Powering Digital Innovation: MSP Solution Transforms Tech Recruitment in India

Powering Digital Innovation: MSP Solution Transforms Tech Recruitment in India

MSP in India

Powering Digital Innovation: MSP Solution Transforms Tech Recruitment in India

Through strategic total workforce solutions across India’s technology centers, PeopleScout helped a global tech leader scale its talent acquisition by over 50% while maintaining quality and compliance.

Situation

PeopleScout has been a strategic talent acquisition partner to this client, a leading technology company, for over a decade, supporting the company’s continuous growth and workforce transformation initiatives. Throughout this journey, our engagement has expanded significantly, scaling by more than 50% to address their evolving hiring surges and business priorities.

As technology demands intensified, the client needed a robust recruitment partner capable of navigating IT skills shortages, managing high-volume hiring across multiple disciplines, and delivering services across diverse cultural contexts and cities. The requirement spanned a wide variety of functions, including:

  • Professional services, finance and legal roles
  • Infrastructure support and security roles
  • Customer experience and support roles
  • Global sales and marketing roles
  • IT roles (including expertise in .NET, Java, Oracle, SQL and testing)
  • Analytics and data science roles (including expertise in big data, Hadoop, SQL queries and advanced MS Excel)

The challenge was not just about scale but also about ensuring seamless operational execution across India’s major tech hubs—Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune, Gurgaon, Navi Mumbai and Chennai.

Solution

To address these complex hiring needs, PeopleScout deployed Managed Service Provider (MSP) and Total Workforce Solutions, offering end-to-end talent management across the recruitment lifecycle. This included sourcing, screening, assessment, onboarding and offboarding of contract and project-based professionals across multiple business lines.

Our approach was centered around collaborative workforce planning with the client’s HR and business teams, aligning resource allocation with project timelines and delivery milestones. A dedicated PeopleScout delivery team managed workforce compliance, optimized candidate experience and ensured that diversity and inclusion goals were embedded in every hiring initiative.

By acting as an extension of the client’s internal talent team, PeopleScout not only managed India recruitment operations but also supported broader strategic activities such as vendor audits, employee grievance resolution and workforce analytics reporting.

Results

PeopleScout’s MSP solutions have become integral to the client’s talent strategy. On an annual basis, we successfully hire over 2,500 professionals across IT, finance and accounting and customer experience. Through a tech-enabled recruitment process, our teams have delivered:

  • Scalable hiring outcomes without compromising quality or timelines
  • Seamless contract lifecycle management—from requisition creation to onboarding and exit formalities
  • Diverse and inclusive hiring practices to foster a balanced and equitable workplace
  • Proactive collaboration with the client’s project managers and vendor ecosystem to protect client interests and drive continuous improvement

The longevity and growth of this engagement underscore PeopleScout’s capability to deliver strategic, agile and future-ready workforce solutions for global technology enterprises.

At a Glance

  • COMPANY
    Leading Global Technology Company
  • INDUSTRY
    Technology
  • PEOPLESCOUT SOLUTIONS
    Managed Service Program, Total Talent
  • LOCATIONS
    Multiple locations India’s major tech hubs—Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune, Gurgaon, Navi Mumbai and Chennai
  • ABOUT THE CLIENT
    As one of the world’s most influential technology companies, this global organization plays a pivotal role in developing cutting-edge technology solutions across sectors.

Bridging the Gap: Modular RPO for Hard-to-Fill Positions 

The competition for skilled talent continues to intensify, with LinkedIn’s Global Talent Trends reporting that 76% of hiring managers struggle to find qualified candidates for their most challenging positions. This talent shortage affects organizations across industries, particularly when recruiting for roles requiring specialized knowledge, rare skill combinations, or experience in emerging fields. 

Many internal recruitment teams excel at handling standard hiring needs but face significant challenges with specialist or hard-to-fill positions. According to a recent McKinsey survey, 68% of talent acquisition leaders acknowledge limitations within their teams when tackling these difficult searches. Even well-resourced internal teams may lack the specialized networks, market insights and targeted approaches needed to successfully attract candidates for these positions. 

This is where modular RPO solutions offer strategic value. Unlike traditional full-service RPO (recruitment process outsourcing) models, modular RPO allows organizations to selectively outsource specific components of their recruitment process. 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. 

