how can recruitment process outsourcing help build a sustainable workforce?
Ready to shift your recruitment function from transactional to strategic? Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) offers a modular, flexible, and scalable approach to talent acquisition. Learn how RPO drives long-term business value by improving cost-efficiency, enabling rapid response to talent demand, and facilitating access to deep expertise and technology innovation for all your permanent recruitment needs. Learn more about the basics of RPO in Chapter 1 of this playbook.
Companies today face no shortage of challenges: economic and business uncertainty, rapid AI and digital transformation, evolving workforce dynamics and talent demand fluctuations. And while finding the right talent is paramount to overcoming each of these obstacles, ongoing skills scarcity has made that ever more complicated. But it also means that companies have a new opportunity to rethink their processes and refocus their people strategies in a way that drives real business value at every step.
In this dynamic landscape, recruiting must continue to evolve beyond the traditional, transactional process it has been for decades. It’s no longer just about filling open requisitions, but rather hiring with an eye towards agility and long-term value. This means seeking talent who not only have the skills your business needs today, but who also have the ability to collaborate with AI and learn new skills for the future. It means considering candidates for not just the jobs they apply for, but their potential to assume other roles as needed. And it means using talent intelligence to look beyond the traditional sources of talent to identify the people who can truly make a difference.
That may seem like a lot for talent acquisition teams to accomplish — especially at a time of much uncertainty. Add in growing pressure to both operate more cost-efficiently and better respond to spikes and drops in talent demand, and the need to optimize the recruitment function is even stronger. This may be why recruitment process outsourcing enables a focused, modular — yet scalable and flexible — approach across the talent acquisition life cycle.
RPO in 2 minutes
The pace of business is accelerating, making it harder than ever to acquire the niche skills your organization needs for sustained success. It’s now even harder for HR leaders to align talent acquisition with demanding business strategies that change at a moment's notice and hiring targets that shift just as quickly. Recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) delivers a more agile, intelligent way to hire. Watch to find out how RPO can help you turn your talent acquisition function into a strategic driver of growth.
RPO definitions
Following are important terms you’ll need to know when learning more about recruitment process outsourcing.
- applicant tracking system (ATS)
A technology platform that helps employers manage job openings, and process incoming applications and candidate information. -
candidate relationship management system (CRM)
Enables organizations to engage with and manage passive and active talent throughout the entire hiring continuum. With functionalities beyond an ATS, a CRM is the system of record for maintaining an organization’s relationship with all candidate types, including internal, external, referrals, silver medalists and others. -
direct sourcing
The process of identifying and qualifying active and passive candidates through online and other channels using in-house recruiters. -
early careers hiring program
Early careers hiring programs focus on the strategic recruitment of less experienced individuals, including college students, recent graduates and career-switchers. These programs often offer apprenticeships, internships and entry-level roles, with the goal of building a future talent pipeline. Recruitment prioritizes potential, adaptability and cultural add over experience. -
employer brand strategy
The holistic effort of employers to positively present and differentiate their value, culture, and products and services in the eyes of prospective employees. -
internal mobility program
A systematic approach to identifying and redeploying internal talent within the organization based on the career development needs of the talent and those of the business. -
permanent workforce
An employer’s workforce that is on its payroll and does not have a termination date at the outset of employment. -
recruitment process outsourcing (RPO)
An outsourced solution in which a service provider manages a portion or all of a company’s permanent hire recruitment function. -
strategic sourcing
The discipline in which recruiters identify potential candidates through various methods, including sophisticated search practices, online portals, and talent networks and communities. -
talent assessment and identification
The process of screening and assessing the suitability of candidates for a particular role. -
talent intelligence
The gathering and use of business insights and market intelligence to enable HR and other departments to shape workforce management strategies and tactics. -
talent marketing
A strategy that uses marketing disciplines to engage and “sell” roles to active and passive candidates. -
total talent acquisition
A holistic approach that enables an employer to manage both contingent and permanent hires through one model, achieving greater efficiencies and control. - workforce equity
An organization’s approach to ensuring hiring processes and workplace practices offer equal opportunities for people of all backgrounds, experiences and perspectives.
why employers look to RPO
Scalability and flexibility have always been key value propositions attracting RPO adopters, but there are other benefits attracting a variety of employers with different needs. Cost savings, access to expertise, wider talent access, enhanced quality of hires, process efficiencies and workforce management support are all benefits that lead buyers to the contract table for the first time — or the second, third and fourth.
RPO offers distinct advantages including economies of scale, process optimization, deep access to critical talent, talent acquisition technology innovation and advanced talent intelligence. It also facilitates consistent practices across geographies, while driving a positive experience across the talent acquisition life cycle — from sourcing to onboarding, for talent and hiring managers alike.
Other direct hire solutions are typically more costly on a per-hire basis. They are ideal for filling low-volume, niche talent needs, but even when the number of hires reaches a few dozen — especially for niche and hard-to-find skills — an RPO can be more efficient and effective.
how does RPO work?
In its many forms, RPO can solve an array of recruitment challenges. Often first-time buyers are motivated by cost savings, but with more strategic and pressing issues facing talent acquisition leaders, buyers see RPO as a way to drive access to talent, process efficiency, technology fulfillment and talent intelligence. In the current climate, scalability, competition for talent, sector-specific expertise and flexibility have risen to the top among the drivers for RPO adoption or continuation.
New RPO buyers may be struggling with effective or efficient management of internal recruitment resources. While recruitment costs remain a concern for solution buyers, cost efficiency is built into most RPO programs. Many second- and third-generation buyers now look for providers to deliver modular offerings, a more comprehensive talent experience, integrated market and internal workforce data, access to next-generation technology and automation, and other qualitative benefits.
what benefits does RPO deliver?
Under a comprehensive program, an RPO solution may:
- Assess the company's HR technology stack and implement AI-powered, but human-centered solutions to drive speed, uncover hidden talent and personalize talent marketing
- Create a framework for ensuring an equitable and inclusive approach to recruitment
- Provide work planning support
- Advise and execute on employer brand and talent marketing strategies
- Manage all or specifics parts of the requisition process based on the client’s needs
- Take on strategic sourcing and recruitment marketing activities, including internal mobility and early careers programs
- Integrate talent marketing within the broader attraction strategy.
- Create talent pools as part of a direct sourcing strategy
- Manage prescreening and assessment
- Conduct schedule coordination, interviews and selection
- Manage candidate offers and onboarding
- Offer candidate management and hiring manager support
- Conduct HR research
- Manage program performance and talent strategy analytics
- Facilitate internal mobility and redeployment programs
- Provide offboarding and career transition services
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5 questions: will RPO address your recruitment challenges?
- Do you often need to scale recruitment operations up or down quickly based on changing demand or new projects?
- Are you experiencing longer fill times due to requisitions for more scarce skills?
- Have hiring managers expressed concern about the quality of candidates?
- Are you experiencing high turnover rates shortly after hires are onboarded?
- Could you benefit from more robust talent marketing and recruitment technology or talent intelligence expertise?