Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/136276
RPO When the Honeymoon Is Over How to grow your engagement to satisfy all parties involved. By Debbie Bolla At the recent HRO Today Forum in Dublin, KellyOCG's Zachary Misko asked the million-dollar question: How do you sustain a long-term RPO relationship? The global director of recruitment process outsourcing knows a thing or two about the industry. In the beginning it's always exciting: two partners working together on a new and innovative engagement. But, he noted, by year two, three or four, buyers and providers are both up against the metrics that were set forth—looking for constant improvement in cycle time and customer satisfaction. "How do we do this better year after year," he asked, "and continue to meet the needs of talent acquisition and the standards of our executives and board members?" He then humored the crowd with real-life examples that can cross into the talent acquisition marketplace to institute growth and sustainability. He pointed to somewhat unlikely industries: soda, video games, and cars. But his examples showed how each has taken a product with steady, solid sales and pushed the envelope to gain market share. In the soda industry, producers saw room to grow into the $8-billion energy market with the introduction of Red Bull Cola. Atari has evolved from the single bouncing ball in Pong to interactive gaming and systems through which people actually become the remote. And it was somewhat natural for carmakers to imagine, say, plug-in vehicles, said Misko, because theirs is an industry for which pushing the envelope has often been a natural state. With inspiration on the table, the crowd divided into four groups to discuss the following topics and how they apply to sustaining long-term RPO: • Contract models • Adding value • Integration • Managing the client need Contract models. The first group came to an overall agreement that what the contract is—and stands for—has changed drastically in recent years. Tenure of contracts continues to be a challenge. Long gone are the days when an outsourcing agreement promised 10 years of service. Now it's the ever-decreasing contract, with some hitting three years and others lasting only one. The discussion concluded that shorter periods aren't good for anyone and can affect the relationship negatively since there is less time to build trust and show achievement. One provider noted that the reason contracts got shorter is because the industry agreed to them. Moving forward, the right thing to do might well be [36] HRO TODAY GLOBAL | SPRING 2013 to use best practices and have the industry set the standard of what the appropriate length of contract should be. For negotiation, both the vendor and the client need to stay in a safe zone. What is measured should also be considered. The marketplace is full of metrics, and they can be measured—but the end result might continue to be stagnant. Outsourcing is all about providing value—and that needs to be defined into a contract and measured. The group suggested looking at the return on investment that the candidate delivers as basis for measurement. Adding value. This group introduced their topic under a clear philosophy: Price is what you pay, and value is what you get. Working with an RPO provider is a zero-sum game, and buyers need to give their RPO providers the opportunity to succeed. Here enters the question: How do we measure the relationship? Maybe through surveys, the group suggested. The purpose of an RPO engagement is to deliver value to the business. So the group proposed measuring retention of candidates as a basis of value, because that is what is at the center of what talent acquisition is intended to delivery. Perhaps, they concluded, there is a need to move away from traditional service level agreements and enter into HR analytics. Integration. This group made this point first: Integration doesn't end with implementation. It is central to the partnership and will only succeed with input from both buyers and providers. Of importance is to have a vendor manager that can act as champion of the engagement and has access to the business and workforce planning. This point evolved into the importance of transparency and understanding needs. If the provider can get ahead of the curve and anticipate what a buyer might need, success will be found. On the flip side, this can be achieved more easily if the buyer is open and transparent about their needs. This type of open partnership will foster trust and grow the business. Managing client needs. The first step, this group noted, is to define what the needs of the client are and if they are actually possible (or if they are not.). And it is up to the provider to help the buyer understand what isn't possible instead of promising everything in order to get the contract. An RPO engagement should be approached as an evolving arrangement, with collaboration at the center. It is key to understand the expectation and the approach behind the outsourcing engagement. Do the parties view the provider as a trusted advisor or a vendor? Is the relationship about strategy or commodity?