best talent acquisition solution | choosing the right rpo

evaluating talent acquisition models -

is RPO the best fit solution?

therightRPOit’s all about the right strategyand the right partner

The western economy is showing positive signs of revival and businesses are looking to grow and drive expansion in emerging markets such as India and China. In the wake of the recent economic and market volatilities, enterprises – both big and small – are working to control costs and maintain a healthy pipeline of talent capable of superior performance that can take the organization to higher levels of business efficiency. HR leaders across the world have been

facing major challenges in recruiting the right people at the right time and at the right price point. Human capital being the force that fuels business growth, there is a rising pressure on HR to maximize recruitments while maintaining optimal levels of cost control.

Given this scenario, the HR function has certain options to choose from – a) build an internal recruitment team b) outsource the recruitment

function partially and c) engage with a competent external partner for end-to-end recruitment support. The ability to choose the right solution to meet organizational human resource needs will clearly depend on evaluating the benefits of each option and building a solid business case that can justify both the short-term and long-term recruitment strategy.

2 The Right RPO series evaluating talent acquisition models:| is RPO the best fit solution?

introduction

recruitment challenges faced by HRBefore selecting the right recruitment strategy, it is critical to identify the various challenges and pitfalls HR faces on a daily basis by assessing the current situation based on a holistic view of both internal processes and external forces. RPO is about solving critical business challenges and hence prioritizing the issues faced by HR becomes paramount. Some of the typical challenges HR leaders in many organizations face include:

Sudden demands of increase in workforce has a

direct impact on the organization with more

pressure on the HR function. The main question is

whether the internal talent acquisition teams are

equipped to scale and de-scale to meet these

fluctuating demands. Often the choice of

changing the recruitment strategy is tied to a

company's operations or strategy, including

challenges around growth such as globalization

or shrinking markets.

scalability access to talentAnother common driver relates to challenges in

identifying, attracting, and recruiting the right

talent at the right time. Organizations often

encounter issues such as hard-to-find skills in

short supply, geographical challenges, the need

to build employer brand attractiveness, and the

activities of competitors. The ability to engineer

solutions to meet these challenges comes from

access to the right recruitment expertise backed

by the latest tools, methodologies, and analytical

processes necessary to devise a successful strategy

and make key talent recommendations.


cost controlOrganizations are under a lot of pressure to improve their profitability and shareholder

return. There is a need to consolidate not only internal hiring costs, but costs pertaining to

external recruitment agencies as well. Then again, both direct and indirect costs need to be

factored in while devising strategies to ensure enhanced cost efficiencies. Given below is a

simple representation of the various costs involved in internal recruiting. Opportunity costs

pertain to HR initiatives that suffer due to lack of attention or huge management time

consumed in the recruitment process.

direct costs indirect costs opportunity costs

Team cost of employees

Cost of external tools - job boards, technology platforms, assessment, etc.

Interviewing

Onboarding and induction

Unfilled vacancies

Poor quality hires

High attrition rate

Greater time-to-hire

Employer branding initiatives

Employee engagement programs

Talent management strategy in alignment with business

process efficiencyvisibility and measurability

Process efficiency is directly linked to quality,

time, and cost that most often manifests through

protracted time-to-hire and limitations of the

tools available to recruiters. The net result of this

is difficulty in meeting demand or a reliance on

additional resourcing personnel. Decentralized

recruitment processes result in increased costs and

time-to-hire while diminishing the candidate

experience and employer brand.

Recruiting is a continuous pipeline development

process that is built through extensive processes,

systematic improvements, and measurable

accountability. HR generalists have multiple

priorities and limited bandwidth to gain visibility

on recruitment metrics, talent mapping, supply

and demand, and candidate experience. Data,

metrics, and analytics are very important and

provide a comprehensive view of the current

recruitment processes and systems, highlighting

gaps if any.


best talent acquisition solution to ensure seamless functioningFrom the perspective of the above challenges faced by HR in the recruitment process, three possible approaches can be evaluated to ensure smooth functioning of the recruitment activity:

1. Internal approach – Building an improved team and capability internally

2. Partial outsourcing – Retaining an internal capability but engaging with external partners for some parts of the solution

