The challenge of building an entrepreneurial, functioning team is not always successful. Companies that think ahead wisely right from the start of their company's history and understand a team as the social system that it is, where interpersonal relationships play a decisive role in success, are well advised. But how do you create your own unique cultural footprint for your company and then find the ideal team mix of skills and personalities? As a founder, you have the task of building your own company and, especially in the initial phase, developing your role as the person responsible for employees and resources. Not every founder has the time and often the talent for this mammoth task. There are now companies like Zealaxx, which is dedicated to precisely this topic with its "People & Culture" section. Specifically for startups.
Founding of a small concert orchestra
Putting together a startup team is comparable to founding a small concert orchestra. You need people who play different instruments, but only coordinated and harmonious interaction creates a melody that ideally sounds good. This also appeals to investors, who are often interested not only in the pitch but also in the competence and dynamism of the team that will realize future success.
“When hiring new employees, you should carefully consider what skills are needed and, above all, which personalities are right and important for the team.”
says Daniela Limbeck, who is responsible for People & Culture at Zealaxx.
"Together with our startup clients, we develop a well-thought-out employer branding strategy to inspire both employees and applicants alike. We achieve this by identifying the unique selling points that characterize the company. In this way, we aim to pave a holistic and sustainable path for the company's future personnel decisions right from the start."
But how can this be achieved? Each of us has probably experienced a situation in a company where individual team members clashed due to their different personalities, were unable to reach an agreement, and ultimately failed to reach a useful or even satisfactory result. Often, people only seem to be a good fit at first glance, and even the HR manager's best human nature isn't enough to assess a candidate's individual personality during the application process to determine how they will actually fit into the given work environment or work culture. And this works both ways, of course, because applicants are also given the opportunity to get to know the company and its culture better and to determine whether they are a good fit.
Deeper insights through the use of AI
Zealaxx has excellent experience with the additional use of the Munich-based company Retorio developed Artificial Intelligence (AI).
“We have found a way to gain a much deeper insight into the personality of the applicants, far beyond the contents of their CV,”
explains Daniela Limbeck. The AI used here derives personality traits from videos recorded by applicants. Companies define application questions, which are answered by video recordings of the applicants. Using a standard model from personality research, the AI evaluates facial expressions, gestures, speech, and voice. This allows the applicant to determine very early in the application process how likely they are to fit the individual and previously defined requirements for the position within the company context. Zealaxx supports the definition of these.
"The combination of our many years of recruiting experience, enhanced by AI data analysis, leads to a much clearer overall picture of the applicant. This has further improved the success rate of our successful hires."
Limbeck advocates the supporting use of AI in the recruiting process.
Good corporate culture is no coincidence
The fact is: A good corporate culture doesn't happen by chance. Building trust, communication, good collaboration, and a shared mindset within a team takes work. The true value of thoughtful team building becomes particularly apparent in difficult times and is now more critical than ever to a company's future success. More and more young companies are now recognizing the added value of purchasing support and expertise for this task.
