Are Recruitment Agency Fees Still Good Value for Money?

The average cost of recruitment in terms of both effort and time is daunting to say the least. Moreover, it requires technical know-how, which is why so many firms began to employ recruitment agencies in the first place. But at what price?

A Costly Task

Recruitment is undoubtedly a very important factor when it comes to organisation growth. With that being said, currently businesses in the UK spend billions on incompetent recruitment methods. According to the Recruitment and Employment Confederation, filling a vacancy through conventional recruitment methods costs around £3,950 on average. That’s a whopping £3,251 more than the most effective recruitment method in the UK.

Searching for a competent candidate using an external source is bound to save the cost of advertising and time consumption involved in pre-screening candidates, but it is not cost effective at all.

Agency Fees

Generally agencies charge a fee that is calculated as a percentage of the annual salary. They are paid on the basis of the number of candidates placed in the company. It goes without saying that the terms and conditions of operation vary so evaluating the cost structure would be a good idea.

There are many different fees involved depending on the status of the employee, temporary to permanent fees, permanent placement fees and a number of instalments that follow. It ends up costing a fortune just to keep an employee! Does that sound like good value for money?

A Solution

What if there was way a simple way to reach out to ideal candidates without having to spend a fortune? A capable method of accurate screening and an enhanced search would make the job less hectic. And of course within the budget! Perhaps a fixed price recruitment service would be the right solution, a step towards effectiveness and cost cutting and maintaining the standards of your organisation.

It is essential that the measures that are taken should deliver value for money and a fixed price recruitment service tends to do just that. Cost per hire can easily be reduced if recruiting is done in house, also it would enable you to pinpoint exactly the type of resource that the company requires.

Utilizing the traditional approach of hiring agencies that cost an arm and a leg can cause a loss of thousands of pounds if the employee leaves within the first few months and there is no refund policy stated on the terms and conditions of the recruitment agency. With a fixed price recruitment budget, at least you’re able to mitigate loss in such uncontrollable situations.

Ideally, when it comes to selecting a recruiting company one has to be extremely thorough with the terms and conditions. The fine print and other hidden charges add up to quite a fair amount. Your best bet is it avoid it altogether by keeping recruitment in-house.

Final Verdict

It is apparent that recruitment can be a demanding task, the effort required, the hectic screening, relevancy of skills that need to be kept in account – all must be checked meticulously. Striving to keep the balance between cost and recruiting a valuable source is hard work.

Our unbelievably low cost placement solutions might be exactly what you need. Empower your current HR department by getting the best leads for the vacancies you have. No longer have a recruiter? No problem! Zero in on a handful of perfect candidates from the best job boards for a fraction of the cost you’d have to pay a headhunter. Call and hire the candidates yourself! It really is that easy, and you’ll save thousands of pounds.

Want to speak to one of our consultants about reducing your recruitment spend?