Solution: Amplifiers

Scaling Smart: How Project RPO Transformed European Recruitment

Posted on by akessler
Scaling Smart: How Project RPO Transformed European Recruitment

Project RPO

Scaling Smart: How Project RPO Transformed European Recruitment

A sustainability consulting firm turned to PeopleScout for multi-country project RPO in Europe and beyond.

10 countries
55 day time-to-offer
2.5:1 presentation-to-interview ratio

Situation

A sustainability consultancy operating across Europe needed end-to-end recruitment support. They were hunting for hard-to-fill positions that required serious sourcing expertise and multilingual capabilities.

As a consultancy, their business volumes fluctuated dramatically. They needed a solution that could scale up when projects boomed and scale down when things quieted—all while maintaining consistent service quality. Because when you’re a consultancy, your people are your product, and agility isn’t just nice to have, it’s business critical.

The organization turned to PeopleScout looking for a provider who could work seamlessly alongside their existing talent acquisition team throughout Europe. They wanted a partner who could bring sourcing experience for those tricky roles, language skills and talent advisory services that would give them a competitive edge.

Solution

We landed on something that would transform their entire recruitment approach: a team of Recruiters on Demand (RODs) who would partner with the client’s existing team, work directly with their systems, and support in a sourcing and screening capacity that could flex with their business needs.

They needed to amplify their capabilities with specialists who brought different skillsets and a different mindset to hard-to-fill roles.

Building the Partnership Framework

To make sure we were making the right hires the first time and every time, we partnered with the client to create a comprehensive playbook, a living, breathing guide that ensured every new ROD could hit the ground running.

We implemented buddy systems that got people up to speed fast. The approach was so effective that as our RODs demonstrated success, some started to own requisitions end to end.

The EMEA Expansion

Our creative solution grew to six RODs at the height of the European recruitment operation, including crucial German-speaking capability. The team delivered remotely from Poland, supporting recruitment across Romania, France, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, Portugal, Poland, and the UK—a truly pan-European effort that created competitive advantage across multiple markets.

Ultimately, the team filled over 150 positions spanning Finance and HR through to Environmental Consultants and Specialists. Each role required industry-first thinking and specialised sourcing techniques that our ROD team brought to the table.

Alongside the ROD specialists, we provided a dedicated account team consisting of an Account Director and Relationship Manager who conducted quarterly and annual business reviews, creating an environment for continuous improvement, genuine partnership, and thought leadership in action.

Conquering North America

The success in Europe was so compelling that the solution was extended, deploying two additional RODs to cover North America. Our team continued to work remotely from Poland, adjusting to U.S. hours to accommodate the work—proving that great talent solutions know no boundaries.

This expansion demonstrated the scalability of our creative approach and how the right people with the right mindset can deliver results regardless of geography or time zones.

Results

The numbers tell the story of a partnership that delivered exactly what the client needed:

  • End-to-end excellence: Requisitions worked from start to finish with an impressive 55-day time-to-offer
  • Quality that counts: 2.5:1 presentation-to-interview ratio, proving the exceptional quality of candidates being sourced, screened, and the team’s deep understanding of the business
  • Seamless integration: PeopleScout’s ROD team worked so effectively with the client’s talent acquisition team that they became an extension of the client’s capabilities
  • Scalable success: Solution flexed from 2 to 6 heads in Europe and successfully expanded to North America
  • Multilingual mastery: German-speaking capability opened doors across key European markets

At a Glance

  • COMPANY
    Sustainability Consultancy
  • INDUSTRY
    Business Services
  • PEOPLESCOUT SOLUTIONS
    Recruitment Process Outsourcing
  • LOCATIONS
    Romania, France, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, Portugal, Poland, the UK and the U.S.
Contact Sales

Healthcare Recruitment Challenges Require New Strategies: The Modular RPO Advantage 

Posted on by akessler

Traditional hiring approaches are struggling to address today’s healthcare recruitment challenges effectively. From specialized clinical certifications to huge talent shortages and unpredictable seasonal surges, healthcare HR leaders need flexible, scalable solutions that can adapt to their unique operational demands. 

This article explores how modular recruitment models are modernizing healthcare talent acquisition, revealing current industry benchmarks that expose the true cost of traditional recruitment methods, and demonstrating how innovative modular and rapid-deployment recruiting solutions can transform your hiring outcomes. 

The State of Healthcare Recruitment 

Healthcare recruitment today exists within a “perfect storm” of converging challenges that have fundamentally altered the talent acquisition landscape. The post-pandemic environment has created a complex web of hiring obstacles that require sophisticated, flexible solutions. 

The Aging Workforce Challenge 

An aging population drives increased demand for healthcare services while simultaneously creating workforce shortages as experienced professionals approach retirement. This demographic shift compounds recruitment challenges across all healthcare roles, from entry-level support staff to highly specialized physicians. 

Talent Shortages 

The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that the healthcare sector will need over 2.6 million additional workers by 2030, with nursing, specialized therapy roles, and rural healthcare positions among those facing the most significant shortages. According to a study by The National Council of State Boards of Nursing, more than 138,000 nurses left the workforce since 2022, and 40% of nurses intend to leave the workforce or retire within the next five years, creating a costly cycle of recruitment and replacement. 

Technology and Specialization Demands 

Modern healthcare requires increasingly specialized skills and certifications. The rapid pace of medical technology advancement means candidates must possess not only traditional clinical skills but also comfort with sophisticated digital systems and emerging treatment protocols. 

Market Pressures Impact Staffing Costs 

Due to the ongoing scarcity of permanent nursing staff, travel nursing continues to experience increased demand. The market saw a 15% rise in 2024, with travel nurses experiencing a 10% increase in average pay rates as facilities compete for top talent. While travel nurses and per diem healthcare professionals offer flexibility for employers to manage unpredictable patient volumes and unexpected staffing gaps, it can also increase staffing costs.  

