Recruitment Process Outsourcing has become much more than just a solution for high-volume permanent placement, and as such, organizations need to be prepared to harness and leverage the additional assets RPO can provide.

This is according to a new white paper released today by ManpowerGroup Solutions titled, “Transforming Talent Acquisition: Recruitment Process Outsourcing Comes of Age.”

“When RPO was introduced some twenty years ago, organizations were not accustomed to outsourcing their recruitment function – they were looking for cost savings,” said Wendy Wick, Vice President, RPO Client Delivery, ManpowerGroup Solutions. “Today, it is about talent acquisition transformation through agility, effectiveness, candidate experience and proven results.”

Sophisticated RPO programs can (and should) be designed to respond to the marketplace in real-time. The talent acquisition team must evolve beyond their internal and external engagement and be structured to ensure agility and resilience. This is the key to transformation in today’s economic climate.

Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) programs often start with an expectation of lower cost-of-hire and reduced time-to-fill as the endgame. These goals are certainly worthy of achieving, but they are also finite. What happens when all possible costs are reduced? What happens when all reasonable expectations for time-to-fill have been met?

See: Multi-Process Human Resources Outsourcing Market Gains Traction in Asia Pacific

Transformation requires next-level thinking and action by both the employer and provider. To help organizations increase the effectiveness of their RPO strategies, there are some key elements that have been identified to combine and form an ecosystem that’s ripe for transformation:

• Leadership: Transforming talent acquisition is a big effort and needs to be driven from the top. An internal communications plan with key messages for leaders to consistently drive is essential.
• Branding: A best-in-class RPO provider will execute an organization’s existing employer brand strategy or partner with them to develop a new one.
• Planning & Process: This is an effort that will impact virtually everyone in an organization, so it is important to engender support and buy-in early on. This requires a plan that outlines the approach to designing the RPO program and creating alignment across functions.
• Measurement: Achieving transformational accomplishments requires bold changes that can be measured. Starting with a baseline and integrating highly developed metrics that generate strategic insights will demonstrate results and enable a dynamic journey.

“Regardless of where a company might be in their talent acquisition journey, it is time to take the lead and drive toward transformation,” Wick continued. “The knowledge, experience and tools now exist to execute strategies that evolve with the demands of the market, deliver excellence and outperform the competition.”

Today’s age RPO is about talent acquisition transformation with dedicated teams of sources, technology specialists, industry analysts and social media experts. The key is to harness and leverage the assets RPO can provide. However, an organization must first be prepared for that transformation.

A transformational RPO strategy will help deliver on more ambitious business objectives while simultaneously supporting the broader organizational mission.

Also read: 3 Basic Technologies for Talent Acquisition

Image credit: takingyouforward.com