Observations and Trends in RPO- 2009 and beyond

I see many of our RPO clients using this downturn to reorganize and optimize recruiting functions focusing efforts on:

1. reducing cost
2. improving processes and disconnects (“eliminating waste”)
3. building in flexibility, scalability
4. optimizing systems
5. introducing hybrid recruiting and hiring models
6. implementing web based assessment tools for high volume jobs
 

• Recruiting leaders are increasingly relying on carefully managed sets of third party partners rather than internal FTE’s to support delivery.

• Recruiting roles continue to become more specialized (industry, skill set,
functional, task etc.) to meet business unit hiring demands.

• Recruiting roles are also differentiating into exempt and non-exempt
specializations, reflecting:

i. Different hiring practices
ii. Different recruiting skill sets

• I believe clients will continue to look to outsource their high volume, similar job type, recruiting and hiring work. This particular area typically constitutes “low hanging fruit” for many HR departments and operational excellence for field operations.  Decision drivers include:

i. Non-strategic hires
ii. Quick win with immediate ROI – e.g. reduce 90 day turnover
iii. Vendors own the entire administrative process, and
iv. Service Level Agreements facilitate management and clarify
accountability

• I also believe there will be a continuing trend toward centralizing hiring
administration across multiple business units, with resulting gains in ROI (data entry, status calls, questions, and interview coordination).
• These trends, however, will impact installed ATS systems, some of which may require additional functionality in addition to being re-configured for futurestate processes. In all cases, the optimized applications will need to be
integrated with existing or new third-party partners.