Typically when faced with the need to hire, people leaders have had two main options available to them:
1) Build an in-house team: Have your very own recruiter working to fill your vacancies and simultaneously build your employer brand as they go.
2) Outsource to a recruitment agency: Use an external recruitment agency with a track record of working in your specialism to fill your vacancies for a fee each time.
Now what if we had a third option to throw into the mix?
3) Embedded talent solutions: An on-demand team of hiring experts working to grow your teams and boost your employer brand for a monthly subscription.
Let’s compare the different options side-by-side, across the three key measures of a hiring solution:
Cost Investment 💷
The financial saving grace of an external agency versus an in-house team is that there are no associated hiring/onboarding costs, statutory costs or charges for advertising, branding or sourcing tools. Agencies, however, can command huge per-placement fees for their speed and expertise. Let’s assume an average agency fee runs at 15% – that’s a chunky £7.5k fee for each £50k salary placement. Embedded talent solutions combine the best of both here. Zero onboarding costs, zero tooling costs and zero placement fees. Just a fixed monthly subscription and access to the speed and expertise you need.
Mobilisation period 🚦
Agencies can take, on average, between 2 and 3 weeks to be fully onboarded and ready to work your vacancies. This time is primarily spent on agreeing commercial and legal terms, rather than building an understanding of your culture, brand and mission. Onboarding your own recruiter is likely to take slightly longer; between 3 and 4 weeks for a day-rate contractor and anywhere up to 8 weeks for a permanent member of staff. An embedded talent solution sits in the middle again here. Typically a team of experts across individual disciplines (hiring, employer brand) will join your team, operating within your brand. Because of the on-demand nature of embedded talent solutions, however, mobilisation typically takes anywhere between just 5 days and 2 weeks.
Guarantees 🔒
Since successful fulfilment of your vacancies is the ultimate measure of any hiring project, it’s important to know where you stand in case things don’t go to plan. Neither an agency or an internal recruiter can offer a guarantee in case of no hires being made. Some agencies will, however, offer a rebate scheme for any hires who leave your business within a certain timeframe. A worthwhile embedded solution, on the other hand, offers both a fill value guarantee and, in case of early leavers, a free replacement up to 3 months post-service.
Case study: embedded hiring in action
Bricklane wanted to grow their team avoiding recruitment agency excessive Fees. We helped them add 150+ suitable candidates to their talent pool, save over £11,000 versus recruitment agencies and save 60+ hours of hiring time.
👉 Read the full case study and find out how we did it here
Author
Brad Coombes
Leadership
