From Sourcing to Onboarding: How Does the Process of Recruitment Outsourcing Work?

These days, one of the biggest challenges that several businesses face is finding the right talent.

HR professionals often have a hard time finding skilled candidates who are suitable for specific roles, and this can result in skills gaps. Even with an effective recruitment strategy, it can be difficult to find potential employees who have the right skills, experience and culture fit, especially in a tough market.

With an evolving recruitment landscape, many businesses have leveraged the power of Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) as a solution to this. RPO refers to the outsourcing of a business's recruitment process to a third-party provider that specializes in all aspects of talent acquisition. Because the RPO process is focused on talent acquisition strategy, RPO companies offer additional benefits for your business other than just simply finding and securing top talent.

In this guide, we'll provide a high-level overview of how Recruitment Process Outsourcing works.

Assessing Hiring Needs

Every employer has different requirements and goals. Recruitment process outsourcing companies help you determine what you need from your new hire which translates to finding the best candidates. There are a few things that an RPO will do to start the process.

They'll analyze the size, work culture, salary structure, and growth rate of your company, then determine the job vacancy and requirements needed. They can do this more easily by looking at the gaps in your team to determine what's missing.

While doing this, they'll stay mindful of team members who plan to leave. This can help them hire a suitable replacement without major delays or disruption to workflows. An RPO gives you a more cost-effective opportunity to gain the advantages of a recruitment team that's attuned to your business's specific and unique talent needs.

Preparing the Job Description

The RPO will specify the details of the job role along with any qualifications or experience that's required. From this, they can write a detailed, accurate job description. This will ensure all candidates know exactly what the job involves and what's expected of them.

Job descriptions are usually prepared as checklists that detail the duties and responsibilities involved. This helps ensure that there aren't numerous applicants from people who don't fit the role. Some of the essential details of a job description include:

• Company name
• Business description
• Job title
• Department
• Duties and responsibilities
• Qualifications and skills
• Core business values
• Location
• Industry pay
• Additional qualities
• Demand (specific skills, experience, training, and knowledge)
• Compensation, perks, and benefits
• A conversational CTA

Searching for Talent

With a job description in place, the RPO will begin searching for talent. Effectively sourcing candidates also means attracting people to the role.

Because RPO companies source candidates and perform other job marketing functions using your employer brand, they will have the experience necessary to help you market your brand.

This can involve recruitment marketing through your Careers page on your website, job boards, employment websites, and social media channels, as well as internal advertising for referrals. They may extend this to recruitment marketing collateral, digital newsletters, community events and job fairs to reach a wider talent pool.

Screening and Shortlisting

Most RPO providers will use innovative recruitment technology to streamline and automate the recruitment process, making it more efficient and cost-effective. Using an applicant tracking system is key to organizing and filtering qualified candidates.

Anyone can apply for a position, but some people may stretch the truth about their experience, qualifications, and more. An RPO can thoroughly screen applicants to make sure they're not misrepresenting themselves and are a good fit. This starts by ensuring they meet the minimum requirements, then sorting applications by looking at experience, credentials, certification, and skill sets to find those that are preferable.

They'll then shortlist candidates to make sure only those who fit the role well are considered. If any concerns arise, they can filter these out before moving on to the interview stage.

Interviewing

The RPO will then review the remaining candidates. This will help them sort through those who are shortlisted to ensure you're only left with the best candidates. At this point, they'll usually find someone who's a great match for the employer.

Shortlisted candidates are either invited to a one-on-one interview or rejected. The number of interviewed candidates will depend on the number of positions available. They can include multiple phases and the overall approach can vary greatly.

For highly skilled roles, finding the best candidate is essential. This makes a multi-phase interview process ideal. A typical example would be as follows:

• Telephone or video call interview
• Psychometric testing to assess the suitability of the candidate
• In-person interview

Measuring and Offering the Role

Nearing the end of the process, the RPO will work with the employer to evaluate the remaining candidates and determine who to offer the position to. A good RPO keeps on top of pertinent regulatory changes ensuring your hiring process remains compliant. This can take some time as it's an important decision. They'll compare elements like eligibility, competency, and productivity to decide on the best choice.

If it's a role for a single person, they'll contact the best candidate and offer them the role. There may be multiple positions to fill, in which case the RPO will contact all relevant candidates with offers.

If, for any reason, a candidate turns the position down, they may offer it to the next best candidate. This may happen if they've already accepted a job with another company, for example.

The RPO will provide them with all the information they need to know about starting their new job.

Onboarding and Induction

This is the final step and it will apply to any candidates who have accepted the job role. The RPO will give them a starting time and date, and then carry out some final background checks. This typically involves contacting references to ensure there are no other issues or concerns.

They can then host an induction. During this, they'll inform the new hires of all relevant company rules and policies that they must adhere to.

They'll also go over any final details of the job and ensure they know what they need to do next. The candidates can then ask any questions or discuss any concerns they might have. These could be about the company or the job role itself.

Is Recruitment Process Outsourcing Right for Your Business?

A professional RPO provider can be beneficial for almost any business. What sets an RPO apart from other recruitment services is strategic solutions. Not only will they manage the candidate's experience from interviews to onboarding, but they should also provide market intelligence and resources to forecast your future talent needs strategically. If you're struggling to find the right talent for your business, this is an invaluable service.

Hunter Recruitment Advisors can provide custom recruitment services to grow your organization. We'll create a tailored staffing plan for your business to ensure you get the best candidates available. Get in touch with our team today to find out more about how we can help.