Solution: Recruitment Process Outsourcing

Skills-Based Hiring: Could It Be the Solution to Your Recruitment Challenges?

Posted on by akessler

Recruiting the right talent has always been a tough nut to crack for any company. And it’s becoming an even bigger challenge. Low unemployment rates, shifting workforce preferences and skills gaps make recruiting harder than ever. However, a proven solution has emerged that can expand access to talent and meet diversity goals while fueling business performance—skills-based hiring.  

The goal of skills-based hiring is to match candidates not based solely on degrees or past job titles, but rather on their current, demonstrated skills aligned with role requirements. It aims to judge applicants equitably on what they can do rather than what’s on their résumé or CV. This approach opens your talent pool to a wider range of qualified candidates who may have been overlooked using traditional hiring methods. 

Let’s explore what skills-based hiring entails, why more employers are embracing it and how you can get started. 

What is Skills-Based Hiring? 

As the name implies, skills-based hiring focuses on a candidate’s demonstrated skills and competencies rather than traditional qualifications like education, years of experience or work history. The emphasis is on relevant skills rather than “paper” credentials. For example, instead of requiring a college degree, a skills-based employer might list must-have abilities like sales, communication, analytical thinking, etc.  

The hiring process itself focuses on skills fit. Interviews and talent assessments gauge how a candidate’s skillset maps to a role’s requirements. In this way, skills-based hiring removes barriers for underrepresented groups and instead gauges whether someone can actually perform well according to the role’s core skills. The goal is to judge candidates objectively and find the best match for the job.  

Skills in the Workplace 

So, what skills should companies actually evaluate with skills-based hiring? Skills in the workplace are made up of three key components: 

  1. Hard Skills / Technical Skills: These are the expertise areas like programming languages (i.e., python, Java), data analysis, financial modeling, and other role-specific knowledge. While they’re crucial for many jobs, they actually make up a small fraction of the overall skills picture. 
  2. Soft Skills: Often undervalued, soft skills in the workplace, like problem-solving, emotional intelligence, communication and critical thinking are the grease that allows hard skills to operate smoothly. For most roles outside of niche specialties, these human skills make up the vast majority of what’s needed for success. 
  3. Values Alignment and Organizational Fit: Less about executing the day-to-day work, this is about whether someone’s personality, mindset and motivations mesh with the company culture and values. It’s about determining if the candidate embodies the attitudes and behaviors you want to see in the role and at your organization. 

Benefits of a Skills-First Approach: From Engagement to Productivity 

The potential benefits of skills-based hiring are plentiful. It can expand your talent pool, increase diversity by reducing bias toward pedigree over performance, improve internal mobility, and better align employees to roles they’ll thrive in.  

Organizations that embrace skills-based recruiting experience: 

Not only does skills-based hiring boost performance and quality of hire, but it also enhances your employer brand, accelerates ramp up and improves retention. 

3 Steps to Get Started with Skills-Based Hiring Today 

So, how can companies start becoming more skills-based in their hiring today? The reality is that nearly one in two HR leaders admit to a lack of understanding around skills-based best practices.  

The good news is that it doesn’t have to be an all-or-nothing, enterprise-wide overhaul. Here are three steps to start putting skills-based hiring in focus: 

1. Understand the roles that you have. 

The first step in skills-based hiring is to break down the roles you’re looking to fill into the specific skills required for success. Start with one role or a set of roles. What hard skills (technical abilities) and soft skills (personal attributes) drive top performance in each position? Collaborate with your high performers to identify these key competencies and create detailed skills profiles for each role. These profiles should be action-oriented, specific, and avoid vague or subjective requirements. 

With skills profiles in hand, you can craft job descriptions that communicate the essential abilities candidates need upfront. This transparency not only attracts better-matched applicants but also sets clear expectations from the start. Consider removing degree requirements if they’re not absolutely necessary, as LinkedIn data shows that job ads listing skills tend to receive more applicants. 

2. Understand people.  

In a skills-based approach, you’ll evaluate candidates based on their personal skills profiles – their demonstrated hard and soft skills relevant to the role. Implement validated, data-driven assessments like coding tests, writing samples, or Excel modeling exercises to consistently measure these abilities during the hiring process. Grade candidate responses objectively against your predefined skill criteria on a scale. This data-driven approach helps minimize unconscious bias.  

3. Align roles with people.  

Structure your interviews to probe candidates’ proficiency in key skills through situational judgment questions and opportunities to demonstrate their competencies. Skills-based interviews, combined with detailed skills profiles for both roles and candidates, will help you make smarter, more informed talent decisions. Hire skilled individuals who match the role requirements, identify reskilling needs for existing employees, or reject candidates who don’t meet the necessary competencies.  

Skills-Based Hiring & RPO: Goodbye Credentials. Hello Skills. 

Skills-based hiring is still an emerging practice, but it offers companies an intriguing way to modernize talent acquisition. By focusing on what people can actually do instead of just their past experiences and credentials, you may uncover hidden gems and build higher-performing teams.  

