Building A Product Team? SWAN PMs Will Help You Sleep Well at Night
Choosing the right talent is crucial for building a high productivity PM team. Your ability to find such individual is critical to your own success. Conversely, adding a low performer to your team..
I hired my first report at twenty five. The next year, I was managing a team of six engineers. Back then, hiring engineers was easy: find a good developer who is a team players and shares your values. The transition to Product Management and the Silicon Valley made hiring more complicated. Finding a good product manager is hard. Finding a GREAT product manager is very hard.
Choosing the right talent is crucial for building a high productivity PM team. Your ability to find such individual is critical to your own success. Conversely, adding a low performer to your team can lead to a host of problems. Ultimately it will fall on you to fix them.
Therefore I treat every recruitment as a strategic investment. As a value investor, I compare hiring with picking a SWAN stock.
Find Your SWAN (Sleep Well At Night) PM
SWAN is a concept introduced by investors seeking peace of mind with their investments:
SWAN stands for "Sleep Well At Night" and refers to stocks with a reputation for being safe and stable investments. These stocks are often characterized by steady, reliable earnings and dividend payments, as well as a history of stable performance over time. SWAN stocks are seen as a way to reduce risk in a portfolio and provide peace of mind to investors who may be concerned about the volatility of the stock market.
Recruiting top talent should be a top priority. I got it wrong a few times in my career, and oh my god, that was painful. Hiring the wrong person can take 6-18 months to fix. During tat time, the team's productivity and morale suffer, not to mention the opportunity cost for the company.
A top performer is an invaluable asset. Once onboarded, he(she) will drive his product area with little supervision. Having PMs in your team you can trust with your eyes closed is a gift. It frees up your time. It lets you focus your energy on other important initiatives.
As a value investor, I select SWAN stocks that will provide good returns at acceptable risk levels. This metaphor applies to hiring. I call it SWAN PM, Here's my definition:
SWAN PMs are product managers who possess the necessary skills, experience, and values to excel and grow within your organization. They are result-driven and team-oriented leaders who execute flawlessly. These high performing individuals bring peace of mind, enabling their manager to "Sleep Well At Night".
Finding this special breed is easier said than done.
SWAN PMs: How to Get Started
Every hiring manager will approach hiring differently. Some will treat it as another task. Others, like myself, will prioritize it as an essential element to their long-term success. Hiring decisions have a high-impact on your team performance and your own success. SWAN PMs won't show up at your door step like the Amazon guy. Be ready to put the time and effort needed to find them.
For starters, qualify your needs to refine the PM profile you need:
are you a startup hiring its first product manager?
are you the head of product in a startup hiring another product manager?
are you the head of product for a product line hiring another product manager?
are you becoming a manager and hiring your first product manager?
are you hiring to replace a PM who left your organization?
Next, you need to assess or define the HR rules of the game. In larger companies, recruitment processes are well defined (recruiter, hiring process, compensation package, extra benefits, titles). Startups have less structure. You deal with much more unknowns. Do your own research and understand the rules of the game. Define (or refine) them if needed in collaboration with your leadership team and HR. That will benefit your organization in the long-run and ensure a successful hiring campaign.
The quality of the job opening plays a critical role.
Crafting A Job Description To Attract Your SWAN PMs
My friend that we'll call Henry loves fishing for leisure. For Christmas Eve, he caught fresh crab. He cooked it for us that night and that was delicious! Another time he caught huge salmons that he BBQ'd at his place. What's his secret recipe? Preparation. He wakes up very early, brings the right bait, and is ready to spend the day to catch a fish. He is also resilient. Sometimes the fish does not show up. He will still go out the next time. Rarely does he come back empty-handed twice.
Finding a SWAN PM is like catching a big fish. It takes efforts and preparation. Crafting a strong job opening is a critical step in this process. Write the ideal candidate profile and accurately describe your needs:
Seniority level: junior (<3yrs), mid-level (3-10yrs), senior (10+yrs)
"Jack of all trades" (generalist) or specialist (e.g. Platform, Mobile)?
OK to hire a career changer? e.g. from Engineering to PM
Unique industry or product expertise? e.g.: Financial Services, CMS, ERP
Management experience required?
