RPO stands for Recovery Point Objective. According to the Advisera article, RPO is defined as “the amount of data loss that would be acceptable for an organization as a consequence of a disruption.” In other words, it refers to how much data an organization is willing to lose when service is restored after an outage or disaster.
History
The origin of the term “RPO” can be traced back to the early 2000s, when Rich Rodriguez was the offensive coordinator at West Virginia University. According to https://footballcoach.com/who-created-the-rpo/, Rodriguez is credited with pioneering the RPO concept, though he didn’t coin the actual term. The core idea was to combine traditional run plays with quick pass options, giving the quarterback the flexibility to make reads and choose between handing off or throwing based on the defense’s reaction. This innovative concept allowed offenses to play fast and keep defenses guessing.
Though Rodriguez spearheaded RPO schemes, the term “run-pass option” wasn’t widely used until years later. In the late 2000s, coaches like Gus Malzahn and Chip Kelly further popularized RPOs. The play style gained mainstream recognition and the “RPO” abbreviation entered the football lexicon. While hybrid run-pass schemes existed beforehand, RPO terminology emerged in the 2000s and 2010s to describe the defining features of this offensive system.
Purpose
RPO or Recruitment Process Outsourcing is becoming increasingly important for businesses for several reasons:
RPO provides cost efficiency. Outsourcing recruitment processes allows businesses to convert fixed hiring costs into variable costs based on their hiring needs. This gives them financial flexibility (https://www.searchmarkets.com/index/).
RPO improves quality of hires by leveraging the expertise and best practices of a specialized recruitment provider. Their industry knowledge and recruitment technology helps find better candidates faster.
RPO provides scalability to manage hiring surges or growth needs. Rather than building an in-house team, RPO gives access to a flexible workforce.
RPO increases speed of hiring by dedicating recruitment experts who can rapidly source and engage candidates. This allows businesses to fill open positions faster.
In summary, RPO becomes a strategic talent acquisition partner for HR, providing efficiency, quality, scale and speed for an organization’s hiring needs.
Process
The RPO recruitment process typically follows these key steps:
- Requirements gathering – The RPO partner works closely with the hiring company to understand their hiring needs, job requirements, and candidate profiles.
- Sourcing – The RPO leverages various channels like job boards, social media, employee referrals, and their existing database to attract suitable candidates.
- Screening – The RPO reviews applicant resumes/profiles and conducts initial interviews to filter potential candidates.
- Assessment – Pre-qualified candidates undergo assessments like skills tests, background verification, etc.
- Interviews – The RPO coordinates interviews with shortlisted candidates.
- Selection – The hiring company makes the final hiring decision; the RPO may provide inputs on candidates.
- Onboarding – The RPO can optionally manage administrative onboarding tasks for new hires.
While the hiring company is involved throughout, the RPO takes over much of the heavy lifting of sourcing, screening, assessing, and interviewing applicants. This enables HR teams to focus on more strategic priorities.
For more details, see this overview from JuustRead Blog.
Benefits of RPO
Some of the key benefits of RPO include:
Faster hiring
RPO providers have dedicated recruitment teams and resources that can significantly accelerate hiring. They utilize best practices and advanced technologies like AI and automation to screen candidates faster. This results in decreased time-to-hire. According to one source, RPO delivers hires up to 50% faster than traditional recruiting.
Access to talent
RPO providers maintain large candidate databases and talent communities. They continuously attract and engage passive candidates. This gives organizations access to qualified talent that may not be available through regular recruiting channels. RPOs expand and diversify the talent pool.
Cost savings
RPO eliminates the need to maintain an in-house recruiting team, resulting in significant cost savings. RPO fees are also typically lower than recruiters’ salaries and benefits. According to one analysis, RPO delivers cost savings of 20-30% over in-house recruiting.
Challenges
While RPO can provide many benefits, there are some potential challenges to be aware of when outsourcing recruitment. Two common challenges often cited are loss of control and ensuring cultural fit.
