A Deep Dive into The Impact of Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) on Talent Acquisition

Allied OneSource • July 17, 2024

Companies are always looking for new ways to improve and stay competitive. One crucial area that is changing is the hiring process. Traditional recruitment methods can be inefficient, costly, and fail to attract the right candidates. The rise of RPO is revolutionizing how to find and hire candidates by providing targeted recruitment solutions. 


As we delve deeper, we'll explore how RPO transforms recruitment and why it's becoming a popular choice for companies looking to improve their talent acquisition strategies. 



Why Should You Outsource Your Recruitment?


Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) has many benefits for employers. An RPO Value and Insights Study highlighted the advantages of working with an RPO provider. The study found that employers using RPO services experienced:¹


  • 96 percent improved their hiring metrics 
  • 58 percent reduced their time to hire 
  • 51 percent increased their hiring consistency 
  • 43 percent made higher quality hires 
  • 42 percent lowered their hiring costs 

 


When a company delegated its recruitment processes to an external talent solutions partner, it gained from their expertise and years of successful recruitment experience. RPO providers specialize in talent acquisition, combining skilled individuals, advanced technologies, and efficient processes to find and hire the best candidates according to the client's requirements. 


Also, through recruitment outsourcing, companies can scale their hiring teams according to fluctuating demand. This creates partnerships between employers and RPO providers that lead to successful outcomes by ensuring the right resources are available when needed. 


Read More: What is Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) and Why Is Everybody Doing It? 



How RPO Transforms Talent Acquisition


Now that you understand what recruitment process outsourcing is, you might wonder why organizations outsource their recruitment process. RPOs have handled all sorts of hiring campaigns. If you need assistance with a specific function or full-cycle recruiting, RPO offers benefits such as: 


Read More: 8 Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) Trends to Watch Out for in 2024 



Cut Down on Costs


Every day a position remains vacant, your organization experiences a loss of productivity, which can impact revenue and profits. Inefficient recruitment processes waste time and resources, while hiring the wrong person means spending more time and money to find a replacement. 


But with a workforce partner, it can increase your return on investment in recruiting and generate significant cost savings. It can save your organization up to 40 percent by filling positions faster, hiring better candidates, and keeping employees longer.² These savings come from working more efficiently, cutting administrative expenses, and using resources wisely. 



Hire Top-Quality Talent Faster


As skill shortages and the search for quality candidates become tougher, having an RPO team that actively searches for specialized skills can speed up hiring and improve candidate sourcing. Workforce providers use their extensive networks and effective screening tools to find better candidates and diverse talent pools. This keeps hiring managers satisfied and helps your organization meet its objectives. 



Flexibility and Scalability


A top RPO provider should adjust to your needs. Your organization can increase or decrease the workload for your RPO provider to meet your recruitment cost-per-hire goals and budget. When you need more talent, your provider can quickly add more dedicated recruiters to handle the workload. 

Similarly, when demand decreases, you can reduce the team size, saving you money on recruitment and preventing layoffs in your talent acquisition team. 



Tap into Additional Expertise


Teaming up with an RPO solution means you get talent acquisition expertise without building internal resources. Workforce services partners have extensive experience working with various clients, industries, job types, and regions. 

Along with recruitment sourcing best practices, they provide extra services to enhance and simplify each staffing process step, including employer branding, recruitment marketing, skills assessment, market insights, specialized sourcing solutions, and more. 



Boost Diversity and Inclusion


With experience from various client projects, RPO teams are familiar with different ways to engage candidates. They can help you explore new job boards, social media groups, online forums, and events to reach a more diverse pool of candidates. 

RPOs understand the regional differences in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) issues. For instance, in countries like Poland, it's illegal to inquire about candidates' ethnicity or gender. 



Planning for Your Workforce


Workforce providers provide labor market insights, talent intelligence, and benchmarking data. Access to this information gives you the data to support your workforce strategy and business decisions. You can use the latest market analysis, thought leadership and competitive intelligence to shape your talent strategy. 

Your provider can also help with workforce planning by providing analytics to help you understand the most effective strategies, enabling you to maximize your ROI. 



