RPO an Effective Way to Save on Recruitment Costs

Recruitment Process Outsourcing, or RPO, is probably the most effective way for companies to save money on recruitment costs.

While other functions in the business have been concentrating on driving efficiencies, especially in the past 4 years, recruiting is just starting to be aggressively addressed.. RPO addresses this issue by bringing in third-party recruitment experts to manage the entire process from advertising to screening, from interviewing to hiring and from orientation to retention issues. This frees up senior managers to remain productive by focusing on their core competencies. At the same time, recruitment specialists can exercise their expertise for maximum efficiency. Combined, these two qualities help companies sustain maximum workforce capacity and maximize production.

Hiring pitfalls are easy to fall into and the costs of stumbling can add up. Take the example of a new technical support call center that sits 2000 representatives who work two shifts. Between parental leaves, sick days, and low retention, the center often finds itself short-staffed and clients have complained about the amount of time their customers spend on hold. Bi-annual training sessions should be frequent enough to deal with employee turnover, but turnover is increasing. The more often shifts are short-staffed, the lower employee morale falls and the higher the employee turnover rate climbs.

By using RPO, the third-party recruiter takes control of insuring maximum capacity by screening and interviewing candidates on a regular basis, managing hiring, and scheduling regular training sessions. In addition, they advise the client on successful retention schemes in the industry and ensure that new employees are informed of the program during orientation.

While surveys show that most companies have looked into RPO, only 17 per cent plan to adopt the practice over the next 12 months. Why the reluctance? It could be that managers worry that if they give up control over hiring, they will lose control of their workplace culture. Instead, RPO should protect managers from losing control over how that culture develops.

Here are the three ways to minimize the risks of RPO and maximize its returns.

Risk: Fear of losing control over workplace culture.

Risk management solution: A clearly communicated company vision.

When a company’s goals and objectives are clearly defined, the vision of how it will achieve those goals can be easily communicated. Knowing your own role in the pursuit of a vision helps you identify the people needed to fill the other roles. Recruitment consultants have access to, and knowledge of, a number of profiling tools and character tests that can help you translate those roles into a defined character sketch of the ideal co-workers.

Risk: Fear that the wrong people will be hired.

Risk management solution: A strong employment brand.

An employment brand is a statement of a company’s reason for being, its expectations for employee performance and behavior, its commitment to the community, and its system of rewards. These values are as closely associated with the company as a logo or corporate identity. A recruitment company engaged in RPO services doesn’t just fill vacant positions. They represent their client’s brand and reinforce it at every stage of the process.

Risk: Fear of giving too much responsibility to the wrong company.

Risk management solution: Remember that the best indicator of future success is past success.

Like other business services, successful RPO is all about building a trusting relationship. Most companies have worked with third-party recruiters at one time or another. It’s important to look at your most valuable employees and remember how they came to you. When they were hired, which companies provided the most qualified candidates and gave you the most support? The recruitment agency that has given you a positive recruitment experience is the agency most likely to provide you with a positive RPO experience.

Recruitment, like any other industry, is evolving and changing as new consulting services, technological tools, and media properties are developed. Engaging with how job seekers use these tools, and how their use of these tools changes seasonally or according to industry trends, is a task that most employers can’t invest in. Recruitment agencies providing RPO do make exactly that investment and can pass the returns along to their clients.

When these highly specialized recruitment skills are combined with the client’s vision, employment brand, and trust, the result is a hiring capacity that has been maximized for the greatest productivity levels possible.