In the first part of our interview with Greg Gary, Senior Director of Business Development for Broadleaf Results, we discussed some rudimentary questions about recruitment process outsourcing. In the second part of the three-part interview for the RPO Expert Series, we zoom in on tactics of RPO specific to attracting and retaining talent and the use of recruitment technology to improve hiring performance.
RPOA: Can you help us understand how RPOs support clients in attracting and retaining talent during the current talent shortage?
Gary: Number one, RPOs help with brand awareness. We become an integral part of our client's efforts, clearly articulating the value proposition at each job level. It's critical to make sure that that's understood.
Number two is the overall interview process. Gone are the days of, 'I'm going to call you. I'll get back to you.' We can no longer take our time. There needs to be a systemic approach in which we're showing love to the candidate immediately and continuously throughout the process.
Nowadays, because people have so many opportunities, they must see something different and feel something different in a potential employer. They need to see a differentiator that sets you apart from the rest of those organizations. And that starts from day one, right when that interview process begins. You have the opportunity to show your employer brand and culture across the board.
I'll use IT as an example. What is the IT department working on? What are the essential projects that are happening in their department? Well, we want to make sure that we understand those projects. We want to understand if something new is being implemented within the organization that is going to appeal to IT people. And we're ensuring that candidates understand their role so they gain a sense of involvement with it which also helps from a retention perspective.
And then the last piece is making sure that we understand the candidates, and what's important to them. It's no longer, ‘Here's my job. How do you fit?’ But it's, ’Here's my job. You seem to fit it. What is important to you in an organization that you want to be a part of moving forward?’ Asking those questions helps the candidate feel part of the program or a part of the organization immediately. And they feel good and proud about something right from the beginning.
How does an RPO integrate with a company's employer brand?
One of the things you'll notice within RPO is that we want to be an extension of the organization. We're going to be in their ATS. Our recruiters are going to have the organization's LinkedIn profile. They're going to have the organization's email address.
And that works both internally and externally. Internally, what the hiring manager will see is his or her organization. So the candidate we're reaching out to sees that the organization is contacting them. Being an extension of the company helps with that brand strategy and the overall awareness that we think will be critical to an organization’s hiring success.
Can you share some examples of recruitment automation or innovation that you apply to improve your customer performance and results?
One example would be skills-based and behavioral assessments. These assessments are streamlining and reducing steps in the hiring process. And that's a paradigm shift on its own. In the old days, everyone thought, ‘oh, you're going to add an assessment to all of the other interviews; that's just going to make the process longer now.’ And that's changed. We see that because you can hone these assessments well to each position, it's taking away steps. We don't have to go through the same levels of interviewing. We can streamline it better and make things move quickly without sacrificing quality. And that's a critical part.
A second example is videos which are now a huge part of your brand strategy. We utilize them with our RPO partners. We build videos with our clients, have them on their career sites, have them within LinkedIn and social media.
We all know about AI at this point, and utilizing various talent communities within AI technology platforms is becoming a huge part of the hiring process. These different technology platforms are making hiring a better and faster hiring experience and directly impacting direct sourcing. Automation is also positively affecting reporting. Microsoft Business Intelligence (BI) reporting provides a new level of reporting that hasn't happened in the past. And it's been very critical to have real-time data. In the old days, ATSs gave you below-average reporting. Now, you can couple an ATS with BI reporting and you've given yourself vast amounts of reporting and real-time data to help support your decision-making moving forward.
Related: Greg Gary of Broadleaf Answers Frequently Asked Questions About RPO
