If you’ve never procured an RPO before, it can be easy to fall down the rabbit hole of putting price above performance. Yes, commercials are important, but focusing solely on this aspect will see the relationship break down quickly over time.
So how do you spot a good RPO from a great one?
Experienced RPO buyer, Rowena Cooper, Head of Talent and Resourcing at St. Modwen, identifies what to look for.
THE RPO BUYING GUIDE
How do you spot a good RPO from a great one?
Our team is your team; your ambitions are our ambitions.
Let’s achieve them together.
Ready, set, go
A team that’s ready
When you buy an RPO, you essentially helicopter in a team of experts straight into your business who are set up and ready to go without delay, so you can utilise their expertise from day one.
They’ll empower you; they’ll have an established reach into the market, they’ll have the ability to scale up and down in line with your businesses needs and will have a library of tools at their disposal which you can utilise as your own.
Your RPO partner should feel like an extension of your business and of your team, getting the best for your organisation, just as you do.
St. Modwen has big responsible ambitions for the future. Our RPO partner is working with us to develop how we achieve our D&I targets to ensure St. Modwen creates a more inclusive and diverse future. What Morson were able to demonstrate to us is that whatever the challenge they would be able to collaborate with us and support us, every step of the way. More than value, I receive care, a white glove service, flexibility and a culture that matches our own – a true partnership.
Every organisation has unique and changing challenges, so you should look to identify an RPO partner that can demonstrate innovation and flexibility in their approach to finding the right recruitment solution.
Ask your RPO providers to share examples of how they have sourced roles where there’s a labour shortage. How did they approach the market? What were the results? If vacancy numbers increase dramatically, can they flex their support to assist you?
MOST IMPORTANTLY
A flexible service that supports your changing business
JUST TELL ME IF I'M LOOKING FOR A UNICORN
A trusted advisor
We’ve all experienced it; a hiring manager asking a recruiter to ‘just find’ the person they need for the job, and the recruiter saying yes, afraid of pushing back.
Much better is an RPO partner who knows their trade, who’ll actively search the market, talent mapping the relevant industry to see whether the required set of skills exists.
I would much rather work with an RPO partner that can tell me I’m looking for a ‘unicorn candidate’ and offer me an alternative solution as to how we can source the right expertise for a role, than someone making me think the impossible does exist.
COVID-19 proved that the traditional RPO model is no longer fit for purpose. Rigid in their makeup, most RPO solutions currently on the market have left many businesses exasperated.
In response, we’ve developed RPOne just as we’ll deliver it – in partnership with our clients, all of whom have different needs, to provide a truly agile talent solution that wraps around your brand today, tomorrow and for the future.
Our mission is simple: offer a flexible RPO solution that scales on demand. We’re here to change the market, and we’re already well on our way.
More than just recruitment. We are your partner to the possible.
Just like every other organisation, we want to source the very best people in the market. A great resourcing partner doesn’t just assist you in attracting and sourcing great candidates but helps you to forecast your future requirements, select candidates that fit your culture, and on-board new colleagues helping them perform in their role from the beginning. Our focus is ensuring everyone who joins our team flourishes here and is able to develop their career.
For St. Modwen, outsourcing our recruitment is the right way to achieve this, but it was a decision we thoroughly explored before making. Simply handing over the reins isn’t always the answer and if your internal processes are broken, outsourcing could be more of a hindrance than a help.
But for those who want to put the candidate at the heart of their recruitment experience – understanding what attracts them to a role, how they’re supported through the application process, how they perceive your business vs a competitor’s – an RPO is undoubtedly a great step to take.
So how do you spot a good RPO from a great one? There are some signs to look out for....
