While it may seem like a no-brainer to take care of hiring internally, many companies find that this can cost them more money, take longer, and may result in lower-quality candidates.
This isn’t a new challenge for businesses. But it’s even more difficult now due to a smaller staff, leaner organizations, and a historical candidate shortage.
When it comes to money and time, loss of cash flow can have an immense impact on your business. One way to reduce hiring costs while keeping your business productive is outsourcing hiring.
An effective professional services staffing and recruiting partner will decrease time and financial expenditures while bringing in quality employees.
The 3 risks of managing hiring in-house
Increased Turnover
While it may seem easier and more cost-effective to handle hiring internally, studies show this may result in lower-quality candidates and hires who are not the right fit for the role.
A single bad hire can impact team morale and ultimately increase employee turnover. One study found that the average cost to replace just one employee can have a huge financial impact on your business:
- $1,500 for hourly employees
- 100%-150% of an employee’s salary for technical positions
- Up to 213% of an employee’s salary for C-suite positions
Loss in Productivity
When companies handle hiring internally, the responsibility often falls on a current employee — all while continuing to do their “day job”.
Inevitably, this requires a significant investment of their time, as broken down below:
- Choosing where to spend money to post the position. There are several sites candidates use to job hunt. Which ones are best? It takes time to do the research and decide which sites make the most sense for your role(s). Time: 3-4 hours
- Posting the job. From crafting the job description to going through the steps to post it, it’s not as simple as one click of a button. Time: 1 hour
- Applicant review. The employee will be weeding through hundreds of applicants and resumes in hopes of finding a needle in the haystack. And while posting the job to various online boards may garner several hundred applicants, it still doesn’t guarantee finding the perfect match. In fact, in today’s job market, the “spray and pray” method is just one tool in the recruitment arsenal, not the only tool. Time: 20 hours (based on 300 connections)
- Interviewing. Scheduling and conducting interviews, reference checks, and required pre-screenings. Time: 20 hours
Total time: 45 hours
Significant Financial Investment
The cost of a new hire does not stop with getting them interviewed, onboarded, and paid. You’re adding another person to your payroll and benefits. Not to mention the exposure to worker’s compensation and any unemployment costs.
By passing the hiring off to a trusted partner, you could then focus valuable time on efficiently operating your business.
True cost savings when partnering with a recruiting firm
Time = Money
As demonstrated above, there’s a long checklist that needs to be completed before a new hire even begins working.
Stivers and other professional services staffing and recruiting firms deal with the time-consuming tasks of combing through candidates, screening, interviewing, and preparing candidates for the position — all while you are focusing on your core business.
Recruiting firms often fill vacant positions faster than you expect. Stivers has the technology and expertise to guide you through the hiring process while bearing the brunt of the responsibility.
“Try Before You Buy” a Candidate Before You Commit
A great added benefit of working with a staffing and recruiting firm is that you can employ temp and temp-to-hire workers. You can see how they fit and make sure they are the correct match for your business before you bring them on full-time.
If for some reason they don’t work out, you can ask your recruiting partner to end the assignment. You are not responsible for unemployment or the necessary paperwork to let someone go.
Alternatively, many recruiting firms (Stivers included) also assist with sourcing for direct-hire recruitment. Your chosen candidate will be hired by your company on Day 1, and you’ll just pay a one-time placement fee.
And if they don’t work out? You won’t pay until we find someone who does. It’s part of our guarantee. We’re committed to bringing you the right talent the first time. In fact, Stivers proudly maintains a 97% retention rate for their sourced candidates.
Lower overhead costs
When it comes to temp and temp-to-hire workers, professional services staffing and recruiting firms can offer significant financial savings when it comes to the employer costs that you’d normally provide to employees.
Health benefits, 401k, sick days, PTO, workers compensation, unemployment, and all employer taxes are the responsibility of your recruiting partner.
End-To-End Hiring Management
Time. Money. Turnover. Productivity.
When it comes to handling hiring internally, there are many more hidden costs than simply posting the job and the employee’s salary. Shift the time, costs, responsibility, and headaches of hiring to our staffing and recruiting experts who offer end-to-end hiring management.
When you trust Stivers with hiring, you can be confident that we will find the talent that is the right match for your business. Staffing and recruitment is our specialty, so you can focus on your business specialty.
Looking to hire? Let’s schedule a meeting to discuss how a recruiting agency partnership can help you achieve your business goals while saving valuable time and money.
Professional Services Staffing FAQs
How much does a bad hire actually cost a business?
It scales with the role: this post cites roughly $1,500 to replace an hourly employee, 100–150% of salary for a technical position, and up to 213% of salary for a C-suite hire — costs that come from turnover, retraining, and lost productivity, not just the search itself.
How many hours does it really take to hire someone internally?
Based on the breakdown in this post — researching job boards, posting the role, reviewing applicants, and interviewing — internal hiring runs about 45 hours per role, on top of whatever else that employee’s already responsible for.
What does “try before you buy” hiring mean?
It refers to temp-to-hire staffing: you bring someone on to see how they perform and fit before extending a full-time offer, instead of committing based on interviews alone. If it’s not a match, you can end the assignment without taking on unemployment costs or related paperwork.
Beyond salary, what other costs come with a new hire?
Health benefits, 401(k), PTO, workers’ compensation, unemployment exposure, and other employer taxes all layer on top of pay — costs that shift to a staffing partner when you bring on temp or temp-to-hire workers instead of a direct employee.
Does Stivers guarantee its placements?
Yes! For direct-hire recruitment, you don’t pay until a candidate is found who’s the right fit.