Cost Impact: The True Price of Healthcare Recruitment Challenges 

Traditional healthcare recruitment methods carry hidden costs that extend far beyond direct hiring expenses. Understanding these benchmark costs reveals the urgent need for more efficient approaches. 

Long Vacancy Periods 

Healthcare roles stay open an average of 49 days—twice the national average. Specialized medical roles need even more time. Primary care positions take over 125 days, and cardiology and psychiatry roles can take over 180 days to fill. During these extended vacancy periods, organizations face overtime costs for existing staff, increased use of expensive agency workers, and potential impacts on patient care quality. 

Cost-Per-Hire 

Healthcare cost-per-hire averages significantly higher than other industries due to specialized sourcing requirements, extended credentialing processes, and the need for clinical assessment capabilities. These costs multiply when positions remain unfilled for extended periods. 

Turnover Cost Cascade 

Beyond direct replacement costs, healthcare turnover impacts team dynamics, patient satisfaction scores, and can create liability concerns that affect organizational reputation and financial performance. 

How Modular RPO Addresses Healthcare Recruitment Challenges 

Modular RPO provides healthcare organizations with targeted solutions that address their most pressing recruitment challenges without requiring complete outsourcing of their hiring function. This approach allows organizations to maintain control over candidate selection while accessing specialized expertise for specific aspects of the recruitment process.  

Flexibility Without Long-Term Commitment 

Modular recruitment solutions provide the expertise and efficiency of RPO services without requiring comprehensive outsourcing of hiring functions. Organizations can access specialized capabilities when needed while maintaining control over their overall recruitment strategy. 

Surge Staffing Response 

Modular solutions can be activated quickly to address unexpected staffing shortages, whether due to seasonal illness outbreaks, unexpected resignations, or new services and facilities. Predictable seasonal needs can be addressed through pre-planned modular implementations that scale up during high-demand periods and scale back during quieter times. Healthcare-focused RPO providers maintain extensive networks of healthcare professionals across various specialties, including passive candidates who may not be actively looking but could be interested in the right opportunity. They can do everything from filling the top of your funnel to creating a talent pool for future vacancies to providing an extra recruiter (or two) to support your in-house team.  

Talent Mapping  

Understanding compensation trends, competitor hiring patterns, and talent availability in specific geographic markets provides strategic advantages. With healthcare roles projected to skyrocket, organizations need sophisticated market intelligence to compete effectively. A talent partner can uncover this market intelligence to support your workforce planning decisions. 

Technology-Enhanced Recruitment 

Modern healthcare RPO providers leverage advanced technology and AI-powered sourcing tools to streamline recruitment processes. Predictive analytics help anticipate staffing needs, while automated systems can support screening and credentialing verification. Some providers can even perform technology diagnostics to help you navigate today’s HR tech landscape and maximize your investment. 

Employer Brand & Culture 

With facilities competing aggressively for limited talent, a strong employer value proposition (EVP) becomes a critical differentiator. Organizations that can articulate compelling reasons for candidates to join their team gain significant advantages in recruitment outcomes. Finding a talent partner who offers EVP and culture consulting can help you find professionals whose values align with your organization’s desire to provide exceptional patient care. 

Blended Direct Hire/Contingent Model 

Modern healthcare staffing requires both permanent and temporary staff, so choosing a talent partner that can support blended models that optimize staffing mix based on actual need is crucial. Through a workforce diagnostic, they can help you identify optimal permanent staffing levels and recruit high-quality direct hires for core positions that require long-term commitment and deep organizational integration. Contingent workers are then used strategically to manage seasonal fluctuations, cover leave periods and provide specialized expertise for specific projects or peak periods. This approach balances the higher per-hour costs of contingent workers against the total cost of carrying permanent staff during low-demand periods, optimizing overall staffing economics while maintaining operational flexibility. 

Healthcare Recruitment: Adapting to an Evolving Landscape 

As healthcare recruitment challenges continue to evolve, modular solutions provide the agility needed to maintain adequate staffing levels in an environment where demand continues to outpace supply. The flexibility of modular approaches makes them particularly well-suited to address changing needs, whether responding to sudden staffing shortages, expanding into new service lines or adapting to regulatory changes. 

Healthcare organizations that embrace modular recruitment solutions position themselves to better compete for talent while maintaining the quality and compliance standards essential to their mission. By addressing specific recruitment challenges with targeted solutions, these organizations can focus their internal resources on strategic initiatives while ensuring their staffing needs are met effectively and efficiently. 

Modular vs. Enterprise RPO: Which Recruitment Solution Fits Your Business? [Infographic]

Posted on by akessler

When it comes to Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO), one size definitely doesn’t fit all. The decision between modular RPO and enterprise RPO can significantly impact your hiring success, budget and overall talent acquisition strategy.

Whether you’re looking to solve specific recruitment challenges or completely transform your hiring process, the right RPO model can streamline your operations, improve candidate quality and deliver measurable results. Let’s explore how these two distinct approaches stack up against each other.

Download this infographic. 

Making the Right Choice for Your Organization

Choosing between modular and enterprise RPO ultimately depends on your organization’s current recruitment maturity, available resources and long-term talent acquisition goals. Modular RPO offers the flexibility to start small and scale gradually, making it ideal for companies wanting to test the waters or address specific pain points without a major commitment. Enterprise RPO, on the other hand, provides comprehensive transformation for organizations ready to fully embrace outsourced recruitment as a strategic advantage.

Many successful companies begin with modular RPO services to prove value and build confidence before expanding to a full enterprise solution. By carefully assessing your needs, budget and organizational readiness, you can select the RPO approach that will drive the best results for your business today while positioning you for future growth.

Solution Guide: PeopleScout Amplifiers™

Posted on by akessler

PeopleScout Amplifiers™: How Modular Recruitment Solutions Can Supercharge Your Talent Outcomes

Traditional recruitment approaches are failing to meet the demands of today’s dynamic business environment. Companies need agility, scalability and specialized expertise without the overhead of full-scale recruitment process outsourcing. Enter PeopleScout Amplifiers™—modular RPO solutions to augment your team where you need it in your recruitment lifecycle.

