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Many companies spend millions of dollars annually on talent acquisition and recruitment activities. Access to talent can be expensive, time-consuming, and inefficient if done incorrectly. It is undoubtedly a critical success factor for any organization to implement an intelligent and effective recruitment strategy in place.
Recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) provides a viable and cost-effective alternative to traditional recruiting. Before applying this model to a business, it is essential to understand the purpose of RPO.
What is Recruitment Process Outsourcing?
Organizations from 5 to 50,000 employees are increasingly exploring how outsourcing can positively impact their business, and the past ten years have seen a significant rise in the engagement of Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) methodologies with consistent year over year growth in Europe and North America.
In the simplest of terms, an RPO is a solution where an employer transfers all or part of its recruitment processes to an external service provider. At The Planet Group, our Global Workforce Solutions division view RPO capabilities as more than merely ‘filling a job.’ It involves engaging a variety of recruitment activities, including staffing processes, talent acquisition, human resource management, and associated functions.
Outsourcing the recruitment process allows employers to engage the experience of skilled recruiting solution providers and free up time to focus on key business objectives.
As an extension of your internal team, RPO services provide support during your talent acquisition, such as process improvement, management reports and data analytics, and assistance in urgent needs, such as quickly plugging a gap in resourcing to cover sick leave.
Why use Recruitment Process Outsourcing?
With thousands of workers joining the workforce and considering new opportunities annually, recruiters have to sort through a large number of applications to find the most suitable candidate for relevant positions while ensuring employer branding is handled correctly. Human Resource Managers have to grapple with time constraints to complete a recruitment process, while also handling other internal affairs such as employee benefits, onboarding, and extensive internal stakeholder management. Managing multiple operations can be challenging to navigate simultaneously.
The main objective of an RPO provider is to ensure talent delivery. Recruitment plays a critical role in organizations. Growth and sustainability depend on the quality of an organization’s workforce. Also, global recruiting requires specialized expertise, which may be difficult to handle in-house.
Some benefits that come with RPO include:
- Scalability
- Measurable results
- Governed and compliant approach
- Consistent ‘messaging to market’ and employer branding representation
- Ensure high-quality hiring
- Cost efficiencies
- Reduction in time spent by internal resources
- Access to market expertise
- Improved ‘time to fill’ and other important metrics
Who can benefit from Recruitment Process Outsourcing?
Recruitment process outsourcing providers are skilled and experienced in the process of identifying and onboarding the most suitable candidates for each role. Large corporations, SMEs, and ultimately all businesses who do not have the time or resources to commit to best practice hiring, can employ the services of an RPO provider to reduce the overall cost and improve the performance of an internal recruitment process.
How does RPO work?
Finding the right RPO model to fulfill your recruiting functions is dependent on the kind of service you need for your organization. Recruitment Process Outsourcing firms offer different models, and engagements made are solely reliant on the needs of the client or organization.
The services of an RPO can be contracted for a specified recruitment period or engaged full time. For the contracted RPO, the external solutions provider offers on-demand and regular services based on a particular function:
- Needs assessment
- Job order
- Candidate generation
- Qualify
- Screening
- Reference check
- Client interviews
- Offer & acceptance
The Different RPO Models
On Demand RPO
In this case, a client or organization engages the services of an RPO as needed on an ad hoc basis. For example, a company may be looking to hire a few new staff to form members of a new department.
Project-Based RPO
With the project-based model, RPO solutions are used for a fixed, short-term period. This is common for peak activity or time-sensitive conditions, such as 3-6 months, or for a specific number of hires.
Full-Service RPO
In this model, a company hands over all functions related to recruiting and managing of hires. The RPO solutions are end-to-end and utilized on a long-term basis, upwards of 2.5 years.
Hybrid RPO / MSP
With RPO/Master Service Provider (MSP) combination solutions, permanent and contingent labor hiring and management are blended to suit the company’s specific needs.
The Benefits
Recruitment Process Outsourcing provides the following benefits to organizations:
- Lower Hiring Costs
One of the most obvious advantages of Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) is the reduced cost of hiring. RPO providers collaborate with finance teams to align hiring needs with corporate budgets. - Improved Time Management
RPO frees up valuable time, allowing clients to focus on core business functions while the recruitment process is handled efficiently. It helps organizations meet deadlines and scale staffing efforts effectively. - Better Talent Matching
RPO providers often have access to pre-vetted talent pools, enabling them to deliver qualified candidates quickly and cost-effectively. If a niche skill is required, they can rapidly filter their database to meet tight deadlines. - Quality Staffing Assurance
Large organizations rely on RPO firms for consistent quality in hires. Through talent monitoring and referrals, RPO firms ensure the most suitable candidates are selected. - Reduced Advertising Costs
Outsourcing recruitment cuts down on advertising expenses, as the RPO firm assumes responsibility for promoting open roles across channels. - Flexible Onboarding
RPO services offer adaptability in hiring processes. Organizations can revise job descriptions and expectations at any stage, ensuring alignment with evolving needs. - Recruitment Process Monitoring
Beyond just hiring, RPO providers deliver detailed reports throughout the recruitment journey. Their tracking and analysis support faster, more informed decision-making. - Legal Compliance
RPO providers are well-versed in employment law, including compensation and benefits. Their global labor law knowledge ensures recruitment remains compliant with relevant regulations. - HR & Management Satisfaction
With RPO support, HR leaders and executives can achieve their goals without overloading internal teams. This enables timely hiring and enhanced productivity. - Recruitment Process Innovation
Partnering with an RPO firm allows organizations to reimagine and streamline their hiring processes. The result is a consistent, efficient system that enhances quality across the board.
What Differentiates RPO from Traditional Recruiting?
Traditional recruiting ends after filling the required positions. However, RPO services go beyond initial staffing. RPO firms continue to work with organizations to manage and improve all activities related to the workforce. RPO services can be a catalyst for business growth and profitability. Essentially, successful implementation of an RPO will reduce time spent, control costs, and ensure governance and scalability, all while ensuring the delivery of top talent to your organization.
What's the ROI?
RPO services help organizations reduce cost-per-hire while improving time management. The ROI is particularly significant in medium to large organizations where profit margins are closely correlated to operational efficiency and time management.
Why Choose The Planet Group for RPO?
At The Planet Group, we provide high-value outsourced global workforce solutions for a wide variety of industries. We pride ourselves in creating enduring and valuable relationships between companies we work for and the talent we recruit for them.
The Planet Group’s Global Workforce Solutions division keeps it simple - we add value and get the job done. We provide market-leading service and deliver commercial business efficiency with a human touch.
With cross-industry expertise, our team can handle all your recruitment processes from start to finish, providing expert insight every step of the way.
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