A PLN 60,000 search fee can be a sensible investment or an expensive way to receive a few CVs. The number alone tells you very little. What matters is the work behind it and the decision it enables.
The fee base comes before the percentage
Take an illustrative annual base salary of PLN 300,000. A hypothetical 20% fee produces PLN 60,000 before VAT and any additional expenses. This is a worked example, not EER pricing or a measured market average.
Now consider an 18% offer calculated on base salary plus a PLN 60,000 target bonus. The fee becomes PLN 64,800. A lower percentage has produced a higher bill. Ask both suppliers to calculate their total on the same compensation package before negotiating the headline rate.
Confirm whether the basis includes guaranteed bonuses, variable pay, benefits or equity. For a Polish B2B arrangement, agree how annual contract value is calculated. An annualised contractor invoice and an employee's gross salary are not interchangeable cost bases.
If the proposals cover different work, first clarify the difference between headhunting and agency recruitment.
Three models, different commitments
Success fee: payment depends on the event defined in the agreement, such as the candidate starting work. Check that trigger. No initial invoice does not remove your own team's screening cost or the business cost of an empty role.
Retained search: you commission defined work, often paid in stages. Expect a market map, candidate assessment and evidence about obstacles. Without deliverables, a retainer is an advance payment with a better name.
A blended model: part of the fee funds the work and part depends on hiring. Ask whether the initial payment is credited against the final amount or added to it. The difference can materially change the comparison.
At EER, the engagement follows the hiring problem. One difficult appointment and an ongoing hiring programme need different commitments. Applying one percentage to every situation hides that distinction.
What should the proposal actually deliver?
Ask what you will learn before the first shortlist arrives. Will you see which markets were explored, why people declined and which requirement is excluding credible candidates? Does a submitted profile include assessed motivation, or merely a claim that the person looks relevant?
The AESC Client Bill of Rights calls for written scope, fees, timing and deliverables for its members' client engagements. It is a useful comparison framework, not a fee schedule.
Make reporting useful to the person funding the hire. Ten weekly updates saying that sourcing continues are not equivalent to a clear finding that relocation is eliminating most of the relevant market.
Comparing two search proposals?
In 30 minutes, we can discuss the role, the work it requires and which costs are worth paying for.
Book a 30-minute callRead the verb in the guarantee
A guarantee may mean a replacement search, a refund or credit towards another assignment. Establish which one applies, when the period begins and how a claim must be made. A changed role after joining may be treated differently from a candidate leaving the originally agreed position.
EER's website states a three-to-twelve-month guarantee range depending on the role and engagement. Your agreement determines the actual coverage. Twelve months covering a narrow set of circumstances is not automatically better than a shorter, more useful commitment.
Can you explain what you receive, when payment becomes due and what happens without a hire? If the answer takes three interpretations of the same clause, the offers are not yet comparable.
Compare the fee difference with the cost of waiting
Suppose the stronger option costs PLN 20,000 more and one month of avoidable delay costs your business PLN 40,000. Half a month is the financial comparison point. This scenario does not establish that the supplier will save that time. Their delivery plan still has to make the expectation credible.
Use the vacancy cost calculator as a starting point, then replace assumptions with your own figures. Avoid treating every empty position as a fixed multiple of salary in lost value.
For market entry, the cost of waiting belongs in the delivery plan. Our guide to hiring in Poland without local HR explains how to separate recruitment milestones from a start date.
Before you decide
Is a retainer refundable? Read the actual terms. Client cancellation, work not delivered and a completed search without a hire are different situations and should have explicit treatment.
Do we need search if we already receive applications? Not necessarily. If those applications produce credible interviews and hires, a more expensive route may add little. If you keep screening the same unsuitable pool, more volume is unlikely to change the outcome.