This solution guide will walk you through everything you need to know about PeopleScout Amplifiers and how they can boost your recruitment outcomes.

Download

Learn more about PeopleScout’s Amplifiers™ and get answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs).

Learn More

Dig into More Talent Insights

Healthcare Recruitment Challenges Require New Strategies: The Modular RPO Advantage 
Articles

Healthcare Recruitment Challenges Require New Strategies: The Modular RPO Advantage 

Traditional hiring approaches are struggling to address today’s healthcare recruitment challenges effectively. From specialized clinical certifications to huge talent shortages and unpredictable seasonal surges, healthcare HR leaders need flexible, scalable solutions that can adapt to their unique operational demands.  This article explores how modular recruitment models are modernizing healthcare talent acquisition, revealing current industry benchmarks…

Solution Guide: PeopleScout Amplifiers™
Fact Sheets

Solution Guide: PeopleScout Amplifiers™

PeopleScout Amplifiers™: How Modular Recruitment Solutions Can Supercharge Your Talent Outcomes Traditional recruitment approaches are failing to meet the demands of today’s dynamic business environment. Companies need agility, scalability and specialized expertise without the overhead of full-scale recruitment process outsourcing. Enter PeopleScout Amplifiers™—modular RPO solutions to augment your team where you need it in your…

5 Signs Your Recruitment Strategy Needs Modular RPO 
Articles

5 Signs Your Recruitment Strategy Needs Modular RPO 

Many organizations mistakenly believe Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) solutions are only for large enterprises with ongoing, high-volume hiring needs. While full-scale RPO might seem out of reach for some organizations, a modular RPO approach offers the flexibility to address specific recruitment challenges without overhauling your entire talent acquisition infrastructure.  Modular RPO can deliver value to…

5 Signs Your Recruitment Strategy Needs Modular RPO 

Posted on by akessler

Many organizations mistakenly believe Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) solutions are only for large enterprises with ongoing, high-volume hiring needs. While full-scale RPO might seem out of reach for some organizations, a modular RPO approach offers the flexibility to address specific recruitment challenges without overhauling your entire talent acquisition infrastructure. 

Modular RPO can deliver value to organizations of any size, including small- to medium-sized enterprises or those with short-term or specialized hiring requirements. Here are five key indicators that your current recruitment strategy might benefit from a modular RPO solution. 

1. Your Internal Team Is Struggling to Keep Up with Demand  

When your organization faces sudden spikes in hiring demand—whether for seasonal recruitment, rapid expansion, or project launches—your internal team can quickly become overwhelmed. These periods of increased volume often require you to scale up recruitment efforts quickly without the luxury of permanently increasing your internal headcount. 

Maintaining quality while meeting aggressive timelines becomes nearly impossible with existing resources. Your team may resort to rushed screening processes, extended working hours, or compromised candidate experiences, all of which can lead to poor hiring decisions and damage to your employer brand. 

Modular RPO provides the surge capacity you need during these peak periods. Specialized teams can quickly ramp up to handle the increased volume or hiring for a new project while maintaining consistent quality standards. Once the hiring surge or project is complete, you can scale back the support without the ongoing costs and complications of permanent staff additions. 

This approach is particularly valuable for organizations with predictable seasonal patterns, such as retail companies preparing for holiday seasons, or those opening new facilities that require rapid team building. 

2. You’re Managing Specialized Skill Requirements with Different Candidate Experiences 

When you need to hire for roles requiring niche expertise or hard-to-find skills, your internal team may lack the specialized knowledge, professional networks or sourcing strategies needed to identify and attract the right candidates. The talent pool may be limited, candidates may be passive and not actively job searching, or the role may require specific credentials that are difficult to assess without industry expertise. 

Different specialized roles also demand vastly different candidate experiences. A software engineer’s journey differs significantly from a marketing manager’s or a specialized researcher’s expectations. Each requires tailored communication, specific assessment methods, and industry-appropriate processes that your recruitment team may struggle to deliver consistently. 

Case Study: Infrastructure Company Ecologist Role 

An infrastructure company struggled to fill a newly created ecologist role due to low brand recognition in the environmental sector and poor response to the job ads. The company’s internal recruitment team lacked the specialized knowledge and networks needed to proactively approach environmental professionals. 

PeopleScout’s Talent Sourcing solution provided specialized headhunting, screening, and shortlisting services, allowing the client to retain their usual interview and offer management processes. We led a targeted search across industry governing bodies, environmental societies and networking groups, reviewing over 700 profiles. We proactively reached out to passive candidates to inform them of the role and gauge their interest, dispelling misperceptions about the transport industry at the same time. 

The result was a shortlist of two qualified candidates, resulting in a successful hire within 11 weeks—a significant improvement over the client’s previous unsuccessful attempts. 

👉 Read the full case study. 

3. You Need to Scale Rapidly in New Markets or Unfamiliar Territory 

When entering new markets, launching new product lines, or expanding into unfamiliar territories, your organization faces unique recruitment challenges that require rapid scaling capabilities. You may lack local market knowledge, employer brand recognition, or understanding of regional compensation and cultural expectations, all while needing to build teams quickly to capitalize on new opportunities. 

Modular RPO solutions, like PeopleScout’s Talent Mapping or Organizational Culture & EVP Diagnostic, can support recruiting in new geographic markets by helping you understanding local talent pools, competition, regulatory requirements, and how to adapt your employer brand for cultural nuances. Without this expertise, you risk extended time-to-fill, higher costs, and poor candidate experiences that can damage your reputation in the new market before you’ve even established yourself. 

Case Study: Consumer Goods Brand Transition 

A consumer goods brand splitting into two companies needed to optimize their talent acquisition strategy to support the transition and future growth. The challenge involved not just managing the launch of the two companies but also improving their ability to compete for talent in competitive rural markets. 

