Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) is when a company uses third-party services to handle the Recruitment function as a whole or partially. With the help of RPO, you can get experts to take care of sourcing, screening, hiring or onboarding of talents while focusing on the core business areas. 

Such recruitment solutions make use of talent analytics, recruitment technology and effective sourcing strategies to make sure you get the best candidates. Engaging the services of an RPO provider can bring down the hiring time by 40% and cost savings by up to 50%.¹
The external recruitment specialists take into account your requirements, company goals and all other recruitment challenges you may be facing before zeroing in on the right resource.

Research shows that around 43% of top companies are likely to partner with an RPO provider and that they see it as a strategic partnership for talent acquisition.² The RPO solution can give your company a competitive edge if implemented in the right manner.

When the recruiting and hiring process is seamless, you can ensure that the right people are in the right position. This creates a work culture and environment that is conducive to growth. In this way, your company is better poised for success.

Different Types of RPO models

Companies usually decide to opt for RPO when they are met with challenges like a sudden rise in recruitment demand, the technical complexity of roles, lack of geographical coverage or performance issues within the internal recruitment team. The key thing to understand is that recruitment process outsourcing is not a one-size-fits-all hiring solution. 

There are various RPO models that you can consider. The particular RPO Model that you decide to go with should be in line with the needs of your company. Let’s look at some of the most popularly seen RPO models out there:

• On-demand model: used to meet the immediate hiring needs of a company. Companies can save a lot of money and time when they entrust this with an RPO provider that is already familiar with the company processes.
  
• Function or project-based model: when the hiring is outsourced for a particular division or for a new project. This end-to-end approach can be specifically used for a new product launch or the opening of a new branch.
  
• Full RPO model: when the RPO acts like an internal recruiting team and takes care of all the hiring decisions, processes or strategies.
• Selective RPO model – In this model, only specific components of your internal recruitment process will be effectively taken care of by the RPO provider say just sourcing, screening or candidate management.

What do RPO services include?

Under recruitment process outsourcing, the scope of services can vary according to the needs of your company and as per the RPO model that you choose to go with. Some of the services can include:

• Workforce Planning
• Strategic Sourcing
• Pre-employment Screening
• Talent Engagement
• Candidate Management
• Recruitment Analytics Support
• Compliance 
• Risk Management

Benefits of RPO

By choosing the recruitment process outsourcing, the internal HR department at your firm can be free of some responsibilities and utilize the time for other critical tasks. When you are able to fill open positions faster with the help of RPO services, this can also greatly reduce the number of HR resources spent on sourcing candidates. RPO providers are measured based on time to hire, cost of hire and quality of hire. A plethora of benefits are there for RPO services and these could have a direct bearing on your company’s bottom line as well. Here are some of the top benefits of engaging RPO solution providers;

• Improved Candidate Quality: recruitment agents follow their own set of processes to make a decision on the candidates that could be the right fit for your company. This is not just based on experience and education.
  
• Cost Savings: the recruiting costs along with average costs per hire can be significantly reduced by engaging an RPO
  
• Time-Saving: RPO reduces the time to hire by 40% and this, in turn, reduces the organization’s lost productivity when many open positions remain to be filled.
  
• Consistency & Predictability of Process: you will not risk losing good candidates when they are left in the dark without consistent updates. They are always well informed as to where they stand in the recruiting process.
  
• Access to talent pools: experienced recruiters can help leverage untapped sourcing channels or networks to access additional candidates and even have access to candidates with niche skill sets.
  
• Better Scalability: opting for RPO can help with the changing needs of your company making it easier to scale up with and ensuring that talent acquisition is up to speed.
  
• Reporting Transparency: regular reporting on key performance indicators (KPIs)
  and service level agreements (SLAs) can make it easier to measure and track performance. This can help to identify process improvements and have a better idea of future hiring needs.
  

Is RPO right for your organization?

Though initially RPO in recruitment was preferred only by large organizations, it has today evolved into a flexible strategic talent acquisition solution for small and medium-sized organizations as well. Your company’s permanent workforce hiring function can be partly or wholly taken care of by an RPO. Especially in scenarios where you need to find and identify talents fast to meet business requirements. 

