How to manage the rapid growth of a start-up

We interviewed Mariana Bradach, Head of Talent of SeQura.

Mariana, welcome to the niikiis blog:

We would like to start by asking you who you are.

I am passionate about people, the human mind and their behaviour. I am a psychologist but I understood that to be in the business world I was missing an important part, so I decided to complement my career with an MBA and become certified as a coach and NLP practitioner . I have been working for many years in the area of human resources in different countries, with different cultures and this has allowed me to have a broader and more strategic view of how to make different projects grow and help people to develop professionally. I work with a lot of energy and I am driven by helping people to become their best version of themselves.

How do you manage rapid growth in a start-up?

In relation to human resources and in my opinion, you need a strong team, with attitude and aptitude for the challenge, goal-oriented, with a solid and scalable strategy, good communication and aligned C-levels and managers.

It is very important to be clear about the profiles you need and will need in the short and medium term, the culture you have and want to foster and the objectives of the company. Teamwork and a sense of urgency are essential at this stage.

What are the steps to plan for the incorporation of a significant number of people in a short period of time?

• Understand what profiles are needed, for which teams, in what timeframe and number of people to be recruited.
• Check that internal and/or external resources are in place to achieve the objective (hiring team, head hunters, ATS, etc.).
• Take maximum care of the candidate's experience and that of the employee. Have a well-defined hiring process (number of interviews for each process, knowledge test yes/no and when, next steps, etc.) and onboarding (with People, with the team, Buddy program, etc.).
• Working together with hiring managers in a very dynamic way

What tools are key for you in the process?

A good ATS, strategic alliances with trusted head hunters, I usually rely a lot on the mkt team to transmit through different channels who we are and our culture, and of course dynamism and energy when you have to hire a lot of people in a short time is basic.

What are your preferred sources of talent?

It depends on the position I need to cover, there is no single answer and it depends on the market as well. In my view, the key is not the source but the strategy that precedes it.

What methodology do you use to assess the competencies of candidates?

I like competency-based interviews. If I am clear about what the team needs then I always think beforehand about what topics you need to ask about during the talks, to assess competencies it is best to put the person in concrete examples from their life, so it is a real talk and not a hypothetical one.

I like to humanise processes and break with traditional models, when a healthy, transparent, peer-to-peer communication is established between two professionals then people feel comfortable to talk about who they are and what they are looking for in their next professional challenge.

Thank you very much!