Joe Howard
Head Buff @ WP Buffs, where we keep websites happy and healthy 24/7/365!
HI. I'M JOE!
links
wpbuffs.com
@josephhhoward
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wpbuffs.com/HIRE
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Twitter: @josephhhoward
wpbuffs.com
@josephhhoward
wpbuffs.com
@josephhhoward
a remote team of 11
THE SUCCESSES AND FAILURES OF HIRING
wpbuffs.com
@josephhhoward
fatal assumption
wpbuffs.com
@josephhhoward
If you understand the technical work of a business, you understand a business that does that technical work.
wpbuffs.com
@josephhhoward
“Every person in your company is a vector. Your progress is determined by the sum of all vectors.” — Elon Musk
nick
honey
brenda
jason
helen
laraine
dean
rafael
marvin
wpbuffs.com
@josephhhoward
nick
honey
brenda
jason
helen
laraine
dean
rafael
marvin
a
b
your job AFTER you decide to hire
(WATER BREAK)
we hire part-time
(1099)
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more affordable
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TAXES ARE WAY EASIER
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hard to expect you to be their priority
wpbuffs.com
@josephhhoward
full-time employees
(w2)
and transition them to
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more expensive
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benefits, taxes +20%
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easy to expect you to be their priority
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looked for people with the best technical abilities
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only hard skills were considered, not soft skills
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main question was "can you get the work done well?"
wpbuffs.com
@josephhhoward
Effect: culture focused on individual performance, not team performance
Mistake #1: hiring wasn't value-driven 🚀
wpbuffs.com
@josephhhoward
wpbuffs.com
@josephhhoward
Some interview questions
entrepreneurial: We need to cut our average resolution time by 2 hours. how would you help us accomplish this?
on-time: you have a task due today and realize you won't have time to get it done. what do you do?
knows wordpress: what % of the internet does wordpress power?
Mistake #2: I was hiring on 💩 job boards
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UPWORK LOL
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hiring based on what people said they could do
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not effective for bigger, more complex work
wpbuffs.com
@josephhhoward
Effect: team always wanted to be told what to do
wpbuffs.com
@josephhhoward
(water break
ing bad)
Mistake #3: i hired too late 🌝
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i started looking to hire when work needed to be done
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takes 1-3 months to get acclimated + reach 99% efficiency
wpbuffs.com
@josephhhoward
Effect: team was regularly over-worked and stressed
wpbuffs.com
@josephhhoward
the reason is...
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financial: try to move from one-time payments to mrr
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you're just clueless (like i was): hire a part-time cfo
Mistake #4: relied too much on traditional hiring processes 😵
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thought i could post and qualified candidates would rain down on me
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really difficult when you're small / just starting out
wpbuffs.com
@josephhhoward
Effect: because we sucked at traditional hiring, our hiring process just sucked
wpbuffs.com
@josephhhoward
Mistake #5: hiring process not challenging enough 🎁
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hiring process took 1-2 weeks on average
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didn't challenge applicants enough
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fast hiring process set wrong expectation
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wpbuffs.com
@josephhhoward
Effect: made it too easy to work for wp buffs
wpbuffs.com
@josephhhoward
what we added
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1x technical interview + 1x culture-fit interview
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technical Q&A (48-hour turnaround)
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deep analysis (thank you email, written communication, etc)
(water break)
what's next
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longer interview process
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recruit for diversity
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more women in leadership positions
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more brand awareness in the wordpress space
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make a serious investment
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bigger focus on professional development
wpbuffs.com
@josephhhoward
wpbuffs.com
@josephhhoward
THANK YOU!
SLIDES
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wp buffs (we're hiring)
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wpmrr
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check us out on indie hackers
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wpbuffs.com/hire
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Twitter: @josephhhoward
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Twitter: @thewpbuffs
Successes and failures hiring a remote team of 11
By Joe Howard
