Getting the right talent in a green business, and shaping the right culture, can take help at times.  Entrepreneurs come from many different backgrounds and have a great range of talents, but are not necessarily able to find the people they need all on their own.  Working with someone who knows the business and has the experience at developing and executing a talent acquisition plan to find the right people can make all the difference between a business making it all the way - or not.   

Glenn Croston (GC):  Can you tell me about the green entrepreneurs you work with? 

Dawn Dzurilla (DD): We work with a many ecopreneurs, and I truly enjoy partnering with them for several reasons.  Many that I’ve worked with have gone on to do incredibly great things.  They all have a few things in common: they have tremendous vision, think of themselves as leaders, they believe in themselves, and they believe in what they are doing and are able to attract those willing to join them on such a quest.    

GC: What services do you provide for green entrepreneurs? 

DD: We work with them in many ways, particularly to attract, acquire and retain their senior leadership and key staff talent.  It’s not only about finding a body, but identifying what they need to do to advance the entire operation.  Ecopreneurs need a little more help than more advanced firms to go out and get talent.  These people work extremely hard, and I can relate in a big way to them.  As a talent acquisition firm, we spend a great deal of time helping them to identify and then disseminate what their culture is like, what it takes to get to the next level. We have been fortune to have developed tremendous contacts through PR, VCs, lobbyists, trade groups, universities and leaders in the clean tech realm.  To our clients, we consider ourselves Strategic Partners and collaborators working through the many strategic talent acquisition and retention issues.  In some cases, we are asked to lead everything as it pertains to human resources, helping them determine an appropriate SRI allocation for their firm’s 401K plans.  It’s not just about introducing people but working strategically to advance a firm. Occasionally, we are asked to become involved in the selection process of selecting board members.  Generally, investors who take the economic risk from the outset become board members.  Others offer an additional strategic advantage in advancing the firm.  There’s increasingly been a trend toward specialization of talent in board members, especially at firms where cash is tight.   

GC:   How does your work with green entrepreneurs differ from what you might encounter in other business areas? 

DD: It is different, but not that much different. Prior to launching Gaia Human Capital Consultants, I worked in the investment community, where the business is all about making money.  I find that with most ecopreneurs as well the number one motivation is their economic or financial value proposition.  I would say that 8 out of 10 CEOs admit that economic value is the most important thing drawing them to the business. An overwhelming majority do care a great deal about the environmental impact of what they are doing, but it seems that first these are business people.   

GC:  What do you see as the biggest challenges facing green startup companies?  Do you have any advice or tips for them to address these challenges? 

DD: Distinguishing themselves from more established firms that have existing and working technologies.  Many face capitalization hurdles.  They need quickly to create and distinguish their technologies, create a brand to attract money and talent.   

GC:  How are developing a brand, corporate culture and recruiting related? 

DD: A lot of the brand is in the people themselves, in the specific backgrounds of founders.  Their passions, their work ethic are important parts of the businesses they build.   

GC: Do people expect green companies to green their company culture? 

DD: Yes, after businesses get over the first hurdle or two, they often want to be a model firm.  At some point many firms want their firm to be recognized for sustainability, for their commitment to the triple bottom line.  In certain firms, the culture does not follow where the company is headed.  They’ll be working on developing some aspect of renewable energy, and meanwhile there are SUVs in the parking lot, and you are looking around, and there is no interest in energy efficiency; it gets to be an internal blind spot in their culture.  People don’t always embrace change at first, but as they learn and grow in sustainability stature and pride, they cannot help but get closer to their community and make changes in their business and personal lives.   One thing I’ve seen is that we need to bring more humanity into human resources.  To some the whole idea of talent acquisition has become too focused on “name gathering exercises” and the tracking of people and performing matrix analysis.  All of these are important tools, but many firms increasingly rely too heavily on having software do the work of recruitment in place of people, making it more IT driven.  You scan in resumes, and screen for keywords.  But that does not capture what people are really all about, about who is best going to move the organization forward. We enjoy having an impact on how these companies grow. 

GC: Does a green brand attract talent? 

DD: Yes, it does, but you’ve got to attract the right talent.  We attract a lot of talent, folks who write and I’m delighted that each and everyone is attracted to the green revolution, however, from our client’s perspective many are not always the right talent.  It takes a significantly thoughtful and strategically proactive effort to create a green brand and to spell out in detail the requirements of each opportunity to attract the right talent. 

GC: What types of folks are attracted to CEO roles in Cleantech?  

DD: There are two general types of CEO’s.  One is the Wall Street type of CEO, who brings in capital and talent, then leaves when the firm has accomplished its desired level of capitalization.  In that sense, a lot of the CEOs say, once we get to a certain level, ‘I’m out of here”.   The other type of CEO is the operating executive whose ambition is to sticks around to run their business.  You need a blend of both financial interests, and environmental interests for things to work in the long run.  You need someone VC firms and strategic business partners will feel comfortable working with and have confidence in, that the firm is being run responsibly with exceptional and motivated leadership.   

I guess that’s how Dawn Dzurilla is making a difference, by helping these green entrepreneurs to succeed in their business.  

To find out more about Dawn and Gaia Human Capital Consultants, see their website at: www.gaiahumancapital.com