Use Cases for Modular RPO 

Understanding which roles or parts of your recruitment process would benefit most from modular RPO interventions, like PeopleScout Amplifiers™, is the first step toward an effective talent acquisition strategy. Here are just a few areas where an RPO partner can deliver value: 

In-Demand Technical Roles & Emerging Skill Sets with Limited Talent Pools 

Modular RPO solutions excel when it comes to sourcing positions in high-demand technical domains like software development, cybersecurity, data science and cloud architecture. This approach is particularly valuable when recruiting for emerging specialties with limited talent pools like quantum computing specialists, blockchain developers or AI ethics experts. 

These specialized roles require targeted sourcing strategies and access to niche communities. Rather than having your in-house recruiters spend extensive time finding and engaging passive candidates, consider outsourcing the sourcing stage through a modular RPO engagement. For example, PeopleScout’s Talent Sourcing solution provides dedicated recruitment specialists who identify qualified candidates and generate excitement about your opportunities. This delivers a personalized candidate experience while providing you with a curated list of qualified, enthusiastic applicants. 

Positions with Compliance Requirements 

Industries like healthcare, financial services and pharmaceuticals operate under strict regulatory frameworks that add complexity to the hiring process. Beyond finding qualified talent, recruiters must navigate industry-specific regulations and compliance requirements, as well as ensuring candidates have necessary certifications. Even in less regulated industries and high-volume hiring scenarios, recruiters are required to ensure confirm background checks and right-to-work document verification has been completed.  

Modular RPO solutions can target these specific administrative compliance tasks without requiring a full-scale outsourcing engagement. PeopleScout’s Recruiter On-Demand™ solution allows you to supplement your team with experienced project-based recruitment professionals. This solution can be implemented quickly for short-term needs, giving you targeted RPO benefits precisely where they’re needed in your recruitment process. 

Roles Requiring Specialized Assessment Solutions 

Positions that require unique assessment approaches—such as technical roles requiring coding tests or roles demanding simulation exercises—benefit from RPO providers with expertise in designing and delivering custom talent assessment solutions. These partners can create evaluation protocols that effectively measure both technical competencies and cultural fit. 

Assessment-focused modular RPO services can help organizations implement tailored evaluation methods. For example, PeopleScout’s Assessment Transformation helps organizations deploy talent assessments that not only enhance the recruitment experience for candidates but also accurately assess candidate capabilities. By outsourcing just this component of the recruitment process, you can enhance your ability to identify truly qualified candidates with the right skills and aptitudes. 

Strategic Advantages of Modular RPO 

Organizations that strategically leverage modular RPO gain a significant advantage in securing hard-to-find talent. By selectively enhancing your recruitment capabilities with specialized expertise exactly where needed, you can overcome persistent hiring challenges while maximizing the effectiveness of your internal team. 

Ready to transform your approach to hard-to-fill roles? Explore PeopleScout’s Amplifiers™ suite of modular RPO solutions, designed to provide targeted expertise exactly when and where you need it most.  

Navigating Change: Launching a Redeployment Program for a Telecoms Provider 

Navigating Change: Launching a Redeployment Programme for a Telecoms Provider

Internal Mobility

Navigating Change: Launching a Redeployment Programme for a Telecoms Provider

A major telecommunications company partnered with PeopleScout to launch and manage its redeployment program to help internal candidates transition smoothly to new roles within the company.

Situation  

Following organizational restructuring, the telecoms organization faced the delicate task of creating an internal mobility program to redeploy talent to other roles within the organization. In their commitment to nurturing and retaining talent, the company sought a strategic partner in PeopleScout to optimize the redeployment process effectively.

PeopleScout’s specialized support played a pivotal role in the success of this extensive redeployment initiative that spanned three years, achieving organizational goals while prioritizing a positive employee experience.

Solution 

The process began with understanding the client’s internal policies, job requirements and the overall objectives of the redeployment program.  