3. End-to-end outsourcing – Contracting an external partner with the right expertise to deliver comprehensive recruitment solutions

Let us explore each of these options keeping in mind the business objectives, organizational culture, and future talent and growth strategy. The table below summarizes these approaches.

critical parameters internal recruiting partial outsourcingend-to-end outsourcing with RPO

Cost of services Fixed Fixed + Variable Fixed + Variable

End-to-end accountability Complete Shared Complete

Scalability Fixed Partially flexible Completely flexible

Breadth of service capabilities

Limited to companyknowledge and skills

Limited to services outsourced End-to-end

The following is an examination of the three scenarios that stem from different approaches to addressing the critical issues mentioned above.

CompleteEnhanced competitive advantage (better visibility, metrics, employer branding etc)

Limited Limited


internal approach

An organization's vision and pre-

defined milestones provide a

broad picture of the structuring

of internal teams, management

of the talent pipeline, and the

relevant recruitment strategy to

be adopted by HR. HR leaders

have to gauge if the current

talent strategy can be aligned to

business initiatives by upgrading

the existing internal team with

the right expertise. With a

dearth of quality talent, the rules

of the employment game have

changed and the power of

choice now rests with candidates

rather than employers. After

successfully implementing strong

internal functions, the biggest

consideration is whether the

organization can attract,

develop, invest in, and retain

candidates for a longer period of

time. To win the war for talent

organizations need to make the

right investments capable of

providing long-term benefits

rather than short-term gains.

Greater transparency in the

internal recruitment process has

always been a challenge and HR

will benefit through better

structuring and hard metrics that

provide clear visibility into

internal team efficiency.

scalability:

access to talent:

cost control:

It is difficult to set a

fixed internal team headcount as

demand for talent varies and a

fixed overhead cannot be

justified as cost-effective. This

depends on the talent strategy

planned, current talent strength,

attrition level, and the

recruitment numbers to be met

by the talent acquisition teams.

Candidates now

have the ability to pick and

choose, be proactive or passive,

and investigate potential

employers more thoroughly than

ever before. This is where deeper

sourcing expertise, a wider

candidate pool, technologically

advanced tools, and employer

branding initiatives need to be

developed internally to stay

ahead of competition in winning

the war for talent.

When considering

upgrading internal resources,

additional costs need to be

factored in such as buying,

configuring, and operating the

right tools and methodologies to

ensure best-in-class sourcing and

recruiting systems to access and

map the right candidates. Long-

term investments in creating

shared service centers offer

benefits derived from low-cost

delivery locations.

HR functions

within an organization can be

divided into three separate

departments depending on the

activities carried out –

transactional activities (payroll,

compensation, benefits);

recruitment activities, and

strategic activities (people

development, business strategy).

This differentiation offers better

process efficiency and visibility.

A complete accountability of

internal teams can often go

unaddressed as in many cases

internal reviews rely on strength

of relationships rather than data.

Key metrics like cost,

productivity, retention,

employee satisfaction, etc.

provide meaningful insights into

the effectiveness of the current

business and HR strategy.

process efficiency:

visibility and measurability:


partial outsourcing

A partially outsourced solution

might seem attractive to some

organizations as it represents the

least change in the current

structure. This requires internal

teams to work closely with

external vendors and clearly

define processes and tasks to be

handled by the vendor with pre-

defined SLAs. Partial outsourcing

has both its advantages and

disadvantages. Many

organizations usually outsource

their transaction intensive

operations such as payroll

processing, recruiting,

background reference checks,

employee benefit issues, etc.

allowing HR teams to focus more

on high-priority strategic

functions such as training and

development, employee

communication, and

performance management.

When specific issues arise outside

the expertise of internal teams,

subject matter expertise from

vendors comes in handy. For

example many organizations

partner with outside resources to

develop the strategic HR plan

and create a tactical structure to

align and support with business

strategy. This approach may

provide access to external

expertise to address key issues,

but the question HR leaders

need to consider is how to

define the accountability of the

external party so there is enough

incentive to drive investment

and show measurable results.

Since the vendor would not have

complete visibility into an

organization's HR and

recruitment strategy, seamless

communication and coordination

between internal and external

teams is essential for better

efficiency and productivity.

