What are the types of RPO models?
There are several different types of RPO models that we can offer to our client based on the client’s requirements. The most common RPO models include:
A. Enterprise RPO
Enterprise RPO delivers a comprehensive recruiting solution that spans the breadth of your company. Enterprise RPO may take the form of fully outsourced, full cycle RPO engagements or targeted partial cycle RPO engagements depending on your needs. It includes talent acquisition strategies, flexible delivery models, strategic advisory solutions, talent analytics, and technology consultations. Enterprise RPO creates the most closely integrated partnership between the RPO solutions provider and the client. Learn more about Enterprise RPO.
Two Types of Enterprise RPO
"Fully outsourced is the key term here," said Matt Rivera, director of customer services at Yoh. "What you want to make sure you're buying is outsourced service and that you're okay with all that comes with it." If a company-wide outsourcing of your recruiting is what you're interested in, then there are two types of enterprise RPO that you should consider:
1. Long-Term, Company Wide - This is where a company hires an RPO provider to handle the entire recruiting process, everything from the process itself to technology and the results. One of the most important things to come out of this type of arrangement is employment branding, since RPO can be a good vehicle to improve that brand when recruiters are out in the marketplace finding great candidates.
2. Job/Location Specific - This is very similar to the long-term arrangement, except that it's just for a certain job function or for a certain location (i.e. headquarters, an R&D facility, a call center). The RPO provider focuses on filling positions at corporate or on filling only the call center positions. The provider still has ownership of the process and the results, but they may or may not use the technology since they aren't handling every position for the entire organization.
Is Enterprise RPO Right for You?
Obviously, completely outsourcing your recruiting function isn’t ideal for everyone. Outsourcing all or most of your recruiting functions is huge for both the customer and provider. The types of customers that would be best suited for enterprise RPO, or who would most benefit from a company-wide outsourcing would include:
• Companies very familiar and/or comfortable with outsourcing as a company culture or strategy.
• Companies with a large, sustained need for recruiting – typical enterprise RPO contracts last two to three years.
• Large companies (i.e. thousands of employees, Fortune 1000 companies).
• Companies with multiple locations and want to standardize their recruiting processes, and/or with some locations that don’t have adequate recruiting resources.
• Mid-sized companies experiencing aggressive growth or expansion. River notes that “enterprise RPO is increasingly popular with mid-sized companies, as this solution is perfect if you don't yet have centralization in your recruiting process, or if you don't have the resources to handle the aggressive growth or expansion”.
"One of the key things we stress in this type of engagement is that [the customers] are very familiar and comfortable with outsourcing," Rivera said. "This is outsourcing, in some part, what the HR organization does. They need be comfortable with this as part of their strategy and as it fits in with their culture." Rivera said that companies have tried to do this when they weren't comfortable, only to back peddle and to take on more responsibility. This limits the effectiveness of the RPO solution.
If jumping in completely or outsourcing everything right away doesn't fit your company culture, or if it seems like too much too fast, then you can start with a smaller engagement then scale up the solution. That's much easier to coordinate from both perspectives (customer and provider) than the other way around, especially since enterprise RPO is meant to handle a large, sustained recruiting need.
B. Partial Cycle RPO
In the partial cycle RPO model, you choose which recruiting activities you want to outsource and which ones you prefer to handle internally. You may engage us for select a la carte processes such as interviews, reference checks, pre-screening, candidate offer management, onboarding, or career transitions. With Partial Cycle RPO, we provide the specific services you need when you need them.
Advantage of Partial Cycle RPO
• Recruitment expertise for specific types of positions to free up internal recruiters
• Managing a portion of the recruitment process with a smooth handoff process
• Innovative solutions for new markets and geographies
C. Project RPO
Project RPO helps your company scale up hiring quickly, but it is in place for a limited timeline and has clearly defined objectives. This model is ideal for short-term hiring needs, such as a growth period or expansion into a new market. You choose whether to outsource the full recruiting cycle or only parts of it.
Benefits of utilising Project RPO
• Ideal for immediate, short term need
• If there is a sudden need or opportunity for your company to scale up, RPO can be used on a project by project basis. This enables your company to meet any short-term talent acquisition needs without committing to an extended, contractual agreement. This means you can meet your recruitment needs when they are most pressing while saving money when the recruitment need is slower.
• Can be used for specific or specialised team growth
• It may be that you want to keep most of your recruitment processing in house, but you just want to outsource one specific department. For example, if your company is opening a brand-new department. The extra work required would be too much for your in-house team, but not enough to require new permanent hires. Or, for example, your tech, or digital marketing departments may have talent gaps.
• When it comes to identifying talent for specialised job roles, Project RPO can help by putting recruiters on the task who have extensive experience in recruiting for similar types of roles. Recruiters who hire for these vacancies have an in-depth knowledge of the fields they work within. This insight means they also have a keen eye for spotting the most appropriate talent, reducing the time to hire.
• Project RPO is both scalable and flexible
• Project RPO can be used to meet exactly what you require, whether you need to upscale or downsize the project. We all know the market can fluctuate from week to week. This can make Project RPO a cost-effective solution for companies who may change their minds on what exactly they need over time.