Our team developed a tailored strategy to support internal candidates throughout the transition, including: 

  • Personalized Candidate Support: Our seasoned teams offered personalized guidance to internal candidates, facilitating their journey through the redeployment process. This included arranging interviews for preferred roles, ensuring a seamless and efficient experience. 
  • Hiring Manager Assistance: We supported hiring managers by providing guidance on interview techniques, ensuring adherence to best practices, and fair and objective assessments. 
  • Assessor Engagement: Skilled assessors from our team participated in interviews virtually, ensuring thorough documentation and maintaining the integrity of the selection process. 
  • Feedback Loop: We established a robust feedback mechanism to gather insights from hiring managers, enabling continuous refinement and improvement of the internal mobility program. 

Results 

The collaboration between PeopleScout and the telecoms organization yielded significant benefits: 

  • Smooth Transition: Internal candidates experienced a seamless transition to new roles, supported by PeopleScout throughout the redeployment process. 
  • Positive Stakeholder Feedback: Hiring managers provided overwhelmingly positive feedback on the support received from PeopleScout during this sensitive period. They appreciated the professionalism, expertise and dedication from PeopleScout. 
  • Efficiency and Compliance: The involvement of PeopleScout’s assessors ensured efficient and compliant interview processes, mitigating risks associated with redeployment. 

At a Glance

  • COMPANY
    Major Telecommunications Provider
  • INDUSTRY
    Technology & Telecommunications

7 Direct Sourcing Best Practices in Talent Acquisition

Direct sourcing is a pivotal strategy in talent acquisition that empowers organizations to proactively identify, attract and engage top talent. With the growth of the gig economy and blurring of lines between full-time and temporary employment, workers who traditionally seek full-time employment are increasingly willing to take up temporary placements—and vice versa. Organizations that create and nurture blended talent pools of both permanent and contingent workers through direct sourcing best practices can bypass traditional recruitment channels and connect with top talent in a more personalized and efficient manner.  

Here are seven direct sourcing best practices to successfully implement direct sourcing as part of your talent acquisition strategy: 

1. Focus on Your Employer Brand 

A strong employer brand showcases what makes your company unique and appealing, serving as a powerful magnet for skilled professionals seeking temporary, project-based and full-time work. Investing in your employer brand pays dividends in direct sourcing by reducing time-to-hire, improving the quality of candidates and enhancing candidate engagement. Moreover, it helps build trust and credibility with potential workers, making them more likely to choose your organization over competitors. 

To build an effective employer brand, start by developing a compelling employer value proposition (EVP) that highlights the distinct advantages of working with your organization. This should encompass your company’s values, culture and the unique opportunities you offer. Consider factors such as flexible work arrangements, challenging projects and professional development opportunities. Communicate these elements clearly and consistently across your website, social media platforms, email nurture campaigns and other channels to create a cohesive brand image. 

With 41% of companies expecting to increase their use of contingent workers, it’s important to ensure that your EVP applies to both your temporary and permanent employees. Have you formally defined the value proposition for contractors? Contingent workers are a part of your cultural DNA and deserve the same experience as full-time workers. It may help to shift from using the term EVP, which implies the value is only experienced by those you employ directly, to using Worker Value Proposition (WVP) to make it more inclusive. Direct sourcing can help that drive that connection to the employer brand —regardless of classification. 

2. Implement Robust Technology 

Technology forms the second cornerstone of successful direct sourcing, providing the essential infrastructure for implementing and optimizing sourcing strategies. In fact, the effectiveness of most of our direct sourcing best practices hinges on the availability and proper utilization of advanced technology tools.  

Look for solutions that offer AI-powered matching capabilities, which can dramatically improve the speed and accuracy of candidate selection. For example, PeopleScout’s Direct Sourcing is a tech-powered solution that helps you rediscover candidates who are already in your candidate database with the use of AI. Affinix®, our proprietary total talent suite, compares your job description against profiles in your database and identifies a list of the best candidates—whether they’re previous applicants, individuals who have filled out an expression of interest form for the role, or silver/bronze medalists from previous requisitions. You receive a weighted score for each candidate (based on previous job titles and experience, skills profile and management experience) along with a written summary. Your hiring manager can then determine which candidates they want to pursue immediately, and which to add to a talent pool, where they’ll receive additional outreach before being invited to apply.  

We can also use our AI smart search technology to tap into 1.3 billion candidate profiles across multiple external talent databases. This vastly expands your access to talent by identifying strong candidates within seconds of opening a new job requisition.  

In addition to outbound channels, PeopleScout’s Direct Sourcing offers technology solutions for inbound sourcing channels including custom careers sites, internal job portals, expression of interest forms and programmatic advertising.  