RPO solutions can also be used to support new business initiatives and short-term projects such as product launches or pilot projects or additional demands of new projects.

At Alp Consulting we can customize your RPO model with a specific set of services to directly address your company’s goals, requirements and recruiting challenges. Our HR team brings along a massive pool of talent through our database and networking to improve talent flow in your organization. Our RPO solutions are flexible and designed by our highly experienced HR experts. You can choose to deploy our services at any capacity within a specific department or division.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is the purpose of an RPO?

The purpose of RPO in recruitment is to effectively streamline the recruitment function of your company. RPO service providers have the expertise to offer you the best people and make your job simpler. By engaging an RPO, your internal HR team can focus on other core HR duties and not worry about the nuances of talent acquisition. 

2. How does an RPO work?

The recruitment outsourcing process makes use of dedicated recruiters, the latest technology stack, and best practice hiring processes to enhance your organization’s talent acquisition function. They handle all the major steps of the recruitment process from forecasting to sourcing, assessing, placing, on-boarding, and reporting. The clearly defined processes and deep specialization that RPO solutions bring to the table promise you a higher return on investment.

3. What is RPO and MSP recruitment?

RPO and MSP are two models of the recruitment process that your company could use to transform the hiring function. With RPO in recruitment, your company’s hiring process is partly or wholly handled by an external team.  They act as an extension of your organization and take care of the hiring process while communicating to your internal HR team throughout the process.  

The RPO process can be customized to your company’s requirements. MSP offers similar services and they also act as an external branch to your company. The major difference is that an MSP focuses on temporary workers like contractors, freelancers, etc.  

4. What is the difference between RPO and staffing?

The RPO partner understands your unique business needs and identifies the right candidates for the job at hand. Staffing agencies can be involved with multiple companies at the same time.

RPO is the better option for the long term. Whereas traditional staffing services focus on identifying candidates for specific positions as and when required. This is the preferred approach in the case of quick staffing needs. A long-term partnership model with an RPO gives you a better understanding of your recruitment strategy and you can zero in on the inefficiencies inside the process. 

With traditional staffing providers, the ownership of the recruitment process will be with your company. But with RPO services, the complete responsibility and ownership of all staffing and recruitment activities will be with them.

5. What are the advantages of RPO?

• Get an agile workforce planning with helpful market insights and talent analytics.
• Identify the right talent faster.
• Reduce hiring costs by 50%.
• Build a diverse workforce that celebrates inclusivity.
• Better access to talent pools for niche and in-demand skills.
• Access to specialized recruitment strategies.
• Compliant hiring practices.
• Access to the latest technological infrastructure 

6. How do I determine the right RPO recruitment solution?
   

For a successful business strategy that ensures collaboration, innovation and growth it is crucial that you make a well-informed decision with regard to choosing the right RPO model. 

There are some key considerations that can help you with the final decision.

• A good understanding of your hiring volume is the first step and you also need to be prepared if there is a likelihood of this increasing in the future. 
• The RPO model you decide to go with should be one that best supports your company’s unique needs.
• When demands keep fluctuating it is always wiser to go with external recruitment services. The RPO solution provider needs to act like an extension of your in-house team, keep implementing compliant practices to enhance your hiring function and offer a solid candidate experience. 
• Consider different value-added recruiting functions that your company might require. RPO can offer many services from sourcing and screening, candidate management, employer branding, diversity and inclusion, and technology strategy to talent analytics. 
• The other key determining factor is the investment or costing-related details.

7. What are the costs of RPO?

The costs of RPO are usually determined based on factors like hiring volume, the scope of work, the ancillary services location, position requirements, timing or resource requirements. 

The rates of recruitment process outsourcing are usually based on monthly management and placement. In the case of an end-to-end solution, a baseline cost can be fixed for a minimum volume of hires. For the on-demand RPO model, a set fee will be levied for each candidate who is successfully brought through them and hired.

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¹https://www.jcsi.net/project-rpo-the-future-of-outsourced-talent-acquisition/
²https://www.aberdeen.com/blog-posts/recruitment-process-outsourcing-the-best-in-class-secret-to-talent-acquisition/

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