Human Capital: Hire, Train, Deploy (HTD) opportunities for expansion

Hire, Train and Deploy (HTD) is an attractive channel for companies struggling to attract and retain the specialist skills they need. The HTD model is to hire a candidate, train them for an industry-related job with the specific skill set, and deploy them with a client. It offers greater flexibility for clients, the opportunity for candidates to learn on the job and greater career progression prospects for candidates. 

Tangible benefits for clients 

The flexibility and ease of access to a pipeline of high-quality, trained people makes HTD attractive to businesses. While it can be more expensive than direct recruitment, there are tangible benefits to using the HTD model. Organisations can choose to retain or return candidates reducing people risks, and it’s a cheaper and longer-term solution than using external consultants.  

Popular with investors 

HTD remains popular with investors and the opportunity is similar for all HTD firms, but management teams will have a different view of their expansion strategy. This will depend on the roles/sectors they target and where they are starting from e.g. tech or data analytics recruitment, consultancy, or on a standalone business.  

We’ve seen a lot of activity in this sector over the last eighteen months and it remains popular with investors (and, more importantly, with buyers of HTD services and the management teams who service them). 

The challenges of scale 

There are challenges to successfully scaling a HTD business. Investors need to be confident that the following three areas have been properly addressed by the management team: 

  1. Candidate Quality

    Training is key to attracting talent and clients. A well-run training programme will equip candidates with the technical and business skills needed to fulfil vacancies. Clients will be choosing HTD over other recruitment channels, so it is important to be clear about the candidate value proposition. This can include selection, training and post training support, specialisms, diversity and inclusion, STEM versus non-STEM grads and compensation package.  

    1. Consultant delivery and customer service 

    The management team will need to demonstrate it has the right mix of HTD/recruitment/consulting and sector experience to be able to attract, train, deploy and retain candidates. Management information will tell investors much about the scalability of the business using KPIs like client satisfaction, client churn, candidate return rate and client up-sell rates. 

    1. Focus on key specialisms  

    Clients are typically looking for help to bridge the gap between graduate or school leavers and more experienced hires. The business should demonstrate a clear understanding of their clients’ needs and market demand for that specialism. There will be opportunities for HTD firms to also move into new sectors, geographies or adjacent specialisms. The ‘origin story’ will help determine the best route for new growth.  

    Speak to a member of the team if you’d like to discuss opportunities in Human Capital.

    Matt McNally, Director

    [email protected]
    +44 7894 736 523 

    Email Matt

    Sophie Zgraja, Consultant

    [email protected]
    +44 7884 441 840 

    Email Sophie