In addition to sourcing capabilities, prioritize platforms with robust automation to reduce manual tasks and free up your team to focus on strategic initiatives. Don’t forget comprehensive analytics to help you continually refine your sourcing strategies, identify trends and measure your efforts.  

3. Create Segmented Talent Pools 

Creating segmented talent pools is a crucial strategy in effective direct sourcing, allowing organizations to target their efforts more precisely and efficiently. By developing and maintaining pools of both permanent and contingent talent based on skills, experience levels and job types, companies can quickly identify and engage the best candidates for specific roles or projects.  

This targeted approach allows for more personalized engagement strategies, tailored communication and faster matching of candidates to opportunities. Through analytics you can develop an understanding of each talent segment’s unique needs and motivations, allowing you to refine your value proposition for different groups. Ultimately, segmented talent pools build stronger connections with candidates, improving the quality of hires and the efficiency of your direct sourcing program. 

4. Develop Talent Engagement Strategies 

Once you’ve established distinct talent segments, it’s essential to develop and implement engagement approaches that resonate with each group’s unique characteristics and preferences. This personalized approach ensures that your communication is relevant, timely and effective, increasing the likelihood of attracting and retaining top talent for your organization. 

Implement a robust CRM and recruitment marketing engine to streamline and automate these engagement processes, allowing for consistent and personalized interactions at scale. Regularly provide updates, feedback, and relevant information to keep candidates engaged and interested, fostering a sense of connection with your organization even before a specific opportunity arises. Your engagement strategy should also span social media, networking events, relevant online platforms, industry associations and SMS to keep your talent pools informed about opportunities and foster connection. 

This approach not only helps you cultivate a diverse pool of specialized talent but also positions your organization as an attractive option for skilled professionals. By maintaining active engagement with passive talent, you create a ready pipeline of qualified candidates, enabling you to quickly scale your workforce and access a broad spectrum of skills and expertise when needed. 

5. Focus on the Candidate Experience 

In the realm of direct sourcing best practices, a positive candidate experience not only enhances your organization’s reputation but also increases the likelihood of successful placements and repeat engagements. Regardless of whether a candidate is up for a permanent or contingent role, they’ll be expecting a mobile-first, streamlined, informative and engaging process from initial outreach through placement. 

Focus on transparency and communication throughout the sourcing process. Provide clear, detailed job descriptions and requirements, offer insights into your company culture and set realistic expectations regarding timelines and next steps. A tech-powered solution will feature automation that ensures candidates receive timely responses to their applications and inquiries.  

By prioritizing a positive candidate experience, you not only improve your chances of securing top talent but also build a strong employer brand that attracts high-quality candidates to your talent pools over time. 

6. Optimize Direct Sourcing Performance 

Measuring and optimizing the performance of your direct sourcing program is crucial for long-term success and continuous improvement. To effectively gauge the impact of your efforts, it’s essential to track key metrics that provide insights into various aspects of your sourcing strategy such as time-to-fill, quality of hires, cost per hire, candidate engagement rates and source of hire. Additionally, monitor the size and quality of your talent pools, the effectiveness of your engagement strategies, and the overall satisfaction of both candidates and hiring managers.  

Regularly analyzing these metrics will provide a comprehensive view of your direct sourcing program’s performance and highlight areas for improvement. For instance, if you notice a particular talent pool consistently yields high-quality candidates with shorter time-to-fill rates, you might allocate more resources to cultivating that segment. Similarly, if certain engagement tactics result in higher response rates, you can refine your communication strategies accordingly.  

Continuously refining your approach based on performance data ensures that your direct sourcing program remains agile and effective, adapting to changing market conditions and organizational needs. Remember, the goal is not just to collect data, but to translate these insights into improvements. 

7. Consider Outsourcing to a Talent Partner 

While implementing a successful direct sourcing strategy can yield a competitive edge, it requires substantial resources, expertise and ongoing management. This is where a total talent solutions partner can be a game-changer for organizations.  

Outsourced total talent solutions providers who offer recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) and managed service programs (MSP) have the advantage of scale and specialization. They continuously invest in the latest sourcing technologies, stay abreast of market trends and refine their strategies based on data from multiple clients across various industries. This expertise enables them to build and manage segmented talent pools more efficiently, implement sophisticated engagement strategies and deliver an outstanding candidate experience.  

