There are a number of external factors contributing to the growing challenges faced by present-day talent acquisition teams. One of which includes rapid and sudden changes to hiring volume. While many organizations have found solace in scaling recruiting efforts through Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) services, others continue to be skeptical about relinquishing the keys to the talent kingdom gates. Director of RPO for Yoh, Katie Duffy, gives her professional and expert insight on how to create a scalable recruiting model.
Scaling for Future Hiring Trends
Talent acquisition leaders are increasingly turning to technology to simplify their recruiting methods. As a result, copious amounts of data are being collected, analyzed and used in the decision-making process. Once a pipeline dream, the notion of agility and accountability is quickly becoming a top priority for enterprise-level organizations. Meanwhile, on the ground level, this might entail tracking the number of mobile applies, incorporating your web analytics into your recruiting strategy, or reporting on key metrics as provided by your Applicant Tracking System (ATS).
As business-oriented behaviors change, so do external candidate-driven ones. The unpredictability of the global economy and receding talent pool is creating a roller coaster ride for recruiting teams. One day, recruiters might find themselves steadily navigating a set number of job openings, and then suddenly, without warning, an influx of requests, many in new locations or expanding departments, flood the system. Everyone is moving at 100mph, but it feels like nothing is really getting done.
Performance-Based Recruiting
With mounting pressure to make “smarter” decisions, hiring managers find themselves at a cross-road. Many aren’t sure how to best scale departmental resources to align with quickly evolving business objectives. Scalable recruiting grew out of this necessity, to tackle massive fluctuations in hiring volume. Used to improve efficiency and yield cost-savings, historically, organizations have struggled to adopt this strategy.
As a result, hiring managers might find themselves in one or more buckets:
- Leaning heavily on staffing agencies to fill high volume orders or to work on long-term projects
- Keeping the operation internal. In this case, hiring managers are typically hit with a barrage of unqualified candidates in a mad dash to fill seats.
- In both instances, the cost is both hard hitting and detrimental to the department
Each is a prime example of when a Recruitment Outsourcing Process (RPO) program can help. In a performance-based RPO model, the business pays on performance, or a set number of hires within a specified time frame. With the assistance of the RPO provider, recruiting teams are freed up to focus on higher priority initiatives.
As a Director of RPO Services for Yoh, I’ve seen firsthand how a hiring manager or talent acquisition leader, who were initially reserved about outsourcing recruiting functions, are empowered after the program is established. Primarily because the provider takes on the pressure and risk of allocating resources to meet defined and measurable project objectives.
Scalable recruiting, in theory, sounds easy, but rest assured that it’s a complicated and common problem. Know that a RPO program, by design, is meant to yield efficiency and control. By implementing learned best practices (from other real-life programs) and tapping into greater recruiting resources, RPO continues to make dollars and cents for struggling recruiting teams.
Additional Resources: How to Measure On-Demand RPO Success
About the Author: Katie Duffy brings over 15 years of corporate staffing and recruiting experience to her role as a Director of Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) for Yoh. She currently serves and leads a number of full RPO engagements for Yoh's globally-based clients. Katie is well versed across several operations and delivers top-tier management capabilities including: large account development and administration, talent strategy, innovation and deployment, start-up expertise, recruiting and resource management, and expert professional recruiting staffs guidance.
