RPO: A Tool in the Talent Procurement Toolbox

What is recruitment process outsourcing (RPO)?

A term that means different things to different people, RPO can be defined many ways. RPO can involve replacing a company's entire recruitment function end-to-end, or can be as simple as having a vendor help fill a single position. Regardless of the varying definitions of RPO, one idea remains consistent - RPO is recruitment support and should be a tool in your company's talent procurement toolbox.

At some point in time, every company is faced with a difficult recruitment initiative. It may be an individual position that is tough to fill, a team that must be rapidly built and deployed, or a variety of other situations that call for outside recruitment support. Since these out-of-the-ordinary recruitment needs can occur suddenly, companies should be prepared when one arises.

What does RPO offer that internal recruitment may lack? RPO provides best-in-class recruitment expertise, including strategy, software, sourcing tools, technology and market knowledge. Additionally, the on-demand nature of RPO presents recruitment departments with flexibility. If used appropriately, RPO can be an extremely effective and efficient solution for addressing recruitment needs.

One of the best and most successful uses of RPO is project staffing. Typically, day-to-day recruitment needs can be handled internally. However, an RPO vendor enables companies to use a scalable, cost-effective solution for more challenging hiring needs.

For example, a fast-growing company needed to quickly fill 45 positions in order to properly serve several expanding client engagements. Otherwise, the company was fearful that within two months it would suffer significant client loss. Its HR department elected to outsource recruitment for this project to HRworks in order to ensure that the hiring process could be expedited. Had the company used internal recruiters to search for candidates, it is likely that candidate quality would have been compromised in the quest to fill the large number of open positions. Happily, all positions were filled on time and with no sacrifice in quality.

By having a recruitment solution that can be turned on and off, companies can develop a strong partnership with a third party recruitment vendor. An RPO firm that is familiar with its business can consistently assist a company by quickly ramping up to deliver candidates on demand.

To learn more about HRworks' RPO solutions, please click here.