Moreover, a partner brings consultation to a direct sourcing solution. By evaluating the skills gaps in your organization in line with your anticipated demand, a talent partner can help you develop more formal workforce planning to keep you ahead of the curve. Direct sourcing can play a major role in pipelining talent so you can tap into it at the right time. 

This approach not only saves time and costs from staffing agencies, but it also provides access to a broader and more diverse talent pool, enhances employer branding efforts and improves the quality of hires. Ultimately, partnering with a provider to help execute direct sourcing best practices enables organizations to achieve better results faster, positioning them to combine approaches for contingent and permanent talent acquisition management and take steps toward total workforce management. 

Direct Sourcing

Direct Sourcing by PeopleScout

PeopleScout’s Direct Sourcing is a tech-powered solution for engaging top talent for permanent and contingent roles, while leveraging the power of your employer brand. We lay the framework for a sustainable total talent strategy by proactively creating a pipeline of freelance, temporary and permanent talent from your existing database combined with our global reach of 1.3B candidate profiles.

Download this fact sheet to learn more.

Learn more about PeopleScout’s Direct Sourcing solution.

Dig into More Talent Insights

Video Case Study: Tech-Powered Direct Sourcing in Healthcare
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Video Case Study: Tech-Powered Direct Sourcing in Healthcare

Case Study: Tech-Powered Direct Sourcing in Healthcare

7 Direct Sourcing Best Practices in Talent Acquisition
Articles

7 Direct Sourcing Best Practices in Talent Acquisition

Direct sourcing is a pivotal strategy in talent acquisition that empowers organizations to proactively identify, attract and engage top talent. With the growth of the gig economy and blurring of lines between full-time and temporary employment, workers who traditionally seek full-time employment are increasingly willing to take up temporary placements—and vice versa. Organizations that create…

Direct Sourcing
Fact Sheets

Direct Sourcing

Direct Sourcing by PeopleScout PeopleScout’s Direct Sourcing is a tech-powered solution for engaging top talent for permanent and contingent roles, while leveraging the power of your employer brand. We lay the framework for a sustainable total talent strategy by proactively creating a pipeline of freelance, temporary and permanent talent from your existing database combined with…

Overcoming Healthcare Talent Shortage with Tech-Powered Direct Sourcing

Overcoming Healthcare Talent Shortage with Tech-Powered Direct Sourcing

Direct Sourcing

Overcoming Healthcare Talent Shortage with Tech-Powered Direct Sourcing

An Australian radiology network sought PeopleScout’s Direct Sourcing solution after two acquisitions expanded their geographical footprint, making it increasingly difficult to fill critical skilled healthcare roles amidst a talent shortage and an imbalanced distribution of practitioners across regions.

401 roles filled in just 5 months
112 roles filled in remote locations
83 % engagement rate on doctor campaign

Situation 

This Australian radiology network operates in 270 clinics, employs over 350 doctors and 4,000 staff and performs over six million patient procedures a year, making them one of the largest medical imaging providers in the world. The organization needed to hire high-volume, critical healthcare roles across both metropolitan and regional locations, but they were struggling because of the talent shortage across their newly expanded regional footprint. In addition to the unique talent challenges facing the healthcare sector globally—including employee burnout, widening skills gaps and rising demand among the aging population—the diagnostic imaging sector in Australia faces the additional challenge of ensuring staff distribution across metropolitan, regional and rural areas is proportionate to the population. Historically, most radiology workers have resided in metropolitan areas, creating a gap in rural locations

Prior to engaging PeopleScout, the client used disparate, short-term solutions and lacked a single view of the skills within their existing workforce. They did not have a talent technology platform, but instead managed requisitions and candidate outreach efforts using Excel spreadsheets. Our team developed a Direct Sourcing solution to help the client overcome the healthcare talent shortage and meet their workforce goals in all locations. 

