Winning takes talent, to repeat takes character, said John Wooden, the legendary basketball player and coach.
Organizations have to win consistently and hence, they need the talent who demonstrate the same character each day at work. It is not easy to find people with the same character. HR Teams leverage external agencies and their own teams to source talent; they use a set of assessment tools to pick the right matches. Who can do this the best?
Know your context and choose your path!
Specialised roles needed for a short period of time have to be filled by a Temp agency. Its recruiter hires such roles periodically and hence is in the best position to fill the position quickly and most economically. Compliance, payroll and other HR transactions of such an employee are taken care by the Temp agency while the company can just focus on getting its tasks done by this temp employee in the best possible manner.
Organizations sometimes need to onboard a bunch of people across a range of skills spread across a geography to staff new roles as the organization diversifies or expands. This is a situation where an RPO (Recruitment Process Outsourcing) Provider can fulfill the organization’s needs the best.
What about campus hiring? Companies need to invest the time of their senior management team if they have to carry out the selection at each campus. Typically a large number of applicants attend the campus selection and a handful are offered. The selection rates are low and hence the ROI (returns on investment) for campus selection is low. Hence, it works well to outsource the pre-final stages of selection to an HR agency.
Replacement hiring in an organization must be outsourced to an RPO player when there is a large need. The engagement can be driven by key performance indicators (KPIs) around cycle time, hiring cost and conversion ratios. While it is possible to do the same with In-house teams, practically speaking, it doesn’t happen. Hence it is always better to outsource hiring to an external partner.
Small and medium organizations do not have too many roles to fill and are often under the pressure of time. Moreover, they need to be sure that they have cast the net wide open to attract the best and nothing else. Who other than an external HR partner deliver this level of service in the most effective manner?
Companies looking to fill their strategic roles need to work with specialist recruiters on an exclusive basis because of the confidentiality and criticality involved in the hiring process. Candidates must experience uniformity in the way the opportunity and the employee value proposition are communicated.
What must not be outsourced?
Finding talent is an ongoing process and getting the talent with the desirable traits on-board is not easy. One needs a solid strategy to ensure that the right methods are in use to attract talent, screen them and get them onboard. Getting the talent management plans right is the foundational step that a company takes to keep its future in safe hands. One cannot outsource crystal-ball-gazing into the future, defining the plans and keeping a track of the progress against the plans.
Chief of People Office takes ownership of this strategic step in the organization’s functioning and creates the maximum impact on the business results. Choosing the right partner is the next critical step that the office takes so that the execution of the plan is right.
Who is the Right Partner?
Your partner needs to bring subject matter expertise, the experience of having delivered on similar assignments, the intent to partner with you on your terms, a track record of having established such partnerships and the capability of their team members to deliver consistently. The kind of questions the recruiter asks and the topics he or she raises in the discussion tells you about the strategic alignment that you can experience in future. It is important for you to see a level of trust and confidence in the recruiting firm.
Moreover, the recruiting company should have a leadership team which is passionate about client partnerships and builds a culture of long-term association with its clients. This is a critical parameter to evaluate agencies because your HR partner is for the long term and delivers results effectively only when you work with them at least for a year.
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