Further tips on reducing recruitment spend (Part 2)

This is a follow on from Part 1 where I outlined 5 ways to reduce recruitment spend based on my 20 years' recruitment experience. Here's 5 more for you...

6)      Champion Employee Ambassadors

Why it matters: When employees feel proud of where they work, they naturally promote your values, culture, and mission to their networks. This builds your employer brand, creates trust, and attracts high-quality talent.

How to do it:

• Encourage employees to share vacancies and company content with their networks via LinkedIn, DMs, conversations etc.

• Make it easy - provide templates, visuals, or suggested posts. Perhaps you can create a slack or teams community that you can channel ideas through.

• Invite people to leave reviews on Glassdoor or similar platforms (but avoid heavy-handed campaigns; authenticity wins). The how to do it and why is really important.

• Some companies set up formal “ambassador groups,” but I feel the best approach is organic. Lead by example, show people how they can contribute if they want to, and create space for advocacy to happen naturally.

7)   Generate Referrals

"Some of the best hires I have made have been referrals."

In fact, I can’t recall a ‘bad hire’ from a referral. You also don’t need to pay an agency fee. Data backs this up, also citing faster time to hire, higher conversion rates and improved retention as other benefits.

How:

• Employees do need to know what you’re hiring for and the process to make a referral. Employees who do not have visibility of internal career opportunities are 61% more likely to plan to quit according to Silicon UK.

  
  

  Tip: Creating a digital job advert that is easily shareable on social media helps a lot. An internal portal (sharepoint, teams or slack group etc) that you can share live roles to followed by periodical reminders about this as it can easily be forgotten is also helpful.

  
  

• Be clear on what good looks like for the role.

• Create a referrals program and be clear on the policies around this – specifically what constitutes a referral and what doesn’t. There’s different ways to incentivise but typically I see a cash bonus paid between £250 up to £1000. Amount might vary based on seniority or level of criticality.

  
  

  Tip: It’s prudent to defer part or all of the bonus until the passing of probation so you don’t have any awkward situations where a referral doesn’t work out and you have already paid the referral fee.

8)      Consider developing your own talent internally.

Companies that consistently grow their own talent reduce dependency on agencies, cut attrition, and build a culture where people choose to stay long term.

Why it matters:

• External hires can cost 30–200% of salary when you factor in recruitment fees, on-boarding, and time to hire.

• Internal mobility signals that you invest in people’s futures, which boosts retention.

• Apprenticeships and early careers programs bring fresh skills and perspectives at lower cost.

How to do it effectively:

• Build academies & training programs: This is a big one and deserves its own post but will require a lot of thinking and time capacity from existing staff.

• Launch apprenticeships or graduate programs: This is also a great chance to really diversify the types of backgrounds you hire.

• Encourage internal mobility through secondments: Create pathways for employees to shift roles, upskill, and try new functions without leaving the company.

• Mentorship & buddy systems: Pair experienced staff with newer hires to accelerate learning and knowledge transfer.

• Make growth visible: Share stories of people who’ve progressed internally.

9) Always Be Open to Good People

Too many companies only think about hiring when a vacancy opens. By then, you’re already behind. The best employers treat talent like a pipeline, not a one-off transaction. This reduces pressure on you and reduces the need to seek support from an agency.

Why it matters:

• Great candidates don’t always appear when you’re hiring, but they’ll remember if you took the time to speak with them. This may be difficult if you have low capacity but setting aside a few hours each month to speak with exceptional candidates will save time in the long-run.

• A basic talent pool reduces time-to-hire, lowers agency spend, and gives you a head start on future growth.

• Consistently engaging with potential hires builds your brand reputation in the market.

How to do it effectively:

• Set up a process for indexing interested candidates: Use a simple CRM, ATS, or even Notion/Airtable to track who’s reached out and where they could fit. Essentially you're building a talent pool.

• On your careers page, create a Work With Us’ option: Add a light-touch form for people who are curious to register their interest, even if no role is live.

• Stay GDPR compliant: Gain clear consent on data storage and communication; make opting out easy.

• Nurture relationships: Check in occasionally (not just when you want something). A light, value-led touch goes a long way.

  
  

Pro tip: Keep talent pools fresh: Don’t let data gather dust - share periodical updates, newsletters, or company content with those who opt in.

10) Tap Into Free Job Boards

Not every vacancy needs a paid advert or agency campaign. Free job boards and platforms can bring in strong candidates, especially for SMEs hiring on tighter budgets.

Why it matters:

• Free listings cut advertising spend entirely, which adds up fast if you’re hiring multiple roles.

• Many job seekers still start with mainstream, free-to-access platforms, so you’re not missing reach.

• It helps level the playing field for smaller businesses competing with bigger brands.

How to do it effectively:

• Use free tiers of mainstream platforms: Indeed offers no-cost postings, LinkedIn allows a limited number of free job ads, and sites like Reed occasionally provide free trials.

• Target niche or local boards: University career sites, community boards, and specialist forums often allow free listings.

• Maximise visibility: Refresh and repost regularly to keep your roles at the top of search results.

• Optimise your job description: Keep it clear, jargon-free, and sell your culture - free ads only work if they stand out.

• Track applications carefully: Even without an ATS, use a simple spreadsheet or Notion tracker to avoid losing good candidates.

Tip: From my experience, I strongly suspect free boards promote job listings where the employer is on top of managing the postings. What I mean by that is they respond quickly to applicants and take down the advert if it is no longer live. Niche jobs tend to have a higher ranking also.

Summary: Reducing recruitment spend isn’t just about cutting agency fees. It’s about smarter processes, stronger culture, and building credibility with candidates.

If you want to dive deeper into any of this, contact me to schedule a free discovery call so we can discuss bespoke recommendations for your company and growth journey.  james@talentjp.com

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Hi, I'm James Preselo. I am a fractional Head of Talent and founder of TalentJP - advising scaling SMEs on their talent attraction strategy. I help build in-house talent attraction capabilities that you own. A more sustainable, scalable and cost efficient approach to hiring in today's market. From a one day fix to a complete process transformation, with 20 years' recruitment experience across agency and in-house, i've got you covered.