The market for talent has become very competitive + how to react
• HR has a huge impact on a business’ profits
• Deep dive into talent acquisition strategies

We summarized the talk into simple bullet-point form below. Enjoy!

What should HR do outside of maximizing profit?

• Figuring out the employee value proposition is imperative
• This requires a strong consideration of your compensation philosophy
• It is predicated on understanding people
• Understand what they care about, and meet them where they are
• Invest in the functionof HR, including operational foundations
• Do not simply assume a person in the role will suffice

Strategies to Acquire Top-Tier Talent

On Referrals

• The option to hire others through referrals exists
• This may in turn lead to company pride and strong workplace culture
• On the other hand, this can lead to ahomogenized workplace which lacks diversity

Values Driven-Process

• Ensure that values are aligned between the company and potential hirees
• Developing tests for the aptitudes and qualities you seek to discern beliefs, attitudes, and actions
• Avoid deciding on resumes alone, as this is not holistic enough to understand applicants
• Qualities like passion and the desire to learn, and motivation are important here

Career Progression

• Do not conflate career progression with compensation. These do not always correlate.
• Promote a culture that focuses on what each individual can do over the next 5 years to grow in the best way, rather than being hung up on titles
• Draw on knowledge of experienced peers e.g. senior leaders
• Support employees in their roles by helping them be their most successful
• This means investing time, resources, and building a strong workplace culture
• Career development is co-created
• Help remove obstacles from employee flourishing and development
• Understand employees’ strengths and how to build on those qualities

Read full article at www.getcrescendo.co