Global Accessibility


Major organizations are now adopting a broader perspective on talent and aiming to standardize practices across regions. Choosing a single partner for multi-country RPO streamlines processes, saving resources and time while improving the quality of hires. A workforce service provider can be an ally in global expansion, leveraging their extensive knowledge and experience from working with clients worldwide. 



Making the Call: Knowing When It's Right for Your Business


Let’s explore why organizations often turn to RPO providers and when RPO might not be the ideal solution. 


Reasons for choosing an RPO provider: 


  • If your company needs quicker, more flexible recruiting processes. 
  • If you want to attract better candidates or have trouble finding the right talent. 
  • If you're seeking a more affordable and consistent recruiting approach. 
  • If your current recruitment technology isn't meeting your needs and you want digital upgrades tailored to your goals. 
  • If you aim to enhance diversity hiring and need assistance finding new talent sources and strategies. 

 


When it might not be the right time to use an RPO provider: 


  • If your company isn't prepared to outsource talent recruitment due to its culture. 
  • If you only require a vendor to quickly fill a couple of positions instead of a partner to assist your talent acquisition strategy. 
  • If your organization isn't willing to improve its recruiting processes and technology stack. 

 


Keep in mind, these reasons aren't fixed rules. Only you and your organization can decide if you need the services of an RPO partner. Your provider should tailor their strategic solution to fit your needs and provide flexible options to support peak hiring, hard-to-fill positions, tight deadlines, and more—whatever works best for you. 



Guide to Choosing the Right RPO Company


If you've determined that RPO suits your organization, you might be pondering how to select the ideal provider. Here are two essential considerations to make sure that RPO becomes a game-changer for your business. 



Choose the right partner.


The
best recruitment process outsourcing partners recognize that every company is different. Search for an RPO partner who is collaborative, willing to listen to your ideas, and genuinely understands your business and challenges. They should have in-depth knowledge of your industry's talent pools, competitive landscape, and any specific regulations or considerations that impact hiring. Avoid service providers who offer a standard solution for everyone. The perfect partner combines consistency with tailored solutions. 



Acquiring technological solutions.


HR technology is advancing rapidly, and RPO partners are well-equipped to offer guidance on utilizing tools such as AI and analytics to enhance the recruitment process. Your provider should possess expertise in talent technology. Some even have their own special talent acquisition platforms. Find an RPO partner who will
help you use your existing tools and add new ones as your needs evolve.


 

Ensure transparency and measurable results.


A respected provider should provide complete transparency into its processes, metrics, and performance. Look for one willing to set clear, measurable goals aligned with your business objectives and report on its progress regularly. They should have robust analytics and reporting capabilities to measure key performance indicators (KPIs) including time-to-fill, cost-per-hire, candidate satisfaction, diversity hiring, and more. 


This level of transparency and accountability ensures you can evaluate the RPO's effectiveness and return on investment.

 


DISCOVER HOW RPO CAN CHANGE THE WAY YOU HIRE WITH ALLIED ONESOURCE 


Allied OneSource
offers comprehensive RPO solutions to help you find the best people to help your organization thrive. We keep it simple: we listen to your needs, understand your goals, and create a flexible hiring plan that grows with your business. 

Don't let outdated recruitment methods slow you down. With Allied OneSource, you can: 


  • Speed up your hiring process 
  • Reduce recruitment costs 
  • Find high-quality candidates faster 

 


Contact us today to learn more about our solutions and how we can help you transform your staffing strategy. Don't wait—start improving your recruitment process now with Allied OneSource! 



References: 


  1. Abourahma, Lamees. “New Infographic: Breakthrough Shifts in RPO Relationships.” Blog.rpoassociation.org, blog.rpoassociation.org/rpo-market-report/new-infographic-breakthrough-shifts-in-recruitment-process-outsourcing-relationships
  2. Admin, L. S. “Unlocking Cost-Saving Benefits with Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO).” Www.leaderstat.com, www.leaderstat.com/knowledge-base/unlocking-cost-saving-benefits-with-recruitment-process-outsourcing-rpo


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