Arthur Matuszewski (VP of Talent & People @ Better)
Jul 20, 2022
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Arthur Matuszewski, VP of Talent & People at Better, discusses building out talent teams, evaluating founders, quality sourcing infrastructure, employee agency, managing hyper growth, and upskilling outside of companies.
Evaluating potential founders should focus on context, impact, and ability to overcome challenges.
Clear hiring plans aligned with business objectives and growth rate are crucial.
Analyzing and improving talent sourcing channels enhances recruitment efforts.
Effective interviewing process requires precise job specs and consistent candidate engagement.
Building strong culture involves alignment with business strategy and clarity on expectations.
Investing in employee development requires a personalized approach and external expertise.
Deep dives
Importance of Building Talent Teams
Building talent teams is crucial for organizations to create opportunities for individuals and align their goals with the company's mission. Organizations that can produce more opportunities and match them with the right individuals have a higher chance of success in scaling.
Evaluating Talent as a VC
Venture capitalists should learn from people and talent leaders about evaluating potential founders, especially at the earliest stages. Rather than focusing on traditional indicators like educational background or company affiliations, evaluating potential founders is about understanding their context, impact, and ability to overcome challenges.
Hiring Recruiting and HR Roles
When to hire recruiting and HR roles depends on the business objectives, commercial model, and cost base of the company. It's crucial to have a clear hiring plan that aligns with the company's objectives and growth rate. The founder's role in shaping values and culture is key in the early stages, but bringing in a talent leader becomes important after product-market fit.
Quality Sourcing Infrastructure
Building a quality sourcing infrastructure involves effective channel allocation, including agency, referrals, direct sourcing, and inbound strategies. It's important to optimize the channels based on input costs, time to fill, and complexity of roles. By analyzing and improving the effectiveness of each channel, organizations can enhance their talent sourcing efforts.
Improving Interviewing and Hiring
Creating an excellent interviewing process requires precise job specifications and aligning interviewers' credibility with the criteria being evaluated. It's crucial to have multiple frequent touchpoints with candidates and to engage them through various mediums. Maintaining a consistent focus on candidate experience and communication is vital for successful hiring.
Cultural Performance Management and Compensation
Building a strong culture involves aligning it with the company's business strategy and maintaining clarity on expectations. Performance management should focus on clarity, credibility, and ongoing evaluation tied to business goals. Compensation should be based on the value an individual brings and should align with market rates while considering mastery, autonomy, and purpose.
Maintaining Culture during Hypergrowth
Keeping culture strong during hypergrowth requires a clear sense of purpose and mission that is consistently communicated. Frequent check-ins, regular standups, and effective engagement strategies are crucial to foster a cohesive remote culture. Meeting employees where they are and allowing flexibility in work styles are also key aspects of maintaining a strong culture.
Navigating Layoffs and Reductions
Layoffs can be challenging but should be approached with transparency and support for the affected individuals. Communicating openly and providing resources and connections can help them navigate the transition. Separating role elimination from performance management can help address the different variables involved.
Developing Employees and Upskilling
Investing in employee development is essential for long-term growth and productivity. It requires a personalized approach that takes into account individual and organizational needs. Creating a learning community and leveraging the expertise of external organizations like On Deck can enhance employee development.
Remote Culture and Remote Work
Remote culture relies on maintaining a common sense of purpose and mission, frequent and varied communication, and being flexible in how individuals engage with each other. Meeting employees where they are in terms of their preferred work styles and engagement mediums is also crucial for cultivating a strong remote culture.
Upskilling Employees Outside of Companies
Organizations like On Deck play an important role in upskilling employees outside of their own companies. Enabling individuals to learn from best-in-class experts and professionals in different fields can enhance their growth and capabilities beyond what their organizations can provide.
Advice for Employee Development
Investing in employee development requires designing roles with development as a core objective. Focusing on capability development rather than just skill development can unlock greater value for both individuals and organizations. Assessing how organizations can invest in the growth of their employees is crucial for long-term success.
Wrap-Up and Additional Expertise
Arthur Madashofsky is an expert in people operations, talent development, and organizational growth. His experience and knowledge span various aspects of building high-performing teams, optimizing talent pipelines, and fostering a strong company culture during hyper growth. You can connect with him on LinkedIn for more insights and expertise.
Arthur Matuszewski was most recently the VP of Talent & People at Better after leading portfolio options at Human Capital and strategic talent sourcing at Wayfair.
This episode is about the fundamentals of building out talent teams. We highlight frameworks and first principles for hiring talent more broadly, and then talk about how that changes during hypergrowth.
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