The 70 20 10 Rule of Hiring. How Teams Actually Scale Without Breaking.

Most hiring advice focuses on how to find better candidates.

That matters. But it is not where most teams fail.

What breaks teams as they grow is how hiring effort is distributed. Too much time spent in the wrong places, and not enough in the areas that actually reduce risk.

Over time, working with startups and growing teams, a simple pattern keeps showing up.

We call it the 70 20 10 rule of hiring.

It is not a framework you need software for. It is a way to decide where attention should go as headcount increases.

The Rule in Plain Terms

When hiring responsibly, effort should roughly break down like this:

• 70 percent on role clarity and employment readiness

• 20 percent on sourcing and evaluating candidates

• 10 percent on tools, process, and optimization

Most teams do the exact opposite.

The 70 Percent: Role Clarity and Employment Readiness

This is where hiring success is decided.

Before posting a role, teams should be clear on:

• What the person will actually do

• How success will be measured

• Where the role is based

• How the person will be employed

• What payroll, contract, and compliance setup is required

This is not paperwork. This is risk prevention.

When this part is weak:

• Hiring drags

• Candidates get confused

• Offers fall apart

• Onboarding gets delayed

• Payroll and compliance issues appear later

Teams often rush past this stage because it feels slow. In reality, skipping it is what slows everything down later.

Strong hiring starts before the first CV is reviewed.

The 20 Percent: Sourcing and Evaluation

This is the part most teams over-focus on.

Job boards, referrals, agencies, interviews, and assessments all live here.

This stage matters, but it is not where most complexity sits. If the role is clear and employment setup is thought through, candidate evaluation becomes easier, not harder.

When this stage works well:

• Fewer candidates are needed

• Screening is faster

• Interviews are more focused

• Decisions are easier to justify

Good sourcing cannot fix unclear roles or broken employment setup. It only exposes those problems faster.

The 10 Percent: Tools and Optimization

This is the smallest piece, but the loudest.

Applicant tracking systems, automation, scorecards, dashboards, and workflows all sit here.

These tools help when the first two layers are solid. They do not compensate for weak foundations.

Early-stage teams especially fall into this trap:

• Buying tools too early

• Optimizing broken processes

• Adding complexity before clarity

Tools should support hiring, not define it.

Why This Matters More for Startups

Startups feel hiring pain earlier and more sharply.

Every hire carries more risk. Every delay costs more. Every mistake is harder to absorb.

The 70 20 10 rule helps teams:

• Avoid rushing into hires they cannot support

• Reduce offer drop-offs

• Prevent payroll and compliance issues

• Scale headcount without resetting processes every few months

It also keeps founders focused on the right questions, not just faster hiring.

How This Connects to Employment

Most hiring failures are not hiring failures.

They are employment failures that show up later.

When teams think through employment early:

• Contracts are ready

• Payroll setup is smoother

• Compliance risks are reduced

• New hires become productive faster

Hiring and employment are connected problems. Treating them separately is where teams lose time and control.

How We Apply This at Be.First

Be.First is built around this balance.

We focus first on role clarity and employment readiness. Then on sourcing and evaluation. Only then on tools and process.

Not because it sounds good, but because it is how teams actually scale without creating operational debt.

A Simple Check Before Your Next Hire

Ask yourself:

• Do we clearly know how this person will be employed

• Do we know what success looks like in the first 90 days

• Do we know what payroll and compliance setup is required

If those answers are unclear, slow down.

The fastest teams are not the ones that rush hiring. They are the ones that prepare for it properly.

Be.First
Built for teams that want hiring to hold up as they grow.