Recruitment Outsourcing Strengthens Overall Value of HR
© Brian Aumueller, Advantage Human Resourcing®
While today's weakened economy has increased the number of active jobseekers, recruiting is no less challenging now than in times of full employment. On the contrary, recession places additional demands on the Human Resources Department. The inundation of resumes from unqualified applicants only complicates and lengthens the hiring process, putting you in jeopardy of losing first-rate candidates. More importantly, your department's expenses may be under the very watchful eye of upper management.
But believe it or not, there is a bright side: Tough times such as these present the opportunity to further enhance HR's reputation as a strategic business partner.
Outsourcing your Talent recruitment and management function can resolve the challenge of time- and cost-effectively pinpointing top performers - both temporary and long-term - while also freeing you up to participate in high-level corporate priorities. It is becoming increasingly popular for a number of reasons, each of which is compelling in any economic environment.
- Specialization
Your organization's core competency is developing and delivering the products and services that it offers, just as recruitment is a Talent provider's core competency. Leading firms actively capitalize on this expertise, resulting in:- Up-to-date mastery of sophisticated Internet search techniques, as well as traditional and "grass roots" sourcing methods;
- Insights into industry developments and current salary trends;
- Streamlined internal processes;
- Powerful resume collection, sorting, tracking, and search capabilities; and
- A robust community of "job-ready" Talent immediately available to serve Client needs.
This powerful combination of factors results in the identification of excellent candidates - even those that are seemingly elusive (or "passive") - swiftly and efficiently.
A high-quality Talent provider will also use their in-depth knowledge in a proactive, consultative manner. In addition to sourcing and qualifying applicants and handling the related administrative details, some may help establish quality and productivity benchmarks, evaluate candidates in relation to organizational "fit" factors (as well as skills and motivation), continually refine procedures to reflect best practices and lessons learned, and measure and report both hard and soft dollar savings. It is these services that transform the vendor-client relationship into a true win-win partnership. - Cost savings
Outsourcing eliminates the fixed expense of a recruitment and selection infrastructure, a benefit that is particularly appealing if your Talent requirements, like those of most employers, are variable. It is no longer necessary to train and compensate in-house recruiters and support staff and, more importantly, to deploy and maintain the requisite technology. The latter is especially advantageous when you consider how quickly systems and software become obsolete.
