Lo Cost Recruiter Ian Doyle Recruitment slams ludicrously high agency fees

Recruitment Guru Ian Doyle who heads up the fast growing self styled Loí Cost Recruitment Agency of the same name has slammed the pricing policy of some smaller recruitment agencies for continuing to drive up industry fees.

ëWe are evangelical when it comes to driving down costs, and saving our clients money but we need the help of the HR Manager to underpin this, fortunately our vision is shared by a number of other companies, but critically we are still hearing of agencies who charge 15, 20 and even 25% of first year salaryÖ.some invoice before a client even starts and even more incredibly still impose a fee if they get it wrong and the candidate leavesÖí

Ö And these fees are not just on net salaries but include add onís for bonus, company car, health insurance, etc etc,
Ö..we are even more aghast that some HR professionals are prepared to pay these high charges, they seem to believe this is the norm and are complacent enough to pay it simply because ìits always been that wayî!

ëAs a former business consultant I had negotiated for staff many times with various agencies but was somewhat critical of the quality of service, and indeed the charges which in some cases I felt were too high.’

’Most of the agencies I dealt with at that time were predominantly staffed by sales people who certainly in my experience had no real grasp of the specific business area in which I was interested. They had simply not worked within industry. Fees were also very high with reasonably qualified people coming in at a minimum twenty percent of first year salary. I felt that we could do better and encouraged by other former colleagues we set up Ian Doyle Recruitment as a Lo Cost alternativeí

’Initially I compared my own recruitment experiences and also looked at other business models in other industries. We finally based our model on the concepts employed by the lo cost carriers in the airline industry, they may have their critics but they changed the industry which is something we aim to doí

’We felt that our competitors were simply too complacent and historically had entrenched positions, we were amazed that despite increases in technology some companies that had been charged 20% 10 years ago were still being charged similar fees, but to capture the imagination of potential customers in our market we had to be different and innovative , it is difficult, the irony is that many HR professionals assume that rates are fairly standard and are fixed as a % of 1 year salary so when our sales people call offering a fixed cost they cannot believe that we can save them thousands of pounds, that is really frustratingÖ..í

’Our low rates are highly competitive and innovative, unlike industry standards they are not linked to candidate salaries, below the 30K figure we offer one low fixed cost across the board regardless of candidate remuneration, job function customer , volume or location, that is unique. We undertake full candidate selection, all for the same low cost charge, savings can be as high as sixty percent by comparison. No hidden extras, no clawbacks, no early invoicing Öin effect no smoke and mirrors, just one lo cost priceí.

’We also looked at other areas of customer service where we could assist our customers without jeopardising our own business. Some agencies invoice before the candidate has even started, no other industry would tolerate that, we only invoice after a candidate actually commences employment. We provide fair payment terms of 30 days, finally if our customer isn’t happy we offer a no quibble money back guarantee. If a candidate leaves within 30 days the client doesnít pay a pennyÖ I was astounded when I first came across the concept of clawbacks where agencies still get paid even if a candidate leaves or is subsequently not deemed suitable Ö.amasingí!

’E Commerce and the internet have been an enormous help, both with marketing and allowing us to keep a close relationship with our customers and indeed our candidates but the relatively lo cost overheads of this media have not been transformed into lower charges something that we here are determined to changeí