6 types of Recruitment Process Outsourcing: Choosing the RPO that’s best for you

HR professionals across the globe are grappling with increasing complexities in recruitment. These complexities can be attributed to factors such as changing technology, increasing regulations, data privacy and more. 

RPO, or Recruitment Process Outsourcing, comes as a solution to manage the various complexities that talent acquisition professionals face. RPO facilitates outsourcing the staffing needs of the organisation to a third party. Third-party recruiters are professionals who specialise in different aspects of the hiring process. These include sourcing, screening, organising interviews, onboarding and more. RPO service providers can provide an end-to-end recruitment process. However, the organisation can decide to what extent it wants to outsource the recruitment.

Outsourcing recruitment to third-party service providers reduces the workload of HR professionals, who can focus on other areas of the HR function. RPO is an extremely flexible and effective solution that takes care of all aspects of recruitment. It offers a bouquet of services to clients, such as workforce planning, talent mapping, talent attraction and employer branding.

RPO is the perfect solution for companies grappling with hiring challenges in a tight labour market where attracting the right talent is difficult.

What are the roles and responsibilities of RPO?

An RPO service provider embeds itself within an organisation, transforming how the business hires its resources. RPO is responsible for the design and management of the entire recruitment process. RPO providers are responsible for finding, screening and assessing candidates that are the best fit for the organisation. They must ensure maximum efficiency and provide the business with data analysis and regular reports on the effectiveness of the solutions offered.

RPO is replacing all other recruitment models because of the benefits it offers. It is the favourite choice of talent acquisition professionals looking to hire candidates with specialised skills.

Benefits of outsourcing recruitment and selection

• RPOs ensure that businesses can easily access the talent they need in the short-, medium- and long-term. This facilitates better workforce planning.
• RPO services providers specialise in various recruitment processes and provide a better client experience.
• RPO agencies serve as a conduit between the HR teams in the organisation and the candidate. They understand the needs of the business and facilitate customised fulfillment.
• Outsourcing recruitment to professional agencies relieves the HR professionals so they can focus on other aspects of the HR function.
• RPO service providers follow strict protocols to ensure that they hire candidates who meet the organisation’s needs.
• Outsourcing recruitment ensures that the organisation has the right hires at the right time. This enhances the productivity of the organisation because there are minimal delays in getting personnel.
• RPO prevents bad hiring decisions and enhances the effectiveness of the hiring process. 
• RPO agencies provide a competitive edge to businesses with effective recruitment strategies.
• RPO service providers offer different types of outsourcing options for businesses to choose from. This offers flexibility to the in-house hiring teams.

Types of RPO

1. Enterprise RPO

Enterprise RPO is ideal for organisations that intend to outsource their entire human resource needs. The RPO service provider is responsible and accountable for all facets of recruitment for the business. This includes recruitment processes such as sourcing, screening, management process, employer branding, marketing, etc. The service provider needs to ensure that the organisation does not suffer from recruitment gaps.

Enterprise RPO may be company-wide for the long term wherein the RPO provider manages the end-to-end recruitment process for the long term. Alternatively, it can be location-specific or job-specific. In location-specific RPO, the resource needs of a specific location are outsourced. In job-specific RPO, the recruitment of personnel for specific job functions is outsourced. For instance, a client may outsource the recruitment of only the finance department to an RPO service provider.

Enterprise RPO is well-suited for large organisations with thousands of employees or mid-sized companies looking to scale.

2. Project-based RPO

As the name indicates, a project-based RPO entails outsourcing the recruitment of resources for a specific project while the organisation manages the rest of the recruitment in-house. Project-based RPO is beneficial because the RPO service provider can hire specialists with the relevant skills and experience for the project in a short time.

It is ideal for short-term projects with well-defined goals within a precise scope and timeframe. Project-based RPO is best suited for product launches, contracts, specific jobs, etc.

3. Resource-based RPO

Some businesses do not have a standard resource requirement pattern. They might suddenly experience a surge in demand for resources and at other times they may require only a few. On-demand RPO is the perfect solution for such varying demands. On-demand RPO means the recruiter is available to businesses in their time of need.

Some RPO companies also have their representatives working onsite. This ensures that the representative is fully integrated with the client’s teams.

Engaging an on-demand recruiter provides access to quality resources worldwide as per the needs of the business.

4. Point-of-service RPO

It is also known as limited or selective RPO. In point-of-service outsourcing, the service provider takes care of one specific element of the recruitment process. It is similar to project-based RPO. It differs from all other types of outsourcing because in point-of-service RPO, the HR team needs to work with whatever element of the recruitment process the service provider delivers. For instance, if the RPO partner is working on applicant intake, the HR professionals need to ensure that they have the necessary protocols in place to facilitate applicant intake.

Some areas where point-of-service RPO is used are applicant intake, applicant screening, social media outsourcing, etc.

5. Hybrid RPO

Hybrid RPO is a blend of in-house resourcing and outsourcing. The client can decide which part of recruitment it wants to manage in-house and what should be outsourced. The hybrid RPO provides flexibility to the recruiters in the organisation. They can choose which functions or areas of recruitment they want to outsource. This helps the organisations benefit from both—outsourcing and in-house recruitment.

6. Total talent

In total talent outsourcing, service providers offer different types of services such as project-based RPO, resource-based RPO, hybrid RPO, enterprise RPO, etc. Clients can choose the type/s best suited for their businesses. Working with a single service provider who provides different types of outsourcing options is beneficial for the business because it can alter its selection if required. Collaborating with a total talent RPO service provider ensures that the different types of recruitment needs of your organisation are met and there are no gaps in recruitment.

Choosing the best type for your business? 

There is a plethora of RPO options, each with its own set of benefits. Choosing the best for your organisation can be a daunting task. Apart from choosing the right type of RPO, the business also needs to make sure that it selects the most ideally suited RPO service provider. An error in the choice of either can prove to be costly. 

Collaboration with an RPO service provider is beneficial for a business only if the RPO agency selected aligns with the organisational goals and shares similar values. The RPO partner needs to embed itself in the organisation instead of functioning as an external agency.

The RPO experts at Careernet can guide you in choosing the RPO solution that is best for your business. At Careernet, we have a professional team that specialises in managing the different resource needs of clients. We have an enhanced network and recruitment process that helps provide quality hires. Our professionals work with clients to understand their business goals and provide services that help achieve those goals.

A few years ago, only large businesses were deploying RPO. However, in recent years, the trend has changed and even medium-sized businesses are using RPO to grow their business. An RPO is an ideal hiring solution for any business that hires permanent staff regularly. This is the reason that the demand for RPO services has increased multifold in recent years. Data reveals that the RPO market revenue, which was USD 5351 million in 2019, is expected to reach a staggering USD 7743 million in 2025, with a CAGR of 6.35 percent from 2020 to 2025. (Source: https://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/recruitment-process-outsourcing-rpo-market-share-2022-analysis-by-current-industry-status-and-growth-opportunities-market-size-revenue-price-trends-top-manufacturers-growth-rate-forecast-by-2)

In conclusion

RPO partners with the client and works as an extension of the internal team. It has become extremely popular in recent years and is being widely adopted by organisations across the globe because it provides a holistic workplace. Partnering with RPO agencies optimises recruitment functions and benefits HR professionals, managers, candidates, etc.

If you are looking for reliable RPO partners, connect with the experts at Careernet!