PeopleScout’s Talent Diagnostic solution team assessed their entire talent lifecycle, including conducting over 20 stakeholder interviews. The diagnostic focused on improving access to high-quality candidates in competitive rural markets, and provided recommendations for process streamlining and technology optimization to create consistent candidate experiences and diverse talent pools. 

The client praised the expertise, partnership and flexibility during this critical transition period. Based on the diagnostic recommendations, they engaged PeopleScout for a full-cycle RPO implementation, demonstrating how modular solutions can evolve into broader partnerships when they deliver value. 

👉 Read the full case study. 

4. Time-to-Fill Metrics Are Consistently Missing the Mark 

If your average time-to-fill has stretched beyond industry benchmarks and continues to climb, it’s often a symptom of deeper resource constraints. Your internal recruitment team may be overwhelmed with current demands, but a full RPO solution seems excessive or costly for your organization’s size or hiring volume. This is a common scenario where modular RPO provides the perfect middle ground when adding permanent headcount may not be possible. 

Modular RPO allows you to augment your internal team’s capacity in specific areas where you’re experiencing the greatest strain. From initial candidate sourcing to onboarding, you can add specialized support without the commitment and cost of full-service RPO.  

This approach is particularly valuable for mid-sized organizations that have outgrown basic recruitment methods but aren’t ready for enterprise-level solutions. It provides access to advanced recruitment technologies, methodologies, and expertise that would be cost-prohibitive to develop internally. 

5. When Drop Offs and Early Turnover Has Increased  

If you’re experiencing high drop-off rates during the hiring process and increased early turnover among new hires, it’s a clear sign that specific parts of your recruitment process are consistently underperforming or creating bottlenecks. High drop-off rates may stem from poor candidate communication, lengthy or confusing application processes or misaligned expectations. Early turnover often results from inadequate candidate assessment methods, poor cultural fit evaluation or lack of communication to keep new hires warm before their start date.  

Leading modular RPO providers can conduct process diagnostics or EVP diagnostics to identify specific areas where candidates are dropping out and implement targeted solutions. Some providers also offer technology diagnostics which can identify areas to improve your recruitment tech stack to find efficiencies. 

By addressing these process gaps, you can improve overall recruitment efficiency and effectiveness without disrupting the parts of your process that are working well. This surgical approach often delivers better ROI than attempting to fix everything at once. 

Are You Ready for Modular RPO? 

Modular RPO isn’t about replacing your internal recruitment function—it’s about strategically augmenting it to address specific challenges and gaps. The beauty of modular RPO lies in its flexibility and scalability. So, how do you know if you’re ready for a modular RPO solution? 

Signs You’re Ready for Modular RPO 

  • You’re looking to scale recruitment efforts without increasing permanent talent acquisition headcount
  • Your recruitment process is underperforming, and you need a targeted and/or short-term solution 
  • You need specialized expertise for specific roles or markets 
  • You want to maintain control over certain aspects of hiring while improving others 
  • You want to test RPO services before committing to a full solution 

The goal is to create a hybrid approach that combines the strengths of your internal team with specialized external expertise. By partnering with modular RPO providers for specific challenges, you maintain control over your overall hiring strategy while accessing the tools, technologies, and expertise needed to compete effectively in today’s talent market. 

You can start with a focused pilot program targeting your most pressing recruitment challenge. As you see results and build confidence in the partnership, you can expand the scope to address additional needs or role types. 

In an environment where the right hire can make or break business initiatives, organizations that strategically leverage modular RPO gain a significant competitive advantage. If any of these signs resonate with your current situation, it may be time to explore how modular RPO can transform your recruitment outcomes. 

The Next Evolution of Recruitment: How Modular RPO Solves Modern Hiring Challenges  

Posted on by akessler

Traditional recruitment approaches are failing to meet the demands of today’s dynamic business environment. Companies need agility, scalability, and specialized expertise without the overhead of full-scale recruitment process outsourcing. Enter modular RPO—a flexible, customizable approach that allows organizations to outsource specific components of their recruitment process while maintaining control over others. 

According to market analysis from Everest Group, modular RPO deals have surged from 46% of new RPO contracts to 54% in just a few years—representing more than half of all new deals signed. This dramatic growth reflects a fundamental change in how organizations approach talent acquisition, driven by economic uncertainty, fluctuating hiring volumes, and the need for cost-effective solutions that can adapt to volatile business conditions. 

What is Modular RPO? 

Unlike traditional full-service RPO (recruitment process outsourcing) models, modular RPO solutions allow organizations to selectively outsource specific components of their hiring process or talent acquisition program rather than the entire recruitment operation. Think of it as a “pick and choose” approach where you can select the services that best address your specific challenges while keeping other functions in-house. 

This targeted approach enables companies to augment their in-house capabilities with external expertise precisely where they need additional support, while maintaining control over their broader recruitment strategy and employer brand.  

Build vs. Buy: The Case for Modular RPO   

Building in-house capabilities to handle all recruitment challenges involves substantial investment that may not deliver optimal returns. Organizations must consider whether dedicating internal resources to occasional hard-to-fill roles makes financial sense, especially when these specialized recruitment needs fluctuate.  

Modular RPO solutions provide a flexible alternative that complements existing recruitment teams. Benefits include:  

  • On-demand access to specialized expertise without increasing permanent headcount  
  • Scalable support that adjusts to hiring volume fluctuations  
  • Predictable fee structures for better budget management  
  • Ability to keep in-house recruiters focused on positions where they excel  

For challenging recruitment needs—particularly those that are intermittent or require specialized approaches—modular RPO delivers compelling value through faster hiring, higher-quality candidates and a cost structure that aligns with actual business demands. 