While making the shift to skills-based hiring practices takes time and effort, partnering with a recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) provider can accelerate your transition to building a future-fit workforce through this approach. An RPO partner offers the strategic guidance and operational expertise to embed skills at the core of your talent practices. They can help you carefully define and communicate role-specific skills and design fair and consistent talent assessments. 

With the support of an RPO partner like PeopleScout, you can embed fairness and future-readiness into your talent strategies, building a more skilled, capable workforce prepared to drive your organization’s success. 

PeopleScout Company Overview

Posted on by akessler

PeopleScout Company Overview

Global talent solutions providing unmatched scalability to meet the professional, specialist, volume and contingent hiring needs of organizations of all sizes and sectors.

Download this fact sheet to learn more.

Download Fact Sheet

Learn more about PeopleScout’s award-winning talent solutions.

Learn More

Dig Into More Talent Insights

Ultimate Recruitment Process Outsourcing Toolkit
Toolkit

Ultimate Recruitment Process Outsourcing Toolkit

Our complete six-piece toolkit gives you the essential information on how RPO can boost your recruitment outcomes.

Get the Kit
Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) Buyer’s Guide
Buyer’s Guide

Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) Buyer’s Guide

Check out this in-depth exploration of RPO and how it can help you achieve your recruitment goals.

Get the Guide
Global Hiring and Labor Market Trends Affecting Recruitment in APAC 
Article

Global Hiring and Labor Market Trends Affecting Recruitment in APAC 

Check out these labor market trends in APAC and their effect on talent acquisition in the region.

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Amplifiers™: Surge Support

Posted on by akessler

PeopleScout Amplifiers™: Talent Campaign: Surge Support

As part of our suite of modular recruiting solutions, Amplifiers™, PeopleScout Talent Campaign: Surge Support provides project recruiting services to support your talent acquisition team during demanding periods of peak volume, for special projects or for hard to fill positions—all without increasing your permanent recruiter headcount.

Download this fact sheet to learn more.

Download Fact Sheet

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

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Dig into More Talent Insights

Specialist Hiring: Maximizing Success with Targeted Talent Sourcing  
Case Studies

Specialist Hiring: Maximizing Success with Targeted Talent Sourcing  

Situation  A local authority in the southwest of England had a robust talent acquisition team but required additional support for front-end headhunting and sourcing assignments. A new and niche position for a harbor master demanded a comprehensive strategy to locate the right specialist.   A habor master ensures the safety of all users of a harbor,…

Why Small and Medium Enterprises Should Consider Recruitment Process Outsourcing
Articles

Why Small and Medium Enterprises Should Consider Recruitment Process Outsourcing

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) face unique challenges in attracting and retaining top talent. Limited resources, lack of dedicated recruitment teams, and the need for agility in hiring can often put smaller businesses at a disadvantage.   That’s where Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) comes in— a versatile strategy that businesses of all sizes can leverage to…

Debunking RPO Myths: How Savvy Talent Leaders Separate Fact from Fiction
Article

Debunking RPO Myths: How Savvy Talent Leaders Separate Fact from Fiction

Get ready to separate fact from fiction as we dismantle RPO myths

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TrueBlue’s PeopleScout Unveils “Connect More”™ Brand Promise

Posted on by lloftus

Demonstrating commitment to elevating connections with top talent

TACOMA, Wash., – April 30, 2024 – TrueBlue (NYSE: TBI), a leading provider of specialized workforce solutions, today announced that its global talent solutions brand, PeopleScout, has undergone a strategic brand refresh. PeopleScout’s new brand promise, “Connect More”™, and refreshed visual identity convey the importance of meaningful connections between employers and critical talent in the changing world of work.

“Today’s dynamic talent landscape demands an innovative approach to attracting candidates and engaging employees,” said Taryn Owen, President & CEO of TrueBlue. “PeopleScout’s ‘Connect More’ brand promise emphasizes the importance of these connections across the talent spectrum, furthers our mission to connect people and work, and underscores the important difference the right talent can make for our clients.”

PeopleScout knows that cultivating deeper, more profound connections is imperative. “Connect More” extends beyond connecting employers with talent. It spans PeopleScout’s industry-leading technology, scalable offerings, and unrivaled in-house talent advisory expertise to deliver actionable insights, transformative strategy, and a partnership experience unlike any other provider in the industry.

PeopleScout’s refreshed brand is grounded in its long legacy of exceptional service and differentiators that maximize results and improve outcomes for clients:

  • Proven Delivery: For more than 30 years, PeopleScout has built its reputation on integrity, transparent communication and a proven track record of success.
  • Meaningful Connection: PeopleScout excels at connecting with sought-after talent across diverse sectors—from the shop floor to the top floor; from healthcare clinics to innovation labs.
  • Digital Transformation: Leveraging its proprietary talent technology suite, Affinix™, PeopleScout provides candidates with a digital-first experience, harnessing AI, automation and data analytics to remove friction and enhance outcomes. 
  • Talent Advisory: With one of the industry’s largest in-house talent advisory teams, PeopleScout delivers fresh perspectives and innovative solutions to complex talent acquisition challenges.
  • Ultimate Scalability: PeopleScout’s unique blend of insight, experience and action offers flexibility and scalability to support specialty, professional, volume and contingent hiring for organizations of all sizes.
  • Speed and Agility: Flexible solutions like PeopleScout’s Accelerate™ and Amplifiers™ empower employers with the agility required to compete in today’s talent market and address immediate hiring needs.

