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?
Is there a training plan that records their learning and that you can 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.
Recruitment Training = ROI!
We deliver the best Recruitment and Bullhorn training through a blend of live webinars and our online training platform, Recruitment HIIT.
TRY HIIT FREE HERE
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Recruiter Productivity Series: Optimise Bullhorn Part 1 ~ Engage, Nurture, Place, and Re-Place
Recruiters! I know that recruitment has never been so competitive— even your own clients are competing with you to place candidates!We're launching a new series of recruiter productivity webinars focussed on optimising your use of Bullhorn and driving speedier sourcing, recruitment, leads, sales, and commission! Part 1 is focussed on managing candidates.Let's show you some tips to engage with candidates effortlessly. Let's build stronger relationships using Bullhorn’s nurturing features: communicate, optimise, protect, PLACE! (And repeat!)REGISTER NOWBullhorn MythsIn today’s fast-paced recruitment world, having a powerful ATS/CRM is essential. It saves time, improves efficiency, and drives a profitable desk. But often, we hear:I use Bullhorn when I get a minute.Bullhorn is just a database, not a business growth tool.We have Bullhorn, but we’re not seeing a return on investment.The data is a mess, so I need to advertise and use LinkedIn too.These statements couldn't be more wrong…Bullhorn:💓 Can be your recruitment Buddy if you let it!😱 Reduces admin workload.💪 Keeps you organised.🕒Helps you source, sell, and place quickly!…and so much more when used effectively!Register Now for Our "Candidate Engagement" Bullhorn WebinarRecruitment leaders! Don’t invest in Bullhorn only to underutilise it and then wonder why you’re not getting results.Recruiters! Don’t create unnecessary "busyness" with messy data, inefficient workflows, and poor adoption, leading to a lack of return on effort (RoE).What You’ll Learn in Our Upcoming Bullhorn Optimisation Webinars:📌 23 April 2025: Engage with candidates effortlessly. Build stronger relationships using Bullhorn’s nurturing features: communicate, optimise, protect, PLACE! (And re-place!) Register Now📌 Date TBC: Leverage Bullhorn to source and track qualified candidates faster with less effort.📌 Date TBC: Maximise lead generation and improve conversion rates with smart Bullhorn strategies.📌 Date TBC: Optimise recruitment workflows for maximum efficiency and profitability.Whether you're new to Bullhorn or looking to refine your ATS/CRM strategy, this webinar series will provide you with actionable tips and real-world insights to immediately benefit your recruitment team.By the end of our 4 Bullhorn Optimisation sessions, you’ll have the tools and knowledge to:⏳ Save time (and sanity) and be more productive.🤝 Engage more candidates effectively.💸 Place candidates faster and increase your sales and commission.Don’t miss out! Register now to secure your spot in this free, must-attend event.We look forward to showing you how Bullhorn ATS/CRM can elevate your recruitment ROI (return on investment) and ROE (return on effort) and drive business growth!REGISTER NOWRecruitment and Bullhorn TrainingWe deliver the best live Bullhorn ROI webinar training, and you'll find other tips and tricks in Recruitment HIIT, our online recruitment training platform.Plus, through our Bullhorn Vision service we help generate serious ROI from your Bullhorn, data, and people.TRY HIIT FREE HERECONTACT US ABOUT BULLHORN ROI
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Protect Your Pipeline with this Antidote to Backdoor Placements
Backdoor placements are often an "invisible" pipeline killer. Yet they are also a great opportunity to recover lost revenue. Silver linings! Are you missing out on smashing target by not actively managing backdoor placements? 20 Years Ago, in a Land Far Away...In Lisa and my younger days (20 years ago), we created a report to track theoretical backdoors, and had a team calling candidates at the employer they'd recently had an interview with. If they answered, they were put through to the recruiter to begin recouping the lost fee.Surely time has moved on and there are more effective and tech-driven ways of doing this? Plus, surely recruiters are better at sales admin and relationship management now, so back doors are less common? I'm not so sure... If anything more data and tech has actually created a less robust process in many firms.Let’s explore why tracking backdoor placements is critical and how to implement best practices and technology for spotting and reducing them.The Financial Impact of Backdoor PlacementsWhen a candidate you’ve introduced to a client is hired without your knowledge or agreement on fees, you lose the fee. This often happens when terms of business aren’t adhered to, or when a client chooses to go behind your back. Consider this: one recruiter we’ve worked with reported uncovering at least one lost fee per consultant annually. For a team of 30 recruiters, that’s a staggering £150,000 in potential net revenue. In one instance, a single backdoor placement resulted in a recovered fee of £32,000. These numbers are too significant to ignore.Additionally, recruiters often spend resources sourcing candidates from external platforms instead of leveraging their databases. Tracking and addressing backdoor placements encourages better use of internal resources while ensuring you recapture fees rightfully owed to your business.Building Trust and Strengthening Your Recruitment ProcessClients: Actively managing backdoor placements helps you optimise your client relationships. Clients who circumvent your terms of business do not value your partnership. Using Bullhorn to flag these incidents creates transparency and helps you spend time on clients who value you.Candidates: Additionally, having a proactive backdoor placement management process complements your silver medalist strategy. Silver medalists are candidates who reached advanced stages of the recruitment process but were not placed. By regularly engaging these high-potential candidates through your tracking systems, you keep them warm for future opportunities while minimising your reliance on external sourcing.Best Practices for Managing Backdoor PlacementsTrack Every Interaction: Ensure your CRM system captures interview stages and outcomes, even for candidates rejected at early stages. Use detailed note types like “Rejected at Interview” or “Rejected at CV Send” to maintain a clear record.Standardise Your Terms: Attach your terms and conditions to every client communication. This ensures clients can’t dispute fees later and provides you with a reliable audit trail.Monitor Data Ownership: Many lost placements are tied to inactive users or former consultants. Assign ownership of these candidates to managers to maintain visibility and accountability.Automate to Remove Human Error: Implement automation to consistently track candidate progress and flag potential backdoor placements. This minimises manual errors and improves data integrity.Automation - The Antidote to Backdoor PlacementsDuring a recent Bullhorn Automation User Group, I was asked about my top 3 ways to use automation. Backdoor placement management is one of those 3 ways. These 2 automations are a must of you are set on prevention and pipeline maximisation:Interview Confirmation automation: If you already use these automations, add a notification step, x months after the interview date. Choose a timeframe which suits your sector the best.Check Past Interviews (Backdoor): If you don't use Interview Confirmation automation, create a stand alone automation that tracks the interview date and does not have placement. Add a wait step x months later to send a notification to your recruiter to check-in with the candidate and check they don't have a new job. You could even do what Lisa and I set up in a previous life and call the employer and ask to speak to the candidate. If they answer... bingo!Process and Tech Is KeyUse tech to prevent them.Use tech to spot them.The bottom line is that backdoor placements aren’t just about recovering lost revenue; they’re an opportunity to refine your recruitment strategy, strengthen client and candidate relationships, and ensure your systems are robust enough to thrive in a competitive market. Take control, and turn these challenges into wins for your recruitment / staffing agency.And if you need help on your processes, your data, and your Bullhorn adoption / ROI - call us - we can help.Automation and Bullhorn1stWe are Automation Buddies and Bullhorn Experts set on helping ambitious recruitment businesses who want to increase speed and sales.Automation: We coach to inspire, and build your automations so you can recruit and sell!Bullhorn: We optimise, train, and improve RoI from your key recruitment system.READ ABOUT OUR AUTOMATION BUDDY SERVICERead about our Bullhorn 1st Service
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