Solution: Amplifiers

How We Delivered a Specialized Hiring Project to Support a Mid-Sized Organization’s Growth

Posted on by akessler
How We Delivered a Specialized Hiring Project to Support a Mid-Sized Organization’s Growth

How We Delivered a Specialized Hiring Project to Support a Mid-Sized Organization’s Growth

PeopleScout’s specialized hiring project enabled a mid-sized automotive reconditioning provider to scale from 15 to 330+ hires per month within four months, transforming a three-month pilot into a two-year partnership supporting 1,000 annual hires.

2 week implementation
22 x increase in hiring volume in just four months
3 month hiring project expanded into a comprehensive RPO engagement

Situation

A provider of automotive reconditioning services exemplifies the talent acquisition challenges that mid-sized, specialized service companies face when competing for skilled workers in tight labor markets. The organization needed to dramatically improve their recruitment process and speed-to-hire for their skilled hourly workers, including highly specialized industrial painters—roles that require specific technical expertise and are in limited supply. Like many growing mid-market companies, the organization lacked the internal resources and specialized recruitment capabilities needed to effectively compete for this scarce talent.

The scope of their challenge became clear through their ambitious growth trajectory: they needed to scale from just 15 hires per month to over 330 hires within a four-month period. This increase in hiring volume that would be impossible to achieve through their existing recruitment approaches, so the organization engaged PeopleScout for a specialized hiring project.

Solution

Our approach centered transforming the client’s talent acquisition through strategic expansion and dedicated resources. We began with a focused pilot program utilizing a team of five recruiters, but the success of this initial phase enabled us to expand the account team to 16 within just two weeks, including one recruiting manager, 10 recruiters, five coordinators, plus marketing, analyst, and global support resources. This scalable model demonstrates the flexibility and responsiveness that specialized hiring projects can provide to mid-sized organizations.

In addition to recruitment, we provided comprehensive talent advisory services including deep-dive market analysis across the country, full persona development for all positions in scope, complete job description rewrites, and strategic guidance tailored to their industry. Our technology implementation included launching an updated Power BI Reporting & Analytics Suite while leveraging their existing Workday system with our expert recommendations for optimization. The project team deployed multifaceted sourcing strategies including automated sourcing software, marketing-optimized sourcing scripts, and regional and national career days specifically designed to attract skilled hourly workers and industrial painters.

Key Success Factors

  • Specialized Hiring Project Model: Dedicated, time-bound approach perfect for rapid scaling needs
  • Lightning-Fast Team Deployment: 16 person account team onboarded in 2 weeks
  • Scalable Resources: Team expansion from 5 to 16 within 30 days to meet demand
  • Industry Expertise: Deep understanding of automotive and skilled trades recruitment
  • Technology Integration: Seamless integration with existing Workday system plus enhanced analytics
  • Comprehensive Support: Full spectrum from talent advisory to marketing to global compliance

Results

The specialized hiring project delivered transformational results that exceeded all expectations, enabling the client to achieve their ambitious scaling goals of growing from 15 to 330+ hires within just four months. This remarkable 22x increase in hiring volume was accomplished while maintaining quality standards for their specialized skilled hourly and industrial painter positions—roles that are notoriously difficult to source and hire at scale.

The impact extended far beyond the immediate hiring surge, with the initial three-month project expanding into a comprehensive two-year engagement that now supports 1,000 annual hires across their organization. The combination of our scalable team model, technology integration, and comprehensive support services has positioned the client to continue their growth trajectory with confidence, proving that modular recruitment solutions are ideal for mid-sized companies facing rapid expansion challenges in competitive talent markets.

At a Glance

  • COMPANY
    Mid-sized automotive reconditioning provider
  • INDUSTRY
    Automotive
  • PEOPLESCOUT SOLUTIONS
    Recruitment Process Outsourcing, Amplifiers
Let’s Connect

Accelerating Growth Through Strategic Talent Solutions and Industry Expertise

Posted on by akessler
Accelerating Growth Through Strategic Talent Solutions and Industry Expertise

Accelerating Growth Through Strategic Talent Solutions and Industry Expertise

PeopleScout’s project RPO solution enabled a mid-sized automotive service provider to achieve a 230% increase in top-of-funnel candidates, delivering critical revenue-generating talent across national markets within two weeks.

230 % increase in top-of-funnel candidates
9 % increase in click-through rates on applications

within just the first month

3 month Project RPO engagement

Situation

A mid-sized automotive service provider found themselves at a critical growth inflection point that their existing talent acquisition capabilities couldn’t support. The organization’s business model centers around placing highly knowledgeable Tire Service Advisors—professionals with deep expertise across a broad range of automotive tire products—directly inside auto dealerships where they provide customers with essential guidance and product information. These roles are absolutely critical to the organization’s revenue generation, making successful hiring not just an operational necessity but a direct driver of business success.

