Episode 63: Why Startups Shouldn't Model Google-like Companies | How to Scale with Andrew Bartlow

Few things are as exciting as seeing your company grow not only in revenue but in headcount. However, they are many challenges that come along with a hyper growth company. Today we are unpacking the most effective way to scale your company and the important role that investing in your HR plays in that. Here today on the podcast is HR expert Andrew Bartlow to help us better understand why not investing in your Human Resources department is such a crucial mistake!

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3 Key Takeaways

1.  Context is more important than content.
2.  Invest in your “people plan.” It’s critical to equip your people to accomplish the vision you have laid out for them.
3.  If you are trying to appeal to everybody you will appeal to nobody.

Show Notes

How has the importance of HR been elevated or diminished in small businesses in the last few years?

• More and more companies that are venture-backed are investing in professional HR earlier on.
• In bootstrapped companies, they invest in HR much later on. 
• These businesses start investing more in their HR when things get more difficult as they are adding more management layers and where an outside authority is needed to help navigate what turns to take.

Many small businesses can get by on common sense and decent project management. - Andrew Bartlow

How does Human Resources help to work through human interactions in the workplace?

• Human Resources goes beyond just handling employee complaints and company benefits.
• Where HR really shines is brainstorming how everything you do as a company fits together.
• Human resources helps to determine whether you are hiring the right people for where your business is at right now and in preparing for the future.
• What programs and incentives is your company offering and is it giving the right incentive to further your vision.

Far too often HR is underinvested in and it’s kinda treated as a step up from office management. - Andrew Bartlow

What experience level should a hyper-growth company have in the HR function?

• The type of person you put in the role has a lot to do with what your aspirations are as an organization and the timeline that.
• For companies with 0-20 employees, you can pretty much fill the role with an office manager and outside adviser.
• Once you get into the 20+ you have more managers involved and communication becomes harder to achieve.
• The most experienced person on your team when you are going through hyper-growth should be the HR person.

If you’re hiring an accountant as a CFO he’s probably very good at counting the beans but likely not raising money, allocating capital, and guiding investors. Same thing HR. Are you looking for someone who's purely operational or someone who can lead and manage your team and coach you as a CEO. - Andrew Bartlow

Three takeaways from Andrew’s book, “Scaling For Success.”

• Have a plan. Things will change and evolve but you need to have a core strategy to live by.
• Master the basics. There are so many trends and fads that businesses get caught up in. It is so important to a solid core.
• Context is more important than content. Just because something worked at one company doesn’t mean it will necessarily work the same way or as effectively in your business.  

Who drives company culture, the CEO or HR?

• The CEO drives culture. Culture trickles down. It is driven from the top down.
• It’s HR’s responsibility to take the culture the CEO is driving and find new ways to further promote and foster that culture.
• Where many leaders get culture wrong is they try to appeal to everybody. If you’re trying to appeal to everybody you actually will not appeal to anybody.
• HR unpacks what makes a leader unique and helps to prod and push and stretch the comfort zone of the CEO.

Vanilla is tasteless. If you are trying to appeal to everybody, you will end up appealing to nobody. - Andrew Bartlow

What is the importance of recruiting and when should that happen?

• It depends on the headcount growth of the business. Revenue is relevant but headcount is more critical. 
• Once you start to hire people to a greater degree outside the company’s sphere of influence this is when it’s crucial to bring onboard and inside HR to help traverse these waters.
• Find experts to help you deal with the recruiting side as they pay for themselves when hiring the right people that will truly fit the culture and vision of your business. 

How can the ego of a CEO get in the way of high-growth businesses?

• Things change fast, many leaders have done one way of things for so long it can be difficult to let go of the past.
• Many companies encounter a stage where the CEO is accustomed to go straight to an employee rather than having to go through management to get things done.
• For many leaders, delegation can really be difficult. Due to the ego and the “need to know” of a CEO, many businesses can be hindered from growth.

You will grow more successfully and more quickly if you can put in place good management and structure that enable decision-making that isn’t bottle-necked by the CEO. - Andrew Bartlow

Resources For You:

• For Andrew’s People Leader Accelerator Program go to https://peopleleaderaccelerator.com
• If you need help building (or selling) a valuable business, reach out to Cathedral Consulting at [email protected]
• Questions for Seth? Send us your feedback at [email protected]
• Pick up your copy of Ambition: Leading With Gratitude