On MT / Sprout we read a publication about how Techleap wants to provide more top talent for fast-growing scaleups. How do you find and retain top talent? Especially in this region Brainport this is a challenging task. Many startups and scaleups are held back in their growth ambitions, because they encounter challenges in the field of talent and culture within their own organization. Think of optimally organizing the leadership team and attracting and retaining top talent. In Techleap's People & Culture Scaleup Guide you will find tips on Leadership, culture, reward opportunities and how to create a winning team.
Too few startups can scale
"The Netherlands is fertile ground for startups. We have a lot of them, "says Marloes Mantel of Techleap. "What is lacking, however, are sufficient startups that eventually grow into unicorn, companies with a value of 1 billion euros. Too few start-ups and scale-ups manage to scale hard. "One of the stumbling blocks, she says, is finding talent. Many IT vacancies in particular are difficult to fill. If it is up to Techleap, that percentage will have dropped to just a quarter by 2023. In addition to developers, startups and scaleups also involve people who Marloes call scalers: experienced employees who have already scaled within their own domain. This could be marketing, sales or HR.
Making stock options more attractive
To achieve this, she is committed to an internationally competitive share options scheme. It must become more attractive for startups and scaleups to pay employees in stock options. Often these companies do not have enough money for hefty salaries. By issuing shares, they can tempt scarce talent, including those from abroad, to come and stay in service.
The conditions for stock options are not competitive in the Netherlands compared to other countries, says Mantel. "Employees still have to pay tax as soon as the options are converted into shares. Even if the shares are not yet salable. Moreover, the rate is high. "
"We often hear from companies that talent from other countries willing to accept that the tax structure as a weakness is seen in the Dutch selection. If we in The Netherlands want to play Champions League and attract top talent from home and abroad, it is essential that this scheme is attractive to top talent both for entrepreneurs."
People & Culture Scaleup Guide
Techleap recently launched the People & Culture Scaleup Guide, a practical guide to everything in the field of talent development and culture within scaleups. This includes important leadership issues, setting up a remuneration house and defining culture. For the latter aspect, they interviewed Patty McCord from Netflix, hockey coach Alyson Annan, Pieter Zwart from Coolblue and Steven Schuurman from Elastic. This guide helps fast-growing companies establish the right structures. In this way we prevent every entrepreneur from having to reinvent the wheel himself. Ideal to have a look at this guide!