Solution 

PeopleScout augmented the internal recruitment team with Direct Sourcing for both contingent and permanent roles ranging from medical receptionists to radiographers, sonographers to IT personnel, by developing and implementing 360-degree talent sourcing and engagement strategy that included:  

  • Multi-Channel Sourcing: We deployed Smart Search, an Affinix® tool that simultaneously scours multiple external databases, capturing and saving profiles that match desired skills and experience. 
  • AI-Powered Talent Rediscovery: Using artificial intelligence, we matched job descriptions to all candidates in the platform, generating a list of recommended candidates that were scored for suitability, based on industry experience, skills, previous job titles and management experience. 
  • Cutting-Edge Recruitment Marketing: Leveraging Affinix’s capabilities, we built an internal career site and external job portal. These engagement hubs allowed employees and candidates to explore openings, learn about different roles or submit expression of interest forms for hard-to-fill positions. 
  • Sophisticated Talent Nurturing: Candidates were segmented into talent pools by role and region, then added to customized, automated nurture campaigns. This allowed our client to engage or re-engage with active and passive candidates, alumni and referrals effectively. 
  • Data-Driven Insights: Custom Affinix dashboards provided real-time insights on the most active candidates, enabling the team to build automated drip campaigns that kept jobseekers engaged and interested. 

Results 

The impact of our tech-powered Direct Sourcing solution was swift and substantial. In the first five months following program launch, PeopleScout filled 401 roles for the radiology network across 33 locations, including every state and territory where the organization operates.  

Some campaign messaging was role-specific—the campaign targeting 800 doctors had an engagement rate over 80%.  

Other messages focused on the benefits of working in the more remote locations, highlighting the “perfect combination of a vibrant city life in a rural setting.” Of the roles filled, 112 were within these regional locations, where recruitment had historically been more difficult.  

At a Glance

  • COMPANY
    Radiology network
  • INDUSTRY
    Healthcare
  • PEOPLESCOUT SOLUTIONS
    Total Talent, Affinix
  • LOCATIONS
    33 locations across Australia and New Zealand

What is Direct Sourcing? Why It Could Open the Door to Total Talent Acquisition

The evolution of remote work has resulted in the growth of the gig economy and the blurring of lines between full-time and temporary employment. Workers who traditionally seek full-time employment are increasingly willing to take up temporary gigs—and vice versa. Organizations that create and nurture blended talent pools of both permanent and contingent workers can be more intentional with workforce planning to address skills gaps and diversity goals. Enter direct sourcing—a game-changing strategy that’s reshaping how companies approach talent acquisition.  

By integrating direct sourcing into your total talent acquisition strategy, you can turn these talent pools into your strongest channel for growing your workforce, bringing forward pre-engaged talent. This results in faster hiring and improves overall organizational productivity. With direct sourcing, you can uncover hidden talent and gain a competitive edge in attracting top-tier candidates. 

But what is direct sourcing, and why should talent acquisition leaders pay attention? In this article, we’ll delve into the importance of direct sourcing, it’s role in total talent management, its benefits, and the crucial role of technology in a direct sourcing solution.  

What is Direct Sourcing? 

First things first, what is direct sourcing anyway? Direct sourcing is a recruitment approach that leverages an organization’s employer brand and existing talent database to build and manage talent pools for both permanent and contingent positions. This method allows organizations to engage directly with potential hires, including former employees, retirees, referrals, interns, and even “silver medalists” and candidates who were runners-up in previous hiring processes. Unlike traditional methods that rely heavily on staffing agencies, direct sourcing creates a pipeline of freelance, temporary and permanent talent, reducing costs, improving hiring efficiency and allowing employers to take control of their hiring needs. 

At its core, direct sourcing involves: 

  • Utilizing your employer brand to attract talent 
  • Creating and managing exclusive talent pools 
  • Proactively engaging with potential candidates 

Direct Sourcing: The First Step to Total Talent Acquisition? 

According to Everest Group, 46% of enterprises are actively exploring ways to combine approaches for contingent and permanent talent acquisition management, and 74% see direct sourcing as the way to do it. By sharing people, processes and technology across vacancy types through direct sourcing, organizations gain efficiency and get closer to total workforce management.  

So, it’s no surprise that more and more organizations are choosing to outsource their direct sourcing program, either coupled with their Managed Service Program (MSP) or through a Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) provider.  

Partners like PeopleScout excel at direct sourcing, as their specialty lies in seamlessly integrating with client teams, leveraging the client’s employer brand to attract top talent. Plus, with a partner, you gain access to specialized technology for managing and curating talent pools, ensuring a streamlined and efficient process while still maintaining the benefits of direct engagement with potential hires. 