“We believe in the transformative power of connection to drive results, and our new brand promise reflects our commitment to forging stronger connections throughout the talent ecosystem to improve business outcomes,” said Rick Betori, President of PeopleScout & EVP of TrueBlue. “By helping our clients ‘Connect More,’ we elevate employers’ connections to the right talent, build sustainable talent programs and achieve their immediate and long-term workforce goals.”

Discover how PeopleScout helps organizations “Connect More” with talent at the newly refreshed PeopleScout.com.

About PeopleScout

PeopleScout, a TrueBlue (NYSE: TBI) company, is a global talent solutions leader that provides unmatched scalability to meet the hiring needs of organizations of all sizes. It connects clients with top talent through Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO), Managed Service Provider (MSP), Total Workforce Solutions, and talent and technology advisory services. PeopleScout is helping talent leaders harness the power of data, drive decisions and exceed expectations through tech-charged solutions founded on machine learning and AI. PeopleScout’s legacy of service and partnership has led to consistent recognition as a leader by industry analysts. For more information, visit www.peoplescout.com.  

About TrueBlue

TrueBlue (NYSE: TBI) is a leading provider of specialized workforce solutions that help clients achieve business growth and improve productivity. In 2023, TrueBlue served 67,000 clients and connected approximately 464,000 people to work. Its PeopleReady segment offers on-demand, industrial staffing; PeopleManagement offers contingent, on-site industrial staffing and commercial driver services; and PeopleScout offers recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) and managed service provider (MSP) solutions to a wide variety of industries. Learn more at www.trueblue.com. 

Press Contact
Taylor Winchell 
Senior Manager, External Communications 
+1 253-680-8291
pr@trueblue.com

Early Careers Recruitment Success for an Australian Construction Giant

Posted on by akessler
Early Careers Recruitment Success for an Australian Construction Giant

Early Careers Recruitment

Early Careers Recruitment Success for an Australian Construction Giant

PeopleScout embarked on a strategic project to revitalize the graduate recruitment program for one of Australia’s largest development and construction companies. Through our early career talent expertise, we brought in more innovative approaches to candidate engagement and elevated the graduate recruitment experience, cutting renege rates in half.

18 Weeks Cut from Time Spent on Recruitment Activity
50 % of Graduate Hires Identified as a Woman
50 % Reduction in Candidate Drop Off & Reneges

Situation

One of Australia’s largest development and construction companies had a graduate recruitment program consisted of a short burst of marketing and campus engagement (six weeks), two recruitment phases in March (16 weeks) and August (12 weeks) and a long “keep warm” period. This approach heavily impacted their HR and recruitment teams as well as a line manager resource. Plus, the long recruitment process and keep warm periods resulted in drop off or renege rates of up to 30%.

They engaged PeopleScout to help them create a more efficient graduate recruitment process, while ensuring they connected with bright emerging talent.

Solution

Seeking to strengthen the connection with students and to drive more efficiency, we executed an early careers talent solution that shifted the focus of the campaign—adding more meaningful campus engagement (24 weeks) and one short, sharp recruitment window (10 weeks).

Laying the Foundation

The first step PeopleScout took in updating the program was to conduct in-depth job analysis interviews with a variety of stakeholders including: high performing graduates and interns, their line managers and visionaries across the business. This allowed us to develop a robust success profile, which defined what good looks like now and into the future.

Then we reviewed and updated the early careers value proposition and updated the campaign materials to tap into candidates looking to build a purpose-driven career. We also tailored our approach to ensure we connected with the client’s target diversity groups.

We created an always-on expression-of-interest portal for the client which allowed us to build a talent pool for the whole academic year. With the Affinix® Student Engagement Platform, we delivered tailored content and shared employee stories showcasing ‘a day in the life’ and career journeys. This helped us to drive interest and change minds about a career in construction and property by myth-busting common misperceptions.

Campus Engagement

Recognising the importance of genuine and authentic communication, we identified graduate ambassadors across the breadth of the business. Moving away from pure reliance on careers fairs and job boards, our campaign involved the delivery of 38 student engagement events, including site tours, “meet the team” sessions and panels with female leaders leveraging our ambassadors.

Recruitment Process & Candidate Assessment

Now, having driven engagement with the target student population, it was important that the recruitment process was also effective, efficient and engaging. Our client had been following the traditional path of online testing, group assessment centres and hiring manager interviews to deliver their graduate program. But there was opportunity to ensure the process amplified their brand, provided candidates a realistic job preview, and levelled the playing field for all, enabling candidates to demonstrate their potential.