Types of Modular RPO Solutions 

Modular RPO offerings will vary from provider to provider but here are some solutions to consider: 

Sourcing and Candidate Generation 

  • Talent mapping 
  • Active candidate sourcing 
  • Passive candidate identification 
  • Talent pipeline and talent community building 
  • Social media recruiting 

Screening and Assessment 

  • Initial candidate screening 
  • Skills assessment execution 
  • Assessment diagnostics 
  • Cultural fit evaluation 
  • Background verification and documentation checks 

Process Management 

  • Interview coordination
  • Candidate communication 
  • Recruitment process and organizational culture diagnostics 
  • New hire engagement and onboarding 

Technology and Tools 

  • Technology diagnostics
  • Technology project management 
  • Recruiter and hiring manager training

👉 Learn more about PeopleScout Amplifiers™, our suite of modular talent solutions designed to elevate every aspect of your talent acquisition strategy.

When to Consider Modular RPO 

Scenarios Where Modular RPO Excels 

High-Volume Hiring Periods 

When you need to scale up recruitment efforts quickly for seasonal hiring, expansion, or project-based needs without permanently increasing your internal team. 

Specialized Skill Requirements 

For roles requiring niche expertise or hard-to-find skills where your internal team lacks the specialized knowledge or network. 

Geographic or Product Expansion 

When entering new markets where you lack local recruitment expertise or employer brand recognition. 

Resource Constraints 

When your internal team is overwhelmed but a full RPO solution seems excessive or costly. 

Process Gaps 

When specific parts of your recruitment process are consistently underperforming or creating bottlenecks. 

Signs You’re Ready for Modular RPO 

  • You have clear understanding of which parts of your recruitment process are underperforming 
  • You want to maintain control over certain aspects of hiring while improving others 
  • You need specialized expertise for specific roles or markets 
  • You’re looking to scale recruitment efforts without increasing permanent talent acquisition headcount 
  • You want to test RPO services before committing to a full solution 

Benefits of Modular RPO 

Flexibility and Customization 

Modular RPO allows you to access a tailored solution that fits your specific needs. You’re not locked into a one-size-fits-all approach but can adapt your recruitment support as your business evolves. 

Cost Efficiency 

By outsourcing only the functions where you need support, you can achieve significant cost savings compared to a long-term, enterprise RPO solution while still accessing specialized expertise. 

Faster Implementation 

Modular solutions typically have shorter implementation timelines since you’re not overhauling your entire recruitment process. 

Scalability 

Easily scale services up or down based on hiring demands without long-term commitments or significant infrastructure changes. 

Risk Mitigation 

Test and validate specific services before expanding to additional modules, reducing the risk of wholesale process changes. 

Access to Specialized Expertise 

Gain access to recruiters with specific industry knowledge, advanced sourcing techniques, or regional expertise without hiring full-time specialists. 

The Future of Modular RPO 

As recruitment challenges become more complex, modular RPO will likely become the preferred approach for many organizations. The flexibility to adapt services based on changing needs, combined with access to specialized expertise and technology, makes it an attractive solution for companies of all sizes. 

By understanding when and why to implement modular RPO, and following a structured approach to implementation, you can create a recruitment solution that grows with your business and delivers measurable results.

Is Skills-Based Hiring Really the Next Big Thing?

Posted on by akessler

In the recruitment space, skills-based hiring is on the tip of talent acquisition leaders’ tongues. Is it worthy of all the ink spilled or just the flavour of the month?

The internet is buzzing with headlines framing skills-based hiring as a revolutionary step forward—a clean break from “outdated” methods like focusing on academic qualifications. But as usual, we want to take a more critical look.

Let’s step away from the hype to examine the real pros and cons of skills-based hiring. More importantly, let’s figure out how skills-based hiring can work for you.

Skills-Based Hiring: Is it Really New?

There are three common myths being perpetuated by many of the articles about skills-based hiring:

Myth 1: Educational qualifications have been the main barrier to good hiring decisions.

The argument goes that recruiting teams rely too heavily on degrees and don’t think enough about skills—and if they just focused on skills instead, all their hiring issues would be solved.

This misrepresents how most employers actually make hiring decisions. While education requirements do exist in job descriptions, they’re rarely the primary factor in final hiring choices. Most recruiters already consider multiple factors including experience, cultural fit and demonstrated abilities. Skills-based hiring has its positives and certainly feels more inclusive than rigid degree requirements, but it’s not the revolutionary shift from degree-obsessed hiring that many articles suggest.

Myth 2: Everyone talking about skills is talking about the same thing.

One reason the history of skills-based hiring is hard to track is the absence of a clear, consistent definition of what constitutes a “skill.” In the context of skills-based hiring, a skill could be a competency, strength or motivation—anything that enables a person to do the job well. That landscape is far more nuanced and complex than most articles let on.

The reality is that defining skills is a lengthy process and requires careful consideration of context. But most writers on this subject don’t bother to grapple with this complexity. Instead, they gloss over any real explanation of what skills are, feeding the perception that skills are so simple and universally understood that we don’t need definitions. This creates the illusion that organizations should be able to easily incorporate skills-based approaches without doing the hard work of actually defining what they mean by “skills” in their specific context.

Myth 3: Skills-based hiring and talent management is a new idea, and the bandwagon is leaving the station.

Headlines will have you believe that skills-based hiring is “the next big thing” and a silver bullet that will solve all your workforce woes. However, this doesn’t really reflect most hiring processes.

Even if you’re not actively thinking about skills-based hiring, it’s likely that it is embedded—at least partly—into your hiring process already. Today, recruiters rarely just think in terms of hiring somebody because their qualifications line up to the “essential” section of the job description.

So, skills-based hiring isn’t a new idea. The term might be, but not the practice.

These myths lead us to feel that the noise around skills-based hiring is misleading. It suggests that skills-based hiring is driving the recruitment industry right now, when in reality, very few are moving forward with it in an overt, intentional way.

Getting Started with Skills-Based Hiring When Time and Budgets Aren’t Huge

If you do want to embrace skills-based hiring, here are some practical steps:

1. Start with an Audit

If you’re keen to implement skills-based hiring, first of all, feel reassured that it’s likely already part of your approach, even if you don’t call it that. Start by establishing where you are along the skills-based continuum.

