The Evolution of Outsourced Recruitment

The Evolution of Outsourced Recruitment

12 Predictions f r o m t h e E x p e rts

Lumesse, we know RPO. We work with some of the biggest global RPO providers to help them deliver a truly game‑changing outsourcing

operation to their clients. In addition to this, our team of inhouse experts also partner with organisations on their journey to becoming an RPO provider, whether that’s a fully‑fledged transition or an agency branching out to offer On‑Demand outsourcing.

We see the changes happening in the industry, so we’ve gathered our predictions for the future along with those of some of our customers and key industry figures, to share with you.

We hope you find them insightful!

The Lumesse RPO Team

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First Prediction

Many RPO organisations have the same strategy – to grow big and quickly. Big deals offer top line leaps, the scale allows dilution of overheads, and big clients provide cross‑sell opportunities. Understandably, RPO executives focus their energy on big tickets, yet they have the skills and experience to help emerging companies to move from needing 1 hire to needing 1000. What’s lacking is patience to see the fruits of a longer term strategy — investor demands are for immediate growth. In the foreseeable future we will see the emergence of smaller niche specialists supporting this digital start‑up world. ‘Agency’ type business are developing more sophisticated service propositions akin to RPO.

Mark LeeStrategy Advisor to RPO Businesses

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Second Prediction

As budgets are stretched outsourcers are expected to deliver more and more value added services. In practice this means that line managers are having to take on more and more of the practical low level tasks directly, confirming interviews with candidates themselves etc. I think we’ll see an increase in hiring manager engagement with recruiting technologies. So automation and device choice (mobile/email/desktop) is going to be essential. In our consumer lives personalisation of service is growing in popularity. This is becoming the norm in outsourcing too… We’re seeing the growth of traditional staffing and agency firms able to grow into longer term recruitment outsourcing engagements, providing more value to their customers because of their track record with their placements business.

Tim JonesHead of RPO & Partner Consulting , Lumesse

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The rise of the digital‑native workforce and the shift of power from employer to candidate means that Recruiters are faced with a struggle to meet the tricky demands of their audience. As a result we’re going to see more and more organisations acquiring recruiting technology which gives them a competitive edge, by creating a candidate experience as slick as the ones we get from apps in our everyday lives. Gamification, appification, chatbots and AI are all going to become commonplace recruiting tools.

Kate HeathGlobal Head of RPO , Partners & All iances , Lumesse

Third Prediction

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Since the 2008 recession we’ve seen a huge increase in the number of temporary assignments needing to be filled. In the RPO world this has fuelled a need for what has been coined ‘On Demand RPO’, and a grey area is emerging where clients want less static and more flexible services for their RPO requirements. The traditional end to end RPO offering will always have its place, but there is a definite opportunity for evolving agency businesses to tap into this market requiring project‑based and agile outsourced recruitment.

Andrew BrownStrategic Global RPO Manager , Lumesse

Fourth Prediction

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Fifth Prediction

In the next few years we’re going to see more and more recruitment agencies expand their Managed Service and RPO offering to clients. Agencies will be capitalising on the strong relationships they have with customers, and in return their customers will be looking to for ways to maintain favourable pricing as their volume demand increases. In order for this to be successful, agencies need to establish a sales and support strategy well ahead of winning their first RPO deal, and this means building a talent pool of recruiters and deploying technology which can automate the lion’s share of the work. This move for agencies isn’t without risk, but if done properly, will open up a whole new level of opportunity.

Michael Holl ister Global RPO Sales Manager , Lumesse

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Big Data, possibly the most over‑used and often inaccurate technology term within the RPO market. Many consider that Big Data is the use of lots of data to provide insight, but it is so much more. Big Data is the use of large data sets from disparate data sources to provide insight that wouldn’t normally be imagined. We can now use this technology to understand seemingly unrelated data that may direct us to our perfect candidate. Additionally we’re going to see consumer marketing technology filter into the RPO space to provide candidate insight, through the application of Big Data principles, to produce a single view of the candidate regardless of device, channel or interaction with your brand.

