Finding right skill set a major challenge for startups: Survey

The startups boom in the country is now faced with the challenge of finding the right skilled manpower as most entrepreneurs find mismatch in the talent with the required skill set, according to a survey

Mumbai: "To succeed, it is imperative to attract the best talent at an early stage, as the selection of each member adds in organisation's growth," executive search and consulting firm Athena's Managing Director Bhavishya Sharma said.

He said the country is witnessing a boom in the startup industry, and the present talent pool available is excited to join the startup bandwagon. However, still 61 per cent of startups feel that embracing the startup culture is the biggest issue even after finding the right hire. This challenge is followed by ensuring whether the right talent has the right skills. Around 44.4 per cent of startups face this problem, along with stability concerns and budget constraints constituting 38.9 per cent and 27.8 per cent, respectively.

The findings further stated, that people cost takes precedence and eats up to 66.7 per cent of the cost incurred by any startup. "People are the assets of any company. For a startup they act as directors, leaders, employees, managers, strategic thinkers, basically everything that a startup needs. No wonder, the cost incurred on getting the right people on aboard is so high," Sharma added.

Once the human resources is taken care of, the company focuses on strategic initiatives and technology infrastructure, which account for nearly 16.7 per cent and 14.7 per cent of the expenses incurred, the survey added. Another challenge which keeps startups on their toes is finding the talent with the desired skills for the middle and senior level management.

"It is comparatively much easier to find managers at the junior level, but it is very time consuming and crucial when the hunt is on for the middle and senior level management. "Startups literally crave for quality mid-level and senior-level employees because most of them are lured by multinationals, who offers them better salary standards, the tag of bigger brand and job security," Sharma said.

However, the survey revealed that almost 55 per cent organisations witnessed candidates changing jobs to work with startups. The findings showcased that 38.9 per cent and 27.8 per cent startups feel hiring at middle level and senior level, respectively, is a critical and time consuming task.

Further, the survey also revealed that funding, competition and poor business planning are the other threats that are involved in scaling up new ventures.