Diagnostics come into their own here. Assess your hiring processes in a structured way, identifying gaps, strengths and opportunities for improvement. It can be beneficial to bring in an external partner like the PeopleScout Assessment Design team, to provide robust, evidence-based, unbiased feedback to maximise impact.

2. Defining Your Skills

Then it comes down to defining skills—for now and the future. These can’t be vague; they need to be carefully defined so that they can be accurately applied. You’ll build these from research, both internally and by looking externally. If you want to have an organisation-wide approach, you’ll need to consider skills relevant for leadership and entry level roles and across departments. Engage your department heads and hiring managers to map these.

3. Look at Your Non-Skills Criteria

You don’t have to remove looking at academic qualifications from your hiring process entirely. However, if there are instances where you’re using an academic qualification as a stand-in for a skill—say, a humanities degree as a signifier of good written communication skills—you can probably move away from it and start focusing more explicitly on the skill itself.

Skills-based hiring can open doors for many candidates—and expand your talent pool. Perhaps your ideal candidate did not go to university, but their written communication skills are more than adequate for the role.

4. Kick Off a Pilot

Even without a big budget to fund an overhaul of your recruitment processes, it’s still possible to make a start. To make it manageable, begin with a small, pilot process. Your audit can help you identify the best starting point—perhaps it’s a particular department or role type.

Once you’ve started, you’ll want to closely monitor it to ensure that the benefits are genuine. Try not to feel pressured into investing too much time, money and resources into skills-based hiring because it is a hot topic. Make changes bit by bit, turn to evidence, and stay reflective.

The Bottom Line

Don’t get overcome by buzzwords. In all likelihood, skills-based hiring has been a part of your process for a while now. If you want to concentrate more on skills-based hiring, start small, remain sceptical of the hype, get external insight, be evidence-based and keep evolving your approach.

Talent Community Building: How to Create a Talent Pipeline Before You Need It

Posted on by akessler

Hiring success doesn’t start with a job posting—it starts with connection. While many organizations rely on reactive recruiting to fill open roles, leading employers are taking a longer view by cultivating talent communities: purpose-built networks of potential candidates who are already engaged, informed and aligned with your brand. Think of talent community building as relationship investing. Just as savvy investors build diversified portfolios long before they need returns, smart talent acquisition leaders cultivate relationships with potential candidates years before positions open. The result? Faster time-to-hire, higher-quality candidates, and significantly reduced recruiting costs.

What is a Talent Community?

Building a talent community is the strategic practice of creating and nurturing networks of potential candidates who have expressed interest in your organization, even when no specific roles are available. Unlike traditional recruiting, which often focuses on immediate hiring needs, talent communities are built for long-term workforce success and take time to cultivate by fostering authentic relationships that benefit candidates and employers.

When managed effectively, a talent community can serve as a powerful tool across several dimensions. It helps develop a ready talent pipeline of qualified candidates for future openings, amplifies your employer brand through ongoing engagement and provides valuable market intelligence by offering insight into talent expectations and shifting workforce trends. Perhaps most importantly, it can reduce overall hiring costs by decreasing reliance on external recruiting agencies and paid job advertising.

The Business Case for Proactive Talent Community Building

The advantage of creating talent pipelines isn’t just efficiency—it’s competitive positioning. When your dream candidate becomes available, you want to be the first call they make, not just another recruiter reaching out via LinkedIn.

Consider this scenario: A competitor announces layoffs in your industry. Organizations with established talent communities can immediately activate relationships with affected professionals, while reactive recruiters are still crafting generic outreach messages to strangers.

How to Build a Talent Community

Start with Strategic Talent Mapping

Before building your community, identify which roles and skill sets will be most critical to your future success. This isn’t about current openings—it’s about anticipating where your organization will need talent in the next few years. This future-focused approach helps employers stay ahead of emerging roles—especially those driven by digital transformation, evolving business models or shifting customer demands.

Key Questions for Talent Mapping:

  • Which roles are hardest to fill quickly?
  • What skills will become more valuable as your industry evolves?
  • Where do top performers in these roles typically work?
  • What career progression paths lead to your priority positions?

Define Your Community Value Proposition

Top candidates won’t join—and stay in—your talent community unless there’s a clear benefit or specific reason to engage. To build lasting engagement, you need to answer the candidate’s unspoken question: “What’s in it for me?” A compelling employer value proposition should offer tangible resources, exclusive perks and meaningful connections that make your community more than just a holding place for resumes. Consider offering:

Professional Development Resources

Provide value beyond job openings by supporting members’ career growth. Share timely industry insights and trend reports to help them stay ahead of the curve. Offer access to webinars and interactive workshops focused on upskilling and reskilling. Career coaching and mentorship programs add a personalized touch, while virtual or in-person networking events connect talent with peers and leaders in their field.

Exclusive Access

Make members feel like insiders. Give them early notification of new job opportunities before they go public. Share behind-the-scenes content that showcases your culture and work environment. Executive thought leadership pieces can offer inspiration and insight into your organization’s direction, while beta access to new products or services helps members feel like valued contributors to your brand.

Community Benefits

Create a sense of belonging and two-way engagement by offering opportunities for peer networking through dedicated groups or events, or by facilitating industry-specific forums where members can share ideas, ask questions and offer support. Job referral programs not only encourage participation but can help build advocacy among members. And for former employees, alumni networks provide a continued sense of connection and open the door for future re-engagement.

Drive Engagement with Relevant Content

The content you share plays a pivotal role in attracting and retaining engaged community members. This isn’t about job postings—it’s about becoming a trusted resource for industry insights and career development. Prioritize recruitment marketing content formats that offer real value and keep your audience coming back for more:

  • Industry Analysis: In-depth articles and reports that break down market trends, regulatory shifts, and innovations shaping the future of your industry.
  • Career Development Guides: Actionable resources such as resume tips, interview prep, and career pathing advice designed to help professionals grow and achieve their goals.
  • Employee Spotlights: Authentic, behind-the-scenes stories that showcase your people, culture, and day-to-day experiences—helping humanize your brand and build trust.
  • Skills Development Content: Curated tutorials, recommended certifications, and access to online courses or training modules that support upskilling and career advancement.
  • Thought Leadership: Executive insights that offer a forward-looking view on industry trends, innovation and business strategy—shared through articles, blog posts, videos, or podcast interviews to elevate your brand’s authority and inspire community members.

