Recruiting after the pandemic seems like a daunting thought for many; will you be able to financially support recruitment efforts? Will we face a second wave? And will expectations of top talent have changed? These are just a few questions that could be putting you off recruiting new talent again as we enter the new normal. However, recruitment can be essential to helping businesses grow and succeed; you may need to fill vital skills gaps and replace employees.
Therefore, when we navigate into the new normal, having external guidance for your recruitment efforts could provide some comfort and peace of mind in times of uncertainty. Whether you need to hire on a mass scale to revolutionise your business, meet an influx of demand, or you’re rethinking your entire recruitment strategy so that it’s more suitable for a changing world; recruitment process outsourcing could help.
Outsourcing may be sometimes perceived as an expensive recruitment solution which is only appropriate for large-scale corporations. However, a more flexible RPO model can be suitable for all business sizes whether you’re a startup looking to scale or a large business looking to hire talent that will help them survive in a post-COVID world.
RPOs are not just about sourcing candidates, although this does play a fundamental role. But the real value of an RPO, particularly when emerging from a pandemic, is that it can help you to meet recruitment demands and offer strategic advice to help you succeed in the new normal. A collaboration between marketing, HR and recruitment efforts means that RPO providers can help businesses to enhance employer brands, improve their ability to attract top candidates and help HR to streamline internal processes, to improve employee engagement.
There are countless benefits that a good recruitment process outsourcing provider can bring, particularly as we prepare to enter a relatively unknown reality and with uncertain business outcomes.
Here are 9 benefits of using recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) after the pandemic:
1. Flexible Recruitment Solutions
Nothing is certain right now, in your business or anywhere else. Therefore, flexible RPO is an excellent option for companies emerging from this pandemic. Even before COVID-19, businesses have always needed to scale up and down their hiring efforts to meet demand or targets. A flexible RPO solution can help you quickly respond to spikes in hiring or pull back if finances become tight, as well as focus your efforts on other parts of the recruitment process as and when it’s needed. One minute you may need to access recruitment sourcing capabilities, but the next, you may want to raise brand awareness through a recruitment marketing campaign. A flexible RPO allows you to do this easily, flipping the switch on actions whenever you require.
2. Less Risk Than In-House Recruitment
One great thing about working with an RPO provider is that it provides less financial risk to your business. Unlike having all resource internally, your organisation won’t be forced to commit to a high, fixed cost, recruitment team all year round.
This could be a financial lifeline as you’re only paying for the resource you need as and when you need it rather than paying salaries for short-term hiring strategies.
3. Access to Expert Knowledge
While your in-house recruitment team may be experts in your field or industry, RPO teams have a vast range of knowledge that you can utilise. Take advantage of years of expertise across a variety of industries and sectors. This knowledge can benefit all aspects of your recruitment strategy, including, sourcing talent, enhancing the candidate experience, refining your EVP or promoting your employer brand. These experts carry out these tasks every day and have built up a wealth of knowledge that could be used to benefit you.
4. RPO Providers Become an Extension of You
Working with external recruitment companies often creates worries that your business won’t be understood; that talent may not be the right fit. Plus, will top candidates trust an external recruiter? This is where RPO is different; recruiters become an extension of your business. They take the time to get to know the ins and outs of your brand from your mission to behaviours, they get to know key players and absorb your company culture as well as carry out extensive research into your market and industry. RPO recruiters are on your side and want to find you the best possible to hire so that your business can succeed.
5. Creative Recruitment Strategies
If you want to delve into the world of creative recruitment strategies and thinking outside of the box when it comes to attracting top talent, an RPO agency may be able to help you more than you’d expect. When it comes to recruitment marketing campaigns, often an external source can come up with the most creative concepts, that will resonate with top talent. Sometimes it’s a classic case of being too close to a business; an outsider can see it in a different light and challenge the status quo. In today’s climate recruitment advertising needs to be so much more than a job ad on a job board. Even if you choose this method, an RPO provider can ensure your descriptions are optimised for search, use the right language and remove any bias.
RPO providers will have experience of creative recruitment strategies that have worked in similar industries or situations. For example, an RPO provider will know an appropriate time to segment your employer brand messaging to resonate with new audiences, such as targeting tech talent. They will also know the best methods of digital advertising even on tight budgets; this could be social media marketing such as Facebook to LinkedIn or even using Google advertising.
An RPO agency will help you to conduct a creative recruitment campaign that will attract higher-quality candidates from concept through to generating results.
6. Adapt Recruitment Strategies to the New Normal
Working with an experienced RPO provider will help your business, and your recruitment process adapt to the new normal with ease. It could be that your candidate experience needs improvements to meet candidate demand, or your employer brand needs to be refined to resonate with changing attitudes and remain relevant in a changing recruitment landscape.
The way that businesses hire has changed, with a significant focus on online and digital methods of recruiting and interviewing as well as building your employer brand and becoming an employer of choice. RPO providers can help you to adapt, using their knowledge and expertise to ensure you remain an employer of choice for top talent in your sector. They can align internal processes to assist with managing a remote workforce effectively and preparing for localised lockdowns or a second wave.
7. Faster Hires at Lower Costs
Experienced recruiters that work for RPO agencies can help you to recruit at a much faster pace. For many, the coronavirus has created the need to shorten the time to hire as we’ve needed to fill roles urgently. Luckily, RPO providers have access to talent pools, contacts and the extensive knowledge of your industry to be able to meet these tight timescales. On average RPO can reduce time to hire by 25%. Outsourcing recruitment means that the entire process is streamlined, and your hiring managers will only see the best candidates, saving you time, effort and resulting in faster hires for your organisation.
8. Better Quality and Diverse Hires
An RPO provider’s goal is to ensure that your business gets the best permanent hires, regardless of difficult markets or niche roles. They have more time to attract higher calibre candidates for any position. They are aware of strategies which result in better hires and know any red flags when it comes to candidates such as signs that they may not leave their current employer.
RPO providers can also help you to create more diverse teams. By getting to know your business and the people within it, they can gain a perspective of the sort of person that will help you thrive and can pinpoint what your business is missing. RPO providers can also spot any diversity and inclusion issues within your team. A diverse team can offer alternative perspectives and opinions, not to mention attracting a more diverse range of candidates for future hires. Companies with more culturally and ethnically diverse executive teams were 33% more likely to see better-than-average profits, and after the latest Black Lives Matter movement, diversity and inclusion should be the priority.
9. Navigate the Post-Pandemic Landscape
With an RPO provider on hand to take the pressure off your HR and recruitment teams, your business can be in a better place to focus on succeeding after COVID-19. Outsourcing your recruitment can free up resources so that you can prioritise existing employees’ wellbeing and restoring their confidence in you as an employer, helping your retention rates and reducing your need to recruit. It also means that you can work on helping your business recover from the turmoil of the past few months without having to worry about recruiting efforts.
External recruiters will have a broader perspective of the post-pandemic landscape. They can use in-depth market research to understand what your competition is doing, what talent is looking for in the new normal and where to reach them. They can gain an understanding of the roles that will be needed, whether it’s tech talent for digitisation or a focus on soft skills that could help to transform your business going forward. Using market research for recruitment can give you a competitive advantage, particularly in these rapidly changing times.
Talent Works International offer a unique flexible RPO solution for businesses of all sizes from startups to established organisations. Our recruiters become ingrained in your business as an extension of you, and you will have access to our in-house brand and insight, creative and digital teams to help with all aspects of your recruitment strategy going forward into the new normal. Contact us to learn more.
