When a hospital needs an interim leader, speed and leadership fit are usually the immediate priorities. But there is another question worth asking before signing an agreement: What portion of the total assignment cost is the recruiting firm actually charging?
The majority of experienced interim hospital executives work with multiple recruiting and staffing firms. They are not exclusive to one agency and simply take the contract through whatever firm you have selected to work with. That is why your firm selection is Vital.
The executive’s experience and capabilities do not change simply because a different firm makes the introduction; the price, however, is dramatically different.
At Peak Recruiter, our standard agency fee is $2,500 per month. That fee is separate from consultant compensation and administrative costs and as our client hospitals have shared, is less than ½ of the next closest competitor.
Why would we charge so much less for the exact same person? Well it’s easy. We think that is an acceptable amount of profit for introducing you to the interim and maintaining that relationship.
Peak Recruiter primarily makes its profit through the completion of permanent retain search projects. Interim leadership is high volume. The people are plentiful and easy to find, and we feel charging $5,000, $7,000, or $12,000 a month in agency fee, as reported by our clients, is simply excessive. That’s why we do it differently here.
Consider a hypothetical six-month engagement involving the same interim executive. If one agency charges $2,500 per month and another charges $11,000 per month, the agency-fee difference alone is $51,000. That example assumes identical consultant compensation, administrative charges, expenses and included services as an illustration.
And our price does not mean you’re sacrificing quality. Refer to our references, who attest to our well-vetted candidates who are successful, consistent, and deliver the results they’re hired to reach. Remember, you can often hire the literal same person, for the same role but simply get more value for your money. I can think of many ways a hospital could better spend that money.
The practical takeaway is straightforward: evaluate the leader and the agency independently. Ask whether the candidate is exclusive. Request an itemized quote. Compare the services included. Then decide whether the additional agency fee delivers additional value.
Over the next six weeks, Peak Recruiter will share a short educational series examining how interim leadership sourcing and pricing work. Our objective is to help hospital leaders make informed decisions without compromising the quality of the people leading their organizations.
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