The Benefits of Direct Sourcing 

Direct sourcing offers numerous benefits that are driving its adoption among forward-thinking organizations. Let’s explore the top advantages: 

  • Faster Hiring Cycles: With always-on talent pools, direct sourcing can significantly reduce time-to-hire. By eliminating the need for a staffing agency and leveraging candidates who already exist in the ATS and CRM (and are familiar with your employer brand), direct sourcing puts engaged candidates at your fingertips. Having regular access to qualified candidates, referrals and former employees allows you to easily adjust to changing workforce needs. 
  • Greater Cost Savings: Direct sourcing can significantly reduce recruitment costs by minimizing reliance on staffing agencies and their associated fees. An RPO partner who can offer AI-powered sourcing and innovative ways to ensure smarter media spend can reduce your costs and maximize your ROI for direct sourcing.  
  • Higher Quality of Candidates: By leveraging your employer brand and creating curated talent pools, direct sourcing allows you to attract higher-quality candidates who are better aligned with your organization’s culture and needs. Through personalized engagement with candidates, RPO providers can gain a deeper understanding of their skills, experiences and motivations. Additionally, direct sourcing allows companies to build lasting relationships with top talent, creating a talent pool that can be tapped for future openings. 
  • Enhanced Candidate Experience: Direct sourcing means more personalized and human interactions, which improves the candidate experience. By engaging proactively with potential hires, you can provide a smoother, more informative process that reflects positively on your brand. 
  • Employer Brand Attraction: In a direct sourcing engagement, your RPO partner is an extension of your team, transforming your employer brand into a powerful tool in attracting top contingent and permanent talent. Direct sourcing allows you to showcase your company culture, values and opportunities through relevant and engaging touchpoints, helping you become an employer of choice.  
  • Access to Data & Insights: With extensive experience across job families and regions, RPOs are well suited to evaluate your unique recruitment metrics against market trends to enable data-driven decision making for your direct souring program. Detailed analytics help decode top talent behaviors and predict cultural fit, willingness to change companies and future tenure potential to improve hiring speed and accuracy over time. 
  • Improved Diversity: The targeted nature of direct sourcing means you can identify, select and engage candidates from various audiences to meet diversity goals.  
  • Improved Hiring Manager Experience: Direct sourcing provides hiring managers with better access to high-quality and diverse talent pools, freeing them up to focus on leading their teams instead of recruiting. 

The Role of Technology in Direct Sourcing 

While the concept of direct sourcing is powerful on its own, technology unlocks its true potential. Modern direct sourcing solutions leverage AI, multi-channel sourcing, communication automation and analytics to supercharge the approach. 

When deciding on a direct sourcing solution, consider the following technologies: 

  • AI and Machine Learning: These technologies enable superior skills matching, connecting the right candidates with the right opportunities more efficiently than ever before. PeopleScout Direct Sourcing helps you rediscover candidates who are already in your applicant tracking system (ATS) with the use of AI. Affinix®, our proprietary total talent suite, compares your job description against profiles in your database and identifies a list of the best candidates—whether they’re previous applicants, individuals who have filled out an expression of interest form for the role, or silver/bronze medalists from previous requisitions. You receive a weighted role suitability score for each candidate (based on previous job titles and experience, skills profile, and management experience) along with a written summary. Your hiring manager can then determine which candidates they want to pursue immediately, and which to add to a talent pool, where they’ll receive additional outreach before being invited to apply. 
  • Smart Search: In addition to your existing ATS, consider a direct sourcing solution that enables you to search across multiple external talent databases—such as LinkedIn and Indeed—simultaneously and save relevant candidate profiles into your own database. This helps you beat your competitors to hard-to-find talent and source more efficiently with a seamless experience for your hiring managers. AI can be applied to these candidates as well to identify strong candidates—passive or active, known or new to you—within seconds of opening a new job requisition. 
  • Multi-Channel Sourcing: To truly capitalize on your employer brand with your direct sourcing program, a multi-channel approach that leverages recruitment marketing to reach top talent is crucial. This includes custom career site and microsite development, for both internal and external job portals, expression of interest forms and programmatic advertising. This holistic approach will re-engage talent and excite them about your opportunities. 
  • Personalization at Scale: Your direct sourcing solution should feature recruitment marketing technology that helps you develop a series of automated targeted communication touchpoints to engage or re-engage with passive candidates, silver/bronze medalists, contractors, alumni and referrals. Personalized emails and automated drip campaigns will keep your brand top-of-mind. Use analytics from communication and nurture campaigns to access insight into which candidates are engaging most with your content and whether the content you’re distributing resonates with the candidate pool. 
  • Data-Driven Insights: For your direct sourcing program, insist on robust reporting and analytics capabilities. However, according to Everest Group, 52% of organizations who are considering direct sourcing cite the lack of technology integration between permanent and contingent tools as a challenge they are currently facing or anticipate facing. Integrating your existing VMS and ATS into one analytics platform is a must for total talent management in order to gain insight into both your permanent and contingent openings.  

