Partnerships are like houses – if they’re not built on a strong foundation, they’re going to fall, and recruitment process outsourcing partnerships are no exception. They depend on a firm foundation of trust, understanding and communication between the service provider and client to thrive and succeed. Here, we present insights from the recent Recruitment Process Outsourcing Association webinar titled “So, you've implemented an RPO program... now what?” with Ryan Baca of About Talent and Heather McGotty of Welch’s Foods on the techniques that they used to build a strong foundation for their two organization’s recent RPO partnership.
- Establish a shared purpose. You have a goal for your RPO relationship – otherwise, why bother? The goal can be to bring in great new employees, fill gaps, or improve the client’s recruiting process, but whatever it is, it’s essential that both parties get on board. Establishing your shared purpose up front as a starting point for the partnership is the first step to building a firm and lasting foundation.
- Communicate constantly. Communication is the backbone of a successful RPO partnership. Says McGotty about her recent experience with RPO, “what’s really important is we’re really open about how we’re doing, whether we’re finding the talent that we need, how long it’s taking us to find it, and what can we both do to make this successful.” Communicating goals, changes and expectations and providing feedback allows both parties to understand where you are and where they’re headed. Baca emphasizes that when you communicate, it’s best to do it in person, saying “we know that 70% of messages are received nonverbally, which is why face to face is so important.” For consistent face to face communication, he recommends utilizing some of the broad options for video tech.
- Identify and pursue selective metrics. Do you know how you’re going to measure success? If the answer is no, how on earth will you get your client or provider on the same page? In the webinar, Baca recommends identifying select metrics and pursuing them rigorously as a way to establish clear benchmarks for RPO progress. You don’t have to measure every single piece of the process, but picking a few metrics and sticking with them avoids confusion and lets you see how far you’ve come.
- Recognize achievements. As Baca notes, “celebrating little successes goes a long way.” Celebrating shared successes throughout the RPO journey brings you and your partner (provider or client) together, reinforcing that you’re on the same team, and that one party’s success is a success for both. Strengthen your partnership through recognition, and you’re on your way to a solid foundation for success.
- Focus on continual improvement. No partnership is perfect. There will be slipups, mistakes, and ways to improve your process or results. Identifying where these possibilities for improvement are keeps your partnership strong and gives you a way to course-correct and deviations from the shared goal. If continual improvement is your goal, slight setbacks won’t matter. You’ll be well set-up to win.
Establish a solid foundation, and you have everything you need to hit the ground running in your RPO endeavors. However, it’s important to remember that RPO takes time. In addition to the other foundational techniques, McGotty recommends developing “patient urgency.” As she says, “it takes a lot of time, care and feeding to get an RPO up and running, and we work in a very busy world. Everybody wants things done yesterday.” You may not achieve yesterday, but if you focus on building a strong foundation for your RPO partnership, you can look forward to a bright tomorrow.
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