Recruiting with Buy, Build and Borrow
As organizations evolve, staffing needs often outpace internal HR capacity. Whether due to growth, turnover or transformation, companies must make quick yet strategic decisions about how to meet critical hiring demands without draining internal resources.
The “Buy, Build and Borrow” framework, originally applied in a broader business context, offers a smart lens for evaluating recruiting needs:
- Buy tools or support that streamline processes.
- Build capabilities in strategic areas that differentiate your business.
- Borrow expertise for high-effort, low-frequency or specialized tasks.
Recruiting is a perfect example of when it makes sense to “buy” tools and “borrow” talent to “build” your capabilities, especially when the volume or complexity of hiring temporarily exceeds internal bandwidth. Let’s look at how one company applied this approach through a successful recruiting partnership with Chatfield Global LLC.
A Real-World Recruiting Challenge
Our client, a century-old, third-generation family business with 150 employees across the U.S. and Canada, faced a sudden HR gap when their sole HR professional left. One of the most urgent needs was filling six critical roles quickly and effectively, without overloading the leadership team or relying on expensive staffing agencies.
Rather than rushing to rebuild an internal recruiting function, the company chose to “borrow” that expertise by outsourcing the recruiting process to Chatfield Global. Within two weeks of the decision, Chatfield’s recruiting team was fully operational and managing the hiring pipeline.
What They Needed to Fill
The roles spanned operations, technical service and finance, all functions essential to business continuity and growth. Positions included Service Technicians, Accountants and more.
Each position required a different sourcing strategy, level of effort and industry understanding, something a generalist internal recruiter or a one-size-fits-all staffing agency might struggle to deliver effectively.
Borrowing Recruiting Expertise
When faced with the need to fill six critical roles, the client chose not to rebuild an internal recruiting function or rely on costly staffing firms. Instead, they “borrowed” expert recruiting support. Over the course of nine months, Chatfield led a full cycle recruiting effort with minimal involvement required from the client, freeing them to focus on operations and strategic planning.
Chatfield managed:
- Job descriptions
- Posting and promotion
- Candidate screening
- Interview coordination
- Offer negotiation
This approach ensured consistency, professionalism and efficiency in attracting the right candidates while maintaining the company’s culture and employer brand.
Buying the Proper Tools: Streamlining Recruiting with an ATS
While outsourcing recruiting offers powerful relief and results, our client took the next step to invest in the right tools to streamline internal processes and prepare their organization for sustainable, long-term hiring success. One of the most impactful tools a company can invest in is a license for an Applicant Tracking System (ATS).
An ATS simplifies and standardizes the recruiting process by housing everything in one centralized platform:
- Job descriptions
- Pre-hire questions
- Candidate applications and resumes
- Interview notes and communication history
- Integrated personality assessments
This system doesn’t just organize information; it enhances candidate evaluation by enabling a consistent, structured screening process before you even get to the interview stage. The result? Faster, more objective hiring decisions, a better candidate experience and reduced administrative effort and cost across the board.
By buying and implementing the right recruiting technology, companies can optimize every stage of the hiring funnel, building on the success of outsourced support and positioning themselves for efficient growth going forward.
The Results: Smarter Spending, Better Hires
Choosing Chatfield Global over a traditional staffing agency led to significant cost savings. A typical agency would have charged 25–35% of each hire’s salary, resulting in approximately $96,000 in placement fees for six roles.
With Chatfield’s hourly-based recruiting model, the total investment was just $18,700—an 81% savings, equating to $77,300 saved while still securing quality hires.
By outsourcing recruiting to a trusted partner, the client achieved better financial control, improved hiring outcomes and operational peace of mind.
The Value of Outsourced Recruiting
Outsourcing recruiting provided more than cost savings. It gave the company:
- Scalable access to experienced recruiters
- Specialized knowledge in jobs at all levels and departments
- Speed and consistency in filling key roles
- Reduced strain on leadership and operations teams
And because Chatfield operates as an integrated extension of the client’s team, the employer brand and candidate experience remained aligned with the company’s values and culture.
Strategic Takeaway: Borrow Recruiting, Buy the Right Tools, Build the Business
For small and mid-sized businesses, building a full internal recruiting team can be costly and inefficient, especially when hiring needs spike unpredictably. Borrowing recruiting expertise from a trusted partner enables companies to move quickly, spend wisely and stay focused on what they do best.
That’s exactly what our MMA Hiring Solutions Powered by Chatfield Global partnership delivers: scalable, expert-level recruiting support tailored to your business needs. By using the "Buy, Build and Borrow" framework, this client unlocked a smarter way to hire by borrowing what they needed, when they needed it and reinvesting time and energy into what matters most.
About the Author
Jody Contreras is the Director of Client Services for Chatfield Global LLC. She may be reached at 847-418-2428 or jody@chatfield.global.
Chatfield Global LLC is an MMA Premium Associate Member and has been an MMA member company since April 2021. Visit online: chatfield.global.