Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) explained

RPO (meaning recruitment process outsourcing) is an approach to talent acquisition where a client outsources all recruitment efforts to a third-party vendor. Companies that offer RPO solutions are specialized in finding and hiring top talent around the globe. When it comes to IT, RPO recruitment presents a whole range of new opportunities for employers and employees alike.

Read this quick guide to learn what is recruitment process outsourcing, reasons to consider implementing RPO solutions at your company, the benefits of this approach, and how Maxima Consulting takes care of the entire recruitment and selection process for its clients.

The current recruitment landscape

Since the coronavirus pandemic, the IT job market has drastically changed. Many tech experts got used to working remotely and won’t even consider going to the office. This shift in the attitude of valuable personnel forced companies to adapt and turn to recruitment outsourcing and professional recruitment agencies to satisfy their hiring needs. 

To attract the best talent and fill positions, organizations have to embrace remote working. Even though considered a challenge at first, this change actually represents an opportunity for employers to access more quality candidates. Being open to remote work enables companies to not only attract more applicants but also bring in the underrepresented talent confident in their skills and the value they bring. As it turns out, a lot of top talent in IT can be found in a different state or country.

Today, software developers, quality assurance specialists, and cloud infrastructure architects are no longer considered a department that dabbles in unintelligible technologies and ends up being disconnected from the rest of the company. They are increasingly responsible for fulfilling business needs. Technology departments today contribute not only to software and IT infrastructure but also to their organizations’ mindsets and to the evolution of ways businesses operate.

To find perfect candidates who can carry such responsibility, the sourcing phase of recruitment becomes crucial and consequently extends in length. IT recruitment teams spend countless hours on talent analytics, looking for very specific people who fit the job profile and company culture to guarantee a successful placement. This approach results in minimal-risk hiring process.

The talent shortage is real

The demand for developers, engineers, and designers has been on the rise for years. But increased competition to attract the best talent is only one of many issues business owners face when hiring for technology roles.

While the number of companies competing for the same candidates rises, the talent pool remains limited. We’re experiencing a worldwide scarcity of technology skills. A recent survey by McKinsey found that 43% of organizations already face skill gaps, and 44% expect a skills shortage within the next five years. Even if new IT professionals join the job market, two junior developers still can’t do the same work as one experienced software engineer.

Companies are at risk of falling behind

Employers can’t expect that simply posting on job boards will provide them with a top artificial intelligence expert. In IT and engineering, RPO services are so successful because finding and hiring a niche expert is different from what in-house recruitment departments usually do. Traditional recruitment efforts often prove inefficient when it comes to technology. Fulfilling IT recruitment needs of a company in the logistics industry or a financial institution demands a reimagining of the company’s recruiting approach and building a cost-effective, integrated recruitment solution that combines onshore, nearshore, and offshore resources.

Organizations that fail to adapt are not only unattractive to the best candidates. They also risk losing their existing top talent to more agile competitors. And when times are tough, a company’s success depends on how reliable its workforce is.

On the other hand, modernizing the recruitment strategy with an outsourced recruitment process attracts a flexible talent pool, perfectly capable of fostering innovation and maintaining a company’s competitive edge. A good RPO solution can facilitate a cost-effective recruitment process and support building more diverse organizations while simultaneously reducing time-to-hire. Combined with the Contract-to-Hire approach it can also reduce risks of a bad hire.

It’s time to focus on the immediate requirements of the best talent and anticipate future talent needs to ensure long-term success. Delaying action leads only to missed opportunities, increased talent shortage, high cost per hire, and an ultimate failure to keep up with the global demands of the digital age. In the face of such challenges, many organizations turn to RPO providers for strategic guidance and support in creating modern talent pipelines.

How do experts define RPO in recruitment?

To define RPO (recruitment process outsourcing), you first need to understand outsourcing. Outsourcing is a business practice where a company obtains some goods and/or services from an external vendor rather than from an internal source. These goods and services can be both physical and digital. For example, organizations can contract out entire software development process to India, utilize outsourced quality assurance department, or outsource their recruitment tasks to specialized global RPO companies.

So, RPO (recruitment process outsourcing) definition is: the type of outsourcing where the entire recruitment process is contracted out to an external specialized outsourcing provider.

Why RPO recruitment?

Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) means that an employer works with a third-party recruitment agency, fully responsible for delivering qualified candidates with minimal client involvement. Outsourcing the recruitment process addresses all the issues mentioned above and offers many additional benefits.

Top benefits of working with RPO providers

Future-proof strategy

Any organization’s success depends on its employees and the value they produce. With a robust recruitment process, you will build a solid talent acquisition process capable of meeting your current hiring demands and accommodating your future hiring needs. By outsourcing to recruitment consultants, you’re setting your company up for future wins.

Reduced hiring time

Modernizing your approach to recruitment processes enables a steady flow of qualified candidates for current and future technology positions. Consequently, it reduces the time spent on the talent acquisition journey. Streamlining the recruitment process enables your company’s increased agility in securing the right talent as fast as possible.

