Smarter Hiring: A Business Leader’s Guide

Recruitment fees often get criticised—and often for good reason.

Most complaints come from the same place: the traditional, multi-agency, contingency model. In that setup, a recruiter may only have a 20–25% chance of success. So, for every four or five roles they work on, they’re only paid once.

To cover all that unpaid time, they charge 25% just to stay afloat.

This creates a race to the bottom.

• Quantity trumps quality
• Recruiters send CVs quickly, not carefully
• Candidate experience suffers
• Your employer brand takes a hit
• Inclusion becomes an afterthought

It’s no surprise hiring managers feel let down.

There is a better way.

When you stop treating recruitment as a transaction and start treating your recruiter as a partner, everything changes.

Give exclusivity or retain them, and they can:

• Take time to understand your brief
• Do a proper, thorough search
• Represent your brand with care

Smaller, specialist recruiters often cost less, too.

They value long-term relationships.

When they know you’re invested, they’ll offer better terms.

In return, you get:

• Flexibility
• Creativity
• Better service

The big players won’t tell you this. They can’t afford to. Their model runs on volume and KPIs. They don’t have the quality or time to guarantee results.

You have a choice.

Stick with the same old setup—or try a more flexible, focused approach.

If you engage your recruiter properly, they’ll work with you in a way that truly supports your hiring goals.

It’s smarter. And it works.