Enhancing human resource practices in a startup: a case study on Quantigo AI

Abstract

The current internship report will highlight the practical work experience as well as research-based findings of human resource practices at Quantigo AI, a young and rapidly expanding data annotation business in the BPO sector. During an eight-week internship, I was able to assist in crucial HR activities, including recruitment, on-boarding, documentation, employee engagement and compliance preparation. The work enabled me to practice theoretical knowledge and provided the opportunity to work in the practical environment, as well as developing technical skills regarding HR software and communication, and soft skills, such as time management and problem-solving. In addition to practical exposure, this report explores tough HR issues that usually challenge startups: ad-hoc/high-volumes of recruitment, informal onboarding, varied engagement strategies and ad-hoc compliance systems. Fueled by the academic literature, the study identifies that well-designed recruitment processes, formal onboarding, and ongoing engagement solutions/programs, and proactive compliance is a crucial success factor of an organization. The gaps in my experience at Quantigo AI further materialised, with all recruitment being social media based, on-boarding being administration-focused and engagement being haphazard and compliance being audit-focused. In order to address these issues, the report presents a case to adopt an applicant tracking system, develop direct onboarding processes, adopt continuous engagement processes and improve HR governance using analytics-based decision-making. This joint approach demonstrates that HR cadres in startups can be redesigned out of reactionary practices into the strategic systems that facilitate expansive growth over the long term.