Rowena Cooper is the Head of Talent and Resourcing at St. Modwen, a property investment and development business specialising in the regeneration and remediation of brownfield land and urban environments. Rowena has introduced RPO and in-house solutions, as part of delivering resourcing and talent strategies for the likes of Morrisons supermarkets, the Co-operative Group, Bupa Healthcare, Grant Thornton LLP, and The Bicester Village Shopping Collection, before joining St. Modwen in 2019 and appointing Morson & RPOne as their RPO provider.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
“The RPOne team live and breathe the club’s brand and are our colleagues… elevating candidate experiences, digitising the recruitment journey, diversifying our workforce, and building future-focussed pipelines of early talent”
- Sarah McGuire, head of talent development at Manchester United
YOUR PARTNER TO THE POSSIBLE
PUT THEIR CLAIMS TO THE TEST
Advocates in abundance
An RPO with confidence in its service will offer you testimonials and references, the chance to talk to their clients’ HR Directors or Heads of Resourcing. You should also be given the opportunity to talk to some of the candidates they’ve placed, to learn more about their experiences. Always ask for this and when you get the chance, utilise it; put their claims to the test! It’s the best way of understanding how that specific provider will impact your business.
THE RPO BUYING GUIDE
Rowena Cooper, Head of Talent and Resourcing at St. Modwen
partner who can transform
A successful relationship starts by setting up an equal partnership from the off. Describing what success looks like to your business and the challenges preventing your existing team from being able to achieve them requires an honest, inward look at your organisation.
The more data and real examples you can give the provider, the better equipped they will be to share how their approach will transform your business for the better.
RPO to empower and inform your HR function
Insights to market
If the organisation operates in your market, they’ll be interviewing candidates constantly and if so, they’ll know how candidates distinguish your business from that of your peers, and what you’re missing out on to attract the best people to your roles.
Relationships with RPOs can often become very transactional and as a result you miss out on so much insight. Look for an RPO provider that uses data and analysis to empower and inform your HR function and wider business.
Our RPO talent partner, RPOne by Morson, utilises technology that enables us to locate potential candidates within a 20-mile radius of any UK location. They can then tell us of those candidates, how many have worked for one of our competitors, and of those candidates, how many are female or from an ethnic minority background, for example. We can also see which candidates are showing signals that they’re ready for a new challenge and how long it might take us to recruit them. That makes our RPO crucial to our workforce planning, as our HR team can proactively link the data to our hiring requirements over the course of several months.
THE RPO BUYING GUIDE
How do you spot a good RPO from a great one?
If you’ve never procured an RPO before, it can be easy to fall down the rabbit hole of putting price above performance. Yes, commercials are important, but focusing solely on this aspect will see the relationship break down quickly over time.
So how do you spot a good RPO from a great one?
Experienced RPO buyer, Rowena Cooper, Head of Talent and Resourcing at St. Modwen, identifies what to look for.
St. Modwen has big responsible ambitions for the future. Our RPO partner is working with us to develop how we achieve our D&I targets to ensure St. Modwen creates a more inclusive and diverse future. What Morson were able to demonstrate to us is that whatever the challenge they would be able to collaborate with us and support us, every step of the way. More than value, I receive care, a white glove service, flexibility and a culture that matches our own – a true partnership.
Every organisation has unique and changing challenges, so you should look to identify an RPO partner that can demonstrate innovation and flexibility in their approach to finding the right recruitment solution.
Ask your RPO providers to share examples of how they have sourced roles where there’s a labour shortage. How did they approach the market? What were the results? If vacancy numbers increase dramatically, can they flex their support to assist you?
MOST IMPORTANTLY
A flexible service that supports your changing business
THE RPO BUYING GUIDE
Rowena Cooper, Head of Talent and Resourcing at St. Modwen
partner who can transform
PUT THEIR CLAIMS TO THE TEST
Advocates in abundance
An RPO with confidence in its service will offer you testimonials and references, the chance to talk to their clients’ HR Directors or Heads of Resourcing. You should also be given the opportunity to talk to some of the candidates they’ve placed, to learn more about their experiences. Always ask for this and when you get the chance, utilise it; put their claims to the test! It’s the best way of understanding how that specific provider will impact your business.
Just like every other organisation, we want to source the very best people in the market. A great resourcing partner doesn’t just assist you in attracting and sourcing great candidates but helps you to forecast your future requirements, select candidates that fit your culture, and on-board new colleagues helping them perform in their role from the beginning. Our focus is ensuring everyone who joins our team flourishes here and is able to develop their career.
