Every finance director loves a discount. So when two recruitment proposals land on the desk and one quotes a lower percentage, it's tempting to sign with the cheaper option and move on. But before you do, it's worth asking a simple question: what is that percentage actually rewarding?
Most recruitment fees in South Africa are still calculated as a percentage of the placed candidate's guaranteed annual salary. It sounds fair. Bigger role, bigger fee, makes sense. Except this model creates an incentive that has nothing to do with finding you the right person.
The maths behind the misalignment
If a recruiter's fee rises in direct proportion to the offer a candidate accepts, that recruiter has a built-in reason to encourage a higher number. Not necessarily through dishonesty, but through the quiet, human tendency to nudge negotiations in the direction that benefits both parties, recruiter and candidate, at the client's expense.
It also creates a second, subtler incentive: speed over precision. A percentage-fee agency working on contingency is often juggling multiple searches at once, because volume is how the model pays. The faster a role closes, the sooner the fee lands and the sooner attention moves to the next brief. Getting the fit exactly right matters less than getting someone, anyone suitable enough, across the line.
What this looks like in practice
- A candidate's counter-offer gets less pushback than it should, because a higher salary means a higher fee.
- Shortlists arrive quickly but thinly vetted, because time spent probing fit is time not spent on the next paying search.
- Borderline candidates get talked up rather than flagged honestly, because a placement that falls through costs the agency money.
- Long-term fit takes a back seat to closing the deal within the quarter.
None of this means every percentage-fee recruiter behaves this way. Many are scrupulous professionals who resist the pull of their own pricing model. But the incentive exists, and over enough searches, it shapes behaviour. You are, in effect, paying more for a system that quietly encourages higher offers and faster closes, not better matches.
Why partnership pricing changes the conversation
At The Appointment Firm, we price for the partnership and the outcome, not for a cut of someone's salary. That single structural difference removes the incentive to inflate an offer or rush a placement. Our interest is in getting the appointment right, because a right appointment is what earns repeat work and a long-term relationship with a client. A rushed or overpaid placement does the opposite.
We won't quote specific figures here, because fee structures should always be discussed directly and confirmed in a proposal tailored to the role and the relationship. What we can say is that our approach is built around the search itself: the partner-led process, the in-person interviews, the honest shortlist, rather than a number that moves in step with someone else's salary negotiation.
What to ask your current or prospective recruiter
- Is your fee linked to the final salary, and if so, who benefits if that number rises?
- How many searches is the consultant running at once, and what does that mean for the time spent on yours?
- What happens, financially, if a placement doesn't work out within the first few months?
- Who actually meets the candidates on the shortlist, and how thoroughly?
These aren't awkward questions. Any recruiter worth partnering with should welcome them.
The real cost of getting it wrong
A cheap percentage rate that leads to the wrong hire is never actually cheap. The cost shows up later: in onboarding time, in team disruption, in the search you have to run all over again. Hiring leaders who've been through this once tend to stop shopping on percentage alone and start asking what the fee is actually incentivising.
If you'd like to talk through how a partner-led, outcome-focused search works, and whether it's the right fit for your next key appointment, we'd welcome the conversation. Get in touch with The Appointment Firm and let's talk about hiring the right person, not just the fastest one.