With RPO, the client company gives an external provider control over parts of their recruitment process. This can be difficult for some organizations used to managing everything in-house. There is a need to clearly define responsibilities between the client and provider to ensure the RPO complements existing internal processes.1
Cultural fit is another area to pay close attention to. Since recruiters at an RPO firm may not be fully immersed in the client’s culture, they may make hiring recommendations that don’t align well. It’s important for clients to properly onboard RPO staff and give them sufficient training about their organizational culture and ideal candidate profiles.2
There are also upfront costs associated with implementing an RPO model. The provider charges a fee for their services, which can require a significant investment especially when first launching the partnership. However, over time RPO often leads to costs savings from improved recruitment efficiency and quality of hires.
Top RPO Providers
Many companies specialize in providing RPO services. According to research, some of the top global RPO providers include:
Alexander Mann Solutions: This UK-based company has over 5,000 RPO experts globally and partners with companies worldwide. They focus on building flexible, scalable recruitment solutions tailored to each client’s needs (Source 1).
KellyOCG: With experience since 1946, KellyOCG provides RPO services for all talent acquisition needs. They leverage data and technology to find the right talent efficiently (Source 2).
Korn Ferry: This well-known global organizational consulting firm offers end-to-end RPO services. Their highly trained recruiters can manage the entire hiring process or supplement a company’s talent acquisition team as needed (Source 3).
Other top global RPO providers include ADP, ManpowerGroup, Randstad Sourceright, Allegis Global Solutions, Hays, and WilsonHCG.
Models
There are several different models for RPO that organizations can utilize depending on their needs:
Project-based RPO: With this model, the RPO provider handles recruiting for a specific project or need for a set period of time. This works well for one-off projects or seasonal hiring needs. The RPO provider brings on recruiters for the specific project and then ramps down when the project is complete https://theplanetgroup.com/blog/rpo-which-model-is-right-for-you/.
Retained RPO: This is a longer-term partnership where the RPO provider manages all or most of the recruiting function for an extended period of time. They handle everything from sourcing and screening to hiring and onboarding candidates. This model provides more strategic and ongoing support https://www.superstaff.com/blog/5-rpo-models-right-for-business/.
Hybrid RPO: This combines an internal recruiting team with supplemental support from external RPO recruiters. The RPO provider brings expertise and bandwidth to fill hiring gaps as needed. This provides flexibility to scale recruiting up or down https://theplanetgroup.com/blog/rpo-which-model-is-right-for-you/.
Trends
The recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) industry is experiencing significant growth as more companies recognize the benefits of outsourcing talent acquisition. According to research from Staffing Industry Analysts, the global RPO market is projected to reach $8.8 billion by 2024, driven by increased adoption across industries and geographies (Outsource Accelerator). Two key trends fueling this growth are the rise of tech-enabled RPO and a focus on diversity, equity and inclusion in hiring.
Technology is playing an increasingly important role in RPO by automating high-volume tasks and providing data-driven insights. RPO providers are leveraging artificial intelligence, machine learning and advanced analytics to improve quality of hire, time-to-fill and overall recruiting efficiency. Tech-enabled RPO delivers value through chatbots, video interviewing, predictive modeling and other innovations that optimize the candidate experience and hiring outcomes (LinkedIn). As technology transforms talent acquisition, RPO adoption will continue growing globally.
Another major RPO trend is an emphasis on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in hiring. Companies are seeking RPO partners that can expand access to diverse talent pools, mitigate bias in hiring processes, and help build more equitable and inclusive workforces. RPOs are developing targeted recruitment strategies, inclusive sourcing techniques and DEI analytics to meet this growing need (Allied OneSource). By leveraging RPO expertise in DEI recruitment, organizations can drive meaningful progress on their diversity goals.
Conclusion
RPO continues to gain popularity as more and more companies realize the benefits it provides. By partnering with an RPO provider, organizations can gain access to specialized recruiting expertise and technology that allows them to find and hire top talent faster. RPO improves quality of hire, reduces cost-per-hire, and provides greater recruiting efficiency and scalability.
The future outlook for RPO is very positive. As talent shortages persist globally across many industries, the need for strategic talent acquisition partners will only increase. We can expect to see more comprehensive and sophisticated RPO models emerge that provide an end-to-end talent acquisition solution. RPO will evolve alongside advancements in recruitment marketing, artificial intelligence, big data analytics, and other innovations that enhance the candidate experience and hiring results. The RPO industry will continue growing as organizations recognize the competitive advantage an effective recruitment process outsourcing strategy provides.