For St. Modwen, outsourcing our recruitment is the right way to achieve this, but it was a decision we thoroughly explored before making. Simply handing over the reins isn’t always the answer and if your internal processes are broken, outsourcing could be more of a hindrance than a help.
But for those who want to put the candidate at the heart of their recruitment experience – understanding what attracts them to a role, how they’re supported through the application process, how they perceive your business vs a competitor’s – an RPO is undoubtedly a great step to take.
So how do you spot a good RPO from a great one? There are some signs to look out for....
RPO to empower and inform your HR function
Insights to market
If the organisation operates in your market, they’ll be interviewing candidates constantly and if so, they’ll know how candidates distinguish your business from that of your peers, and what you’re missing out on to attract the best people to your roles.
Relationships with RPOs can often become very transactional and as a result you miss out on so much insight. Look for an RPO provider that uses data and analysis to empower and inform your HR function and wider business.
Our RPO talent partner, RPOne by Morson, utilises technology that enables us to locate potential candidates within a 20-mile radius of any UK location. They can then tell us of those candidates, how many have worked for one of our competitors, and of those candidates, how many are female or from an ethnic minority background, for example. We can also see which candidates are showing signals that they’re ready for a new challenge and how long it might take us to recruit them. That makes our RPO crucial to our workforce planning, as our HR team can proactively link the data to our hiring requirements over the course of several months.
A successful relationship starts by setting up an equal partnership from the off. Describing what success looks like to your business and the challenges preventing your existing team from being able to achieve them requires an honest, inward look at your organisation.
The more data and real examples you can give the provider, the better equipped they will be to share how their approach will transform your business for the better.
JUST TELL ME IF I'M LOOKING FOR A UNICORN
A trusted advisor
We’ve all experienced it; a hiring manager asking a recruiter to ‘just find’ the person they need for the job, and the recruiter saying yes, afraid of pushing back.
Much better is an RPO partner who knows their trade, who’ll actively search the market, talent mapping the relevant industry to see whether the required set of skills exists.
I would much rather work with an RPO partner that can tell me I’m looking for a ‘unicorn candidate’ and offer me an alternative solution as to how we can source the right expertise for a role, than someone making me think the impossible does exist.
“The RPOne team live and breathe the club’s brand and are our colleagues… elevating candidate experiences, digitising the recruitment journey, diversifying our workforce, and building future-focussed pipelines of early talent”
- Sarah McGuire, head of talent development at Manchester United
Your RPO partner should feel like an extension of your business and of your team, getting the best for your organisation, just as you do.
Rowena Cooper is the Head of Talent and Resourcing at St. Modwen, a property investment and development business specialising in the regeneration and remediation of brownfield land and urban environments. Rowena has introduced RPO and in-house solutions, as part of delivering resourcing and talent strategies for the likes of Morrisons supermarkets, the Co-operative Group, Bupa Healthcare, Grant Thornton LLP, and The Bicester Village Shopping Collection, before joining St. Modwen in 2019 and appointing Morson & RPOne as their RPO provider.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
COVID-19 proved that the traditional RPO model is no longer fit for purpose. Rigid in their makeup, most RPO solutions currently on the market have left many businesses exasperated.
In response, we’ve developed RPOne just as we’ll deliver it – in partnership with our clients, all of whom have different needs, to provide a truly agile talent solution that wraps around your brand today, tomorrow and for the future.
Our mission is simple: offer a flexible RPO solution that scales on demand. We’re here to change the market, and we’re already well on our way.
More than just recruitment. We are your partner to the possible.
Our team is your team; your ambitions are our ambitions.
Let’s achieve them together.
Ready, set, go
A team that’s ready
When you buy an RPO, you essentially helicopter in a team of experts straight into your business who are set up and ready to go without delay, so you can utilise their expertise from day one.
They’ll empower you; they’ll have an established reach into the market, they’ll have the ability to scale up and down in line with your businesses needs and will have a library of tools at their disposal which you can utilise as your own.