The latest 2022 CIPD Resourcing and Talent Planning Survey, produced in partnership with Omni, revealed that 77% of employers who attempted to recruit had difficulties attracting suitable candidates, with 70% believing competition for well-qualified talent has increased.  

The pandemic and current extreme economic conditions changed the market dramatically, with job-to-job moves reaching new heights, as people explore alternative opportunities and prioritise balancing their home books and want the post pandemic work-life balance. Furthermore, considerable skill and talent gaps mean talent acquisition and retention has become even more challenging for organisations across multiple sectors.  

As a result, employers are investing more into talent strategies to secure the skills they need when they need them. With competition fierce, organisations are increasingly seeking support from external recruitment agencies at higher than ever costs to address potential skills gaps as quickly as possible. While often effective, without proper planning and budget management, the costs associated with this can quickly spiral.

With recruitment agencies typically charging between 20-30% of the base annual salary, any unexpected volume and high-skilled or senior appointments may see costs escalate further.  

 

Where can RPO or MSP support?  

Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) and Managed Service Provider (MSP) is proven to reduce overall recruitment costs in several ways. Fundamentally, they enable organisations to improve their ability to recruit directly, consolidate suppliers and, in doing so, reduce reliance on more expensive recruitment agencies. Outsourcing RPO / MSP also provides great flexibility. Whilst sometimes misconstrued as an all of nothing solution, in practice organisations can opt for an end-to-end, project or on-demand RPO service. The final solution should be built around the scope of engagement, so organisations have the right service, and cost visibility, enabling them to create a budget, track spend and easily forecast future hiring needs. 

In addition, outsourcing can save organisations money through:  

 

Reducing time spent by hiring managers  

Each stage of the hiring process generates costs through the time and resources required to shortlist, screen and onboard talent. 

Outsourcing providers reduce this cost by working as an extension of an internal team, solely focused on hiring the best talent. They have extensive experience hiring for organisations across multiple sectors and know precisely what it takes to source and screen the right talent in a competitive market. Utilising proven recruitment and assessment processes, providers grant access to a broad pool of qualified candidates who not only meet skill and experience requirements, but also align to an organisation’s values and behaviours. This means that hiring managers should only be involved when there is a decision to be made on who to appoint. 

 

Reduced risk  

The current 2022 cost of living crisis reinforced the need for organisations to remain agile in the face of uncertainty and market fluctuations. Engaging an RPO or MSP provider means organisations don’t need to pay for internal personnel when recruiting needs decline. More importantly, employers are not faced with the prospect of making redundancies during a downturn, as an RPO takes on the responsibility of adjusting resource levels. An MSP can manage the agility of your contingent workforce to supplement any permanent gaps. In turn, they enable organisations to respond quickly to upturn without the need to increase headcount. 

 

Reduced marketing and tech spend 

Through an RPO, organisations save on advertising and job board fees and any costs associated with the screening stages. There is no requirement to invest in potentially expensive recruitment technology, as an RPO provider will utilise the latest tools and platforms. 

Furthermore, organisations have access to valuable insights into how their employer brand is perceived externally, as well as salary benchmarking data to ensure roles are competitively pitched to secure the best talent. 

 

Streamlined processes  

Inefficient hiring processes, whether through unnecessary admin, disparate departments or a lack of resources, can severely impact time-to-hire, generate higher operational costs and ultimately result in organisations missing out on the skills they need.  

Engaging an MSP helps organisations evaluate and revamp the recruitment lifecycle by rectifying inefficient practices and areas that generate high costs.  

 

Finding the support you need  

As a resourcing transformation specialist, Omni’s outsourced services help organisations improve their resourcing effectiveness. We do this through a combination of tackling Process, Tech, Cost and People related challenges – examples being developing and nurturing talent pipelines, developing EDI attraction campaigns, designing assessment processes to aid retention or providing detailed market intelligence to inform talent management strategies. This is achieved whilst delivering significant cost reductions, reducing agency fees and working collaboratively to ensure organisations stand out as destination employers.

From a short-term project to a long-term strategic partnership, Omni embeds into your organisation, sitting behind your brand and working in collaboration to change the way you resource for the better. Contact our team today to learn more about the benefits of Omni’s flexible range of RPO and MSP solutions.