4 Key Factors When Selecting An RPO Provider

You’ve heard the saying – “your company is only as good as your employees.” That thought puts added pressure on the organization to recruit and hire the best of the best. This is where Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) comes in. With a little planning, research, and partnering, you can set your organization up for recruitment success!

RPO providers are here to stay as they provide cost reduction and scalability to organizations throughout a variety of industries across the globe. A recent study indicates that the RPO market is estimated to expand with a CAGR (Compounded Annual Growth Rate) of 14.4% from 2017 ? 2025. Here are four key factors to consider before selecting an RPO provider.

1. Assess Your Current Recruiting Process and Needs
Before you begin searching for an RPO recruiting solution, you should spend time identifying what your recruiting needs, goals, and objectives are. This information gives you a crucial details to refer to when comparing recruiting solutions.

Things you should consider include: budget, time frame (short?term or long?term need), partial or full outsourcing, and the strengthens/weaknesses of your hiring process. Determining your focus before you begin reaching out to RPO providers will facilitate clear communication and expectations. It will also generate impactful, focused discussion.

2. Make Sure You Have Internal Buy?in
A vital step is ensuring you have internal buy?in from both executives and managers before you invest the time into selecting an RPO. Take your research and observations one step further. Work with your internal team to determine how much money your company is spending on its recruiting efforts. That includes everything – cost?per?hire, advertising costs, internal recruiting costs, external recruiting costs, and opportunity costs (i.e. the cost of open positions or the cost of lost productivity because time is being spent on recruiting as opposed to other imperative tasks).

A few benefits of an RPO provider include a reduction in overall costs (no hidden fees or contracts), scalability, accessible pool of candidates, reduced time?to?hire, and a dedicated focus on the candidate experience—which is a direct reflection of your company.

Weigh the differences between your current recruiting process and the benefits of an RPO if you need to meet with your company’s executives. Numbers don’t lie, and they might do all the talking for you!

3. Reach out to RPO providers
You have successfully identified what you’re looking for in an RPO and you’ve been given the green light internally. Before you begin reaching out, have your list of questions ready so you can supplement the outline of goals and objectives you brainstormed earlier. You may also consider building such questions into a formalized RFP. Here are some questions you’ll want to consider asking potential RPO providers:

1. What industries do you have recruiting experience in?
2. What kinds of services do you offer (sourcing, screening, interviewing, background
checks, HR audits, compensation analysis, etc.)?
3. What size companies do you typically partner with?
4. Do you offer on?site services?
5. Can you explain your recruiting process?
6. How can you ensure the process will run smoothly with our company?
7. What technology platforms do you use?
8. Do you have any testimonials?
9. How will you determine who is a good fit for our company?
10. How does collaboration work with our internal team?

4. Define what Success Means to You
Upon selecting an RPO, you it’s imperative that you have an open conversation with your RPO provider to determine what success looks like. Is success obtained by a reduction in overall cost?per?hire? Is it filing a certain number of positions over a certain time frame? Improving your company employment brand? A combination of the above? How are they measured? All of these are questions to consider
when defining success. Regardless of what success means to you, it should be discussed so both you and your RPO provider are on the same page and know what to expect.

Skywalk Group welcomes the opportunity to partner with you and your organization! For more information please visit www.skywalkgroup.com or call 319-743-9830.