Using the insights from the internal client stakeholder interviews during our discover phase, we implemented the following changes:

  • Completely redesigned the assessment framework.
  • Adopted a CV-blind approach which helped to reduce unconscious bias.
  • Implemented a skills assessment in place of previous cognitive tests, which provided a more holistic view of the candidate, tapping into their motivation, cognitive strengths and behaviours, and measured the candidate against the client’s success profile.
  • Provided candidates with meaningful feedback reports, giving candidates an overview of their strengths and areas for development.
  • Revamped assessment centre exercises to bring the client’s construction project world to life, with candidates working together to deliver solutions involving the client’s core areas of focus, like community and sustainability.
  • Used our virtual assessment centre technology to encourage participation, especially for working candidates, rural candidates or those unable to afford the travel who previously experienced barriers during in-person events.
  • Leveraged our technology to improve accessibility for candidates with a disability and for those with ESL requirements.

Results

  • Reduced time spent on recruitment activity from 28 weeks down to 10 weeks.
  • Achieved client diversity targets, with 50% of graduates hired identifying as women (compared with 15% of graduates with construction and engineering degrees identifying as women) and 3% of graduates hired identifying as First Nations (compared with 1% of graduates with construction engineering degrees identifying as First Nations).
  • Reduced candidate drop off and reneges from 30% to 14%.

“The process was very well run, and we had strong candidates. Thank you for the hard work and efforts with this program. It was a very thorough process with great results.”

Client Feedback

The enhanced engagement and innovative approach to assessment had an amazing impact on the client’s candidate Net Promoter Score (cNPS) with candidates rating their experience at 65, which is considered great. Candidate feedback was incredibly positive with a sample of feedback below:

  • “Very modern and innovative approach to the regular interview process. Allows busy applicants to complete in their own time.”
  • “The interview process was very innovative and provided additional insight into the role.”
  • “Overall has been a great experience. The assessment provided me with feedback that I can take into account in the future.”
  • “Very user friendly interface and didn’t feel demeaning or intimidating.”
  • “Thank you for making it such a smooth application process. I really appreciated all of the support provided, and I’m looking forward to working in such a supportive work environment. I also really appreciated the quick turnaround time for my application.”

At a Glance

  • COMPANY
    Large development and construction company
  • INDUSTRY
    Building & Construction
  • PEOPLESCOUT SOLUTIONS
    Recruitment Process Outsourcing, Affinix
Let’s Connect

Reimaging Talent Assessment: A Digital-First Platform for Smarter and More Streamlined Talent Acquisition

Posted on by akessler

The traditional recruitment process often involves a series of stages, including initial screening, psychometric testing, skills evaluation, video interview, face-to-face interview or assessment center. While each step helps in discerning a candidate’s suitability for a role, the cumulative effect of an extended assessment timeline can prove detrimental. From delayed decision-making to candidate attrition, the repercussions of a lengthy recruitment process reverberate across the hiring journey, impacting both employers and candidates.

In today’s dynamic talent acquisition environment, organizations that can shorten the recruitment process hire better talent, reduce their vacancy rates and ultimately boost their business performance.

That’s why PeopleScout is proud to introduce the One Experience Assessment (1XP), a digital-first advancement designed to innovate the way talent is evaluated. 1XP is changing the game in recruitment technology by simplifying the recruitment journey. By merging multiple talent assessment stages into one coherent, efficient experience, 1XP boosts efficiency, improves candidate quality and enhances retention.

1XP for Candidates: Streamlined Processes & Practical Job Previews

1XP’s brilliance lies in its fusion of diverse assessment techniques—like realistic job previews, situational judgement, aptitude, skills and video interview assessments—into one integrated experience. This allows candidates to demonstrate a wider range of their skills and potential while providing employers with a comprehensive view of each applicant. The outcome is an optimized match between candidates and roles, based on a full understanding of their skills and character.

For candidates, the process is straightforward. Rather than navigating a sequence of separate invitations and assessment stages, they receive a single invitation to complete everything at once. This not only condenses the timeline but also significantly streamlines the candidate experience by eliminating the need to validate their qualifications repeatedly throughout the traditional process.

Furthermore, the One Experience Assessment offers candidates a vivid preview of the role for which they are applying. By simulating real-world scenarios and challenges, 1XP enables candidates to immerse themselves in the day-to-day realities of the job. This immersive preview not only helps in managing candidates’ expectations but also ensures that individuals who proceed to the next stages are those who are truly interested and prepared for the specific demands and culture of the role. It’s a strategic approach that not only empowers candidates but also aligns talent acquisition with long-term role fulfilment and employee satisfaction.

1XP for Talent Acquisition Teams: Faster Hiring & Improved Quality

The advantages for organizations are equally significant. Allowing candidates to undertake multiple assessments in one session greatly shortens the hiring timeline and reduces the likelihood of candidate withdrawal. This efficiency is further enhanced by an automated scoring system that expedites the evaluation process, except for elements like the video interview. Consequently, recruiters and hiring managers can more quickly focus their efforts on the most promising candidates, equipped with a thorough understanding of their abilities.

