External and Hidden Recruitment Cost Control

One of the more challenging issues we face is determining what the recruitment and retention costs really are for a company.
Talent Acquisition and procurement teams have found it easy to focus on demanding lower fees from third-party recruiters, however, in most cases, what we have seen is really a transfer of cost from one part of the equation to another.

For example, pressuring external hiring costs down by reducing fees can lead to external recruiting firms to expend less front-end efforts to understand and qualify candidates before submitting them.  In turn, that can create more pressure on internal hiring teams to perform additional work to more thoroughly qualify a higher volume of candidates.  That scenario can work for situations requiring a high volume of homogeneous labor, but it usually fails for technical professionals and executives.
What is worse are the “hidden” costs of high turnover, low morale, lost expertise and opportunity costs.  If we look across the marketplace, it is easy to find organizations that are staggering with these issues and never appropriately address them by aligning their needs with the correct recruitment service levels.

Remember, you get what you pay for.  If you chase lower fees, it will come with lower service levels.
The primary external recruitment channels available range from contract to contingency to retained searches.  Each comes with a different service level and sophistication.  It is absolutely critical to first understand and clarify not just the role(s) in need but also the impact of making the wrong hire.  If hiring the wrong candidate will impact the organization in some negligible way, then perhaps pushing fees and service levels lower will work.  BUT, if the wrong hire carries a high risk of missed deadlines, decreased productivity, unwanted turnover and adds undue burdens on other team members then consider the benefits of using an external source better aligned with delivering the right outcome.

For instance, a specialized retingent or talent pipelining firm that can partner with you over the long term to deliver the right candidates most likely to produce the right hire.  Yes, the fees may not be as low as procurement might want but your budget can still go a lot further and so will the service levels for candidate identification, assessment and selection.
If you have critical hires in the next six months, start a conversation with a business partner who can deliver the right outcome for your organization the first time and give your team a tremendous competitive advantage.