If people are your greatest asset, then Recruitment must be one of your most critical business activities. As such, it makes sense that we understand the value it generates and can measure its Return on Investment (ROI). Use Omni's Recruitment Cost Calculator to determine just how much you're spending on your recruitment.
Find out how much you are spending on recruitment and how much your organisation could save by reducing employee turnover.
Recruitment is a significant investment, encompassing advertising, candidate sourcing, and time spent on interviewing and onboarding. The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) estimates the average cost per hire to be over £3,000, but poor hiring decisions can multiply this expense exponentially. The first step in calculating recruitment ROI, is understanding all the costs involved in your process. Our recruitment cost calculator has been deigned to do just that, and goes far beyond simply calculating cost per hire (although it does provide this). We also look at onboarding costs, and costs of losing new recruits – which can dramatically drive costs up.
Many businesses use recruitment agencies as part of their overall Talent Acquisition Strategy. It’s well known that recruitment agencies often comes with steep fees, typically ranging from 15% to 30% of a candidate’s first-year salary. For senior roles, these fees can climb even higher. Organisations that rely heavily on agency support without measuring ROI may find themselves overspending without fully evaluating the value these hires bring.
RPO providers offer a cost-effective solution by consolidating recruitment efforts under a single managed service. This approach eliminates the need for multiple agency contracts, ensuring consistency, accountability, and reduced costs. Additionally, RPO providers focus on long-term talent acquisition strategies, helping organisations build pipelines of qualified candidates and reducing dependency on agencies over time.
In addition to agency fees, organisations often incur hidden costs when working with recruitment companies, including fees for premium job board postings, background checks, or expedited hiring services. These expenses can add up quickly, especially if there is no clear strategy or ROI measurement in place.
RPO solutions can help mitigate these expenses by leveraging economies of scale. With established networks, technology partnerships, and market expertise, RPO providers negotiate better rates for job postings and other recruitment tools. They also centralise and optimise recruitment activities, ensuring that every pound spent contributes directly to securing the right talent.
The cost to hire goes beyond financial expenses. Time, productivity, and morale are often overlooked factors. A poor hire can cost an organisation up to three times the employee’s annual salary when factoring in lost productivity, turnover, and the need for replacement hires. Without measuring ROI, organisations risk repeating these costly mistakes.
Organisations can enhance their effectiveness by measuring recruitment ROI, which enables data-driven decisions and clearer understanding of financial and operational outcomes.
An RPO solution transforms recruitment into a proactive, data-driven process. By tracking metrics such as cost per hire, time-to-fill, and quality of hire, RPO providers offer actionable insights that drive continuous improvement.
Moreover, RPO providers help organisations adapt to market trends and economic pressures. For example, during periods of rising employer costs, such as increases in National Insurance Contributions, an RPO solution ensures recruitment remains efficient and aligned with business goals.
Not measuring your organisation’s recruitment ROI can lead to unnecessary expenses, inefficiencies, and missed opportunities for growth. The first step in measuring ROI is to fully understand all the costs involved in the process. Use our calculator to gather these insights. With a strategic, data-driven approach, RPO providers optimise costs, improve candidate quality, and deliver measurable results, turning recruitment into a powerful enabler of organisational success.