A complete guide to Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO)

In today’s uncertain economy, HR professionals are facing a tougher-than-ever talent market. As hiring fluctuates, businesses are necessarily downsizing their talent acquisition teams, only to be met with a sudden need to rapidly assemble a larger talent function. What’s more, a global talent shortage is making the right candidates harder to find.

Now more than ever, organizations need to do more with less. They need a more strategic, more holistic, and more innovative approach to recruiting and retaining talent. They also must be agile in their own teams – ready to scale up or down when the market demands it.

Thankfully, this is not a challenge that organizations need to tackle alone. A recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) partner can help to supercharge your talent acquisition processes and optimize your hiring power in an increasingly competitive market.

But exactly how does the recruitment process outsourcing work? What is the difference between RPO and in house recruitment? What about the different types of RPO models, best practices in RPO, and the benefits of working with an RPO partner?

This guide to RPO covers all this and more.

What is Recruitment Process Outsourcing?

Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) is a form of outsourcing in which an employer transfers part or all or part of its recruitment processes to a third-party provider. To complement your RPO strategy with Managed Service Provider (MSP) solutions, explore our options.

• RPO services provides assistance with:
• Advertising roles
• Resume screening
• Candidate sourcing
• Candidate interview
• Candidate hiring

An RPO partner may be responsible for managing your applicant tracking system, coordinating with the hiring manager, and ensuring legal compliance. They may support all or just a few of the above areas, depending on your needs. In most cases, they will manage all pathways to talent.

In recent years, RPO has evolved beyond simply supporting foundational hiring processes. Today, many RPO providers have more holistic expertise that ranges from Talent Acquisition advisory, to employer branding, and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).

How does Recruitment Process Outsourcing work?

RPO providers act as an extension of a business's HR team to become an integral part of your talent acquisition function. With the right RPO partner neither your team nor your candidates will feel as if your recruitment is outsourced. Instead, it will feel like your team's expertise has grown, and the RPO provider will become embedded in your organization. This is a requirement as an RPO partner will need deep knowledge of your culture and will aim to build real relationships to understand the pain points and opportunities in your recruitment process.

What is the difference between RPO and in-house recruitment?

The difference between RPO and in-house recruitment is that an RPO partner is an external vendor who is embedded within your organization. An RPO partner will be immersed in your business and collaborate closely with your HR and talent acquisition team.

What are the key performance indicators of RPO?

RPO providers use key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure their performance. Some of the most most commonly used KPIs for RPO are:

• Improved candidate quality
• Improved time to hire
• Reduced costs
• Candidate and hiring manager satisfaction rates

An RPO partner’s goal is not simply to fill headcount. Armed with an in-depth understanding of your business and unmatched expertise in the talent market, they will work rigorously to secure the very best people for it – whether that’s filling current vacancies or building your future talent pipeline – as efficiently and cost-effectively as possible.

What are the different types of RPO models?

When it comes to the simple question, ‘how does RPO work?’, there is no one-size-fits-all answer. While there are three main RPO models, all can be tailored to meet your unique needs. An RPO provider will work alongside you to determine which model best suits your organization.Here is an overview of the different models you may encounter. For a more detailed review, check out this article: What are the different types of Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) models?

Benefits of Recruitment Process Outsourcing

Working with an RPO partner means harnessing decades of market expertise across a wide range of global industries and recruitment campaigns. Whether you are hiring for a team of thousands or just a few, if you are seeking permanent or contingent, hourly or executive talent, your RPO partner has seen it all.

Rather than replacing your TA team, partnering with a trusted RPO provider will future-proof and supercharge your existing in-house capabilities. If you need support in just one or all the below areas, outsourcing your recruitment process offers a range of benefits:

• Increase agility
• Reduce costs
• Access the best and widest talent pool
• Discover more diverse talent
• Improve your employer brand
• Build the right tech stack
• Craft the best candidate experience
• Reduce time to hire

Increase agility

To mitigate the uncertainty caused by a fluctuating talent landscape, RPO partners are masters of scalability. They can support HR departments in managing these peaks and troughs – moments of high growth or a hiring surge, followed by periods of employee reduction – at speed.

Crucially, an RPO partner will also take on internal hiring risks, allowing businesses to scale their own TA capabilities as the market demands. This helps avoid any rapid decreases or increases in team headcount, which can be a hit to brand reputation.

Working closely with an RPO expert, you can always be ready for what’s next.

Reduce costs

The built-in agility afforded by an RPO partner allows businesses to scale cost up and down in line with demand, as well as your TA function. As a result, organizations typically find that they make significant savings with recruitment outsourcing, especially against the use of a staffing agency, due to improved processes, economies of scale, and the ability to leverage lower-cost recruiting channels and technology.

Access the best and widest talent pool

RPO providers have access to an expanded talent pool. Their extensive network of expert recruiters can quickly source, engage, and hire the right people for the right roles.

An RPO partner will also help organizations tap into hidden talent streams. These include existing internal networks – nurturing and upskilling talent already inside the organization. They will also have data-led insights on different industries that are ripe with skills-adjacent talent, which your TA team may not have considered before.

