In our world, running companies and their departments as lean and efficiently as possible directly affects a company’s bottom line. Human Resources is no different. Finding the right combination of FTE’s (full time equivalents), contractors and outsourced responsibilities can maximize an organization’s time and money. Following are some great examples of why outsourcing all or some functions of your recruiting department could be the key to running an efficient & effective talent acquisition program.
Let’s face it, recruiting is the MOST time consuming aspect of Human Resources. A recruiter’s time is quickly consumed by job intake meetings, candidate sourcing & screening, interview coordination, gathering interview feedback, negotiating offers and checking references. That said, many companies have established talent acquisition teams to help manage the load. If you are like most companies, though, you likely experience volatile swings in hiring demands. These changes in hiring needs make it difficult to adequately staff. If you staff FTEs to handle the peaks, then you likely have a poorly optimized staff when hiring gets soft, which ultimately affects job satisfaction and recruiting ROI.
So, what can be done to offset common staffing and recruiting challenges? Outsourcing some or part of your organization’s recruiting function may be your best bet. There is no perfect answer, but in this article we will address the advantages of outsourcing.
Improve Scalability
We’d suggest that scaling your recruiting capabilities doesn’t have to come by way of adding full-time recruiters. By partnering with an expert recruiting firm who specializes in Recruiting as a Service (RaaS), Recruitment Process Outsourcing, or Managed Recruiting you can dictate the amount of support you need to address your hiring volume. These solutions bring added on-demand horsepower to help address hiring fluctuations without the need to fatten your budget. Reputable agencies blend process, tech tools, and recruiting labor together to get the best results. They should also provide performance reporting and insights for transparency.
Improve Time-to-Fill
A big benefit of outsourcing recruiting is improving time to fill. It is not uncommon for in-house recruiters to work on a variety of roles at any given time. Not surprisingly, this negatively affects their ability to fill roles quickly, which increases time-to-fill. The greater a recruiter’s variety of open jobs, the more likely their time-to-fill will be impacted negatively.
Outsourcing an aspect of recruiting allows HR and Talent Acquisition leaders to provision the resources of an agency that oftentimes is lacking in-house. Some functions of your recruiting department that can be delegated to an agency recruiting partner are candidate sourcing, screening, or a specific set of roles. By addressing the workload with a third-party, companies are able keep their budget lean while efficiently managing their Time to Fill. Remember though, it is important to ensure the agency you’ve partnered with specializes in your area of need. In addition, they must demonstrate effective processes for meeting your demands.
Improve Passive Talent
With the right agency and performance metrics (KPIs) in place, outsourcing allows companies to access talent pools that administratively burdened HR and Talent Acquisition teams have little time to access. Typically, the best talent aren’t the ones actively looking for another job. That said, getting access to a high volume of passive job seekers is a key component to hiring success.
Reputable recruiting firms use a robust technical stack. These systems allow them to access hard to find talent and then get them involved in a conversation about a new job opportunity. Multiple communication channels, such as email, text, phone, and inmail help improve the applicant/candidate conversion ratio. Time is a big adversary when it comes to successful recruiting, so having the right tech stack is key to saving time. Lack of time and resources are the primary reason many HR teams deploy a “Post & Pray” strategy. This limits the talent pool only to active job seekers. If its cost you are worried about, then we’d urge you to consider not the cost of an agency, but the true cost of vacancy. A vacant position can negatively impact culture, employee job satisfaction, quality, and customer satisfaction.
We suggest the best recruiting firms have a great reputation and offer specialized experience. They can demonstrate a proven process, utilize a robust blend of recruiting technology, and offer guarantees that ensure your satisfaction. If you are considering creative solutions to your recruiting challenges, you may find the following articles helpful.
- What are the Types of Recruitment Process Outsourcing?
- When to Consider Outsourced Recruiting Services
- Why Does Process Matter When Selecting a Recruiting Firm?
- Why Does Reputation Matter When Selecting a Recruiting Firm?