Partial outsourcing

can address hiring fluctuations

like seasonal peaks and troughs

but there will also be pressure on

the external vendor to cover

some risks in the commercial

agreement due to limited

visibility of demand and scope.

Recruitment

vendors have access to a wider

candidate database and refined

sourcing and validation

methodologies. Vendors are

experts in what they do which is

why internal HR teams can

utilize the vendor's expertise in

areas that require more support

in the recruitment cycle.

However, this can hamper a

consistent brand message and

candidate experience if multiple

recruiters contact potential

jobseekers.

Partial solutions

offer access to more efficient

cost structures, but the impact

scalability:

Access to talent:

Cost control:

depends on the governance and

process steps required to ensure

seamless operations between

internal and external teams.

Engaging with multiple agencies

reduces visibility into the total

spend by the agencies and

internal recruiting teams.

Only effective

synchronization between

internal and external teams

produces the desired impact.

When only a part of the

recruitment process is

outsourced, different teams are

likely to use different

recruitment approaches and

methodologies making

standardization difficult to

achieve.

External agencies can easily

provide the necessary

recruitment metrics for which

they are accountable. However it

can be a challenge to link hiring

metrics and analyze the

performance of multiple

agencies and internal teams to

provide a 'big picture' to the

management. Moreover metrics

related to candidate satisfaction,

cost efficiencies, and the talent

pipeline would be hard

to decipher.

Process efficiency:

Visibility and measurability:


In an RPO engagement,

ownership of the recruitment

process is transferred to a

competent RPO partner. By

engaging with an end-to-end RPO

partner, all recruitment activities

are consolidated under one roof,

thereby maximizing productivity

and minimizing risk. RPO follows

a holistic approach when offering

the right solution that introduces

simple yet effective processes.

Once these best practices are

identified, tested, and

implemented, it becomes easier

to adhere to process compliance.

This end-to-end approach

provides the greatest impact

because it fully benefits from the

advantages RPO offers –

advanced tools and

methodologies, dedicated talent

acquisition professionals with the

desired consultative experience,

and access to a wider pool of

qualified talent. Then again, by

taking over complex labor-

intensive tasks, RPO enables HR to

focus time and energy on

working closely with the

management to align talent

strategy with business goals.

A single RPO vendor helps in

reducing the cost of engaging

with multiple agencies by utilizing

time and cost saving tools,

deploying advanced technology

and analytics, and ensuring

detailed reporting that improves

decision making and strategy

development. RPO specialists

collect, analyze, and interpret

data, delivering insights and

recommendations that enhance

operational efficiencies and

business effectiveness.

RPO solutions can

quickly scale up or down to meet

long-term talent acquisition

plans and new project

requirements or on-demand

hiring depending on the

organization'sneeds.

RPO proactively

creates a talent pipeline

consisting of active and passive

candidates through candidate

mapping, social media, and

other brand outreach programs

that cannot be built through

traditional recruiting methods.

Successful RPO models provide

value adds like incorporating

employer branding initiatives to

narrow down the candidate

selection criteria and ensure the

right job-boss-company fit. This

model not only selects talent

based on job descriptions but

appeals to the culture and

working environment of the

organization to recruit the right

candidates, improve hiring

manager satisfaction levels, and

reduce attrition.

scalability:

Access to talent:

Cost control:

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There are three key

benefits of engaging with an

RPO partner:

Since RPO providers operate in

a competitive environment and

the accountability entirely rests

on them, there is constant

pressure to deliver more value

at optimal cost.

Long-term investment in the

vendor's operating models is

shared across their entire client

base rather than on a single

client.

Cost is more variable than

fixed, resulting in greater

visibility, control, and business

alignment.