Conclusion 

As the world of work continues to evolve, direct sourcing is poised to play an increasingly important role for organizations aiming to streamline their total talent acquisition processes and attract the best candidates.  

As you consider implementing direct sourcing in your organization, remember that while the human touch remains invaluable, technology is a crucial enabler. Industry leading direct sourcing solutions are AI-powered, combining cutting-edge technology with expert talent curation and engagement strategies. 

By embracing this approach, organizations can position themselves at the forefront of talent acquisition innovation, ready to attract and engage the best contingent and permanent talent in an increasingly competitive landscape. 

Contingent Workforce Solution Opens the Door to a $500K Cost Savings & a Total Talent Solution

Contingent Workforce Solution Opens the Door to a $500K Cost Savings & a Total Talent Solution

MSP for Manufacturing

Contingent Workforce Solution Opens the Door to a $500K Cost Savings & a Total Talent Solution

PeopleScout helped a leading door and window manufacturer achieve a $500K cost savings within twelve months of launching an effective MSP program. Plus, PeopleScout introduced Recruiter On-Demand™ to support an increase in demand for permanent recruitment, as part of a total talent solution.

1,500 Annual contingent hires
$ 500,000 Dollars in cost savings in the first year
250 Full-time hires over 11 months

Situation 

PeopleScout has partnered with this door and window manufacturer since 2017, providing Managed Service Provider (MSP) support for contingent talent solutions in the areas of light industrial, technology and professional roles. Initially, PeopleScout supported locations in the U.S. only, but in 2021 expanded into Canada, playing a key role in supplier vetting, contract negotiations, data collection and manager and supplier trainings.  

The organization was also having challenges filling full-time roles, providing the opportunity for PeopleScout to supplement their contingent staffing support with our Recruiter On-Demand™ solution.

Solution

Over the course of this partnership, PeopleScout’s MSP team has made several technology and process improvements, including a vendor management system (VMS) transition, streamlined documentation requirements, a new approach for managing and improving supplier performance, and a candidate experience assessment.

The team also collaborated with PeopleScout’s Recruiter On-Demand™ (ROD) team to conduct a discovery session to understand the primary areas of increasing demand for full-time roles. Together, the teams developed and implemented an ROD strategy, focused on ten primary locations. The ROD solution included a daily applicant tracker for client visibility into the talent pipeline, and marketing and employer brand support. PeopleScout’s recruiters sourced qualified candidates, who were then interviewed by the client’s hiring managers.

The candidate experience assessment, conducted by PeopleScout’s technical solutions architects, identified opportunities to improve the look and feel of the organization’s careers site, particularly to appeal more to full-time candidates.

Results

The updates PeopleScout has made to the client’s technology and documentation processes have eliminated administrative burdens on both suppliers and hiring managers. The MSP solution achieved cost savings of more than $500,000 in the first year alone.

PeopleScout also seamlessly integrated a Recruiter-On-Demand™ program to support full-time hiring needs, as part of a total talent solution for the door and window manufacturer. The ROD program generated 250 hires over just 11 months across the selected 10 locations.

At a Glance

  • COMPANY
    Door and Window Manufacturer
  • INDUSTRY
    Manufacturing
  • PEOPLESCOUT SOLUTIONS
    Recruitment Process Outsourcing, Managed Service Program, Total Talent
  • ANNUAL HIRES
    1,500 contingent hires and 250 full-time hires
  • LOCATIONS
    U.S. and Canada