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As a business grows, its workforce needs to grow too. But in 2024, many recruitment teams are overstretched and overworked. This often results in temporary fixes that only treat the symptoms of understaffing without addressing the root cause or aligning with your long-term strategy.
The alternative? Recruitment process outsourcing, or RPO. When you work with an RPO provider, they act as a strategic partner in your recruiting journey, helping you solve challenges in the short term while laying the foundation for long-term success.
Not sure if RPO is the right solution for your organisation? Keep reading for seven signs that it could benefit your business.
What is recruitment process outsourcing (RPO)?
Recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) is when a business hands over all or part of its recruitment process to an external provider (like CXC). The RPO provider acts as an integral part of your internal talent function, working with you to source, attract and assess the talent you need.
Using an RPO is a cost-effective alternative to sourcing candidates through recruitment agencies, which can vary in cost and quality. Businesses often turn to RPO solutions when they’re scaling faster than their internal team can keep up with, or need to hire for very specialised roles.
7 signs RPO might be a good solution for your business
Wondering whether RPO is the right solution for your organisation? Here are seven signs to look out for.
- Your internal recruitment team is struggling to cope
An overburdened recruitment team is one of the first signs that an RPO solution could benefit your organisation. This can manifest in a number of ways: first, you’ll notice that your team is stressed, overworked and even approaching burnout. You might even see increased absenteeism and turnover on your recruitment team, as recruiters struggle to handle their unreasonable workload.
Often, recruiters in this situation will have no choice but to turn to external agencies to fill roles. While this might help to ease the pressure, it’s also an expensive solution. Plus, agencies get paid per hire, which means they may be incentivised to place candidates quickly rather than taking the time to find the best person for the job.
- Fluctuating hiring demands are making things difficult
Your workforce needs might look different from one month to the next, whether that’s because of seasonal changes to your business, or fluctuations in the market. Whatever the reason, this can cause big problems when you handle talent acquisition in house.
For one thing, ramping up your workforce in a hurry might be more than your internal team can handle — leaving you understaffed when you most need workers. It can also cause you to overspend on the talent you need during peak periods, only to have to make layoffs later.
An RPO partner can help you to develop a more strategic approach to workforce planning. Not only can they help you to onboard large numbers of workers when you need them, but they also look at the workforce holistically, in the context of your future needs. That means they’ll ensure the hires you make now make sense for your business’s long-term growth plan.
- You’re experiencing high turnover rates
If you’re experiencing high voluntary turnover, there are two ways that an RPO provider can help. First, they can help you meet your immediate needs by finding candidates to fill the gaps in your workforce. They’ll put together a strategic, scalable plan to fill your pipeline and ensure you always have the people you need.
But RPO providers can also help you to figure out why attrition is going on in the first place — and what you can do to reduce it. For example, if you’re seeing a lot of turnover within the first few months of employees joining your company, there could be something wrong with your screening or interview process.
- Your business is scaling fast
When companies experience rapid growth, they need to hire a lot of people, fast. And, unless you’ve significantly scaled up your internal recruitment team first, it will be impossible for them to meet this increased demand.
Working with an RPO partner can help you to build the headcount you need to support your scaling business. Providers typically have an in-depth understanding of the job market and the industries they work in. This enables them to build efficient, scalable recruitment processes and significantly reduce your time-to-hire.
- You have niche roles to fill
In 2024, many businesses are struggling to source the talent they need. This is particularly challenging when you’re recruiting for niche or specialised roles, or searching for candidates whose skills are very in-demand.
RPO providers can connect you with their vast networks of qualified candidates, which means you have a much greater chance of finding the person you need. Their deep industry knowledge means they’re also skilled at screening and assessing candidates to find you the ideal person for the job.
- You’re expanding to new markets
Expanding to a new region can mean big things for your business — but it also presents some significant challenges when it comes to recruitment. First, you need to figure out how to source skilled candidates in a location you’re not familiar with, (and potentially in a foreign language). And you also need to be aware of the regulations, norms, rules and customs that shape the labour market in the country in question.
A global RPO provider can help you by providing the local expertise needed to effectively source and attract candidates in your chosen market. Because of their in-depth knowledge of local laws and customs, they can also help you avoid costly compliance mistakes and damage to your reputation.
- You want to cut costs and increase agility
In many organisations, recruitment is essentially a reactive process. Instead of thinking of their organisations’ long-term needs, recruitment teams simply fill gaps as quickly as possible, often turning to external agencies for help. But not only is this an expensive approach, it can also result in hiring mistakes. Ultimately, this can worsen the problems with talent retention and engagement that businesses are trying to solve.
When you work with an RPO partner, you reduce the need for external agencies. Instead of sticking plaster solutions, your provider will help you lay the groundwork for future success by developing scalable, effective recruitment strategies. The best RPO providers work to fully understand and embody your culture and values, ensuring that the candidates you hire are a good fit.
Introducing CXC: Your global RPO partner
Need to ramp up your workforce faster than your internal team can handle — or just need some help building a long-term, holistic workforce strategy? We can help.
Our RPO solution can help you to source and attract the candidates you need, when you need them. Because we take the time to truly understand your business, we’re able to select the best candidates for you — making it more likely that they’ll stick around for longer.
And we’re also a global organisation. That means we can support you in your international expansion by helping you to find the right people in the right locations.
The best part? We’ll give you full visibility over your recruitment spending, so you can say goodbye to hidden costs and spiralling agency fees.
Want to find out more about how we could support your growth? Speak to our team to get started.
