Doug Douglas

I will be leading a RPO Virtual Conference on July 18 for HR.com on this topic. I hope you'll join me! If you can't, and you have comments or questions, please feel free to contact me.

RPO – Enlighten Me
Recruitment Process Outsourcing. This phrase burst onto the recruiting scene in the past 10 years or so, but the concept of it has been around for much longer. RPO is when a company will outsource all or part of their recruitment needs to another company who specializes in locating, qualifying, and delivering candidates for the hiring company to consider. RPO packages can vary from one engagement to another. One engagement could outsource every position to the RPO provider, while another could work only with a division or geographic region or skill set.

A solid RPO provider should have a variety of tools in their chest to accommodate a customized solution to the company’s needs: sourcing, screening, testing/assessments, pre-hire screenings (background, drug, MVR, reference, employment, etc.), offer negotiations, onboarding assistance, recruiting technologies and metrics, even interview training for managers.

Seven Steps to Success
The benefits of a RPO engagement to an organization will vary based on uniqueness of each company and its current situation, but there are seven results of successful RPO engagements that typically are present regardless of the company:
1. Reduced attrition levels
2. Reduced costs per hire
3. Reduced time to fill
4. EEO compliance standards met
5. Quality of hires increased
6. Standardized recruitment process established – ultimately improving the company brand
7. Accurate metrics to help measure success

RPO Cha-Ching
RPO, on average, saves companies 50% when compared to contingency search fees. Even if a company is not using contingency recruiters, cost saving opportunities are still present. The RPO provider should be well established in various industries and know where to find more qualified candidates. When you combine this with the recruiting expertise, stellar processes, technologies, RPO providers should simply perform better.

Even if you don’t use contingency recruiters, there are other significant costs associated with the search for a new employee that most companies do not track:
• Job postings costs
• Recruiter costs
• Lost productivity costs
• Training costs
• Pre-hire Screening costs
• Hiring manager lost productivity because of interviews
• Trainee doing a role instead of a veteran
• Lost sales opportunities dues to being understaffed
• Mistake costs
• Unemployment benefits
• Lowered employee morale
One thing is for certain, it costs you far more than a job posting on Craigslist or Monster for every opening your company experiences!

RPO Improves You Brand
In the hiring process, your company is not the only ones involved in the evaluation process – candidates are evaluating you too. It only hurts your company when a candidate applies for a position only to never hear from anyone inside your organization. It hurts when timely feedback is not provided after a phone interview. It hurts when they take the time to prepare for an interview, only to wait for weeks to hear if they were selected.

RPO providers should be building into their processes opportunities for the candidates to be reassured and valued. When your company values them enough to keep them posted through this stressful time in their life – IT POWERS YOUR BRAND!

Selecting a RPO Provider
There are many options out there for you to choose from. Here are some things that I would suggest you look for when deciding who will serve your company:
• Do they have a track record of success? Can they easily share stories of dramatic situations where their RPO made a difference?
• Will they customize a solution to your unique needs? Many of the larger RPO companies come in and say, “Here’s our offering.” and you have to adjust to their model. Look for a provider who wants to hear more about you, understand your challenges, understand what is working well, and then comes back with something that addresses everything.
• Who will you interact with? You need to feel good about your point of contact and the team involved in delivery. What is their track record? How do the personalities mesh? Can you count on them to do what they say they will do? Will you be getting a partner or a vendor?