10 signs your business could grow faster, stronger, with RPO partners

Content Team

RPO partners can support a variety of business landscapes.

From pharma to finance, manufacturing to media, and many industries beyond, recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) supports business leaders through transition and growth.

Could your enterprise work smarter, more efficiently, with an RPO partnership?

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The right RPO partners can mitigate business disruption when hiring needs flux.

Discover 10 telltale signs that RPO partners could help your teams scale more effectively.

1. Sudden hiring disrupts HR operations

Perhaps more than ever, hiring functions as a moving target.

Talent needs rise and dip. They sometimes move in tandem with a shifting marketplace, but not always.

The unique requirements and opportunities of your enterprise drive the pace of hiring.

When hiring needs fluctuate, does your HR department sometimes struggle to stay on top of routine tasks?

RPOs scale up and down by design, making them ideal partners for unexpected talent requirements and sudden-need hiring.

2. There’s high turnover among your recruiters

Day in, day out, recruiters sell the opportunity to work for your company.

Ideally, they should be with the business long enough to develop the deep understanding that comes with time and commitment.

Whether your RPO partners work in-house or remote, they get to know your business over the long term. This enables the key insights that help drive effective, tailored hiring.

3. You need niche skills outside your main focus

It takes industry-specific knowledge to attract top talent.

This is particularly true for fiercely competitive roles. From software engineers to data scientists to project managers, RPO partners speak the language of hard-to-fill roles—a must-have for engaging and retaining the best in any industry.

4. Recruitment costs are climbing

Companies can easily overspend on hiring. This is particularly relevant in today’s volatile market.

Reactive recruitment results in poor hires and lower retention rates, which leads to more spending. It’s a costly cycle, which RPO can help stop.

Talent management, a cornerstone of RPO, combines role-specific, unbiased pre-hire assessments with post-hire career development.

This reduces the cost of employee turnover and training. It also helps prevent low morale and lost productivity among existing employees. These are the unfortunate, yet common, consequences of poor hiring.

5. Employer brand is lacking

Does your employer brand appear outdated, unpolished, or non-existent?

Effective employer branding competes with an evolving strategy. The best employer brand strategies vary by industry.

Dedicated employers ensure their employer value proposition (EVP) remains market-leading. This often involves teaming with an RPO partner for market insights on how to compete effectively for top candidates.

Of course, positive candidate engagement is the precursor to employer brand engagement. It’s worth exploring how effectively technology or Leadership and Development drive great candidate experiences in your workplace.

6. Diversity goals aren’t being met

Diversity improves business outcomes and innovation. (See notes 1-3.)

But moving the needle on diversity and inclusion goals takes strategic talent management. This often starts with targeted job description keywords, and continues through to long-term professional development.

RPO partners engage diverse candidates and improve the retention of diverse employees with best practices on inclusion.

7. Recruitment tech is outdated

Chatbots. Video interviewing. Predictive analytics. The list goes on.

It’s impossible to maintain deep market intelligence on the latest recruitment tech while running your primary business.

High-performing RPO partners act as subject matter experts in this space. They can advise you on best-fit HR tech, helping evaluate which offerings are right for your organization. They can also point you in the direction of HR tech that streamlines implementation.

8. The big picture is out of focus

How does your recruitment function stand up against competitors?

From quality of hire to employee referral rates, a third-party RPO partner can help you complete this critical assessment.

9. On-boarding processes are inconsistent

Without guidance, thorough training, and one-to-one attention, new employees disengage quickly.

Unfortunately, many companies lose sight of this vital function during high-growth phases.

An RPO partner can design consistent and effective on-boarding processes across departments and regions, and manage the process for companies whose HR departments don’t have the bandwidth.

10. Patchwork use of agencies

Managing hiring across regions and time zones can be ungainly, particularly when global functions lean on local recruitment agencies.

Who is tracking hiring spend, quality of hire, and recruitment timelines? Who is accountable for outcomes? An RPO partnership can take on the management of these services, and the accountability for hiring results.

When to consider RPO partners

Do you identify with one or more of the situations above? It might be time to seek extra support.

If one or more of these signs apply to your company, an RPO partner can help. Recruitment processes can be uniquely designed based on your requirements.

And, RPOs are prepared to hit the ground running. They can support your business with a single recruitment challenge in a short time frame. They can even refresh your entire talent acquisition function, if requested.

Want to learn more about RPO projects, recruitment technology, and more? Click through for more information on our services.

Notes

McKinsey, Why Diversity Matters. https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our-insights/why-diversity-matters. Accessed 22 August 2019.
Deloitte, The Diversity and Inclusion Revolution. https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/insights/us/articles/4209_Diversity-and-inclusion-revolution/DI_Diversity-and-inclusion-revolution.pdf. Accessed 22 August 2019.
The Harvard Business Review, How and Where Diversity Drives Financial Performance. https://hbr.org/2018/01/how-and-where-diversity-drives-financial-performance. Accessed 22 August 2019.

Hudson RPO

Content Team

The Hudson RPO Content Team is made up of experts within the Talent Acquisition industry across the Americas, EMEA and APAC regions. They provide educational and critical business insights in the form of research reports, articles, news, videos, podcasts, and more. The team ensures high-quality content that helps all readers make talent decisions with confidence.

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