As more candidates begin to explore the use of Generative AI (GenAI) to aid in their job application processes, the One Experience Assessment (1XP) maintains a decisive edge. Unlike typical assessments that might be outwitted by AI, 1XP’s sophisticated assessment design demands genuine human input and adaptability. By incorporating interactive tasks and live video challenges, 1XP creates a complex environment where the scripted responses of AI fall short. This ensures that each candidate’s performance is an authentic reflection of their true abilities, preserving the integrity and trustworthiness of the recruitment process.

Transforming Talent Assessment: Spotlight Case Studies

Here are just two examples of how PeopleScout is leveraging 1XP to elevate talent acquisition for our clients.

Financial Services Organization: Increasing Assessment Pass Rate by 78%

Facing challenges in recruiting high-quality, productive claims advisors, a leading financial services organization turned to PeopleScout’s 1XP for a solution. The new approach not only made the process more convenient for candidates and significantly reduced the time to hire, but it also eliminated the reliance on previous customer contact experience—focusing instead on skills and potential, which greatly expanded the talent pool.

The results speak for themselves: the pass rate at the assessment center stage jumped to 73%, from the previous 41%—a 78% increase. New hires were recognized for their motivation to succeed, willingness to learn and positive mindset, demonstrating the effectiveness of 1XP in identifying and attracting quality candidates.

Heathrow Airport: Reducing Time-to-Hire to Just Eight Days

The adoption of the 1XP at Heathrow Airport revolutionized the recruitment process for security officers, a role critical for the safety of millions of travellers. This transformation was not only about making the recruitment process more accessible and engaging but also significantly more efficient.

👉 Check out the full case study.

By implementing a fully virtual and immersive recruitment journey through 1XP, this organization was able to reduce the time-to-hire from several weeks to just eight days, streamlining the entire process and enabling a faster response to operational needs. Additionally, the candidate experience was greatly enhanced, reflected in a candidate Net Promoter Score (cNPS) of +70 for the whole process. This not only indicates high satisfaction among candidates but also underscores the success of the 1XP in creating a positive and engaging recruitment experience.

Ready to Revolutionize Your Recruitment Process?

The One Experience Assessment is redefining talent acquisition standards. By focusing on efficiency, enhancing the candidate experience, and providing a deep understanding of each applicant, it emerges as a model of innovation in the recruitment landscape. For organizations aiming to secure and retain top talent in today’s competitive market, adopting this digital-first strategy could be the key to a successful recruitment future.

Contact us now to learn more about how PeopleScout’s ground-breaking 1XP solution can streamline your recruitment process, enhance the candidate experience, and significantly improve the quality of your hires.

Global RPO

Posted on by akessler

PeopleScout Global & Multi-Country RPO Solutions

PeopleScout’s global RPO solutions help organizations to streamline recruitment processes and technology across regions, providing more control over global recruiting costs.

Download this fact sheet to learn more about our global RPO solutions.

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Learn more about PeopleScout global RPO capabilities.

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Dig into More Global Talent Insights

Ultimate Recruitment Process Outsourcing Toolkit
Toolkit

Ultimate Recruitment Process Outsourcing Toolkit

Our complete six-piece toolkit gives you the essential information on how RPO can boost your recruitment outcomes.

Get the Kit
Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) Buyer’s Guide
Buyer’s Guide

Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) Buyer’s Guide

Check out this in-depth exploration of RPO and how it can help you achieve your recruitment goals.

Get the Guide
Global Hiring and Labor Market Trends Affecting Recruitment in APAC 
Article

Global Hiring and Labor Market Trends Affecting Recruitment in APAC 

Check out these labor market trends in APAC and their effect on talent acquisition in the region.

Learn More

High-Volume RPO

Posted on by akessler

PeopleScout High-Volume RPO

Traditionally, high-volume recruiting focuses on quantity, at the expense of quality. At PeopleScout, our high-volume recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) solution leverages unmatched scalability, the automation of our talent acquisition suite, Affinix®, and the experience of our talent advisory consultants.

Download this fact sheet to learn more about our high-volume RPO solutions.

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Learn more about PeopleScout’s high-volume RPO capabilities.

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Dig into More Talent Insights

Strategies for Overcoming High-Volume Hiring Challenges
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Strategies for Overcoming High-Volume Hiring Challenges

Explore the top challenges of high-volume recruitment and some ideas to address them.

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9 Strategies for Solving High-Volume Hiring Challenges
Ebook

9 Strategies for Solving High-Volume Hiring Challenges

A must-read for any talent acquisition leader focused on solving critical problems in high-volume hiring programs.

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High-Volume Hiring in the Contact Center: 3 Challenges and How to Tackle Them
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High-Volume Hiring in the Contact Center: 3 Challenges and How to Tackle Them

Here are three top high-volume recruitment challenges in the contact center and tips for overcoming them.

