Hiring an RPO Firm? Read These Expert Opinions First
Welcome to Recruiter Q&A, where we pose employment-related questions to the experts and share their answers! Have a question you’d like to ask? Leave it in the comments, and you might just see it in the next installment of Recruiter Q&A!
The first thing employers should understand before engaging an RPO provider is that RPOs are not staffing agencies. Instead, they recruit as your brand and act as extensions of your talent acquisition function. In order to get the most of out of an outsourcing engagement, HR executives can and should work in close partnership with RPOs to improve overall recruitment processes and gain efficiencies.
RPOs can use a mix of data analytics and benchmarking processes to help companies understand their recruitment needs, identify areas for improvement, and execute on the changes needed. As we’ve seen, there are many factors that influence candidates’ decisions that go well beyond the basics of area, role, or compensation. For example, a company’s branding can play a major role in a candidate’s interest in a job, even when it comes to contingent work.
RPOs can employ a variety of technologies to streamline the recruitment process and enhance the candidate experience, including mobile applications, online scheduling and interviewing, and job guides. Employers should look at working with RPOs not only as opportunities to fill vacancies, but also as chances to engage with experienced partners in workforce planning and recruitment innovation.
2. & 3. Consider Your Size and Industry Before Engaging With an RPO
Currently, I do not need to outsource my recruitment process because my company size is still in the growth stage. However, bigger companies may need to outsource the recruitment process because if they find they need to hire more people, but have limited resources to carry out the hiring on their own.
Another major factor when deciding whether RPO is for you is your industry. At my old company, many of our employees worked remotely, so meeting in person was not necessarily important. That meant RPO was a good choice. However, in my new company, which operates in the education industry, it is important that the people we hire have not only the skills necessary to do the work, but also the personality. RPO makes less sense in this kind of situation.
