We often hear trying to grow a team can be challenging. Hiring often can feel like surviving a necessary evil rather than the excitement that comes with growth (which is how it should be).

It feels like a frustrating trade-off between time, cost and quality and rarely something that genuinely adds value to the business.

1) Do it yourself

This is the default route for a lot of growing businesses. Someone internally (often a founder, a manager, founder or a stretched HR lead) takes responsibility for hiring, usually alongside their day job.

And while it can work, it usually comes at a cost. When hiring gets done, it’s often because the team has sacrificed other priorities to make it happen meaning their focus slips elsewhere, and something else gives.

Recruitment becomes stressful, reactionary and drawn out. Most people don’t enjoy it, it’s treated as a necessary evil rather than what it could be which is a genuine source of competitive advantage.

2) Hire a Full-Time Recruiter

Bringing in an in-house recruiter sounds like a smart strategic move. The idea being you recruit someone who is focused, embedded, and committed to helping the business grow.

The challenge is great internal recruiters are hard to find. The really good ones, the ones who understand business drivers, hiring psychology and candidate behaviour are in high demand and rightly come with a high price tag.

Of course, you can hire a mediocre one. But at what cost? Weak shortlists. Poor cultural fit. Sloppy process. Slow hires. And worst of all, the kind of damage to reputation that lingers quietly behind the scenes. For a lot of businesses, it’s a gamble that can look good on a spread sheet but in reality, doesn’t pay off.

3) Use a Recruitment Agency

Then there’s the agency route which is still the go-to for many. You brief them, they work the market, they send CVs. The challenge is too often, the candidates they find for you are also being sent to your competitors, creating artificial pressure, salary inflation, and unnecessary stress.

It becomes a race and a game of cat and mouse which leads to a relationship that feels transactional. Even with the best of intentions, recruitment agencies rarely feel like they’re truly on your side. You’re paying for each hire – but not building anything long-term.

There Is a Better Way - Fractional Talent Acquisition

We’re on a mission to prove to businesses that there is a better way to hire and the good news is, we’ve found it.

The even better news? While plenty of firms are talking about fractional hiring, very few have cottoned onto the benefits of deploying it in a fractional talent acquisition setting which gives the forward thinking business leaders the opportunity to steal the march on your competitors.

Those who recognise that traditional recruitment is broken are using fractional internal recruitment models to their advantage.  We have the privilege of watching them reap the benefits of thinking a different way to solve a very common problem.

Martin has been advising businesses in talent acquisition and retention for over a decade. Discuss how you he can help you elevate your strategy, book a call or contact him at martin.wigfield@zatori-consulting.co.uk