Maximising RoI and RoE in Recruitment: A Practical Guide for Leaders

Blog Content

Return on investment (RoI) is a key objective for every recruitment leader, yet it can often be a challenge to achieve. Costs are rising, recruiting is getting tougher, and getting a solid return on effort (RoE) is becoming more difficult.

Recruitment leaders are facing increasing costs across multiple areas:

Bullhorn and Automation investments.
LinkedIn and job board costs.
Staffing and training investments.

Many of my clients express a desire to "do more with what they have," or even better, to "do more with less." They need both RoI and RoE to drive success. But how can they achieve true RoI and RoE in recruitment? Let's explore.

RoI vs. RoE: What’s the Difference?

Both RoI (return on investment) and RoE (return on effort) are crucial for recruitment success. As a team, we focus on maximising both for the recruiters and leaders we support. We understand that a significant amount of effort goes into running a recruitment business—managing teams, desks, and ensuring recruitment operations run smoothly.

However, RoI and RoE are often not immediately clear or realised. Time, effort, and money can be wasted on technology and people, which leads to stress, increased risk, and missed opportunities for growth.

Rising Costs: Is Your Effort Keeping Up?

Through conversations with clients, polling, and research, I’ve discovered several key insights:

New recruiters take around 3-6 months to become billers, costing approximately £10k per head during this training period.
Tech costs are rising, with new tools emerging constantly. However, many agencies still struggle to optimise or fully trust their core CRM systems.
LinkedIn and job board fees continue to climb.
Recruitment training is often inconsistent—many agencies provide "induction and go!" training, which lacks ongoing support.
Staff attrition is a major issue. Studies show that 2/3 of people quit their jobs due to a lack of training and direction.

While RoI seems elusive, the real challenge is in maximising RoE. High turnover, combined with insufficient training and ineffective technology use, often leads to inefficiencies and missed potential.

Why Do 2/3 of Employees Quit? The Training Deficit

A significant number (2/3) of people leave their jobs due to inadequate training. This directly impacts RoE, suggesting that the "effort" part is either insufficient or poorly executed.

This brings me to a critical question for recruitment leaders:

What training are you providing your teams?

Is it comprehensive, covering sales, recruitment, systems, and marketing?
Are you actively measuring the return on effort (RoE) from this training?
Does your training go beyond "induction and off you go" or is it blended, continuous, and tailored to meet your team's needs?
Have you connected the "why" or WIIFM (What's In It For Me?) to your training approach?
Do you hold staff accountable for learning and delivering results? Or do they just need to show up?
Are you tracking whether the training is truly working?

The Truth Behind Why Recruitment Training Often Falls Short

Many agencies invest heavily in tech, but then under-invest in training. This often results in:

Systems being underutilised or ignored,
Recruiters not placing deals quickly enough, leading to lost opportunities,
Dirty data that isn't properly cleaned or monetised,
Continued overspending on job boards and LinkedIn licences / ads.
Recruiters disengaged with your processes and not delivering results. 10 recruiters = 10 "ways".

The key to improving RoI and RoE isn’t just investing in training—it’s ensuring the training is effective, ongoing, and tied to the needs of the business.

Are Your People Really Your Most Valuable Asset?

We're frequently told that people are our most important asset—but is that entirely true?

While people are crucial, processes, brand, and data are just as vital. These elements depend on each other. When integrated effectively, data + people + process + systems create the foundation for a robust and sustainable recruitment pipeline.

When these assets aren’t linked together, it can result in candidates, clients, and colleagues—and even cash flow—suffering.

"Train to Retain": The Key to Success

To retain top talent and improve overall performance, you need to train to retain. That means ensuring that your people, data, systems, and processes are connected and aligned. You need a RoE plan that maximises the efforts of your team. Without this connection, you're wasting your hard-earned fees and effort.

Are You Wasting £100,000 Per Year?

If you haven’t prioritised continuous and blended training, the average 10 person recruiter might be blowing £20,000 a year, by:

Recruiting and rehiring new staff
Reinvesting in training on replacements
Waiting for new hires to "get up to speed"
Losing deals and missing targets due to disruptions

If you have 20 staff, that's £40k / year! And so on... The true cost of inadequate training is far greater than the cost of investing in it.

Focus on RoI and RoE Through Blended Recruitment Training

Recruitment leaders - it’s time to take a hard look at these questions. We estimate that many recruitment businesses are losing significant revenue each year due to ineffective training and high turnover. By focusing on blended and continuous WIIFM training, you can improve both RoI and RoE and create a more efficient, sustainable business.