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What is Recruitment Process Outsourcing?

Posted on by epadmin

So, what is recruitment process outsourcing (RPO), and why should companies use it? RPO can boost your talent acquisition by optimizing processes amid fierce competition. Whether you’re exploring RPO or want to learn more about maximizing it, this guide will provide valuable insights. Understand how partnering with an RPO can boost your talent acquisition outcomes.

This overview explains RPO, answering common questions, including:

  • How RPO works
  • Types of RPO
  • The benefits of outsourcing recruitment
  • What to look for when selecting an RPO partner

👉 Get our RPO buyer’s guide.

What is Recruitment Process Outsourcing?

Recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) is a type of business process outsourcing (BPO) in which an external organization (RPO provider) supports an employer’s talent acquisition function by assuming responsibility for some or all facets of the talent acquisition function to support some or all of an employer’s hiring needs.

For example, an RPO engagement may only cover sourcing and screening candidates (partial-cycle RPO) or it may cover the entire recruitment lifecycle from receiving hiring manager’s requisitions all the way to presenting and negotiating job offers to candidates (full-cycle RPO). An RPO provider works closely with an organization’s internal talent acquisition team, either remotely or on-site.

Why Do Companies Choose to Outsource Recruitment?

Below, we highlight a few high-level reasons why organizations seek RPO providers, and conversely, when RPO may not be a good fit:

REASONS TO ENGAGE AN RPO PROVIDER:

  • If your organization is looking for more speed, agility and flexibility in your recruiting processes
  • If you are looking to improve the quality of candidates applying to your positions or struggle to attract the right talent
  • If your organization is looking for a more cost-effective and standardized recruiting process
  • If your organization’s current use of recruitment technology isn’t up to par and you are seeking a variety of digital upgrades specific to your organization’s recruiting objectives
  • If your organization is looking to increase diversity hiring, RPO providers can help you uncover new diverse talent recruitment sources and strategies
talent recruitment

REASONS NOT TO ENGAGE AN RPO PROVIDER:

  • If your company culture is not ready for outsourcing talent recruitment
  • If you just need a vendor to fill a quick requisition or two as opposed to a partner to support your talent acquisition strategy
  • If your organization isn’t open to optimizing your recruiting processes and tech stack

Remember, these reasons are not set in stone. Only you and your organization can assess if you are in need of an RPO partner’s services. An RPO partner should customize their solution to match your needs and offer flexible options to support for peak hiring, hard-to-fill positions, compressed time frames and more—however it works best for you.

👉 Are you Ready for RPO? Ask Yourself These Three Questions.

How Does RPO Work?

During an RPO engagement, the RPO provider’s team works closely with their client’s talent acquisition team and hiring managers to learn the organization’s long-term talent acquisition strategy, hiring challenges and goals.

The RPO provider then designs a customized recruiting program tailored to support the client’s specific needs. RPO is not a one-size-fits-all solution. A leading RPO partner will customize its service to match your requirements, which could include any or all of the following talent acquisition activities:

RPO Process

👉 Learn more about what to expect in an RPO partnership.

What is the Difference Between an RPO Provider and a Staffing Agency?

An RPO provider is distinct from a staffing agency or headhunter. Staffing agencies identify candidates, obtain their résumés or CVs and submit them to the client.

An RPO partnership brings a higher level of engagement. Your RPO provider will do a deep dive into your talent acquisition goals and challenges and then create and execute a customized recruitment program—and report back on the results. An RPO partner is a trusted advisor who can help you gain agility and future-proof your business.

👉 Learn the top differences between an RPO and a staffing agency.

What are the Types of RPO Models?

Designed for flexibility, RPO can be customized to meet your needs. Fully outsourcing recruitment may not make sense for all organizations. But that doesn’t mean RPO won’t provide value if you’re not ready to go all in. RPO teams are often used alongside existing in-house recruitment teams. The RPO can complement your current recruitment program by handling recruiting for specific job groups, locations or business units.

Here are various types of RPO that are commonly available:

Full-Cycle RPO

The RPO partner owns the entire recruitment cycle from opening requisitions all the way to presenting and negotiating the job offer—and all activities in between. This solution offers the client the full benefit of the RPO partner’s expertise which most organizations don’t have in-house, including value-added services like market insights, recruitment technology and employer brand consulting.

Partial Cycle RPO

The RPO partner covers certain parts of the recruitment process to boost internal recruitment resources. For example, the RPO partner might source and screen candidates and then hand them over to the in-house recruitment team to schedule interviews and manage offers.

Recruiter On-Demand

Recruiter On-Demand engagements are typically fixed-term contracts meant to address specific recruitment challenges such as seasonal hiring peaks, hard-to-fill positions, compressed timeframes and more. The RPO is there to augment the in-house team, often due to rapid growth. These engagements kick off quickly, and the required positions are filled within a few months.

👉 Learn more about recruiter on-demand.

