How you could have saved €25,000 on a recruiter.

You know the feeling. The invoice lands. €25,000. For a recruiter to find someone good. You pay it. Because the role is open and the work doesn't wait.

But here's the question nobody asks when they sign that invoice: why was the role open in the first place?

Sarah told them three times

Sarah was a senior consultant. Four years at the company, one of the best. Clients asked for her by name. She wasn't poached. She didn't leave for more money. She left because she raised something in three different 1:1s with her manager over four months - and nothing happened.

• "I want more responsibility."

• "I feel undervalued."

• "Maybe it's time for something new."

Her manager listened each time. Meant to bring it up with HR. But between each conversation and his next meeting, three other things came up. The note disappeared. The intention disappeared. One Tuesday morning: resignation letter. Everyone surprised. "We had no idea."

But she had told them. Three times.

The real bill

Total: €40,000 - €70,000

The recruiter fee is the visible part. The smallest part. Everything else - the vacancy, the ramp-up, the team impact - is the real cost. And none of it lands on an invoice.

You're not paying €25,000 for a great hire. You're paying €25,000 to recover from a preventable loss.

What could have been

Sarah didn't need a promotion or a raise. She needed someone to hear her and act on it.

Two minutes of documentation after the first 1:1. A system where HR could see it. A follow-up that actually happened.

Cost of preventing her departure: almost nothing. Cost of not preventing it: €25,000 and counting.

Don't miss out again

You probably have a Sarah right now. Someone good who has raised something in a 1:1 that nobody outside of one manager's head knows about.

You won't find out until the resignation letter. And then the recruiter gets called again.

Want to break that cycle?

👉 Book a 30 minute demo, for you or your HR. We'll show you how.