Recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) is becoming an increasingly popular way for organisations to handle their talent acquisition. However, some common misconceptions persist about how RPO works and the benefits it can provide. In this post, we bust five myths about RPO.
Like with most things, there are pros and cons to using an RPO service to deliver your recruitment needs, however, some of these cons may not actually have as much of a negative impact as some may think.
Reality: RPO is much more than throwing recruiting tasks at an external firm to deal with. A strategic RPO provider essentially serves as an integrated extension of your HR department. They take the time to thoroughly understand your employer brand, culture, and talent needs. From there, they leverage their expertise in candidate attraction, process design, recruitment marketing, candidate assessment, and developing EVPs to build a customised approach to attracting and retaining the best candidates for your unique needs.
A good RPO partner gets involved in the entire talent lifecycle, not just sourcing and screening. They help optimise your application process, revamp job descriptions, elevate your employer brand, identify talent pools, provide interview training, analyse hiring metrics, and much more. The efficiencies and expertise they bring allow HR leaders and their teams to focus on more strategic initiatives.
Reality: Evaluating RPO just on upfront costs is shortsighted. When designed effectively, RPO provides downstream savings that significantly improve your return on investment in recruitment. As RPO aims to improve process efficiency and reduce time-to-fill for jobs, it lowers your cost-per-hire. This results in significant savings in mid- and high-volume recruitment.
Additionally, RPO provides invaluable access to a team of experts and the latest recruitment methodologies and technologies, that in-house teams sometimes struggle to stay abreast of. The flexibility and scalability of RPO allows you to adjust spending based on hiring volume instead of carrying fixed recruitment costs. You’ll find, overall, that RPO delivers notable cost savings and resource optimisation.
Reality: Seasoned RPO providers know that understanding the nuances of your business is critical to creating an effective talent solution. They invest heavily in the onboarding and discovery process to immerse themselves in your employer brand, culture, talent demands, and business goals. This allows them to design truly customised strategies, including specialised assessment techniques and targeted recruitment marketing.
Effective RPO organisations also provide transparency throughout all their processes, metrics, and technology to foster collaboration. Look for providers who emphasise seamless integration and ongoing communication with your team. With mutual trust and transparency, an RPO provider can adapt quickly and deliver results to meet your hiring targets and needs.
Reality: In truth, RPO often improves quality of hire, by leveraging expertise and recruitment best practices, with knowledge and experience gained by an RPO organisation across countless clients and industries. Rather than generalist approaches, RPOs create targeted recruitment pipelines optimised to find candidates, with the right skill sets, who will fit into your organisation and culture.
Their ability to tap into both active and passive talent pools allows access to candidates you might overlook. Advanced assessment techniques also help them screen for skills, cultural fit and potential, beyond just qualifications. Plus, effective RPO analytics help identify any issues, so they can continuously refine their recruitment activities, finding great quality candidates and deliver a great ROI for your organisation.
Reality: If an RPO engagement is set up within a rigid structure or doesn’t include a comprehensive induction programme, it is very likely to fail. This is not an inherent flaw in the RPO model, just a lack of experience. A competent RPO organisation understands the need for ongoing flexibility and collaboration, right from the start of the project. Dynamic check-ins and open communication channels also allow adjustments to strategy as your needs change.
There are also a variety of RPO models which are offered, such as End-To-End, Project and On-Demand, which offer your organisation different levels of flexibility and scalability. With a foundation of transparency and trust, your RPO provider is able to provide the agility missing from most typical recruitment models.
We hope by debunking these common myths we’ve helped assure you that the many RPO benefits outweigh any adjustments you need to make.
Omni offers bespoke RPO solutions and support to your teams to help achieve your hiring goals. We also offer expertise in workforce planning, inclusive hiring and several training programmes, developed specifically for hiring managers and talent acquisition teams.
Click here to find out more about our RPO solutions (and other services) in our Omni Services Overview, or contact us for an informal discussion on how a RPO solution could support your hiring objectives and talent acquisition needs.
T: 0161 929 4343
E: insights@omnirms.com
RPO, or Recruitment Process Outsourcing, is a strategic approach to talent acquisition where organisations outsource some or all of their recruitment processes to an external provider.
In traditional hiring, organisations typically manage recruitment processes in-house, from sourcing candidates to onboarding. This often requires significant time, resources, and expertise from internal HR teams or hiring managers. However, traditional hiring methods can sometimes struggle to keep pace with changing talent demands, especially in industries facing skill shortages or rapid growth.