Modular RPO

Modular RPO, or variable RPO, is a strategic approach to managing the recruitment process in an ultra-focused manner. It involves outsourcing specific components of the recruitment process to an RPO provider, or as a supplement to an existing outsourced recruitment engagement, providing quick access to targeted and customized recruitment support. With a modular or à la carte approach, you choose from a range of services based on your requirements.

👉 Learn more about modular RPO.

High-Volume RPO

High-volume RPO involves sourcing, screening, interviewing and hiring large numbers of applicants for similar openings or job types. It requires a tricky balance of keeping substantial quantities of job applicants moving through the recruitment process at speed. Plus, throughout the year it requires talent acquisition teams to scale up quickly to meet seasonal demand, like for holiday shopping periods or during peak travel times.

👉 Learn how to overcome high-volume hiring challenges.

Recruitment Cost Per Hire

What are the Benefits of RPO?

Now that you can answer the question, “What is recruitment process outsourcing?”, you may be wondering why organizations engage an RPO provider. Partnering with an experienced RPO gives you access to extensive recruitment knowledge across industries, roles and regions. RPOs have managed every type of hiring campaign imaginable. Whether you need help with one function or end-to-end recruiting, RPO offers advantages including:

Minimize Costs

Every day a role goes unfilled, your organization loses productivity, which can lead to losses in revenue and profits. Plus, inefficiencies in your organization’s hiring processes can result in lost revenue and more hours spent recruiting. And, if your organization hires the wrong person, you’ll spend even more time and money recruiting and training a replacement for the bad hire. By streamlining and optimizing recruitment processes, improving the time-to-hire and retention rates, RPO providers can increase your recruiting return on investment and deliver real cost savings to your bottom line. In fact, Everest Group states that organizations can expect a 45% to 55% annual savings with RPO compared to in-house recruitment.

Access Higher Quality Talent Faster

As skills shortages and talent scarcity becomes more challenging, having an RPO team digging into passive sourcing to access niche skills sets will boost time to hire and improve quality-of-hire. RPO providers leverage their comprehensive talent networks and effective screening and assessment tools to produce stronger candidates and more diverse talent pools. This keeps hiring managers happy and helps your organization achieve its goals.

Agility & Scalability

A leading RPO provider should flex to meet your requirements. Your organization can scale the amount of work your RPO provider performs to better manage your recruitment cost-per-hire goals and recruiting budget. When you have an increased demand for talent, an RPO provider can promptly scale up your team of dedicated recruiters to keep on top of your increased demands. This works the other way around as well: when there is less demand, we can scale down, saving you recruitment spend, and you avoid layoffs in your talent acquisition team during low demand periods.

Enhanced Candidate Experience

You want your recruitment process to leave every applicant, regardless of whether they get the job, with a positive experience. Your RPO partner can advise on ways to improve the candidate experience including career site audits, job application recommendations and how to leverage technology to speed up the process and reduce friction.

👉 Get Inside the Candidate Experience with our exclusive research report.

Best-Fit Technology

RPO providers can help you implement technology solutions that balance human expertise with automation. RPO partners have expertise with platforms across the HR and talent acquisition tech ecosystem and can make recommendations to help you attract and engage talent more effectively. PeopleScout’s total talent suite, Affinix® proprietary total talent suite of AI-powered tools, connecting applicant tracking, candidate relationship management, recruitment marketing, digital interviewing and talent analytics.

Access More Expertise

Partnering with an RPO means you gain important talent acquisition expertise without having to invest in internal resources. RPO partners have developed a depth and breadth of experience from working across many clients, industries, job types and regions. While they offer recruitment sourcing best practices, they also offer value-added services that will optimize and streamline each phase of the recruiting process like employer branding, recruitment marketing, skills assessment, market insights, specialist sourcing solutions and more.

Improve Diversity

Through experience collected over many client engagements, RPO teams are knowledgeable about different talent attraction options and can help you expand to new job boards, social media groups, online forums and events to engage a more diverse workforce. Plus, RPOs understand the regional nuances of DE&I issues. For example, in some countries like Poland, it is not legal to ask candidates their ethnicity, gender, etc.

Workforce Planning Strategy

Leading RPO providers can provide labor market insights, talent intelligence and benchmarking data. With access to these insights, you have the data you need to support your workforce strategy as well as tactical business decisions. You can capitalize on the latest market analysis, thought leadership and competitive intelligence to inform your talent strategy. Your RPO partner can provide analytics to help you understand what’s working so you can maximize your ROI.

Global Reach

Leading organizations are taking a much more holistic view of the talent landscape and are looking for ways to standardize across regions. Working with a single partner for multi-country RPO eliminates the need for multiple relationships and saves time and money—while raising the quality of your hires. An RPO provider can be your most valuable partner in global expansion, because they bring a wealth of knowledge and experience gained through working with clients in different industries around the world.

