Organizations are waking up to the fact that their talent needs are complex and unique. And in today’s fierce recruiting market, taking a conventional or reactionary approach to hiring will not produce the quality candidates needed to drive success.
TalentRISE understands which way the winds are blowing in today’s recruiting market. A “one size fits all” recruiting program is not a feasible approach for many organizations, especially since many of the best candidates are currently employed, and difficult to reach and engage.
It was on this foundation of talent acquisition experience and knowledge that TalentRISE was built, delivering personalized, exceptional service — for hiring managers and the candidates they seek.
Founded in 2008 by Brian Farrar and his two Maven Wave co-founders, Jeff and Jason Lee, TalentRISE was established to provide a pipeline of IT talent for their client projects. Carl Kutsmode was the first management team Partner, arriving in 2009, and is still active with the firm today.
What Organizations Need
Jason Krumwiede, Partner and FlexRPO Practice Leader at TalentRISE first noticed recruiting changes during his days at Aon Hewitt, a global recruitment process outsourcing provider. It was here that he observed that enterprise RPO providers were not always able to deliver on the client’s need for a unique, hands-on recruiting solution that scales.
“Large RPO providers can be quite inflexible and try to put the client’s needs into their own box and delivery model, rather than building tailored boxes around the client’s processes and demands,” says Krumwiede.
TalentRISE found its beginning in 2008 as a spinoff of the Google Cloud consulting firm MavenWave. TalentRISE reconfigured its recruitment model into the nimble RPO services business it is today called FlexRPO. Krumwiede later joined the team to offer his seasoned operational experience and knowledge in growing the business.
Going Hands On
Krumwiede and the team at TalentRISE see their modest size as a strength in this emerging market. Their team is comprised of expert service delivery managers, seasoned recruiters and sourcers with years of functional and vertical industry experience and back office operators to drive efficiencies and scale.
Armed with this delivery platform, TalentRISE is able to offer a flexible and customizable approach with their FlexRPO operating model. TalentRISE takes the time to not only ask, but field the tough questions to make sure the needs of the client are met while working within the organization’s work culture.
“Certainty of execution has risen to the top of the list on why our clients select us over the larger RPO players, plus an ability to innovate with our clients, especially in terms of technology,” notes Krumwiede.
Embracing Technology
Technology is one of the larger disruptors in the recruiting market and has greatly affected how organizations communicate their brand, collect data, and target the candidates they need. TalentRISE knew early on that integration of technology was an important part of creating and implementing a flexible recruiting program that would deliver on an organization’s goals. And after positive feedback from clients in the digital and technology space, TalentRISE leaned into their strengths:
“What we realized with our digital and technology clients is that TalentRISE is really good at the X’s and O’s of technical recruiting, and what we needed was a connector to the CIO who has been in their seat,” explains Krumwiede.
TalentRISE invested in a technology practice leader who had experience as a CIO to further elevate their position as an RPO that embraces technology and bridges the gaps between CIO, IT recruiter, IT hiring manager, and Human Resources.
Krumwiede points to a particular situation where he knew that TalentRISE’s personalized and high-touch approach was paying off. During negotiations with a potential client, the client ultimately passed on working with TalentRISE, only to sign with a larger RPO firm because of that firm’s brand name recognition.
Six months later, TalentRise got a call back: it was from the client.
The client explained to TalentRISE that after implementing the large RPO’s solution, it wasn’t working out for them, notes Krumwiede. Specifically, it wasn’t addressing the issues that were truly important for them and they wanted to re-engage in contract negotiations. TalentRISE was happy to oblige.
“We tailored our FlexRPO platform to meet the client’s unique needs,” says Krumwiede. “It’s been a huge success.”
Company Fact Sheet
Company: TalentRISE
Year Founded: 2008
Founders: Brian Farrar, Jeff Lee and Jason Lee.
CEO: Rick Gray
Headquarter address: 20 N. Wacker Drive, Suite 4120, Chicago, IL 60606