We’ve always wanted to do this, but 2022 is the year we’ve intentionally made this accessible, and it feels fantastic.
What are we talking about? Our pricing on our website…Seriously…here it is!
Sharing how we make money allows us to live our value of “trust” and the associated behaviour of, “leaving no doubt of the integrity of our intentions”.
Before we dive into the why, a little context on the recruitment industry:
Let’s start with how we make money.
The entirety of our recruitment revenue comes from the employers who hire us to support them in their talent search process. We do not take money from candidates or job-seekers for recruitment support (please note, it’s illegal to do that in Canada anyway!).
How pricing in the recruitment industry generally works.
Traditionally, recruitment firms charge a percentage of the annual salary tied to the role they are recruiting for. That percentage varies, but is typically between 15 and 25% depending on the role and the sector.
We made the decision to not charge for our services this way. The main reason being we never want our client’s hiring decisions to be influenced by a fluctuating recruiting fee. When building our offering, it was important to our team that clients knew what to expect in terms of the fee and could make an informed decision. No surprises (except for maybe a few fun ones along the way!).
In order for the employers we work with to have pre-established costs upfront, we decided to offer flat-rate pricing. Our fee structure is based on the seniority of the role and the time required to successfully complete the search using our socially informed process.
It’s important to note that our fees are not set in stone, we never want money to be the reason an organization can’t get the help, or build the team they need. We strive to be as accessible and as flexible as possible for organizations with a social-purpose, designated non-profits and those that are making an impact in communities. If you are an organization that is making an impact, please reach out. Where there is a will, there is a way!
Now that we have some shared context on the “businessy” things, let’s dig into our ‘why’.
There is a school of thought within the business community that transparency of pricing can be detrimental for an organization, particularly within professional services. We did not attend this school of thought. Instead, we are inspired by the simple but beautiful Brené Brown quote, “Clear is kind. Unclear in unkind.” This is not only true in life, but we believe it is very much the case in the sometimes mucky world of professional services pricing.
Pia Silva, a small business strategist and Forbes contributor reflects on this issue in her article “Should I put my prices on my website?” in which is she says; “Some believe it is downright stupid to show your prices.” and then proceeds to brilliantly unpack the “why” behind that school of thought.
Ultimately, we fall into the category of a business that really tries to lead with our value-proposition and demonstrate that in the way we communicate;
“…if you do have a distinct and compelling brand […] that makes the case for hiring you, I strongly believe that putting your prices on your site is one of the magical keys to a successful small business.”
– Pia Silva
We have spent many hours honing our values-based, socially-conscious recruitment process, and are committed to continuous improvement based on new learnings and an evolving industry. We know the value and the time it takes to do the process justice.
In fact, we’ve reviewed our process so many times, we can tell you there are just over 80+ steps.
80+ steps! What? I know!
These 80+ steps didn’t happen overnight, and they continue to evolve as we do. But those 80+ steps are important to helping our clients identify and build their dream team and we don’t want to compromise on any of them! If you want to know what our process looks like, click here and we’ll send you a snazzy “Meet your search partner” document.
We value time. We understand an individual and organization’s time is the most precious commodity of all. Seriously…don’t think about it from a dollars and cents perspective…your time is your finite resource for impact in this world. We get that.
We know employers have budgets to work within and sometimes, decisions do come down to finances. So, to be transparent and kind, to honour our people and processes and to respect our clients and prospective clients’ time, we make our pricing available.
Transparent pricing in this industry may not be status quo…and we’re okay with that. “The only certainty is the status quo is not an option.” – Creating Our Own Future: A NOVA SCOTIA ECONOMIC STRATEGY, 1991 (as featured in the One Nova Scotia – Now or Never report).
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