Seamless Compliance

A significant aspect of recruiting is dealing with the multitude of compliance requirements that vary by jurisdiction. Your partner should help you navigate the labor laws and compliance issues that accompany any sourcing program. An RPO provider’s rigorous processes ensure a legally compliant hiring process and streamlined responses to audits. Additionally, a partner can help you anticipate any communication and training issues so that you can tackle them head-on.

What Should I Look for in an RPO Company?

If you’ve decided that RPO will be a good fit for your organization, you may be wondering how you go about choosing the best provider. Here are just three things to consider in order to make RPO a truly transformational model for your business.

Partnership

The best RPO partners understand that each company has unique needs. Look for an RPO partner that is collaborative, that will listen to your ideas and take the time to truly understand your business and pain points. Avoid providers with a one-size-fits-all approach. The right partner balances consistency with customization.

At PeopleScout, for 30 years we’ve built our services on integrity. We won’t say one thing during the sales pitch only to reset expectations after the ink is dry. We won’t make you comply with a cookie-cutter recruitment process. If we mess up, we’ll make it right. That’s why we have some of the longest running client relationships in the RPO space. 

Talent Advisory Solutions

A strong employer brand is key to recruitment success. The right RPO partner offers talent advisory solutions to develop your employer brand, EVP, recruitment marketing approaches, candidate assessments and more.

Companies often use separate agencies for recruitment marketing and RPO. This siloed approach means less accountability. The agency is less likely to be held accountable for their campaigns leading to high quality candidates entering later candidate journey stages. On the other side, the RPO partner has limited means to provide feedback on the campaigns and the impact the ads have on recruitment outcomes.

Look for an RPO with in-house expertise (not one who outsources to an external agency) to consult on your entire talent program, not just filling roles. A holistic approach attracts and hires quality candidates.

👉 Debunk common RPO myths.

Technology Acquisition Technology

HR tech is rapidly evolving, and RPO partners are well positioned to advise on tools like AI and analytics to improve recruiting. Your RPO partner should offer expertise on talent tech. Others have their own proprietary talent acquisition platforms. Look for an RPO partner who will support a modular approach, so you can continue to benefit from existing investments and grow your recruitment tech stack as your needs change.

👉 Get the most out of RPO with this podcast.

talent acquisition recruiter

What is Recruitment Process Outsourcing? The Keys to RPO Success

The most important key to successfully engaging an RPO provider for services is to have a clear understanding of what your organization is trying to achieve. Then, you can choose an RPO provider that best meets your needs.

One thing to keep in mind on your RPO journey: RPO engagements are not only about outsourcing your recruiting, they are also about finding the best partner to help manage the people, process, technology and strategy of your talent acquisition function.

There is no single best option, only the option that best aligns with your organizational needs. To determine if RPO is right for your organization, take an audit of what your organization’s specific recruitment and sourcing challenges are and if you have the internal capabilities to overcome your challenges.

Recruiting Registered Nurses for Aged Care

Posted on by akessler
Recruiting Registered Nurses for Aged Care

Aged Care Recruitment

Recruiting Registered Nurses for Aged Care

An Australian aged care provider needed to source critical healthcare roles in their most hard-to-fill locations. PeopleScout’s sourcing expertise and EVP insights helped them exceed their targets in one of the tightest candidate markets in memory.

600 + candidates screened
No drop outs occurred across the entire recruitment process
4 months to fill critical vacancies

Challenge

The client is one of Australia’s largest aged care operators, with 72 residential aged care homes in South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland, Australia. The aged care sector in Australia is suffering from a major skills shortage as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, international border closures and a large number of workers leaving the sector.

The aged care provider turned to PeopleScout for project recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) to support the recruitment of registered nurses and support staff across a number of critical locations where they were getting little to no response to their vacancies. 

Solution

Two senior recruitment business partners supported the client across five locations who drove passive and active recruitment for registered nurses and aged care workers. PeopleScout researched the client’s target market to understand what motivates workers in the healthcare sector to accept a role. Following this, our team provided recommendations on the lifestyle bonuses they could offer as incentives for workers to travel to their locations. We also coached the client on how to boost their employer brand to raise awareness of their opportunities, which has delivered a long-term impact within a challenging market.

Results

PeopleScout worked within the aged care provider’s existing ATS system and screened over 600 candidates. We were able to speed up the process for successful candidates and in a number of locations achieved zero dropouts throughout the screening and background check process.

Over a 4-month period, our team placed 14 permanent positions across:

  • Registered Nurses
  • Personal Care Workers
  • Hospitality Support

With a large worker exodus across the sector, recruitment in the aged care sector in Australia is still an ongoing challenge. However, PeopleScout has proven our ability to make a significant impact in a short period of time.

At a Glance

  • COMPANY
    Aged care provider
  • INDUSTRY
    Healthcare
  • PEOPLESCOUT SOLUTIONS
    Recruitment Process Outsourcing, Talent Advisory
  • ABOUT THE CLIENT
    This healthcare provider manages 72 residential aged care homes across Australia, supporting over 8,000 residents and their families at an important time in their lives.
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