HogMail #22: Why do companies over-hire?"

Feb 22, 2023

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I have good news and bad news. The bad news... this is the last ever HogMail. 😢

The good news? We're launching a brand new newsletter that's very similar HogMail, but more muscular?! 💪

They'll be no gap in service, but your next newsletter will look a little different.

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:

1. Make attendance truly optional
2. Treat social activities as part of the workday, not extracurricular
3. 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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