HogMail #22: Why do companies over-hire?"
Feb 22, 2023
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The good news? We're launching a brand new newsletter that's very similar HogMail, but more muscular?! 💪
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Here's what's new on PostHog.com:
- James Hawkins on Our simpler goal: Help engineers to be better at product
- Ian Vanagas on Using PostHog apps to gather feedback and book user interviews
- Charles Cook on What we've learned about developer marketing
- Ian Vanagas on How to evaluate and update feature flags with the PostHog API
Why do companies over-hire?
Josephine Conneely makes a strong case for the power of small teams. Some takeaways:
- If hiring to drive growth ask yourself: "what would the leanest version of hiring look like? It may be possible to achieve most of your growth goals with a smaller team."
- Low performance and/or blame cultures encourage over-hiring. It "reduces what any one individual can be accountable for" and "ensures there are enough scapegoats in place to deflect blame to".
- "Too many generalists can lead companies to over-hiring as they lack the expertise to execute effectively. Too many specialists can lead to over-hiring as roles are broken down into niche subsets."
Read: Why do companies over-hire? by Josephine Conneely
How you work together > how you socialize
Here's a great read on async working by Chase Warrington, Head of Remote at chat app Twist. It can be summed up by this graphic:
The post includes three useful tips for fostering the social bonds in an async team:
- Make attendance truly optional
- Treat social activities as part of the workday, not extracurricular
- Remember what truly unites us: our work.
Read: How to build human connections in an async workplace by Chase Warrington
Tips for challenging the status quo
Dissent fuels innovation, but a "challenge everything" culture can "quickly metastasize into a culture of assholes," says Hebba Youseff. How do you find the balance? When challenging ideas, consider:
- "What is your internal dialogue telling you about how you are showing up in this discussion? Are there outside factors that could be impacting you?" (e.g. your emotional state / personal feelings)
- "Do you have all the context? You should understand the situation fully before suggesting a different solution."
- "Do not speak for others or assume their motivations. It can be easy to project on others but that can be insulting for anyone else in the room."
Read: Challenging the status quo at work by Hebba Youseff
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