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The Recruitment Health Check Every Start-up Should Do Twice a Year

September 23, 20265 min read

Most startups don’t think much about recruitment when they’re not actively hiring.

Which is fair enough. There are products to build, customers to win, funding to think about and approximately a million other things on the to-do list.

But recruitment has a funny habit of becoming everyone’s problem the minute you desperately need someone. Suddenly, the role needs filling yesterday and the job description is thrown together, and 6 people need to interview the candidate, but none of them have the same availability and your perfect candidate has already accepted another offer.

Does that sound at all familiar?

That’s why we think startups and scale-ups should give their recruitment a health check twice a year. Nothing super complicated, just a chance to step back, see what’s working and spot the warning signs before they become expensive problems.

  1. How long is it actually taking you to hire?

Look at your last few hires. How long did they take from deciding you needed someone to getting an accepted offer?

If four weeks has quietly become eight, there’s probably a reason for that. It could be salary, your process, the market or the fact you’re looking for a unicorn who can do product, sales, marketing and everything in-between

Whatever it is, it’s easier to fix before the next vacancy becomes urgent.

  1. What’s the candidate experience like?

Your process might feel perfectly reasonable from the inside, but from the candidate’s perspective, it could involve two weeks of silence, three interviews, a four-hour “quick task” and a final round with someone they’ve never heard of.

So, take a step back. Are you communicating clearly? Are interviews organised? Do candidates know what’s happening next? Remember, they’re interviewing you too, so you need to make sure you have a strong process in place to draw in the talent you want and ensure they accept the offer.

  1. Are you planning ahead?

Things at start-ups can move quickly but look at where the business is heading over the next six to twelve months. What skills will you need? Where are the gaps? Who could step up internally?

You don’t need a crystal ball. You just want to avoid waking up one Monday and announcing, “We need a Head of Something by Friday.”

  1. Is your leadership team ready for what’s next?

Growth often has the habit of exposing gaps in your team. The person who was brilliant at leading 5 people might not want to, or be ready to, lead 50. The founder who has been involved in every hire might eventually need to let someone else take the reins.

Ask whether your current leadership capability matches where the business is going, not just where it is today.

  1. What is retention telling you?

Recruitment isn’t just about getting people in, it’s about keeping them long term.

So have a look at your retention. Are people leaving the same teams? Are new hires disappearing within a year? Are you constantly recruiting for the same role?

If so, another job advert might not be the answer, and it might be time to look at what’s happening after people join.

  1. Would you actually want to work for you?

Take a look at your employer brand from an outside perspective.

What does someone find when they Google you? Does your LinkedIn presence reflect the business? Are your job descriptions still full of “rockstars”, “fast-paced environments” and “work hard, play hard”?

Your employer brand doesn’t need to be perfect, it just needs to be an honest representation of your business and what people could expect from joining you.

So, when was your last recruitment health check?

Twice a year, take a couple of hours to look at your hiring process, candidate experience, workforce planning, leadership, retention and employer brand. You might find everything is working brilliantly or you might spot something that could be improved for ready for your next hiring campaign, or even spot something more serious that could become a headache later down the line.

The real the point of a recruitment health check is to spot the warning signs before you need to call in the experts.

At Hera, we work with startups and scale-ups on exactly these kinds of challenges, from building recruitment strategies and strengthening hiring processes to helping businesses make the hires that matter most.

So, if your recruitment could do with a little MOT, we’re always happy to have a look under the bonnet.