The organization was experiencing an explosion in demand from dealers across the country, but their traditional hiring approaches were failing to meet the volume and speed requirements of this rapid expansion. Time was of the essence, as unfilled positions directly translated to missed revenue opportunities and strained relationships with dealer partners. Fortunately, the organization had a valuable connection through their sister company, which had successfully partnered with PeopleScout to solve similar talent acquisition challenges and provided a strong referral that opened the door for our partnership.

Solution

Our approach began with PeopleScout leadership and client delivery teams meeting directly with the client’s leadership to understand their unique challenges. We quickly developed a targeted sourcing, screening, and reporting model that would address both their immediate hiring needs and their national expansion requirements. The solution was powered by a dedicated project team specifically assembled to support their critical mid-sized organization recruiting needs across the United States over an intensive three-month engagement period.

The strategy blended advanced recruitment marketing techniques with streamlined recruitment process execution, creating a comprehensive approach that would dramatically increase their talent pipeline while maintaining the quality standards essential for their customer-facing roles. Our deep understanding of the automotive industry, combined with our proven project-based delivery model, enabled us to move quickly from strategy to implementation, ensuring that the client could capitalize on their growth opportunities without delay.

Key Success Factors

  • Industry Expertise: Deep knowledge of automotive sector and customer-facing service roles
  • Rapid Implementation: Quick transition from strategy development to full execution
  • Integrated Approach: Combined recruitment marketing and process optimization
  • Dedicated Resources: Project team fully focused on client’s critical hiring needs
  • Proven Partnership Model: Shown through our successful partnership with sister company
  • National Scalability: Solution designed to support hiring across multiple states

Results

The impact was both immediate and substantial, with our project team achieving a remarkable 230% increase in top-of-funnel candidates, directly addressing their pipeline challenges with qualified Tire Service Advisor candidates. This dramatic improvement in candidate volume translated into a more than 9% increase in the click-through rate on applications within just the first month, demonstrating that our recruitment marketing strategy was not only reaching more candidates but attracting genuinely interested and qualified professionals. The quality of our execution was proven by our ability to deliver the first successful hires within just two weeks of project go-live, ensuring that the organization could begin capitalizing on their growth opportunities immediately.

Our dedicated project approach proved that rapid scaling doesn’t require small to mid-sized organizations to sacrifice quality. As one client leader noted,

“PeopleScout’s energy, willingness to partner, and deep knowledge of our industry made this an incredibly successful partnership and has supported our business with the critical hires necessary for our growth and success.”

At a Glance

  • COMPANY
    Mid-sized automotive service provider
  • INDUSTRY
    Automotive
  • PEOPLESCOUT SOLUTIONS
    Recruitment Process Outsourcing, Amplifiers
Let’s Connect

What is a Staffing Agency? 7 Top Differences Between RPO and Staffing Agencies

Posted on by akessler

What is a staffing agency? Organizations are facing unprecedented hiring challenges that traditional staffing agencies simply weren’t designed to solve. Between remote work, skills shortages in critical roles, and the need to compete with enterprise employers for top talent, growing companies need strategic partners, not just résumé and CV providers.

So, what is the difference between a staffing agency and an RPO solutions provider? In this, article we’ll cover the major differences between RPO and staffing agencies and how to know what’s best for your talent acquisition program.

RPO vs Staffing Agencies: What is a Staffing Agency and Which Recruitment Model is Right for You?

What is a Staffing Agency

Recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) is a type of business process outsourcing in which an employer transfers delivery of some or all portions of the recruitment process to an external service provider. RPO is a long-term partnership or project-based solution that helps you evolve your talent acquisition strategy to attract and retain high-quality talent to meet your business goals. Outsourcing through an RPO lets you scale up or down during high and low volume periods. RPO recruitment companies can cover everything from high-volume hiring to niche roles and can be regional or cover your global hiring requirements. 

Staffing Agencies operate on a transactional model, focusing on filling individual job requisitions. They maintain their own brand, work with multiple clients simultaneously on similar roles, and typically hand off candidates once initial screening is complete. 

For companies, particularly small to mid-sized organizations, this distinction matters more than ever. Here’s why. 

7 Critical Differences Between RPO vs Staffing Agency

1. Strategic Partnership

RPO Approach: Your RPO team acts as an extension of your in-house team and is your strategic partner in creating a talent acquisition program. RPO recruiters may sit on-site, work remotely, work offshore or a combination, and they’ll usually take on your company name and email domain in their communications. An RPO partner will come to understand your business deeply, which means they are best suited to help you evolve your talent acquisition program to meet your needs now and scale into the future, maintaining institutional knowledge and process consistency. 

Staffing Agency Approach: Agency recruiters typically act as a finder—sourcing, pre-screening and introducing candidates to the client (often the hiring manager) who takes it from there. Agency recruiters keep their own company email and brand when interacting with candidates.  

