The Ultimate Guide to Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO)

Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) is quickly becoming the preferred recruiting strategy for many large companies. Traditionally using a recruiting firm usually falls into 1 of 2 categories

1. Temp To Perm
2. Permanent/Contingency

Each of these has its merits but there has always been a bit of a gap between the two. A quick look at the pros and cons of each:

• Temp To Perm – Great for quickly hiring, high volume, entry-level roles. Works well for nonskilled positions where you just need bodies. Clients pay a fee for every hour that a temporary employee is working up to a certain number of hours at which point they have the option of hiring them on full-time. Temp to Perm is not an effective solution for high-skill roles as those candidates typically have options and Temp To Perm is not a favorable solution for employees.
• Permanent/Contingency – Permanent staffing works best for hard-to-fill roles where candidates are in short supply. At Rockstar we specialize in Permanent staffing for Skilled Trades positions (Mechanics, HVAC, Millwright, Fire Protection) where candidate demand far exceeds supply. This is also used by many companies for Sr. Management, executive, sales, IT, and other hard-to-fill roles. It is also often called contingency recruiting as there are no upfront fees or cancellation costs. Companies only pay a recruiting fee when they make a hire and each hire comes with a warranty. There is no risk with permanent staffing but if you require to hire a large number of individuals then permanent staffing can be expensive when looked at on a cost-per-hire basis.

RPO fills the gap between Temp and Permanent. It can provide the volume that you get with Temp to Perm plus it is also effective for recruiting in-demand positions such as Diesel Technicians.

What is RPO

RPO stands for Recruitment Process Outsourcing. In a nutshell, it is hiring a contract recruiter except instead of a traditional corporate recruiter who is often limited to posting job ads, this individual is employed by a Recruiting Firm but is reporting to you.

It is the best of both worlds, you direct them as if they were your own employee and they have all the resources, skills and tools that a recruitment firm can provide. You can expect them to use a wide variety of recruiting methods including Headhunting, Networking, Referrals, Use of their internal database, Posting of job ads etc.

You will get the same level of recruiting that you get from Permanent Staffing but instead of paying per hire, it is a monthly fee. Typically the fee is roughly the cost of 1 – 1.5 placements. The only potential drawback is that it is a guaranteed fee regardless of if you hire anyone but if utilized properly you could be filling several roles a month for a low fee.

Advantages to RPO

Typically, using a permanent recruiter is reserved for the hardest to fill roles but with RPO, if you are paying one monthly fee regardless of how many hires, you can have your recruiter working on a much greater variety of roles. This can include entry level roles and other positions that typically you fill in house but with the use of a recruiter you can now have access to a greater pool of candidates. Cut down your time to hire by filling roles faster. Hire higher quality entry level candidates to ensure your future staff are all Rockstars.

• Save Money On Recruiting Costs
• Use a Recruiter For More Roles
• Fill Roles Faster
• Higher quality hires for all positions

Who Does RPO Work Best For

RPO saves money for companies that utilize recruitment firms the most. If you are projecting to hire 10+ positions in a year RPO will absolutely save you money. It works especially well if your roles are all in the same niche and you have a good specialist recruiter.

For example with Rockstar, some of the best cases are companies that need to hire a lot of the same type of employees at a variety of locations. This works really well with Truck Repair Shops/Fleets with multiple locations that all need to hire Diesel Mechanics. Our Rockstar On Demand program has also been very successful with HVAC companies that have multiple branches and regularly need to add to their Technician and Installer teams.

Interested in Learning More

If you need an RPO recruiter, Rockstar Recruiting may be able to help. We offer our Rockstar On Demand program to select clients that would most benefit from it. Learn more at https://rockstarrecruitinggroup.com/rockstar-on-demand/