• Project RPO is more likely to result in quality hires
• Not only is it more cost effective to pay for a recruiter’s time, but Project RPO can result in more quality hires overall with better performance and potential. This is because recruiters have the time they need to invest in the project.
• In becoming an extension of your company, an RPO provider can both understand and embody your employee value proposition. If your EVP is currently underdeveloped, an RPO provider can work with you to improve and communicate it. An effective EVP will ensure that you not only attract the best people but retain them.
• Insight capabilities
Project RPO is an excellent solution to short term, future hiring or inconsistent recruitment needs. It is just as effective and specialised as standard RPO, but it can save you wasting resources during quieter times.
Utilising RPO can result in a much better candidate experience, as candidates liaise with experienced recruiters who take on your company’s brand. It can also improve your recruitment processes overall, utilising insight and research to enhance your employee value proposition. When ensuring your company makes the right hires for the long term, Project RPO could be the right route for your company to take.
D. On-Demand RPO
On-demand RPO applies an RPO solution to an immediate need, such as a seasonal hiring demand for additional workers or a spike in hiring needs. Experienced recruiters supplement the efforts of your internal team with flexible talent acquisition services, industry-specific best practices, the ability to scale up or down quickly, and the option to turn on or off monthly with no extra fee. Learn more about On-Demand RPO.
Benefit of On-Demand RPO
• Co-management options with experienced recruiting and HR professionals, including sourcing specialists, recruiters, recruiting managers, HR business managers, and process consultants
• Seamless integration into your existing recruiting and HR teams
• Highly scalable and flexible RPO solutions with agile process structure
• Knowledge-driven recruiting based on the specific needs of your industry
• Ability to ramp up or down quickly on short notice
• Virtual as specialists as needed to meet demand
• Full or partial recruitment process support
• Option to turn on or off monthly with no extra fees
• Control over hiring decisions and recruiting policies
• Ownership of candidate databases developed during engagement for future hiring initiatives
E. Contingent RPO
Contingent RPO acts as an extension of your talent acquisition department, giving you better quality contingent labor at lower cost, as compared to managed services providers (MSP) with vendor management systems (VMS). It blends the power of tried and true RPO models with the flexibility you need to manage a contingent workforce. With contingent RPO, you get the benefits of direct sourcing through an outsourced provider.
What Is Contingent RPO?
Contingent RPO is a hybrid model that blends the value of RPO with the flexibility and temporary nature of the contingent workforce. Contingent RPO supplies contingent labor using recruiters dedicated to your company. Unlike contingent staffing, which prioritizes speed at all costs, RPO emphasizes (in addition to accelerated time-to-fill):
• Recruiting Partnership – The goal of RPO is to come alongside you, get to know your business and your needs, and meet those needs with customized solutions. During the engagement, you work with a dedicated team that is committed to strategically recruiting the best candidates for your business context.
• Cost Savings – Staffing agencies have one goal: to hire quickly. With contingent RPO, you still get faster time-to-fill, but you also drive down recruiting costs with lower cost-per-hire, improved efficiency, and better long-term results.
• Quality and Cultural Fit – Finding the right person for the job is a key goal of RPO. In a contingent model, that means the temporary workers you hire will still fit within your company culture and will have the skills and credentials needed to do excellent work.
• Employer Value Proposition (EVP) – Today’s workers expect more of their employers. Your EVP frames the way your employees perceive you, and that starts with the recruitment process. Contingent RPO supports employer branding and a positive candidate experience. And because you’ll be hiring people that fit your culture, the RPO model sets them up for long-term engagement and satisfaction.
How Does Contingent RPO Work?
Contingent RPO emphasizes quality of hire, while also delivering the quantity of candidates you need for high-volume hiring initiatives. Here’s what that means for you:
• You work with a direct sourcing team. Unlike staffing agencies, the contingent RPO model provides a dedicated team of recruiters who know your company and your industry. You benefit from the provider’s candidate networks and recruiting technology, and you can leverage existing pools of known talent to find the best candidates.
• You get to keep the candidate database. The candidate database belongs to you at the end of the agreement, which means you retain the data for candidates not hired. If you want to reach out to them in the future, you have them on file. It also means, the RPO provider can’t offer candidates that have been sourced for you to your competitors.
• You can emphasize qualitative metrics. Staffing agencies get paid when they place someone, and clients will often work with more than one staffing agency at a time. That makes fast placements the highest priority – if the agency doesn’t act quickly, they don’t get paid. By contrast, contingent RPO has the freedom to focus on qualitative metrics like skill, candidate experience, and cultural fit. You get better quality candidates while reducing your total cost of hire.
• You can fill specialized roles. If you’re looking for a contingent SQL specialist or web developer for a project, you can’t afford to hire the wrong person. Your project timeline, budget, and outcomes are at stake. Contingent RPO is the best solution for filling those highly technical positions with people who do quality work.
• You can plan for the future while also hiring quickly. RPO is built for the long-term. Even in a contingent model, RPO positions you to build sustainable talent pipelines and hire candidates with the potential to segue into full-time roles