Recruitment is a nuanced sector, with many variables coming into play when it comes to commission management. A smooth, streamlined recruitment commission management system is in the best interest of everyone involved – offering better operational efficiency internally, and a more motivating and consistent working environment for your recruiters.
Often, commission management systems are inherited – they’ve evolved overtime in the attempt to fix issues and find workable solutions “on the fly.” While these adaptations might solve problems in the short term, stepping back to take a more holistic “foundation-based” view of the way you calculate and manage recruitment commission can set your business up for a more dependable and efficient future process.
Getting to the bottom of your recruitment commission management problems presents the opportunity to create a more competitive offering – but it’s also wise to remember the importance of continuously reassessing to make incremental improvements as your competition evolves and the industry changes.
In this article, we’ll explore five key areas of recruitment commission management that can prove problematic, and suggest a few ways you can problem solve to ensure future success.
1. Siloed Data – No Clarity To Power Your Recruitment Commission Structure
Many see the management of day to day business calculations as a straightforward operational necessity. Of course, commission calculations and management are an essential part of the practical running of a recruitment business – but they offer value beyond this, in the form of the actionable insight that can be drawn from the data their handling produces.
For many recruitment businesses, struggling with poorly structured commission management, it can be extremely difficult (or even impossible) to gain any kind of clarity from their commission data. What trends, patterns or emerging problems are being overlooked? And by extension, what potential opportunities for improvement are being missed?
A carefully considered tech stack can be the answer to this problem. By linking a digital commission recruitment management system with strong integrations to your recruitment CRM, you’re able to obtain a 360 degree view of recruiter performance. Commissionly leverages strong CRM integrations to Bullhorn and Crelate, as well as your accounting software via Zapier to get rid of data silos and give you access to the fullest control and most complete view of the valuable data your operations generate day by day.
2. Problems With Clawbacks
With so many variables impacting success and lasting suitability within the recruitment process, the need to reassess and adjust commission payments can represent a significant consideration (and often, headache) for those calculating recruitment commission. Clawback agreements are ubiquitous within the world of recruitment, and as a result, investing in a dependable, scalable process for their ongoing management makes good business sense.
At the heart of a strong clawback strategy lies the need for transparency and flexibility. Recruiters need to be able to see the specifics of their clawback adjustments, and requests for clarity here can become a significant drain on your operational resources overtime – especially if reliance on overly complex spreadsheets makes it hard to communicate or illustrate individual examples.
Working with an automated commission management system can be highly advantageous in this instance, adding accuracy and dexterity of clawback calculation, but also giving recruiters better visibility and predictability when it comes to the adjustments that they can expect to experience.
To learn more about ways to improve the management and outcomes of your own recruitment commission clawback procedure, read our recent article, 5 Tips For Efficient Recruitment Commission Claw Back.
3. Recruitment Commission Structure Setting The Wrong Incentives
So often, when recruitment commission management procedure is assessed, the view taken is one of practicality and operational efficiency. While this is, of course, incredibly important, it’s also vital that businesses take time to review the underlying structure of the commission model, to ensure that the practices they’re putting in place are fully aligned with the ongoing goals and values of the business in question.
It’s important to design a recruitment commission structure that properly incentivises the behaviors that you’d like to see within your team, going beyond shorter sighted outcomes. Ask questions – what could this look like for the long term of your business?
Commissionly helps you implement more adaptive and flexible commission structures, by giving easier access to quick adjustments and changes, giving you the ability to get more from your team. Variables that would quickly become difficult to track, change or implement via spreadsheet are easily incorporated into your workflows. Meanwhile, automations free your team to focus on applying their insight to ongoing improvement, as opposed to the implementation of practical changes.
Looking for more information on ways to create an impactful recruitment commission structure? We’ve covered the topic here.
4. Time Consuming Manual Tracking, Prone To Error
As previously mentioned, many commission management systems have evolved over a business’s lifespan in a reaction, as opposed to a proactive, manner. This means that adaptations are made in order to “work around” emerging issues or changing requirements, but little thought has been given into the long term efficiency of structures that have grown up over time.
Managing recruitment commission via spreadsheets necessitates a great deal of manual input and effort – and even with the most diligent and experienced of staff, all methods of this kind involve an inevitable degree of human error. How long can spreadsheets serve you? How costly and disruptive are the errors made through manual calculations?
Commissionly brings an instant solution into play, with dependable automations specifically designed to take all of the heavy lifting out of your recruitment commission management. Errors can be eliminated, freeing your team to put their experience to better and more productive use elsewhere.
5. Lack Of Recruiter Loyalty and Motivation
When we consider improvements to recruitment commission management, it’s easy to focus on the benefits that this brings to a business’s own internal operations. It’s also important to remember the positive, even transformative, experience that these kinds of improvements can have upon your recruiter experience.
We all know the value of keeping your recruiters engaged and motivated – how are you currently incentivizing their loyalty? Retaining experience will always trump the expense and time required to acquire new talent, but all too often, the recruitment agency relies on short-term incentives and flash bonuses, as opposed to looking at the bigger picture of their offer – the overall management and relationship building that they dedicate to their recruitment team.
When it comes to creating an appealing working environment for your recruiters, don’t underestimate the importance of transparency when it comes to their earnings. Giving individual recruiters access to their commission payment data, in real time, as well as a chance to see where clawbacks have come from enables them to remain engaged and self-motivated.
Again, ensuring that your CRM is integrated with your commission software can be a huge help in this capacity – performance is much easier to track, so you can make sure you’re acting responsively to ensure your recruiters feel recognised and rewarded. With Commissionly, it’s easy to grant user access and enhance visibility – and with the time saved via automation, you’ll be able to invest more effort in learning about their underlying frustrations.
Ready to solve your recruitment commission problems, once and for all?
The complex accelerated world of today’s recruitment sector demands modern, intelligent working practices that can match its pace. From efficiency through to competitiveness, Commissionly brings much needed clarity, dexterity and nuance to the way businesses are able to handle their recruitment commission management. With easy implementation, expansive connectivity with your existing tech solutions and intuitive ongoing use, it offers a scalable, seamless solution to error-prone tracking through manual spreadsheets.