Founder Series: Building a Talent Acquisition Team from Scratch

Orrick's Founder Series offers monthly top tips for UK startups on key considerations at each stage of their lifecycle, from incorporating a company through to possible exit strategies. The Series is written by members of our market-leading London Technology Companies Group (TCG), with contributions from other specialists. Our Band 1 ranked London TCG team closed over 200 growth financings and tech M&A deals totalling $3bn in 2023 and has dominated the European venture capital tech market for 34 quarters in a row (PitchBook, Q2 2024). View previous series instalments here.

As your company grows, a streamlined hiring process becomes increasingly crucial. An in-house talent acquisition (TA) team can ensure you attract and retain top talent. However, if you’ve never hired a recruiter before, finding the right person for your business can be tricky. We teamed up with the Talent Partners at Adaptor to walk you through how to make this critical hire effectively and set up a strong TA function from scratch.

1. What Are Your Growth Plans? First, consider your company’s growth plans and the long-term objectives you aim to achieve by bringing recruitment in-house. A well-structured internal TA team provides greater control over the hiring process, fosters a deeper understanding of your company culture, and offers the flexibility to scale as your business grows.

As you define your growth strategy, think about the types of roles you’ll need to fill in the future, the volume of hires required, and whether you’ll need specialised talent for new markets or products. Aligning your talent acquisition plans with your business growth strategy ensures that recruitment efforts are proactive, cost-effective, and directly contribute to your company’s long-term goals.

2. Understand the Role of a Talent Acquisition Team. The TA team is one of the most important departments in your business, so you need to get it right. Unlike traditional recruiters, TA specialists take a more strategic approach, focusing on long-term business growth plans alongside immediate hiring needs.

A TA team’s responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Talent acquisition strategy: Developing and implementing strategies to attract the right talent.
• Sourcing candidates: Identifying potential candidates through various channels.
• Screening and interviewing: Conducting initial screenings and interviews to assess candidates.
• Managing the candidate experience: Ensuring a smooth and positive experience throughout the recruitment process.
• Employer branding: Building and promoting your company’s brand to attract top-tier talent.

Many recruiters have specific areas of expertise, such as tech, marketing, or sales roles, so it’s crucial to align their skillset with your business goals. If the roles you need to fill extend beyond your recruiter’s niche expertise, additional resources may be required. For hires outside their remit, consider increasing your recruitment budget to bring in contracted recruiters or external agencies, typically allocating 10-15% of hires for this outsourcing. It’s also worth investing in learning and development training to ensure your TA team can manage diverse roles effectively.

3. Determine Your Needs. Now that you understand the functions of a TA team, it’s time to determine what you need from an internal recruiter. Consider the following key questions:

• What is your budget? You’ll need to offer a competitive salary for top recruiters, while also considering the cost of pulling internal resources into the hiring process for tasks such as sourcing, screening and interviewing.
• What tools and resources will you need? Expect to allocate £15k-£25k for recruitment tools such as an Applicant Tracking System (ATS), sourcing platforms and job boards.
• What is your timescale? The end-to-end recruitment process is lengthy. Factor in the time needed for headhunting, interviews, and onboarding, as well as desired candidates working any notice periods they may have.
• Is now the right time to hire? Consider if a contract-based solution might work better for immediate needs before committing to a full-time recruiter.
• What are your hiring priorities? Determine how urgent your hiring needs are, how many hires you need to make, and the impact on the business.
• What is your company culture? Cultural fit is just as important as a recruiter’s skillset. Consider how they will contribute to and enhance your company’s unique culture.
• Does your recruiter have the right experience? Hire someone with previous experience building a TA team from scratch. Look for tangible results like the number of hires they made, time to hire, Glassdoor scores and their ability to unify hiring processes across several departments in a business.

4. Write a Compelling Job Description. A generic job description won’t attract the calibre of recruiter you’re after. Instead, craft a job description that will draw in high-quality candidates. Be sure to include:

• Business overview: Provide a summary of your business, its goals, and mission. Startups and scaleups thrive on their story, so make sure to highlight your vision.
• Role overview: Explain why this role is fundamental to your company’s success.
• Key responsibilities: Outline the specific tasks the recruiter will handle.
• Required skills and experience: Detail the necessary experience, including building TA teams from scratch, knowledge of relevant tools, and recruiting methods.
• Company culture: Describe your company’s culture and the attributes that will help a candidate thrive in your environment.
• Salary and benefits: Be transparent about the compensation package and any perks on offer.

5. Source Potential Candidates. Finding the right recruiter can be challenging, so use multiple sourcing channels to widen your search:

• Job boards and LinkedIn: Post the job on platforms where recruiters actively search.
• Hire a recruiter: You might need help from an external recruiter to find the right talent acquisition specialist. Consider embedded recruitment services like Adaptor, which can help you start building your TA team.
• Networking: Attend industry events and reach out to your network for recommendations.
• Internal referrals: Ask current employees if they know any skilled recruiters.

6. Evaluate Candidates. When reviewing applications for a recruiter, look for the following:

• Direct experience: Ideally, they should have extensive experience building a TA team from scratch, with tangible results such as outreach response rate, hiring manager feedback and number of hires made a month.
• Track record: Look for success in hiring for similar roles and industries.
• Technical skills: Check if they are familiar with the recruitment tools your company uses or plans to implement.
• Cultural fit: Assess their ability to understand and promote your company’s culture.
• Communication skills: Since the recruiter will represent your company to potential hires, strong interpersonal and communication skills are essential.

7. The Interview Process. Your interview process should be thorough yet efficient, as this person will play a pivotal role in shaping your hiring strategy. Consider a multi-stage process:

• Initial phone screen: Assess their experience and fit.
• In-depth interview: Dive into their past experiences, including how they’ve built teams from scratch. Explore their sourcing strategies and their approach to candidate management.
• Practical assessment: Give them a task, such as outlining a recruitment plan or designing a hiring process for your business to test how this marries with your business growth plans.
• Team interviews: Have the candidate meet key team members to assess cultural fit.

8. Make the Offer. Once you’ve found the right candidate, extend a competitive offer that includes any agreed-upon bonuses or incentives. Ensure you're clear on notice periods and agree on a start date.

9. Onboard Effectively. Before your new recruiter starts, keep them engaged by sharing resources, inviting them to relevant meetings, and helping them familiarise themselves with your tools and processes. A strong onboarding process will set them up for success from day one, enabling them to gain an understanding of your hiring goals quickly.

10. Create a Unified Recruitment Function. As your business grows, so does the need to unify recruitment processes across all departments. Often, hiring managers develop their own ways of recruiting, which can lead to inconsistencies. It’s vital to implement a structured and standardised recruitment function that spans the entire organisation. The new TA department will need to collaborate with hiring managers to establish clear processes and ensure consistency in candidate evaluation, employer branding, and onboarding. This alignment will make scaling your workforce more efficient and cohesive.

Hiring an internal recruiter is a significant milestone for any startup or scaleup. By carefully evaluating your needs, aligning with your growth plans, and ensuring the recruiter has the right experience and tools, you can build a strong talent acquisition team that drives your company’s growth. With the right recruiter in place, you’ll streamline your hiring process, allowing you to focus on scaling your business.

For advice on building your internal talent acquisition team, please contact Adaptor Founder & CEO, Ross Summers. For any legal advice relating to raising capital, please contact Jamie Moore.