Matt Perez
Co-Founder & COO, Nearsoft Inc.
In this article of leader stories, we have Matt Perez, Co-Founder & COO, Nearsoft Inc., sharing his thoughts & strategies on recruitment. Matt has been working with computers all his working life, both in the area of hardware and software development. He has also been an entrepreneur for most of his career and has helped raise over $50M in investment for several of the companies he co-founded. Most importantly, his partner, Roberto Martinez, and he co-founded Nearsoft in 2007 and from the start the company has been co-managed. No titles, no hierarchy, no management elite and he is most proud of it.
Estimations say that four years from now, Millennials will make up 50% of the global workforce. Raised differently and at different times, Millennials are not like the previous generations, both in their attitude and in their approach towards work. Matt says, millennials are people and want the same things as everybody else: a fair and just working environment. As a co-managed company, everybody has a voice in the operation of the company. Policies are created by Leadership Teams. These can be invoked by anybody in the company, at a time, and for any purpose (and without asking for permission). When a policy doesn’t work anymore, then the most likely thing is that another Leadership Team will come to the rescue and modify it or create a new one altogether. For example, a Leadership Team changed the way how they used to share profits at the end of the year.
Older generations frequently came into work, did their job, and left. They didn’t put too much thought into the bigger picture of what the company was trying to accomplish or the conversations being had at the upper level. However, Millennials are much different.
Millennials care about trust and transparency. They want to know what decisions are being made and how the company is influenced by those choices. They don’t have time for office politics and they want to feel as if they’re a part of a team, even when they’re in an entry-level role.
Speaking about recruitment, When it comes to job interviews, preparation is key. But, that doesn’t just apply to the candidate—it’s equally important for the interviewer.
The conversation is the chance to determine whether that applicant is a solid fit for the position, your team, and your company in general. However, that information is only revealed if you know the right questions to ask an interviewee. Matt states that there is no one question that’s more important than other when deciding whether or not to have somebody join your team. It’s the whole conversation that counts. Humans are pretty complex creatures and it takes a conversation to bring out enough information and feelings to form a balanced picture of a person.
When asked about one thing to expect from a new hire Matt flags that, new hires have to work hard at shaking off the habits they’ve learned at previous, hierarchical companies. Learning to work in a co-managed organization takes effort. In general, they expect new people to speak up, self-direct and show initiative.
Some of the things that have to be followed by the company, after hiring a new person to join the team is very exciting especially if you’ve been trying to fill the position for a while now. While you may have piles of work stacked up waiting for their arrival, be sure not to overwhelm them right away. It will minimize the chances of getting them fit for the job.
Making a good first impression sets the tone for the duration of their employment. It’s important to provide thorough training, make yourself readily available, and allow them to ease into their new role. If you expect too much too soon, there’s a good chance you’ll scare the new hire off and have the position falling vacant again.
When questioned about AI Matt states, we expect the same wave to mimic every bad practice there is (aka, as “industry best practices”). If we are lucky, these will be quickly followed by software that can learn from each recruiter’s behavior instead. BTW, if we are not lucky, this will take more time to come to market, but it will sooner or later.