But even with compelling content, a community is only as strong as its reach. The next step is getting in front of the right audience.

Tap Into Existing Networks to Accelerate Growth

While building a thriving talent community may feel daunting, you don’t have to start from scratch. One of the most effective ways to scale quickly is by partnering with organizations that already have established relationships with your target talent. This is especially important when you consider that most job seekers are passive candidates. Professional associations, for example, offer ready-made audiences of engaged professionals—consider sponsoring their events or providing educational content tailored to their members. Forming relationships with universities and academic programs can also help build a future talent pipeline, while regular involvement in industry conferences—whether as a contributor or sponsor—positions your organization as an active and engaged thought leader. And don’t underestimate the power of online forums and professional communities. By participating authentically in those spaces, you can engage talent where they’re already spending time and build trust organically.

Your current employees can also play a pivotal role in community building. After all, they’re often the most credible ambassadors of your brand. Empower them with tools and systems that make it easy to extend invitations to qualified peers. Offer referral incentives that reward not only successful hires but also quality talent added to the community. Equip employees with ready-to-share content and social tools, and don’t forget the value of maintaining connections with alumni—who often remain advocates long after they’ve moved on. Alumni referrals typically have a 40% higher retention rate than other hires. Internal advocacy programs can help train and support employees to share your brand story in an authentic, consistent way—amplifying your reach and credibility at the same time.

Create Personalized Experiences at Scale

To keep members engaged over time, your talent community must feel personal—even when it’s built to scale. This requires sophisticated segmentation, tailored content delivery and cultural intelligence. By leveraging data and technology, organizations can meet members where they are.

Start by segmenting your community based on relevant criteria such as career level (from recent graduates to senior leaders), functional expertise, geographic location and engagement history. This allows you to tailor your recruitment marketing content and communication that speaks directly to each audience. For example, a mid-career software engineer in São Paulo should receive different resources than a marketing director in Toronto.

Delivering personalized communication is essential to building meaningful relationships at scale. This can include role-specific content recommendations, invitations to events based on location, and resources aligned with a candidate’s career stage. You can also connect members to interest-based discussion groups to spark peer-to-peer engagement around shared goals.

If your organization operates across borders, go a step further by considering cultural nuances. Adapt your messaging and content to align with local norms and languages. Share professional development resources that are regionally relevant, schedule events at times that work across time zones and ensure compliance with local regulations. Strategic partnerships with local organizations can further boost credibility and relevance, helping your global community feel both connected and localized.

Build Niche Communities Around In-Demand Skills

While broad-based communities help maintain a healthy talent pipeline, specialized sub-communities can be a powerful way to connect with hard-to-find talent. These focused groups foster deeper engagement by offering highly relevant content and peer interaction within a shared area of expertise.

For example, create technical skill groups for software developers, data scientists or cybersecurity professionals, where members can access tailored learning resources and discuss emerging tools and techniques. Similarly, creative professionals—like designers, content creators and marketers—will value inspiration, trend reports and portfolio-sharing opportunities.

Leadership development communities can support high-potential talent with mentoring, executive insights, and career pathing tools. And for highly regulated or industry-specific fields like healthcare or financial services, dedicated sub-groups offer a safe space to explore sector trends and compliance updates with peers who face similar challenges.

By curating these niche communities within your broader talent ecosystem, you demonstrate a deeper understanding of your audience’s needs—and position your brand as a true partner in their professional journey.

Leverage Technology to Power Your Talent Community

A successful talent community strategy is only as strong as the technology supporting it. To personalize engagement at scale, track interactions, and deliver consistent value, organizations need a comprehensive tech stack purpose-built for relationship-building—not just requisition-filling.

Traditional Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) are designed for transactions, not relationships. A robust candidate relationship management (CRM) system supports long-term relationship building with tools like:

  • Community Segmentation: Organize members by skills, interests, location, engagement level or career stage to deliver tailored experiences.
  • Automated Nurturing: Use behavioral data and preferences to trigger personalized email journeys, content delivery and event invites.
  • Engagement Tracking: Monitor candidate activity—such as content clicks, event attendance or survey responses—to identify top prospects and optimize outreach.
  • Integration Capabilities: Seamlessly connect with your ATS, recruitment marketing platforms and broader HR tech stack to ensure data continuity and efficiency.

Building a Smarter Talent Community Strategy for What’s Next

As AI and automation continue to reshape recruitment, the human element remains a critical differentiator. Talent communities offer a powerful combination of technology-enabled scale and meaningful, relationship-driven engagement—bridging the gap between digital efficiency and personal connection.

For many employers, bringing this vision to life requires the right partner—one with the expertise, strategy, and technology to scale personalized engagement effectively. Partnering with an RPO provider like PeopleScout brings both the expertise and infrastructure needed to build and manage high-performing talent communities. Our proprietary total talent technology suite, Affinix®, features AI-powered tools for segmentation, automation, content delivery and engagement tracking.

Organizations that invest in talent community strategies today are positioning themselves for long-term success. While others scramble to fill roles reactively, you’ll be building a pipeline of engaged, qualified talent—ready to step in at the right moment. The question isn’t whether to build a talent community, but whether you can afford not to.

Project RPO in India Solves a Healthcare Tech Company’s Global Talent Challenges

Posted on by akessler
Project RPO in India Solves a Healthcare Tech Company's Global Talent Challenges

Project RPO in India

Project RPO in India Solves a Healthcare Tech Company’s Global Talent Challenges

Through a tailored project RPO in India, PeopleScout successfully recruited niche IT professionals across three Indian cities, coordinating complex interview schedules across three time zones.

