Podcast
Eight Minutes with Ali Farrell
In our 8-minute discussion with Ali Farrell, Global HR Leader APPRENTICE.IO we got into the heart of what it’s like building a hyper-growth startup.
- The struggle is focused on how we make sure we are growing the business while we grow our employees. We need them to be successful while we grow but the question is how we enable and empower them while we grow…without putting the business at risk.
- Recruiting a workforce these days is hard. It’s also harder retain and to engage employees. Being a startup (building the plane while we’re flying it) means we’re in the process of building out the programs that will attract, retain and engage an effective workforce.
- Hard for the executive team to give up control for making the decisions that will deliver on growth. It’s a balancing act because that trust isn’t there yet at that level.
“We’re growing faster than human trust is naturally built.”
- 4. To date there hasn’t been a ton of focus on growing people, just on growth. Desperately want that program in place at the next layer down so we can grow the business.
- 5. The people you are recruiting want to make an impact. The way to build trust and attract people is through the lens of your customer and the impact they are delivering.
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6. Short and long-term thinking needs to be balanced and you need to consider outcomes. Overarching outcome could be around helping customers get drugs to market faster. To get drugs to market faster APPRENTICE needs:
• Reliability –prove that we have a reliable product
• Access – communicate in such a way that there is access
• Trust – our customers to trust us - 7. Putting a program together that is intended to get to the next layer down could include these three drivers. Organized a little differently you get A.R.T (Access, Trust, Reliability) and something that you can “brand” your program by to communicate to your existing and future workforce on the type of culture the leadership team at APPRENTICE is attempting to build.
- 8. For your customers to trust your products and services, you need to start with yourselves. Your employees need to trust yourselves and your products…first. Focus can be placed on the employee first by aligning everyone to a common outcome; helping get drugs to market faster.
