The Business Benefits of RPO

KB. Research shows recruiting is one of three functional areas HR executives and professionals are likely to outsource. Strategic sourcing is key to reinforcing our clients’ employer branding and market presence, enabling them to attract and retain top quality talent.

While a typical external candidate sourcing process might begin with a posting on internet job boards, our strategy enhances this process. All recruitment materials and job boards encourage candidates to apply via our clients’ career portals, which directly link to ‘custom-wrapped’ landing sites. These micro sites accurately reflect our clients’ corporate branding, look and feel, making the entire candidate recruitment experience a seamless process.

HRM. What non-traditional methods of recruitment are rising in popularity?
KB. The unique characteristics of Generation X and Generation Y require that you to modify your recruiting strategy; the vast majority of Gen Xers and Gen Yers are computer literate and much more likely to utilize digital forms of communication. They also tend to make key decisions based on input from social networking services, which tend to be widely popular among younger professionals.

The recruitment methodologies that have emerged include non-paid internet sites and job boards, as well as social recruiting and networking search engines; interactive websites that incorporate video, pictures, blogs and career sites have sprung up. Portals such as Facebook and MySpace also offer the opportunity for individuals to create online resumes. The key is to understand the different generational traits and refine your recruiting message through alternative channels, technologies and media.

HRM. How can an external RPO provider help a company? 
KB. Industry research shows that an increasing number of companies define RPO as a key differentiator within their businesses. As the market continues to expand, RPO providers are building increased functionalities into their technology platforms to provide end-to-end, employee life cycle solutions. Implementing an RPO solution enables a company to operate more productively and efficiently by managing the strategic, tactical and administrative elements of the recruitment process. 

An external RPO solution may make sense because it allows your company’s HR department to focus on strategic initiatives, leverage its core competencies, and reduce human capital expenses. Bringing this capability in-house may be too costly whereas working with an RPO provider gives your company the ability to leverage their expertise, cost-efficiencies, industry best practices and other economies of scale to improve the recruitment process.

HRM. What are the most important things a company should look for when selecting an RPO provider?
KB. Companies are looking to RPO vendors for a cost-efficient solution that reduces their time to hire, increases the quality and quantity of their candidate pool, provides metrics and media effectiveness analytics, reduces cost per hire, and improves compliance. RPO providers should have deep expertise in developing recruitment strategies and technologies that are designed to help companies reach their business goals. Their core competencies need to be in implementing RPO programs and projects as well as providing recruitment sourcing and administrative services. In this capacity the RPO vendor really needs to play the role of a strategic partner by leveraging their knowledge base, technology and best practices to add real value.

HRM. Can you tell us about your company's recruitment solutions? 
KB. PeopleScout’s integrated, end-to-end, RPO solutions are customized across a company’s full talent life cycle, from employment branding to employee on-boarding. We have the experience, infrastructure, resources and best practices to ensure successful recruiting, refining, hiring and retention to meet our clients’ nonexempt and exempt hiring requirements.

PeopleScout’s proprietary technology and revolutionary processes have simplified and standardized candidate sourcing, selection, hiring and retention. Our recruitment strategy combines people, process and technologies for a ‘high-touch and high-tech’ candidate experience, which is a key differentiator for us. 

About Karen Browne
Karen Browne is Chief Operating Officer for PeopleScout, a division of SeatonCorp.
In 2007 PeopleScout was named to HRO Today Magazine’s prestigious ‘Baker’s Dozen’ list of industry-leading RPO providers for the second consecutive year.

For more information, please visit www.peoplescout.com or call 800-966-4803.