Situation

A healthcare technology company needed a trusted recruitment partner to support their demand for skilled technology professionals across multiple Indian cities, including Bangalore, Chennai, and Hyderabad. Their hiring needs ranged from technical consultants and senior database administrators to network engineers, software packagers, and senior business architects—all critical roles in the digital healthcare delivery chain.

The challenge was not just to find niche IT talent but since these roles support global operations for the client, they also needed help managing a complex, multi-location hiring process that spanned three time zones, including candidate pipelines in Finland. Coordinating interview schedules, managing time-sensitive communications, and ensuring a seamless experience for candidates and hiring panels required a recruitment partner with agility, precision and global alignment.

Solution

To meet the client’s technology hiring needs, PeopleScout deployed project RPO in India through our  Recruiter On-Demand™ (ROD) solution, tailored for the healthcare domain. Our delivery team collaborated with the client’s internal talent acquisition function, ensuring that all requisitions were aligned with the client’s project demands and compliance protocols.

One of the key aspects of our approach was the end-to-end coordination of interview logistics, including aligning schedules across Indian Standard Time (IST), Eastern European Time for operations in Finland, and U.S. time zones. This required meticulous planning and proactive communication to ensure a smooth interview process and minimal delays.

Additionally, PeopleScout provided strategic talent sourcing support to attract highly skilled professionals for roles such as senior database admins, business analysts, and senior business architect, utilizing a combination of targeted outreach, talent mapping and employer branding techniques to engage the ideal candidates. Our team also conducted pre-screens and assessments, ensuring candidates were not only technically sound but also culturally aligned with the client’s values and work ethos.

Results

The success of the engagement was evident through positive feedback from both the candidate community and the client’s interview panelists. Our ability to streamline interview coordination across borders and source high-quality candidates helped reduce time-to-fill for several critical roles.

Impressed by the quality of talent delivered and the professionalism in execution, the client extended PeopleScout’s mandate, increasing the volume and scope of roles. We are now managing end-to-end candidate sourcing for a broader set of positions, serving as a trusted advisor to the client’s talent acquisition leaders for both immediate needs and long-term workforce planning.

This collaboration not only addressed the client’s initial hiring challenge but also laid the foundation for a scalable recruitment strategy that aligns with their mission to transform healthcare through technology.

At a Glance

  • COMPANY
    Healthcare Technology Company
  • INDUSTRY
    Technology
  • PEOPLESCOUT SOLUTIONS
    Amplifiers
  • LOCATIONS
    Multiple locations across India, including Bangalore, Chennai, and Hyderabad
  • ABOUT THE CLIENT
    As a leading data, analytics, and technology partner to the global healthcare industry, this organization is helping the healthcare sector—from providers and payers to public health institutions—make smarter decisions that improve patient outcomes and drive innovation. With a workforce of approximately 3,000 employees spread across five locations in three countries, they play a pivotal role in shaping the future of digital healthcare transformation.
Let’s Connect

Project Recruitment in India: Solving a Global Fintech’s Hiring Challenges

Posted on by akessler
Project Recruitment in India: Solving a Global Fintech's Hiring Challenges

Project RPO

Project Recruitment in India: Solving a Global Fintech’s Hiring Challenges

PeopleScout’s tailored project recruitment in India enabled a fintech organization to scale hiring operations while maintaining quality during peak demand periods.

Situation

A leading global fin-tech organization was experiencing rapid digital transformation and market expansion on top of seasonal spikes in hiring demand and the ongoing need to acquire niche technology talent. These included complex roles in cyber security, AWS, product development, quality assurance and product management.

The internal talent acquisition team was struggling to manage surge hiring, maintain speed without compromising on quality and find specialized talent within India’s highly competitive technology landscape. Another critical issue was navigating the long notice periods in India, which often led to candidate drop-offs and delays in onboarding.

The company turned to PeopleScout for a flexible, high-touch recruitment solution that would strengthen their talent pipeline while also acting as a consultative partner to manage local market complexities.

Solution

To meet these objectives, PeopleScout deployed our Recruiter On-Demand™ (ROD) solution tailored to suit the client’s business and talent priorities. Our India-based team partnered with their internal talent acquisition function, aligning on hiring needs, internal processes and cultural expectations.

The engagement focused on recruiting for tech and digital talent including over 35 critical roles across technology, technical support, production support and solutions consulting. PeopleScout’s recruiters operated as an extension of the client’s talent acquisition team, offering end-to-end support from requisition intake to offer rollout—ensuring strict adherence to policies, brand voice and compliance standards.

Leveraging the client’s global EVP and employer branding strategies, PeopleScout recruiters enhanced candidate outreach across major platforms like LinkedIn and Naukri, a leading employment website in India, resulting in stronger engagement and improved visibility among passive candidates. The team also worked proactively to identify strategies to mitigate notice period risks, thereby improving offer-to-join conversion rates.

Results

Through the ROD partnership, PeopleScout enabled the organization to scale hiring operations with agility and control, ensuring consistent quality while managing peak season demands. The seamless collaboration between their internal teams and PeopleScout recruiters contributed to faster turnaround times, better candidate experiences and higher stakeholder satisfaction.

PeopleScout’s India-based delivery team evolved into a trusted advisor to the client’s talent acquisition leadership, offering strategic insights on local talent market trends, salary benchmarks and onboarding practices. This guidance has been instrumental in mitigating the impact of long notice periods, allowing the client to make informed decisions around offer strategy and candidate engagement.

At a Glance

  • COMPANY
    Global FinTech
  • INDUSTRY
    Technology
  • PEOPLESCOUT SOLUTIONS
    Amplifiers
  • LOCATIONS
    India
  • ABOUT THE CLIENT
    A global leader in technology-driven payment solutions that enable smart and secure money movement. With a strong presence in over 200 countries and operations in more than 140 currencies, the client has established an international footprint backed by a global workforce of 2,000+ employees spread across 36 locations.
Let’s Connect