Phil ip Wright Head of Technology , TMP Worldwide UK

Sixth Prediction

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The technology arena is continuing to play a big part in the world of RPO and as more and more agencies start to build their outsourcing service offerings it will be interesting to see how this technology is adopted and used to drive growth. As predictive analytics gains momentum, ATS solutions are incorporating tools to capture insight from their talent and use this to fuel the recruitment engine across clients. The topic of AI and machine learning is being addressed with applications like video interviewing and online candidate assessment. As companies evolve their outsourcing services they will need to stay ahead of the game when it comes to the technology they choose. Potential clients no longer see it as a value‑add, but as a deal breaker.

Tom Cl iffordStrategic Product All iances Manager , Lumesse

Seventh Prediction

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We are going to start seeing more and more Recruiters address their tactics when it comes to diverse hiring in their efforts to boost engagement. The demographics of the population are changing and minority segments are becoming a much larger proportion of the talent pool. This shift will encourage more Recruiters to adopt outsourced services in a bid to help them stay ahead of the game. It’s no longer enough to specifically target diverse groups of people, an all‑inclusive strategy for attracting candidates, promoting an inclusive employer brand and onboarding properly is needed. Engaging with the whole community will be a focus for many Recruiters moving forward.

Sara MacdearmidAccount Manager , Lumesse

Eighth Prediction

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th Prediction

Big RPO players are continually investing in technology enablement of the recruitment process, to deliver qualitative benefit to the client and to reduce recruiting costs. Going forward it will be interesting to see how RPO organisations and those offering RPO services address the candidates in this context as well. Whilst technology has revolutionised how we live in today’s world, it may be that a certain level of human interaction is needed to stop candidates feeling alienated from the process. How RPO service providers choose to drive candidate engagement through in line with technological innovations will be an interesting watch.

Mark LeeStrategy Advisor to RPO Businesses

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Tenth Prediction

One trend which is only going to become more prominent is employer branding, and more than ever RPO’s need to provide their clients with the tools and expertise to build an engaging employer brand as part of their overall recruitment strategy. Whether recruitment outsourcing is being offered to 1 client or to 500, it’s about taking the positive perceptions, attributes and behaviours that you want to encourage then consistently promoting them through the organisation from the top down. This isn’t about smoke and mirrors, candidates are savvier than ever and expect a genuine, 2‑way relationship with potential employers.

Victoria FernandezGlobal RPO Sales Consultant , Lumesse

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The importance of onboarding candidates is becoming more apparent, and will continue to do so. 4% of new hires leave a new job after a disastrous first day, but because onboarding starts from the very first interaction, the onus is on Recruiters as much as anyone else in the business to ensure that new people are happy and retained past those tumultuous first few weeks. Whilst fully‑fledged RPO’s will be well versed in adopting and emulating their client’s onboarding methodologies, this is something which evolving agencies and less established providers need to keep firmly on their list of offerings for the future.

Kate HeathGlobal Head of RPO , Partners & All iances , Lumesse

Eleventh Prediction

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Twelfth Prediction

When it comes to Recruitment Process Outsourcing, the pattern of global deployment is changing. In Asia Pacific, we’ve historically seen Western organisations rolling up their global teams into their overall RPO strategy, but more and more we’re now seeing local buyers embracing these solutions. Because of the differences between global markets, country‑level service providers are seeing increased success. As project‑based RPO and flexible outsourcing strategies continue to evolve, it will be interesting to see how both global and local providers react.

Ravi GanasenSales D irector , Lumesse S ingapore

you can see, we’re in touch with the changing landscape of outsourced recruitment, and what this means for established RPO

players as well as new entrants to the market. Our unique offering of scalable and open platform talent acquisition technology along with a team of industry experts, means that we’re the number one choice for organisations looking to establish or improve their recruitment outsourcing service.

Keen to find out more? Get in touch on 01582 846100 or email hello@lumesse.com

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