Growth prospects: limited or plenty for the right candidate?
Job location: on-site, hybrid or remote?
Soft skills: self-starter, execution, influence, negotiations, communications (rank them)
Team and culture fit? Specific traits you are looking for?
Where would you go fishing for such a breed? e.g. startup vs enterprise, Tech industry vs Healthcare
Write a one or two-pager. Share it with your HR recruiter to get feedback. The good ones will ask you the hard questions and you'll know right away if you've done a good job. Iterate until you have a job description for the ideal candidate.
Marketing To Prospective SWAN PMs
Recruitment is like running a marketing campaign. The job opening is your landing page. Your goal is to attract the right leads. How do the best marketers do it? With a great copy! It is easy to be boring and follow "industry standards". That may get you there in Enterprise software or with big brands.
Working for a less known brand? Differentiate yourself! Use tone, show success, share your values, etc. Instead of just focusing on the requirements for the job, insert "triggers" in your job opening. That will catch the attention of your applicant. A trigger could go be big logos using your product, the TAM for your target market, proof of traction like CAGR, a unique career grow opportunity, an attractive technology like AI.
The "What not" analysis is a powerful tool. List for your job opening characteristics that will lead to an automatic rejection (e.g. no previous PM experience, no experience in X industry). Share them with your HR recruiter. Ideally, you want to attract a large pool of candidates and let your recruiter filter out the good ones.
Understanding your macro environment will help you make better decisions: do you have a pressing need to recruit? What market are you in? Pro-employer or pro-applicant? Are there other forces playing for or against you?
When SWAN Prospects Are In Short Supply
I set high standards for my recruits. It means hiring in the 90th percentile for a position. This pays off handsomely when it works. My standards have been challenged a few times.
Imagine: you cannot find the right candidate. Your boss gets impatient. You patiently gives him the same reasons (excuses) for the slowness in hiring. During that period, several peers hire new PMs for their job opening and it makes you look bad. Do you stick to the plan or lower your standards?
I think there are many paths to success. Better have strong convictions for your ideal candidate than vague expectations. You have to know before hand the characteristics that are deal breakers. Because you will be tested and knowing exactly the concessions you can and cannot make will save you in those situations.
On the other hand, be aware of your personal bias. As a borderline perfectionist (my wife's words), I set high expectations for myself and others. Over time, I found my savor: I put higher priority on getting things done. This means I can get out of those deadlock situations like not finding the exact profile. Whatever your bias, identify it and don't let it clout your judgement.
Doing More With Less
Besides writing an attractive job description, I encourage you to calibrate your job research and set reasonable expectations.
First, understand what you can afford in the current market. Can you buy a Tesla? Or does your budget limit you to a Honda Civic? Honda Civic are good quality cars that can drive up to 200K miles. They just do not have the fast start of an electrical car.
Next, consider the title and seniority for your position. Seniority brings you safety but you have to pay for it. Sometimes you need someone who is "ready to hit the ground" right away. However, if you manage a more junior PM, you pay less and have someone you can coach, offer unique growth opportunities, and retain longer.
Career growth is important for PMs. Hiring with a growth plan in mind is a smart strategy. Think of it as a "future SWAN hire". The same concept exists in stock markets where certain stocks are on their way to acquire SWAN status.
In the movie Moneyball, Brad Pitt plays Billy Beane, the coach of the Oakland Athletics baseball team. Billy Beane used statistics to identify undervalued players. His data-driven approach helped the Athletics compete against much wealthier teams. I'm not saying to build a statistical model for recruitment but a similar approach may help you.
For instance, the ideal candidate may have to manage his scrum teams and own the strategy and roadmap for his product. You may loosen the strategy and roadmap requirement a bit with the understanding that you will need to get involved for a while to mitigate the risk and opportunity cost. Such tradeoff may be acceptable or not. It's up to you to decide.
Conclusion
Hiring a PM is critical decision that can impact your success. A SWAN PM is a high performer that lets you sleep well at night. To attract the best candidates, you should work with your recruiter and create a comprehensive job description that will generates leads. In times when the job market is against you, clearly defining your must-haves and negotiable skills will pay dividends and help you land your next SWAM PM.