RECRUITMENT AGENCIES
Recruitment Agency Owners: Fill Rates, Fees and Recruiter Pay
A client sends a requirement for a sales manager on Friday evening. You send it to three recruiters, two of them already hold five open roles each, and by Wednesday the client tells you another agency has already sent profiles.
We advise on how the agency is run. That covers which clients and roles are worth working, how the work is split between recruiters, how incentives are set, and how fee terms and collections are handled. We do not recruit for you or advise on employment law. That work stays with your team.
Discuss your priorities ↗COMMON CHALLENGES
The pressures
we often see.
- 01Every requirement is accepted, so recruiters spread themselves across too many open roles and the ones that would have closed lose attention.
- 02Fee terms differ client by client, with uneven replacement periods, payment days and exclusivity, and nobody tracks which agreement applies.
- 03Recruiter incentives reward submissions or closures in different ways, so some push poor profiles and others sit on good ones to wait for a bigger role.
- 04Candidate drop-offs after offer acceptance wipe out weeks of effort, and the agency has no routine for the gap between offer and joining.
- 05Invoices go out after joining but payment days stretch, and cash is tight when payroll is due.
OUR FOCUS AREAS
Where the work
usually starts.
- 01A client scorecard: roles given, roles closed, time to first profile, payment days, replacement requests
- 02A role intake sheet that records budget, must-haves and deadline before any recruiter starts
- 03A recruiter load view showing open roles per person and age of each role
- 04A pipeline report with submissions, interviews, offers and joinings per role
- 05Incentive rules that reward joinings and client retention, with a clear treatment of replacements
- 06A routine for contacting candidates between offer and joining date
- 07Invoice dates tied to joining dates, with a named person chasing payment
- 08Client terms written in one summary table anyone on the team can read
START THIS WEEK
Things you can do
before you call anyone.
- List all open roles by age. Mark roles with no interview scheduled. Decide this week which of them you will drop or ask the client to rethink.
- Hypothetical example: if a recruiter has eight open roles and closes one a month, ask which two give the highest chance of closing and focus there for a fortnight.
- Read each client's agreement and write down fee percentage, replacement period and payment days in one table. Look for gaps between what you thought and what was signed.
A PRACTICAL ENGAGEMENT
Start with the priorities
that matter most.
We begin by understanding how your business runs today, find the gaps, and agree the scope in writing. Recommendations are shaped around your team, your resources and your goals.
- A client scorecard with fill rate, payment days and replacement history
- A weekly role review sheet showing each open role, owner and next action
- A role chart for business development, delivery recruiter, researcher and accounts
- A one-page incentive and replacement policy for recruiters
Not the right fit when: If your concern is a worker classification or employment dispute, that needs a labour law professional. We are not the right route if you want us to source candidates or bring clients.
Explore a business audit ↗LET’S MOVE YOUR BUSINESS FORWARD
