RPO case study: major consulting firm overcomes competition, fills key auditor roles with untapped talent.
Sourcing candidates in Malaysia empowers company to hire right-fit auditor talent at a lower cost
client
a management consulting serviceschallenges
Facing greater competition when sourcing auditors from its typical talent pools in the U.K. and South Africa, the company needed a new, cost-effective way to find qualified candidates.solution
A recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) program, supported by talent intelligence, identified Malaysia as an alternate, untapped talent market. This helped the company source highly qualified auditors with a cost-effective strategy.key results
The company achieved success in sourcing high-quality talent from Malaysia, with 87% of candidates sourced invited to interview, 65% of interviewed candidates receiving offers, and an 83% offer acceptance rate.
a reliable talent pool dries up
In today’s ultra-competitive hiring landscape, recruiting top talent before the competition does is key to a successful recruiting strategy. But what happens when you and your competitors all source from the same talent pool?
That was the challenge this management consulting services company faced as it aimed to increase hiring for its auditor positions in the United Kingdom. With limited candidates in the U.K. itself, the company has long relied on sourcing talent from South Africa. But with its main competitors also tapping into the South African CA (SA) candidate pool, recruiting became highly competitive and costly, while making it difficult to stand out.
The company needed a contingency plan backed by data and talent intelligence. In particular, it sought a new market from which to source qualified candidates, diversify its talent pools and achieve a more cost-effective and streamlined recruiting process.
exploring untapped markets
As the company already partners with Randstad Sourceright on recruitment process outsourcing (RPO), it leveraged the provider’s global sourcing expertise to help address this challenge. With access to Randstad Sourceright’s talent intelligence and talent advisory teams, the company gained insights about different markets around the world that could be potential sources for qualified auditors.
Based on the findings and analysis, Randstad Sourceright uncovered Malaysia as the best alternative option from which to source talent. The country was selected due to its high supply of suitable talent for senior associate auditor positions, as well as low demand and compensation rates within budget.
The company set up a campaign to source, engage and screen candidates from Malaysia using LinkedIn, local talent databases and talent intelligence to identify top talent. Following comprehensive screenings by the local Randstad Malaysia team and virtually by the company’s U.K. sourcing team, candidates were advanced to the next round. The hiring managers then traveled to Malaysia to interview those top candidates in person.
Full transparency and openness throughout the process has enabled all parties — the company and its Randstad partners in the U.K. and Malaysia — to collaborate and ensure the best candidates are identified and advanced. While assuming roles in London is often the most attractive to international candidates, the program also helped to attract candidates from Malaysia to opportunities in other neighboring British cities like Edinburgh, Leeds, Glasgow, Manchester and Birmingham. Not only does this deliver top talent to the company’s regional offices, but also helps to improve diversity at those locations.
The RPO also provides additional candidate care to help support the relocation and onboarding of those hired.
a reliable, new source of talent
In taking an outside-the-box approach to find new sources of talent, the company developed a reliable new channel from which to source high-quality candidates and help model for future demand. Although there was some uncertainty in being the first accounting firm to launch this kind of international campaign in Malaysia, the company was delighted with the quality of professionals from this untapped market.
During the campaign, the company conducted interviews and extended offers to 65% of candidates, meeting interview-to-offer goals. Overall, 83% of candidates accepted their offers. One-third of those individuals will work in the London office, and the others will fill crucial roles at regional offices across the United Kingdom.
The feedback from candidates has been positive, as they found the hiring process transparent and appreciate the candidate care program and relocation support.
Meanwhile, hiring managers are impressed with the quality of hires they’ve sourced and secured. Most importantly, the company now has a proven international recruitment model in a new market that increases access to top talent and decreases risk and cost.