Recruiting tips for hypergrowth situations

Tackling growth phases the right way

"Young, not yet established companies that are founded to realise an innovative business idea with little start-up capital." This is how the Gabler Wirtschaftslexikon defines start-ups. As the PwC Startup Study 2018 found out, the majority of the companies surveyed expected an average annual growth of 8 %. At the same time, 62% - more than half - of the companies surveyed said that recruiting new talent was the biggest challenge.

When start-ups experience explosive growth, with order books bursting at the seams overnight, we speak of so-called hypergrowth situations. Now the decision-makers are faced with the question "How are we going to make it all happen?". 

Prioritisation in particular helps to optimally shape the growth phase. But in hypergrowth situations this is often not easy to implement, as many items have a high priority and none of them can be downgraded. This ensures that there are more vacancies than available recruiters in the company. So if there is a need for a large number of positions, it is essential to develop a recruiting strategy in order to use resources in the best possible way.

Include employees

If no expansion of the recruiting team has been decided on the basis of the recruiting strategy and job prioritisation, one way can be to use the current employees as multipliers. In this way, you indirectly distribute the interviews on several shoulders and who can embody the mindset better and more authentically than the team members?! In addition, the colleague reports on projects and successes in a very practical way. In this way, priceless positive emotions are conveyed and, in the best case, the potential applicant becomes enthusiastic about the company. Often the same professional groups share the same hobbies - encourage your colleagues to talk about their job at the regulars' table, at football matches, dance classes, chess or in the choir. The traditional way of employees recruiting employees is also relevant for start-ups. With a bonus, you can let the existing team participate.

Using existing networks

Another recruitment channel should be the network you have built up in the start-up environment. The first customers should know that your company is growing. Use your contacts as multipliers. Inform them by mailing or tell them about it at your next meeting. In this way, you increase the bond at the same time, because the customer is suddenly part of the growth. The satisfaction of the first customers should not only be used to win further customers, but also to convince new talents of your company.

For start-ups, there are now numerous platforms, associations, groups as well as round tables in your own city. This is the ideal platform to draw attention to yourself and present your company. If you are located in an office complex, you can also simply put up a notice. It doesn't have to be the new colleague right away - collaborations and joint growth may also be possible. In this way, you can benefit ad hoc from other experiences and increase your performance enormously, even if only temporarily.

Trust the expertise of service providers

In order for you to maintain your focus and fully concentrate on the implementation of your projects, experienced recruiting partners are also at your side. They have an extensive network in relevant social media channels, can draw on an existing talent pool in which the skills and professional and personal characteristics of the applicants are known, and can thus decide quickly and in a targeted manner which candidate fits your company and the advertised position. 

Furthermore, recruiting agencies already have contingents at well-known job boards such as Stepstone or monster and can place ad hoc indeed or Google campaigns. Through various analysis tools, exactly the keywords that your job advertisement needs to be found are found. This allows you to continue to focus on your core business and work on topics relevant to you, while the service provider professionally supports your growth. Instead of one-off recruitment or classic headhunting, the focus is on a long-term cooperation in which your recruiting partner experiences your success story and thus also becomes a multiplier. 

As HR experts, we offer you exactly what you need in strong growth phases. In our 20-year career, we have already been able to help write several success stories and support start-ups such as Lilium with our human resources services and expertise. From planning, consulting to implementation or the short- or long-term takeover of partial or holistic processes - ARTS is your HR expert for the entire employee cycle. The Autobahn GmbH des Bundes has also relied on us as a recruiting partner for the establishment of various branches. Read all about the cooperation in our success story.