Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the talent acquisition practices adopted by startups and understand how small entrepreneurs leverage social capital to address the talent acquisition challenges faced by them, and; identify some of the unique parameters adopted by startups in talent acquisition.

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses a multiple case study method to explore the talent acquisition practices in startups in India. The study included six case studies on startups in Hubli city of North Karnataka in India.

Findings

This paper finds that startups (especially in smaller cities) face challenges such as lower quality of talent pool, absence of a brand name, inability to provide competitive salary and other benefits as per industry standards and locational disadvantages in talent acquisition. Thus, entrepreneurs leverage their social capital for talent acquisition by handpicking talent on the basis of familiarity or credible networks and recommendations. Incubation centres provide institutionalized sources of social capital to help them attract good talent. This study finds that employee-culture fit and trust play important role in acquiring talent in startups.

Practical implications

The study has implications for startup entrepreneurs, recruitment service providers, incubation centres, trainers, policymakers, etc. The study provides useful insights to the startups with regard to their recruitment practices.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the literature in the domains of talent acquisition, startups and social capital by describing hiring challenges faced by startups and exploring the mechanisms used by them in overcoming such challenges.

中文翻译：

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印度初创企业的人才获取：社会资本的作用

目的

本文的目的是探索初创企业采用的人才获取实践，并了解小企业家如何利用社会资本来解决他们面临的人才获取挑战，以及；确定初创公司在人才招聘中采用的一些独特参数。

设计/方法/方法

本研究使用多案例研究方法来探索印度初创企业的人才获取实践。该研究包括六个关于印度北卡纳塔克邦 Hubli 市初创企业的案例研究。

发现

本文发现，初创企业（尤其是在小城市）面临的挑战包括人才库质量低、缺乏品牌、无法提供符合行业标准的有竞争力的薪酬和其他福利，以及人才招聘的区位劣势。因此，企业家通过在熟悉或可靠的网络和推荐的基础上精心挑选人才来利用他们的社会资本来获取人才。孵化中心提供制度化的社会资本来源，帮助他们吸引优秀人才。本研究发现，员工文化契合度和信任度在初创企业获得人才方面发挥着重要作用。

实际影响

该研究对初创企业家、招聘服务提供商、孵化中心、培训师、政策制定者等都有影响。该研究为初创企业的招聘实践提供了有用的见解。

原创性/价值

本研究通过描述初创企业面临的招聘挑战并探索他们克服这些挑战所使用的机制，为人才获取、初创企业和社会资本领域的文献做出了贡献。