RPO offers a holistic and strategic approach to talent acquisition. RPO providers like Omni act as an extension of an organisations brand, assuming responsibility for recruitment activities such as candidate attraction, sourcing, screening, assessment, and even onboarding. By outsourcing these functions to specialised experts, organisations can benefit from industry knowledge, resources, and technology to give access to the best talent at pace.
One of the key differences between RPO and traditional hiring lies in the level of specialisation and scalability offered by recruitment RPO providers. RPO partners often have dedicated teams of recruiters who specialise in specific industries or skill sets, allowing them to access niche talent pools and identify high-quality candidates more efficiently. Additionally, RPO solutions are highly scalable, meaning they can quickly adapt to fluctuating hiring needs, whether it’s scaling up recruitment efforts during peak periods or adjusting to changing market conditions.
Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) can significantly enhance your Talent Acquisition strategy by providing specialised expertise, scalability, and strategic partnership. Here’s how:
Specialised Expertise: RPO providers have dedicated teams of recruiters who specialise in various industries, roles, and skill sets. These experts possess in-depth knowledge of the labour market, industry trends, and sourcing techniques, allowing them to identify and attract high-quality candidates efficiently. By leveraging their specialised expertise, RPO partners, like Omni, can access niche talent pools and ensure high-quality people for your organisation.
Scalability: One of the key advantages of recruitment RPO is its scalability. RPO providers can quickly scale recruitment efforts up or down based on your organisation’s hiring needs. Whether you’re experiencing rapid growth, seasonal fluctuations, or project-based hiring spikes, RPO can adapt to accommodate your changing requirements. This flexibility ensures that you have the right resources in place to meet demand without overburdening your internal HR team or sacrificing recruitment quality.
Cost-Effectiveness: RPO recruitment can offer cost savings when compared to traditional hiring methods. While there may be an initial investment in outsourcing recruitment to an RPO partner, the long-term benefits often outweigh the costs. RPO can help reduce time-to-fill, cost-per-hire, and turnover rates, resulting in overall cost savings for your organisation.
Strategic Partnership: RPO goes beyond transactional recruiting by forging a strategic partnership between the RPO partner, like Omni, and your organisation. At Omni, we become an extension of your employer brand and we work closely to understand business objectives, culture, and talent requirements. This collaborative approach allows RPOs to tailor recruitment strategies that align with your organisation’s goals. By working as an extension of your HR team, RPO providers can provide valuable insights, leading practices, and innovative solutions to help achieve talent acquisition objectives.
Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) is a strategic approach to talent acquisition where organisations outsource some or all of their recruitment processes to an external provider, like Omni. The partner is known as the RPO provider and assumes responsibility for various aspects of the recruitment process, including candidate attraction, candidate sourcing, screening, assessments, interview coordination and onboarding.
Recruitment RPO is about leveraging specialised expertise, technology, and resources to streamline the recruitment process and improve hiring outcomes. Rather than relying solely on internal HR teams or traditional recruitment agencies, organisations partner with RPO providers to access a broader range of talent to enhance efficiency and drive better results.
The specific services offered by RPO providers can vary depending on the needs and preferences of the organisation. That’s the beauty of RPO. Some organisations may opt for end-to-end RPO, where the RPO provider manages the entire recruitment process from start to finish. Others may choose to outsource specific elements of the recruitment process, such as candidate sourcing or interview scheduling, while retaining other aspects.
There are several key advantages:
Access to Specialised Expertise: RPO providers have dedicated teams of recruiters who specialise in various industries, roles, and skill sets. This expertise allows them to identify and attract high-calibre talent more efficiently than internal HR teams or traditional recruitment agencies.
Scalability: RPO recruitment solutions are highly scalable, meaning they can quickly adapt to fluctuating hiring needs. Whether your organisation is experiencing rapid growth, seasonal fluctuations, or project-based hiring spikes, RPO can flexibly adjust to accommodate your changing requirements.
Cost Savings: RPO can offer cost savings compared to traditional hiring methods. By outsourcing recruitment processes to an external provider, organisations can reduce time-to-fill, cost-per-hire, and turnover rates, resulting in overall cost savings for the business.
Strategic Partnership: RPO recruitment goes beyond transactional recruiting by fostering a strategic partnership between the RPO provider and the organisation. At Omni, we work closely with our organisations to understand their organisation’s objectives, culture, and talent requirements, allowing us to tailor recruitment strategies that align with the organisation’s goals and values.
