Human resource management in early-stage ventures: fractional HRM as an alternative approach – evidence from a multiple case study

Purpose This study aims to examine how early-stage ventures develop and adapt human resource management (HRM) practices under resource constraints, and how founders envision addressing gaps between current practices and organisational HR needs. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative multiple case study examined eight ventures across five countries (France, Italy, Switzerland, Tunisia and the UK) through semi-structured interviews with eight founders and three early-hire employees. Analysis followed Gioia et al.’s (2013) three-phase methodology within an abductive research design, with resource-based view and contingency theories as sensitising frameworks. Findings Four aggregate dimensions characterise HRM development in early-stage ventures: network-based resource orchestration, adaptive practices, founder-centric knowledge transfer and formalisations. These dimensions operate across the core HRM domains of hiring, onboarding, development and retention. Founder-led practices provide initial agility but become unsustainable as ventures scale beyond their founding team. Participant accounts consistently converge on fractional HRM as a potentially viable response to capability gaps that conventional HR solutions cannot address within existing resource constraints. Practical implications Founders should anticipate the organisational limits of network-dependent hiring before resource pressures ease. Selective formalisation, introducing structure in specific HRM domains while preserving flexibility in others, represents a more viable path than direct adoption of established HR frameworks. HR professionals entering start-up contexts require tolerance for ambiguity and a willingness to co-create practices alongside founders. Originality/value This study advances understanding of HRM in resource-scarce organisational settings by identifying four aggregate dimensions that characterise founder-led HRM and introducing fractional HRM as an empirically grounded theoretical approach with specified boundary conditions, thereby contributing to HRM theory and the practice of people management in early-stage ventures.