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potential and ability to adapt quickly to changing market conditions. Startups often operate in
technology, e-commerce, biotechnology or fintech industries, emphasising innovation and disruption.
The passion and vision of their founders, who are fearless in taking chances and questioning established
business models, drive these businesses. Additionally, startups often rely on venture capital funding to
support their growth and development. Startups are newly established businesses with an innovative
focus on addressing a particular issue or market need. These entrepreneurial ventures often operate in
industries with high growth potential and are characterised by their agility, risk-taking mindset and
disruptive business models. Startups typically rely on limited resources and seek external funding to fuel
their growth and scale their operations. They are crucial in economic growth, job creation and
technological advancements in various sectors. Entrepreneurs establish startups and creative dynamic
businesses catering to a specific need or problem. These companies often operate in rapidly evolving
industries, such as technology or healthcare, and aim to disrupt traditional business models with their
unique products or services. Startups typically have limited resources but possess a strong drive to
succeed, often fuelled by the passion and vision of their founders. They face numerous challenges,
including securing funding, building a talented team and navigating the competitive landscape. Despite
the risks involved, startups have the potential for significant growth and can be crucial in driving
economic development and fostering innovation.

Indian Startups
Indian startups have been gaining significant attention and momentum in recent years. With a growing
number of entrepreneurs and a supportive ecosystem, the startup scene in India is flourishing. These
startups are making waves domestically and expanding globally, attracting investments from domestic
and international investors. The startup scene in India is flourishing and gaining momentum in recent
years. This growth can be attributed to various factors, such as the availability of skilled talent,
technological advancements and government initiatives promoting entrepreneurship. Additionally, the
success stories of Indian startups like Flipkart and Ola have inspired aspiring entrepreneurs and instilled
confidence in the potential of the Indian market. Additionally, these success stories have highlighted the
impact and potential of the Indian market.

HR in Startups
To understand the HR practices in startups, especially in the Indian context, we need to understand the
culture. Culture plays a crucial role in shaping HR practices in startups, influencing how employees are
hired, managed and motivated. In the Indian context, startups often prioritise a collaborative and flexible
work environment that encourages innovation and creativity. They may also emphasise a strong sense
of camaraderie and teamwork to foster a supportive and inclusive workplace culture. This is evident in
the emphasis on open communication and flat hierarchies, where employees are encouraged to share
ideas and contribute to decision-making processes. Moreover, startups in India often prioritise employee
wellbeing and work-life balance, offering perks such as flexible working hours and remote work options
to attract and retain top talent. These practices benefit employees and the company by fostering a positive
work environment and boosting productivity.
In the startup life cycle stage, the corresponding HR practices are associated with flexible patterns of
work, recruitment of highly motivated and committed employees, competitive pay, little formality and
no concept of unions (Armstrong, 2000).
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CB Insights identifies lack of market demand, insufficient funding and team-related problems as the
primary causes of company failure. Research showed that 75 per cent of venture-backed enterprises with
more than $1 million in funding fail (Ghosh, 2012). Lack of financial resources and lack of market needs
cause failure (Keir, 2019). The causes of startup failure from the perspective of HRs and human-based
variables, including quality and efficiency, innovation, lack of focus and strategy account for 60 per cent
of the failures (Calderón et al., 2018).
The recruitment strategy is an essential plan that is the foundation for all recruitment-related activities
within an organisation (Shammot, 2014). According to Breaugh (2008), an effective recruitment strategy
includes activities and practices that aim to hire the best people based on their good behaviour and the
right skills.
Despite having material resources, technology and other items such as equipment and money, many
organisations still need to realise their aims. The failure in many situations can be attributed to the
absence of a competent human element inside the business that can efficiently manage and utilise these
resources to fulfil the organisation’s objectives. This is particularly evident in developing a competitive
edge for the organisation, which sets it apart from others and ensures its survival and longevity.
Numerous studies in the literature address the recruitment process from various perspectives (Shammot,
2014). Recruitment is all about an integrative theory of multidimensional fit: P-O (Person-Organisation),
P-V (Person-Vocation), P-J (Person-Job), P-P (Person-Preference for Culture) and P-T (Person-Team)
(Wheeler, 2005).
The primary focus of the recruiting process in the present day is to ensure the placement of the most
suitable individual in the appropriate position (Knowles et al., 2002). The most valuable asset of a
corporation is its human capital, as it is the determining factor for success or failure (Croy & Duggan,
2005). Hence, conducting the recruitment process methodically is imperative to effectively accomplish
the recruitment objectives, termed ‘A model of the organisational recruitment process’ (Shammot, 2014).
The model (Figure 1) suggests the first stage as the essential one to specify objectives without the
recruitment strategy will be meaningless (Rynes & Barber, 1990), including the identification of
vacancies in terms of need assessment, for whom, where and when to recruit, identifying job analysis
and job specifications for the person to be recruited (Carroll et al., 1999). There must be a consensus
between organisational strategy and HR strategy (Sheehan & Scafidi, 2005) to measure key recruitment
metrics, such as the time frame to fill up the positions, number of applicants, expected job performance
of newly hired, expected retention rate of new hired and expected job satisfaction of newly hired
candidates.
In the second stage, to develop strategies, organisation’s HR department designs a recruitment plan
in coordination with other departments of that organisation (Mayer & Davis, 1999) by answering the
following questions, such as starting time, catchline to attract the best talents and defining recruiters
(Breaugh, 2008)—this stage is termed as ‘person centred’ (Alvesson & Willmott, 2002) approach
integration in understanding intangible qualities of applicants, namely, values and attitude matching with
the organisation’s belief or not (Townsend, 2007).
‘Employer branding’, a key strategy to focus organisation’s potential employees (Sullivan, 2004), is
also attributed to an essential technique of recruitment (Backhaus & Tikoo, 2004) as well as
organisational communication to its current and prospective employees (Lloyds, 2002).
At the next level is the strategic decision of whether they allow internal resources (Hoye & Lievens,
2005) or external sources of recruitment (Fisher et al., 1993), considering the strategic factors, such as
finding the appropriate recruiters for the recruitment process, how to find appropriate candidates and
budgets. The right recruitment activities accompany this process at the next level to find ‘the right