A Digital-based Talent Acquisition Framework for Start-ups: A Qualitative Multiple Case Study

Talent acquisition for start-up businesses is a crucial concept that can lead to several significant problems such as market share decline if overlooked. The situation worsens when start-up businesses decide to keep pace with digital developments and start incorporating digitalization into their talent acquisition strategies. For this purpose, the current research sought to provide a framework for talent acquisition in start-up businesses, focusing on talent recruitment, selection, and onboarding in the digital platform.

The research adopted a qualitative approach, more precisely a multiple-case study design. This strategy sought to understand the research problem in depth and to generate rich experiences from participants. Twenty purposely selected managers and specialists from four purposely selected information technology start-up businesses that are experts in the field were involved. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews with an analysis based on thematic analysis conducted in three stages. 

Following the interviews, the data was coded in three stages, leading to the extraction of three general categories consisting of basic themes, organizing themes, and comprehensive themes. The final stage of research coding identified ten key themes for talent acquisition in startups, including: taking an aggressive approach to talent acquisition, creating a strong employer brand, managing relationships with talents, identifying risks in talent selection, designing selection criteria and methods, determining selection quality, setting onboarding timelines, and developing learning methods and content for onboarding. 

Drawing from the identified themes, this study proposes three digitalization-driven strategies to enhance talent acquisition in startups: talent recruitment, talent selection, and onboarding processes. In talent recruitment, aligning strategy with digital transformation to attract a diverse talent pool is crucial. Implementing an agile selection system using technology is recommended for talent selection while updating onboarding processes for agility is vital in the onboarding phase. Finally, a conceptual model presenting final strategies and comprehensive themes was developed as a framework for talent acquisition in start-up businesses, emphasizing the importance of having a structured approach to talent management. A talent acquisition framework is an important step for startups because it helps them in their digital recruitment strategy, enabling their productivity to be better.