Big companies have bigger brands. Their workplaces win awards. They pay big, promise stability, and bundle a slew of perks and benefits that can seem unbelievable. When they open a job, they get thousands of applicants in the first hour.
There are two surprising observations I’ve had since launching Rockstar. The first was how often smaller companies choose to not even compete for top-tier talent. And second, for the small companies that did compete — how often they won.
“Smaller employers don’t lose the talent war on talent. They lose it on confidence. The ones who show up to compete win far more often than they expect.” — Underdog’s Guide
In future posts we’ll dive into more of the tactics and strategies of winning top talent. But today we’ll lay out where the BigCo approach to hiring creates the clearest opportunities for smaller employers.
Four BigCo Weak Spots
1. Mo’ Money, Mo’ Problems
BigCos can get tens of thousands of applications for an open job. So for most roles, BigCo recruiters are spending their sourcing time reviewing applications. This means they are far less likely to do outbound — which leads them to miss out on the 70% of talent who aren’t actively applying.
2. Playing It Safe
At a BigCo, every incentive is to take as little risk as possible. For your 10,000th employee, the upside of a great hire is low. But the downside of a bad hire is very high. It’s much harder, slower, and more expensive to fire someone. So hiring managers tend to prefer safe over great.
3. Specialists Over Generalists
The key to winning if you’re big is to hire specialists who are exceptional at one narrow thing. There’s less of a need for the generalists who can do a bunch of things well — the very people who often power smaller teams.
4. Speed Limits
BigCos value stability and preservation over everything else. One way they achieve this is by putting in guardrails that limit downside, even when those same guardrails limit upside. The result: speed limits on your growth, your ability to make impact, and on simply getting things done. For many of the most talented people, this is a deal-breaker.
Play A Different Game
If you play a little version of the BigCo game, odds are you’ll have to pay more and get less. But if you’re willing to play a different game — a game on your terms — there’s a lot of room to win, and to win big.