Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/169755
RPO "All of these dynamics have clients thinking about connecting all the pieces together," he says. Mercer's Talent Barometer Survey reports that 60 perc ent of the 1,200 global companies surveyed are investing more in talent expats, especially in the areas of science, research, and engineering. As such, top-tier RPO providers are expanding coverage into more countries. Rebecca Callahan, Randstad Sourceright's president of RPO, is not surprised by this uptick in growth of RPO on a global scale. "In North America, the value proposition of RPO has absolutely picked up, and as a result, the rest of the world wants in on the benefits–the ability to transform fixed costs, scalability, the adoption of social media into recruitment," she says. Additional research shows the dynamics of talent have a greater reach. Aon Hewitt reports engagement levels are on the rise globally but shifting across regions: Europe and Latin America had the highest increases, while Asia Pacific remains the same. Alexander Mann Solutions defines global RPO as being in at least three regions—the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), and Asia Pacific—and the number of hires can differ greatly. Business outcomes and metrics have a tendency to vary across regions as well as by position. For example, if a United States pharmaceutical sales person needs to quickly meet targets, then quality of hire may be the most important metric, whereas for call center positions in Manila, customer satisfaction might rank supreme in terms of measurement. Jeanne MacDonald, Futurestep's chief global sales officer, says companies considering global RPO should first implement a solution in regions that have "business readiness," and then "turn global on region by region." Many U.S.-based buyers believe they can just replicate a sophisticated RPO solution they may have in North America for all of their other markets globally, MacDonald says. "But to have the most effective change management, they need to start in a place that has business readiness." Grow Grow Grow Jon Hull, global head of resourcing for Electrocomponents plc, is expanding his RPO contract to include a larger global footprint for the electronics distributor's talent needs. "In North America, the value proposition of RPO has absolutely picked up, and as a result, the rest of the world wants in on the benefits–the ability to transform fixed costs, scalability, the adoption of social media into recruitment." —Rebecca Callahan, Randstad Sourceright "We are in the fortunate position of growing organically, especially in the European and Asian markets, and we want to be able to get to talent quickly in the areas where we want to go," Hull says. "We want to be able to measure the efficiencies of recruitment and whether we are doing it according to our values consistently." The organisation has a dynamic workforce landscape: its headquarters are in Oxford U.K. and has direct operations in 32 countries across the globe. Alexander Mann Solutions initially delivered solutions for the company's operations within Asia Pacific, but is expanding to cover Europe. The company will continue to oversee recruitment and hiring internally in the United States. Global technology vendor Itron Inc. is in a similar boat with plans to leverage RPO for its increased global reach. The company acquired Belgium-based Actaris Metering Systems in 2007 and now has nearly 8,000 employees in more than 100 countries. Following the acquisition of Actaris, Itron began transitioning to a global RPO engagement with Futurestep, beginning with EMEA, and has plans to phase into both Asia Pacific and Latin America in 2014 says Jared Serff, vice president of competitive resources. The main driver is to centralise recruitment procedures and lessen the number of third-party contingent agencies that Itron currently uses throughout the world, he says. Itron is also looking to Futurestep for a better understanding of market dynamics by given region and deliver an integrated talent management approach. SUMMER 2013 | www.hroglobal.com [19]