Rethinking internal mobility and bringing in more strategic, skills-based hiring practices has huge advantages in terms of loyalty and recruitment cost, leading to increased productivity and reduced turnover. An RPO provider will be a close advisor in the journey towards a more skills-focused talent function.

Discover more diverse talent

Many RPO providers have in-depth expertise in DEI. They help businesses find talent by proactively considering underrepresented groups and overlooked audiences.

A close RPO partner can review your current attraction strategies and routes to market against in-depth market data to pinpoint exactly where this diverse talent is. What’s more, they have access to sourcing channels that are specifically aimed at minority groups.

With a partner that is truly experienced in DEI, inclusive recruitment becomes standard for your business. RPO providers can also help to implement any changes made to your DEI strategy, and ensure they are long-lasting with real impact.

Improve your employer brand

Having a strong, well-defined employee value proposition (EVP) has been linked to everything from decreased attrition to better productivity and bottom-line impact.  But in a tough talent market where candidates are examining organizations with even greater scrutiny, standing out has never been more critical.

Many RPO providers can improve employer brand as part of their expert service. An RPO partner knows how to develop an authentic and compelling EVP. Fully immersing themselves in an organization’s brand, they can communicate your story in a way that is compelling and resonates with candidates.

Build the right tech stack

With thousands of different talent technology solutions available, it can be difficult to identify which are right for your business.

A qualified RPO partner will identify the best technology stack for your business goals, whether that's streamlining candidate processing, or insight-led sourcing. RPO providers regularly trial, rate and rank new solutions on behalf of their clients, giving them deep insight into the talent tech landscape. They can also train TA teams on using the resources if businesses decide to embed them in house.

Craft the best candidate experience

The experienced recruiters that come with working alongside an RPO partner will expertly navigate candidates through every stage of the hiring process. While accessing powerful talent technology is important, RPO partners understand that technology alone will not help you hire better – optimizing how people use it will.

With the right mix of tech and touch, RPO services allow you to find candidates quickly and efficiently, without missing out on the real, human connection that attracts them to your business. Many RPO partners have expert teams dedicated to candidate experience advisory services.

Reduce time to hire

A wider and more diverse talent pool. A streamlined, tech-focused strategy. Data-led market insights. Up-to-the-minute sourcing methods. Expert employer brand advisory teams.

All of the above means that organizations partnering with RPO experts typically find that time to hire comes down. Working with a close partner on these key business elements allows you to find the right candidates faster and move them into roles with ease.

Why hire an RPO?

A recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) partner is a cost-effective, scalable solution to recruiting, hiring and onboarding talent. An RPO partnership is one that can act as an extension of your HR team to enhance your team's agility and responsiveness to market conditions.

If you are unsure whether you should partner with an RPO provider, it’s helpful to ask the following questions:

• Do you find your hiring constantly fluctuating with business demand?
• Do you have hard-to-fill roles?
• Is time to hire and cost to hire going up?
• Do you receive complaints from hiring managers about candidate quality?
• Do you have a retention challenge?
• Are you looking for data and insights to inform your hiring process?
• Do you want to take a more data-driven approach to your hiring?
• Are you struggling to meet your DEI targets?
• Do you struggle to keep up with the fast-moving talent technology landscape?
• Are you looking to build a more effective and agile talent acquisition team?

If the answer to any of the above is ‘yes’, an RPO partner can be an invaluable addition to your talent team. Discover how to build a business case for RPO in your organization today.

For more information on RPO, or for dedicated support from an outsourcing partner you can trust, contact us today.

Frequently Asked Questions About Recruitment Process Outsourcing

How is RPO different from recruiting?

Traditional recruitment is managed by the company's HR team, while Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) involves working with a third party partner who becomes an extension of your team. An RPO partner will handle everything a typical HR team would handle, from sourcing candidates to onboarding.

What is the difference between recruitment process outsourcing and staffing?

Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) involves outsourcing the entire recruitment process to a third party as a long term partner. By contrast, staffing agencies help with the recruitment of temporary or permanent employees on an as-needed basis without becoming part of your internal team. RPO partners work more like traditional HR teams by helping with the entire recruitment process from start to finish.

What is the difference between RPO and HRO?

RPO (Recruitment Process Outsourcing) involves outsourcing part or all of the recruitment process to an external provider. HRO (Human Resources Outsourcing) covers a broader range of HR functions, including payroll, benefits administration, and employee relations.

What is the difference between a contract recruiter and an RPO?

A contract recruiter is hired temporarily to help with immediate, short-term recruiting needs and may work independently or within your team. An RPO provider is an external partner that will take over the entire recruitment process, offering an approach that helps your team from the recruiting stage to onboarding new employees.

What are the different types of RPO models?

There are three main RPO models: Enterprise RPO, On-demand RPO, and Hybrid RPO. Enterprise RPO manages all recruitment needs on a long-term basis, On-demand RPO supports short-term projects, and Hybrid RPO combines both to offer tailored support as required. Learn more about each model in this article: What are the different types of Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) models?

What is the difference between MSP and RPO recruiting?

MSP (Managed Service Provider) manages the contingent workforce, including temporary staffing and vendor management. RPO (Recruitment Process Outsourcing) handles the recruitment process for permanent positions, providing end-to-end hiring solutions.