[Part 4] In-House, Agencies, and Beyond: A Guide to Talent Acquisition Solutions in 2022
Part 4: The Traditional RPO (Recruiting Process Outsourcing)
Guide to TA solutions in 2022.
If you need to make a lot of hires and want the benefits of an embedded recruiting solution, but (a) don't want to risk laying off in-house resources if hiring slows down, or (b) don't want to pay for benefits, extensive training and other FTE costs, a traditional RPO is certainly something to consider.
RPOs are an embedded solution offered by (RPO) agencies. The agency provides you with recruiters who work exclusively for you, and charges a fixed monthly cost that can fit predictably into a hiring budget.
“RPOs are an embedded solution offered by (RPO) agencies. The agency provides you with recruiters who work exclusively for you, and charges a fixed monthly cost that can fit predictably into a hiring budget.”
While this option can afford you many of the benefits of an in-house recruiter while preserving the flexibility and contingent workforce component that most associate with agencies and contractors, there are a few other relevant factors worthy of consideration.
Traditional RPOs:
are usually not managed, so if you do not have the internal infrastructure in place to guide and manage an RPO recruiter or team of RPO recruiters yourself, then this may not be the right solution for you.
generally do not provide their own licenses for recruiting tools or technologies, so you'll have to factor these costs in yourself if you choose to take the RPO route. For example, you'll have to pay for their LinkedIn Recruiter seats and other tools in the recruiting stack, which can add up quickly.
will assign you the recruiters that best fit your projects needs, based on what they have available, but you generally do not interview them yourself or have much of a say in who specifically works for you. While this is not necessarily a bad thing when you’re in a hurry and trust the RPO agency to provide you with someone good, if the provided recruiting resource turns out to be sub-par, you lose valuable time and money when you have to request a replacement.
Because of some of these considerations, RPOs have not always had the best reputation in the recruiting industry, and many companies are now turning to a related but distinct solution: Recruiters On-Demand.
“Because of some of these considerations, RPOs have not always had the best reputation in the recruiting industry, and many companies are now turning to a related but distinct solution: Recruiters On-Demand.”
To learn about the final (and newest) talent acquisition solution that we’ll be discussing in this blog series, continue on to Part 5.