Winning More Recruitment Contracts in New Zealand: A Guide to Tender Success

Inbound leads are great, but sometimes, as a recruitment agency, you’ll need to tender to win those bigger projects.

We know: It’s a daunting, time-consuming task. The recruitment tender process in NZ can be complicated – and if you’ve already had a crack at writing your own recruitment tender, you know there are a few potential pitfalls. 

This guide will only take a few minutes to read, but will show you how to win recruitment contracts. It could be just what you need to secure your next major contract.

The ins & outs of recruitment tenders in NZ

The NZ recruitment industry is pretty competitive. You might be going for an open tender (the most competitive of them all!), a closed tender (which is invite-only), or a panel appointment (which puts you in the running as a go-to agency for a broad range of projects).

All of these in-ways come with different expectations from bidders. If you’re not familiar with each route, it’s worth looking into them sometime soon. For now, read on for some general tips that cover all three tender types.

How to win recruitment contracts (spoiler: it’s all in the prep!)

Before you start writing a recruitment tender, step back and do the prep work first. This involves reading the RFT in-depth and getting clear on what’s expected.

At this point, you’ll need to:

• Carry out a bid/no-bid assessment: Honestly assess your capabilities to make sure you have the staff and processes in place to meet expectations. Only go for bids you have a chance of winning – or you risk wasting time.

  
  

• Gather evidence: Collect everything you need to back up your application. From case studies to compliance docs, team CVs and past results, find out what the tender wants and put it in one place.

  
  

• Build a tender library: Create reusable documents that can be easily tweaked to suit each tender. You’ll store things like company information, 2-3 years of accounts, testimonials, policies, CVs, and more here. A good tender library is always growing. As your tendering skills improve and you learn what evaluators are looking for, you can strengthen yours.

Tips to conquer the recruitment tender process in NZ

We could talk all day about how to win recruitment contracts, but we’ll keep this as snappy as possible. 

Here are some of our non-negotiable tips when it comes to recruitment tenders in NZ:

• Understand the evaluation criteria: Sounds obvious, but you should get clear on what’s needed. Tailor your responses to the scoring criteria, addressing each part fully and explicitly.

• Win themes: Develop key messages (win themes) that run throughout your proposal and highlight your unique selling points. For example, high fill-rates, NZ candidate networks, or diversity.

• Use plain, persuasive language: Avoid jargon. Go for concise, reader-friendly language, and stick to page limits.

• Include evidence-backed claims: Back up what you’re saying with testimonials and metrics (such as time-to-fill, retention and cost savings).

• Focus on your executive summary: This is often the first thing evaluators read. Make sure your executive summary succinctly captures your unique offering. It needs to grab attention and entice the reader to keep going.

Avoiding common pitfalls in recruitment bids

To give yourself the best chance of success, you need to know about the common challenges of recruitment tenders in NZ. Here are just a few things we’ve seen clients stumble into before they chose to work with Kiwi Bid Support:

• Non-compliance: Not following guidance for formatting, or forgetting to attach requested documents.

• Generic content: Not tailoring content for each bid; copy-pasting bids doesn’t keep evaluators engaged.

• Focusing too much on price: Explain your value beyond the dollar signs. Think about things like NZ compliance, candidate quality, cultural fit, and local market knowledge.

Get expert help to win recruitment tenders in NZ

There’s one tried-and-tested way to win more recruitment tenders: Get outside help from a team like Kiwi Bid Support.

Our specialist writers bring invaluable skills to the table. We’re familiar with tender language, evaluation scoring, industry norms, GETs processes, and local market insights. With specific experience in the recruitment tender process in NZ, we can give your business a competitive edge that goes beyond bid writing – we also offer tender reviews, award submissions, and CV writing.

Reach our team on enquiries@kiwibidsupport.co.nz or use our online enquiry form.