What is outsourcing recruitment?

Outsourcing within the recruitment industry is typically known as Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) and involves an employer transferring all or part of its recruitment process to an external partner. RPOs are often employed as a recruitment solution when an organisation is going through a relocation or even through mergers and acquisitions. It is particularly effective when multiple hires need to be secured over a short period of time and across multiple business areas.

Integrated or full-service solution?

The RPO provider may take over all aspects of a recruitment process, from assessing requirements, building the employer brand and managing compliance through to workforce planning, sourcing talent and pre-employment screening. Essentially the provider takes on ownership of the design and execution of the entire recruitment process. This approach offers a wide range of benefits to the client including the ability to recruit multiple roles, at different levels and across different locations. It can offer time and cost savings, affords access to wide-ranging recruitment expertise and experience and can alleviate pressure on existing teams which were not established to manage such demands.

Another approach to Recruitment Process Outsourcing is to integrate the RPO provider into an existing HR or talent acquisition function for a period of time to offer additional resource at times of high demand. Many companies that chose to partner with an RPO will have an established HR team that is capable of running recruitment processes but are faced with larger scale remits which require more resource. In this scenario, the provider will offer a solution which fits the particular requirements of the client. This could be via a team of recruiters who act as an extension of the existing talent acquisition team off or on-site. 

What makes a good RPO provider?

A good RPO provider should do more than simply take a brief and fill roles. Each solution should be different and tailored specifically to each client’s needs. The RPO is not a one size fits all solution, far from it. A good provider should take the time to understand and assess each client’s specific needs and offer a solution tailored to meet them. They should suggest approaches, technologies, cost-saving efficiencies and process enhancements which will help the client to reach their recruitment goals. The RPO approach should be treated as a partnership between client and provider with shared objectives. 

Page Outsourcing

The Page Outsourcing solution harnesses the power of the combined PageGroup brands and benefits from the knowledge, systems and expertise gained from over four decades in recruitment and 6,000 recruitment consultants globally. We are able to act as a true business partner for our clients. We offer comprehensive and bespoke talent sourcing and recruitment project management solutions to meet recruitment objectives at many levels and across multiple countries.
 

Learn more about Page Outsourcing and enquire about a free consultation here.