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Is the Cheapest Recruitment Option Really the Cheapest?

Is the Cheapest Recruitment Option Really the Cheapest?
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by
Managing Director

Every business needs to control costs, and recruitment is no different. If two suppliers appear to offer broadly the same service and one charges considerably less, choosing the cheaper option can seem like an obvious commercial decision.

The difficulty is that recruitment services aren’t always as comparable as they first appear.

The real cost of recruitment isn’t simply the fee you pay when somebody starts. It’s the time a vacancy remains open, the management time spent reviewing unsuitable CVs and conducting unnecessary interviews, and ultimately the cost to the business if the person you appoint doesn’t work out. A recruitment fee that’s slightly lower can become remarkably expensive if the process takes longer or produces the wrong result.

There is also a significant difference between supplying CVs and actually recruiting. A good recruiter should understand your business, challenge you when necessary and know enough about the candidates they’re representing to explain why they’re suitable. They should also be prepared to tell you when someone isn’t right rather than simply sending another CV in the hope that something sticks.

I’ve never believed recruitment agencies should compete purely on price. Of course our fees need to represent good value, and clients are absolutely entitled to ask what they’re paying for. But value and price aren’t quite the same thing. If one recruiter charges a little more but finds the right person quickly, saves hours of management time and helps you make an appointment that lasts for years, which was actually the cheaper service?

The same principle applies to temporary recruitment. A cheap hourly margin isn’t much consolation if workers repeatedly fail to arrive, aren’t properly vetted or need replacing every few days. Reliability, compliance and the quality of the people being supplied all have a value, even though they don’t necessarily appear in the headline rate.

After many years in recruitment, I’ve seen the consequences of businesses focusing heavily on the cost of hiring while paying much less attention to the cost of getting it wrong. The latter is nearly always considerably greater.

Final Thought

When comparing recruitment costs, don’t just ask what the fee is. Ask what you’re actually getting for it.




Photo by kerry rawlinson on Unsplash

 
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