An RPO model offers both long-

term and short-term savings to

the client by increasing cost

efficiencies through recruitment

process expertise, proven

methodologies, and improved

process enhancements.

end-to-end outsourcing



Lesser attrition rate

Improved processes and best practices

Better visibility through the use of analytics and metrics

Increased competitive advantage

Reduced usage of multiple agencies

Reduced time-per-hire

Reduced cost-per-hire

Improved interview-to-offer rate

Better offer acceptance rate

Reduced job posting timelines

long-term savingsshort-term savings

Process efficiency: An RPO provider adopts a holistic approach to designing and

implementing effective recruitment processes in a centralized, consistent way. By

getting involved in the entire process right from workforce planning to onboarding

and candidate support, RPO helps centralize the recruitment process thus

standardizing best practices, managing compliance issues, and minimizing risk. Along

with cost savings, RPO streamlines the recruitment process, enabling hiring managers

to source and hire specialized talent and reduce the time-per-hire.

Visibility and measurability: RPO helps

organizations identify and manage critical KPIs

related to the recruitment process like fill

ratios, cost-per-hire and ROI, time-to-hire,

hiring manager satisfaction levels, employee

engagement and retention, and quality of

hires. Clear KPIs are documented and owned

such that they can be measured and can

contribute to continuous business

improvement. RPO also provides insights on

non-recruitment data such as detailed labor

analysis, demand-supply, talent landscape,

competition analysis, market mapping, future

hiring trends, etc. Some of the KPIs usually set

for RPO partners include – Speed, Delivery,

Quality, and Cost.

recruitment process

workforceplanning

requisitionprocess

sourcingpre-screening

& assessment

interview& selection

offermanagement

onboarding

candidate & hiringmanager support

time to fill

Open Req Aging

fill ratio

Source of Hire

Diversity of Sourced Candidates

Submitted to Interviewed Ratio

Hiring Manager Satisfaction

Attrition

Candidate Satisfaction

Offer Letter Accuracy

Agency Utilization %

Time to Submit Hired Candidate

speed

delivery

quality

cost

cost savings through RPO

conclusion

With the right information it is easy to compare, evaluate,

and identify the specific recruitment management option

capable of providing greater value to the organization. RPO

should not be seen as a mere cost control model but as a

solution that resolves critical business challenges and boosts

overall recruitment process efficiencies. When taking a

business decision of choosing the right recruitment strategy it

is important for all key stakeholders including HR, CEO,

Finance, Procurement, and hiring managers to have clear

visibility and influence over the decision so that the transition

is smoother with minimal roadblocks.


the rightRPO

RPO has found a strong foothold among the HR fraternity and in simple terms, it denotes organizational strategy to utilize an external partner to manage some or all activities associated with recruitment. Unlike a typical recruitment agency, an RPO partner comes with the required expertise to provide highly scalable and consultative recruitment services focused on achieving optimal hiring results. Clients may engage an RPO partner to supplement their

entire talent acquisition function or to manage limited scope services for particular businesses, positions, initiatives, projects and/or geographies. The success of an RPO engagement depends on the service provider as every RPO partner comes with specific strengths individual to their business offering. A partner with advanced capabilities; experience spanning global markets, geographies, and industries; ability to scale; and offering a breadth of end-to-end services

can help an organization reap maximum benefits by addressing various recruitment needs and challenges.

In this context, it is about acquiring the right RPO solutions offered by an expert partner, which will go a long way in meeting an organization's requirement for human capital. Right RPO is governed by four fundamental pillars that are critical to the successful execution of an RPO strategy – Scalability, Quality, Speed, and Brand.

The 4 pillars of Right RPO are

01scalabilityscalable access totalent when & whereyou need it

higher qualitytalent aligned to your business vision

business criticalroles filled faster toimpact bottom line

enhanced employerbrand, diversity &competitive position 02quality

03 speed

04 brand


shaping the world of workabout Randstad India

Randstad India offers the broadest HR

services portfolio ranging from Staffing,

Search & Selection, to Recruitment Process

Outsourcing (RPO). The organization has a

vast network of offices across the country

to ensure maximumclient and candidate

outreach. Randstad is the second largest

global HR services provider active in 39

countries across the globe. Randstad India

continues to focus on developing

customized and innovative HR solutions

through a wide geographical presence and

end-to-end service capabilities across all

HR functions.

Randstad can be your Right RPO partner in

providing tailor-made RPO solutions that

can help you create measurable business

impact. For more information write in to

us at or call us

on 1800 2674050.

Visit us at

[email protected]

www.randstad.in

best talent acquisition solution | choosing the right rpo

Recruiting & HR