Access to expert recruiters

Working with an RPO provider who understands IT candidates greatly streamlines hiring processes and limits the number of meetings your management has to attend to fill a specific role. Especially if your technology department is small and you’re looking to fill only a couple of vacancies every year, adding a full-time IT recruiter to your internal team makes little sense. With Recruitment Process Outsourcing, you reap the benefits an IT-focused recruitment team brings while reducing cost-per-hire at the same time.

Lowered long-term costs

The investment made at the hiring stage can significantly reduce recruitment costs in the future. With access to a vast talent pool of technology experts, a specialized external provider surely possesses, your organization maximizes the chance to hire a suitable person on the first try, which leads to reduced time-to-hire and additional cost savings.

Improved employee satisfaction

Today, most companies in industries ranging from banking to engineering to logistics understand the value of customer satisfaction. Similarly, there is a lot to gain from investing in boosting employee satisfaction.

Following best practices in sourcing and screening processes results in delivering only carefully selected candidates who meet hiring demands and align with your company’s values. As a result, leading recruitment process outsourcing companies help you create a productive work environment and improve organizational morale.

Increased employee retention

When you hire candidates who fit your organization, they are more likely to stay long-term, reducing turnover and costs associated with frequent hiring and onboarding. But building diverse organizations helps facilitate creativity and growth. Specialized IT staffing companies are perfectly equipped to balance the needs for cultural fit and diversity.

Thorough expertise

Hiring and keeping skilled employees broadens and preserves the collective knowledge your company needs to maintain its strengths and eliminate drawbacks. The less time you have to consume to onboard and train your new employees, the faster they can contribute to the overall growth of the business. Specialized RPO companies offer broad workforce planning and strategic recruiting solutions usually employ HR professionals who can help you with human resources tasks such as onboarding and performance reviews to improve your employer branding and further reduce your hiring costs.

Maxima Consulting’s best-in-class IT RPO solutions

How does recruitment process outsourcing work at Maxima Consulting? Our expert IT recruiters are skilled interviewers capable of streamlining the recruiting process, selecting only the best candidates for you to meet, and strengthening your employer branding efforts in the meantime. They focus on transparency and communication so you can remain informed and stress-free throughout the entire recruitment process. Moreover, our expert IT recruiters can leverage predictive talent analytics solutions and other modern recruitment tools to further optimize your time-to-hire.

The hiring process with RPO partner

Working with a specialized IT RPO service provider empowers your organization with access to top global technology talent. By embracing RPO process and RPO partnership, your company can steadily build a dynamic and flexible workforce with little involvement from the management and your internal recruiters, allowing you to focus on the core parts of the business.

Minimal involvement needed

With a recruitment process outsourcing firm filling your vacancies in the information technology department, your organization’s internal recruiters can focus on the key aspects of your company’s operations. 

Less pressure

Navigating the complexities of the modern hiring process in the technology job market can be pretty difficult and stressful. With an experienced RPO company managing all your IT recruitment efforts, you can rest assured that your talent needs and employer brand are in capable hands.

Total control and transparency

IT RPO partners are responsible for a whole IT recruitment function, but your company retains complete control over the recruitment process and its outcomes with open and transparent communication. The scope of your overall involvement in the hiring process depends on how much insight into our workflow you need to feel secure and properly guide our efforts with feedback.

Good understanding of your needs

How do we begin our involvement in your project? RPO partnership with Maxima Consulting starts with comprehensive interviews and thorough research of your company to understand its unique requirements and propose a talent acquisition model that suits your needs best. Whether you need a project-based RPO or an end-to-end RPO solution, our recruitment team will adjust their methods and deliver the right talent with the right skills which align with your organizational culture.

Impact on Employer Branding

Maxima Consulting’s specialized recruitment marketing team ensures top candidates see your job postings, find them attractive, and are more eager to apply. Our marketers design visuals and messages relevant to your ideal candidates’ interests and current recruiting trends, examine recruitment campaign data, and tweak the communication until your hiring challenges are overcome.

Moreover, our talent acquisition team ensures that all candidates receive useful feedback, irrespective of the hiring outcome. This commitment to communication has a positive impact on your brand image. Even unsuccessful candidates get something valuable from participating in the recruitment process, which improves your reputation, enhances your attractiveness as an employer, and positively affect your future recruitment efforts.

Professional job interviews

Our recruiters have all the proper soft skills and enough tech proficiency to assess the candidates’ skill levels and attitudes. With effective introductory interviews, your hiring managers waste less time on meetings, as they only conduct later-stage interviews with the previously selected promising candidates.

Work with a specialized technology RPO provider

Knowing what is an RPO recruiter and what is recruitment outsourcing is a first step to modernizing your company’s approach to talent acquisition.

Step two can be partnering with Maxima Consulting, probably the best RPO consultancy firm out there, for a custom recruitment process outsourcing solution aligned with your location strategy. Learn about our Staff Augmentation services and Build-Operate-Transfer projects, or contact us today for a free consultation.

Want to learn more about the vendor selection process? Read our guide to choosing the right IT outsourcing provider for your organization.