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Features to look for in your RPO vendor

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October 16,2015

While hiring talented and motivated candidates is crucial to every business regardless of its structure, and operational demands, the process of recruitment is complex and requires specialization. Whether due to unavailability of suitable candidates or because there is a fault in the methods of recruitment, business often suffers a loss when the right positions remain vacant within an organization.

Consequently, the rise of Recruitment Process Outsourcing has come up as a big relief to organizations who either cannot handle the recruitment efficiently themselves or have urgent requirement in terms of manpower or suffer from a high turnover rate thereby losing money and resource. RPO vendors are specialized firms that handle the talent acquisition on the part of the client and thereby providing them with cost-effective solutions so far as the HR requirement is concerned.

How do you look for that one RPO vendor who can meet your business requirements and get you the candidates that are fit for the open positions? This article discusses in brief the features that you should look for in an RPO solution providing company.

Targets and Metrics

While most of us understand the value of preparing a list of targets before indulging into the actionable strategy, we often lack in terms of defining precise metrics that will enable us to check our progress. You should prepare a list of targets that you want to achieve with the RPO vendor and tally it with them so that both the parties are aware of the definite goal. So whether you are looking for a reduced cost-per-hire or the optimization of hiring process in terms of time taken, you can decide beforehand to plan a realistic strategy to meet the ends.

Also, it is equally important to define proper metrics so that any time during the process, you can check how much progress you have made. Not only that helps in improving and speeding the process, but it also gives you insights about how to frame policies on a larger scale.

Industry Focus

It is always better to look for a more focused team to get optimum results. Out of several operating RPO firms, you can select a few good ones that have shown their expertise in the industry that you are a part of. Look for their past accomplishments, how they have managed to establish their brand, and their overall value before taking the final call. It is also helpful to check for their methods and results in terms of talent acquisition so that you exactly know what to expect from them.

How big is your RPO Requirement?

Based on your business requirement and other factors such as cost, urgency, etc., you need an RPO enterprise that can meet your expectations in the shortest time and reasonable cost. Stay informed about your operational requirements and then make an estimate if your chosen RPO vendor is capable of delivering the results.

On-site Support

In most of the cases, recruiting is not as seamless as it looks to an outsider. As a client, you want to remain on the same page with the RPO provider company, and so it is essential that you look for an RPO vendor that gives you full support. Even though it is not very common for an RPO enterprise to provide you this featured service, but then that is the difference between an ordinary company and a specialized RPO vendor firm.

Services

Of course, the services that you look for will be based on your industry needs and market trends. You should pay attention to the services that your chosen RPO vendor offers. The RPO firm should be able to conduct a thorough candidate research along with handling compliance, auditing and reporting on your behalf. Also, based on whether you need the RPO provider to get you candidates for your entire company or only a few projects, you can search for a preferable RPO firm amongst the others.

Use your Networks

Especially in the HR community, networking is of crucial importance. Apart from the fact that a strong network allows you to access valuable candidates that your peers have, you can anytime reach out to some companies and ask for their opinions about which RPO vendor is more suitable and in what terms.

How to Reach the most Efficient RPO Provider?

After you have found a few qualified and experienced RPO firms that can serve your purpose, you may find a hard time in selecting one out of them all.

Make a list of all the RPO vendors that you have selected. It is better to tabulate their features so that you can make a comparative analysis based on the size of the firm, location, experience in the industry, cost, etc. Also, make sure to include the pros and cons of each firm so that you have a rough idea of their speciality and their weak points.

After you have made the list mentioned in step 1, you can now narrow your search to look for the RPO provider companies that meet your strict criteria. So you now select firms that have a better experience and exposure to job-seeking candidates, lesser cost-per-hire and time-to-hire, etc. and have increased access to the talent pool than the rest. The idea behind this step is to discard the less deserving firms from your wish list. So prefer having stringent criteria so that you can get a company that meets your requirement perfectly.