Scaling Smart in 2026
Peer-sourced hiring insights from Ireland’s fastest-scaling SMEs, straight from the roundtable floor at the Guinness Enterprise Centre.
The talent landscape has fundamentally shifted and most hiring playbooks haven’t caught up
At our Scaling Smart in 2026 Lunch & Learn, founders openly shared what’s working, what’s breaking, and what’s keeping them up at night when it comes to building high-performance teams.
3
Expert-led roundtables at the Guinness Enterprise Centre
100+
SMEs trust Rent a Recruiter to scale smarter
15–20%
Candidate drop-off increase per 10-day hiring delay
What’s inside: Three roundtables. One honest conversation about hiring in 2026 & practical frameworks to use today.
Where AI accelerates hiring — and where humans still win
How to automate CV triage, scheduling, and candidate summaries without losing the human signal that matters most.
"Test how people think — not how well they prompt."
Winning top talent before your competitors do
Speed, clarity, and realistic expectations — the three barriers founders are failing to clear, and how to fix them fast.
"Indecision is the biggest talent-killer."
Keeping A-players in 2026
Why retention starts before day one — and how the best SMEs build communication systems that prevent attrition before it happens.
"Most retention problems are communication problems in disguise."
Founder-ready models you can use immediately
The Smart Hiring Funnel, the 3-Stage Maximum Interview Rule, the Output-Per-Hire Model, and the Retention Flywheel.
- Founders & CEOs
- HR managers
- People & talent leads
- Head of operations
- Scale-up leadership teams
Whether you’re making your first senior hire or restructuring your entire recruitment process, this report gives you an honest, peer-sourced view of what’s actually working in the Irish market right now.
What you'll take away
- ✓ Why CVs and first-round interviews now reveal less real capability than ever — and what to do instead
- ✓ The three barriers causing most SMEs to lose candidates mid-process
- ✓ How to use AI as a productivity multiplier without removing the human judgment that wins top talent
- ✓ The 70/30 hiring ratio — why attitude and values outrank technical skills in every hire
- ✓ Why documented onboarding is the most underrated retention tool available to SMEs
- ✓ A clear AI-in-Hiring governance policy framework your team can adopt today
Our embedded model
- ✓ Embedded recruiter — not a transactional agency
- ✓ AI-enabled sourcing for faster candidate pipelines
- ✓ Flexible monthly engagement — scale up or down
- ✓ Employer brand and retention support included
