At any given time, what JCSI has found is that 20% of a shared talent pool will be looking for a new job (active candidates), and the other 80% would be approachable talent (passive candidates). Sourcing and cultivating passive candidates takes time and effort. If a well-defined recruitment machine is not currently in place, or if there is a surge in a hiring need, then your organization could find itself evaluating contracting with an RPO provider.

With RPO, an organization can select a Recruiting component like sourcing, candidate screening, etc., and have an external firm acting as an agent do this on their behalf. The beauty of RPO is its flexibility and customization to specific hiring requirements. You can choose the exact support you need.

So, where do you start when evaluating RPO delivery models?

First, any reputable RPO provider will bring to the table a highly-performant recruitment machine that is designed to increase the quality of your hires while bettering metrics such as time to fill, cost per hire, and retention rates. But it is a sea of customization; many RPO firms excel in certain areas over others. So let’s take a look at the most common RPO delivery models:

1. Project-Based RPO
2. Recruiter On-Demand
3. Full-Service RPO
4. Hybrid RPO/MSP (also called Total Workforce Solution)

Project-based RPO

This is ideal for short-term needs with defined work and periods and is most typically used for specific roles or hiring initiatives. In this type of engagement, you’ll work with an RPO company to act as your branded agent in the market. This can include managing a component or all of the hiring process for this specific role or initiative.

Recruiter On-Demand

Think of this as the temporary staffing of recruiters for your organization. This is usually done as an hourly rate engagement with no guarantees on deliverables. The benefit here is to have a dedicated resource to handle your needs for a specific time without the added burden of making a full-time hire. This is best used for a contract to hire roles where you’d like to try out a person for some time before hiring full-time.

Full-Service RPO

This is an end-to-end solution designed for covering all aspects of the companies recruiting process. With this route, there are many efficiency benefits from tapping into a provider’s shared services (like recruitment marketing, best of breed technologies, etc.).

Though many times it is impossible to evaluate a vendor up front. Clients are left to rely on RFP’s and lengthy evaluation periods. We at JCSI believe that “the proof is in the pudding.” And it is best to pilot an RPO provider with a project or projects first.

Hybrid Full-Service RPO/MSP

We put together a great article about the convergence occurring with RPO/MSP, substantial companies. In short, this type of firm takes over the responsibility for permanent placements and temporary staffing for your organization. This is best utilized when a firm is not looking to build an internal recruitment capability.

These are usually much more invasive relationships, with the costs of getting it wrong being substantial. So the time frames to launch are long, and the contractual minimums are multi-year.

Not to complicate matters, but all of the above outsourced RPO recruitment Delivery Models can be implemented in various ways. These ways are:

• Onsite: Onsite includes having your contracted vendor having a presence within your companies four walls.
• Offsite: Offsite includes having your contracted vendor having a presence virtually but connected via screen-sharing and other technologies.
• Offshore: Offshore includes having your resources situated overseas. This requires a careful and robust process designed to overcome time and cultural differences.
• Hybrid of Onshore/Offshore: A hybrid onshore/offshore model allows for a presence in your country of origin that manages overseas relationships. This can lead to overcomplexity, which bogs down efforts without strict adherence to systems and a strong liaison.

We hope this helps your evaluation of various recruitment process outsourcing delivery mechanisms and business models! At JCSI, we have spent 20+ years refining our project-based RPO model that naturally evolves into a full-service model if/when the time is right. Guaranteeing our work and proving ourselves every day are core mantras of the company.