This works for one-off hires but breaks down when you’re scaling rapidly. Growing companies need partners who understand your long-term evolution and can anticipate your needs.

2. Process Improvements

RPO Approach: RPO partners conduct comprehensive process audits, identify inefficiencies, and implement scalable improvements. Not only does this reduce time-to-fill, but it also improves the candidate experience. A process evaluation will also include your talent technology. Your RPO partner will assess any gaps, make recommendations for new solutions and support the implementation process. 

Staffing Agency Approach: For a staffing agency, the hire-by-hire nature of their work means they’re likely not looking for ways to improve your overall hiring processes. They maintain their own workflows, which can create disconnects and inconsistencies as you grow, impacting the candidate experience and your employer brand.

3. Talent Pooling

RPO Approach: One huge advantage of the long-term relationship you build with an RPO partner is taking advantage of their ability to create talent pools. Having a pool of active and passive candidates speeds up time-to-hire, because when new roles open, you’re not starting from zero. 

Staffing Agency Approach: Agencies focus on finding candidates for a specific vacancy. It tends to be a reactive model, in which they work from requisition to requisition. Agency recruiters maintain a pool of candidates for their multiple clients, so these candidates are not necessarily found with your company in mind. 

4. Quality + Cultural Fit

RPO Approach: Leading RPO providers offer comprehensive talent assessment solutions, using behavioral interviews, skills evaluations and cultural fit assessments. This is particularly important for small to mid-sized companies as the consequences of a bad hire are far more significant and visible than at large enterprises. 

Staffing Agency Approach: Agencies focus primarily on skills and experience matching. Cultural fit assessment, when it happens, is typically limited to basic screening questions. They generally won’t be responsible for administering assessment solutions or advise on how to improve them. 

5. Talent Advisory

RPO Approach: RPO partners bring added value through their expertise in talent advisory, including employer branding, recruitment marketing, candidate communications, assessment services, labor market insights, workforce planning and talent acquisition strategy. These capabilities are vital for positioning your organization to efficiently attract, recruit and retain top talent in today’s competitive hiring landscape. 

Staffing Agency Approach: Agencies typically post jobs on their preferred job boards and tap their existing networks. Employer branding and recruitment marketing remain your responsibility—assuming you have the expertise internally. 

6. Technology Consulting

RPO Approach: RPO providers offer technology consulting, and help you understand how you can leverage AI-powered sourcing, advanced analytics, and tech integration to improve your recruitment outcomes. Some RPO providers offer some kind of recruitment technology component, whether it’s a propriety system, like PeopleScout’s Affinix® total talent suite, or expertise in a variety of talent technology systems. They’ll be comfortable working with your existing systems and can recommend solutions that scale with your growth. 

Staffing Agency Approach: Agencies use their own technology stack, which may not integrate with your systems. Limited technology means you miss out on advanced sourcing tools and market intelligence platforms. 

7. Reporting and Analytics

RPO Approach: RPO providers take ownership of recruitment outcomes. They’ll work with you to define metrics, KPIs and SLAs, and report on them on a regular basis. RPO dashboards provide visibility into time-to-hire, cost-per-hire, source-of-hire, candidate or hiring manager satisfaction and retention levels. In addition, leading RPO partners bring labor market insights to help you understand the available talent pool in the locations in which you’re hiring and recommendations on how to adjust your strategy. 

Staffing Agency Approach: Agency accountability typically ends when they present candidates. Limited reporting means you can’t optimize your overall hiring strategy or demonstrate ROI to leadership. 

rpo staffing

The Mid-Market Reality: Why Staffing Agencies Fall Short 

The challenges facing small to mid-sized companies go far beyond what traditional staffing agencies were designed to handle: 

  • Remote/Hybrid Talent Competition: You’re no longer competing just with local companies—you’re competing globally for remote talent. This requires sophisticated sourcing strategies and employer branding. 
  • Skills Shortage Crisis: Critical roles in technology, healthcare, and engineering have candidate shortages of around 40%. Finding qualified candidates requires proactive pipeline development, not reactive posting. 
  • Candidate Experience Expectations: Top talent expects streamlined, technology-enabled hiring processes. Clunky, agency-mediated experiences drive candidates to your competitors. 
  • Rapid Scaling Requirements: Whether you’re preparing for Series B funding or geographic expansion, you need recruitment partners who can scale quickly without compromising quality. 

The Bottom Line 

The talent market rewards strategic thinking over transactional hiring. Organizations, particularly mid-sized companies, that treat recruitment as a competitive advantage—through RPO partnerships, technology integration, and process optimization—will outpace those still relying on traditional staffing approaches. 

The question isn’t whether you need recruitment support—it’s whether you need a vendor or a strategic partner. That distinction often determines who wins the best candidates and scales most successfully. 

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).

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Dig into More Talent Insights

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