The Art and Science of Crafting a Job Position in the Startup Stage

Let's reflect on how to align the contract terms between your start-up goals and the colleague that is about to support your journey. This article was inspired by the work of the authors of The Alliance, Reid, Ben, and Chris.

Consider the old days of work when the employee's mission/purpose was the same as the boss's. Employees had to put their heads down and do what the company wanted in exchange for financial security in a long-term relationship. In other words, they work too much for job safety. According to The Alliance, it's easy to imagine why that model no longer works. Today’s employee-employer relationship is dynamic: One of the situations we notice is how employees come and go. It follows that people are cultivating their narratives - they are interested in preserving and designing a personal identity, and they want the work environment to support this:

In this model, the interests, such as the values ​and aspirations of the employee, do not precisely match the employer's interests, values​​, and mission. The complication - and opportunity - that arises is precisely the need for an alignment that preserves the interests of each party, thus creating a more solid relationship, even if it is short-lived. When the employer gives the employee freedom to talk about their aspirations and purpose, it creates the opportunity to seek an alignment that can make the conditions for them to paddle together. They formalize a stronger exchange.

Imagine a situation where the employee asks for flexibility because he is interested in homeschooling his child. The counterpart, on the employer's side, maybe the need for compromises. Do they concur? Yes, let's go:

Althought the situation presented by The Alliance is connected to the employer-employee relationship of modern companies, the leadership team of a start-up can struggle even more as start-up stories are not solid yet. The start-up leadership team, therefore, can also benefit from this thinking and perhaps take a step further when designing a contract or role.

If you are in the position to design a working relationship in the start-up context, consider taking significant time to create a position role where the person can see (and help with) what is in it for them. Keep the need for success for them, using a mindset that acknowledges that the start-up is likely to fail.

For example, you can account the extra time that allows the person to learn. Or to enable them to make a portfolio of their work (which would also add accountability/transparency to their work). As the sky is the limit, make sure that you both set down-to-earth expectations - keep the romantic view of it under control.

• Pt-Br version of this article - https://tiodovale.mgalli.com/a/e172-alinhamento-de-interesses-empregado-patrao-pt-br

• 1-min pt-BR video short - https://www.instagram.com/p/ClEXzL1Jl8-/

• Photo by Amy Hirschi on Unsplash