Despite the prolonged global recession, recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) continues to be a successful area for outsourcing. ISG has seen renewed demand for RPO services as companies wrestle with the volatile recruitment market and the need for a more global workforce while also supplementing their recruiting organizations.
In the past year we have worked with a number of clients (buyers) on larger, more complex RPO engagements. Those engaging in larger RPO request for proposal (RFP) projects are doing substantially more planning, with emphasis on clear and specific goals to ensure that the final outcome is successful.
HR specialists involved in complex, global RFP projects should expect to encounter these Top 5 aspects of today’s service provider evaluation and selection process:
1. Increased complexity of requirements. With multi-national and global RFP delivery requirements vastly different at each company, combined with varying delivery strengths of RPO providers by region, the considerations for selecting a delivery model are exponentially more difficult. Buyers should expect more disparity in the RFP scope and requirements across countries and a less definite point of view on the final delivery model expected.
2. Larger client teams. To select a service provider or set of providers to deliver on a global scope requires input from all impacted client stakeholders, including local recruitment teams, hiring managers, business leaders, and the human resources department. This makes gaining consensus on the delivery model much harder and typically lengthens the service provider selection process.
3. Less definition of the final outcome. Dissimilar recruitment delivery models by country and divergent cultural acceptance of outsourcing as a solution can impact the final definition of scope and requirements. As various client stakeholders learn more about the global RPO market and form opinions, there is usually an impact on the scope of the final outcome compared to the original RFP.
4. New fee models. Global organizations handle budgets and allocation of costs based on the direction of their corporate entities. This has an impact on how the fees are structured in an RFP. Many RFPs now require transparent pricing models versus traditional cost-per-hire or management fee models. Pricing may need to be developed across service provider partners or exclude fee scope based on each bidder’s global delivery capability.
5. Scope variations. Global projects typically contain small or low-volume markets in scope, which are difficult to fit into a standardized RPO delivery model. This has an impact on the governance model and typically requires an ad-hoc solution such as in-country, third-party or internal resources to administer. If entering into a global project, account for these one-off countries or markets to ensure it does not adversely impact the cost or delivery model.
Achieving success in a global RPO selection process requires patience and the flexibility to respond to ever-more-complex needs. Accordingly, the approach to selecting the right service provider partner has become more intricate and critical. TPI’s HR outsourcing experts can share with you real-world case studies to help you discover and evaluate the best RPO opportunities for your company.
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