A continuing trend we see within the organizations we work with is the need to hire or bring in IT consulting resources very quickly. Within this trend we see an interesting paradox: firms have a need to bring in resources to keep their IT organizations running effectively, but since so many IT departments are operating in a very lean manner, they don't generally have the time to spend to do the interviewing for the direct hires or consultants that they need. It's a challenge we see as of late and it hinders organizations from being able to bring in the people that they need, within the time-frames they need.
We have seen that organizations are looking for ways to help alleviate this challenge using the staffing firms they work with. While a traditional staffing company can provide resources and resumes that an organization needs to bring on the right resources—whether that is permanent hires or consultants—the challenge is taking the time to arrange and conduct the interviews themselves. This is a time consuming process that often prevents (or delays) hiring managers from bringing in the people that they need. This is a where the concept of Recruitment Placement Outsourcing (RPO) can help.
What is RPO? It's when an organization who needs to hire people or bring on consultants uses an outside staffing firm to help in the recruiting and interviewing of the resources needed. This staffing firm would be responsible for not just finding the appropriate candidates, but in conducting the actual interviews with the candidates for the hiring manager according the hiring manager's specific criteria. This would be done with the understanding that any candidates that are presented by this staffing company to the hiring manager be given first consideration for hire.
This allows the staffing firm to do that up front—and often the most time consuming—work of interviewing to create a narrow pool of very qualified candidates for hiring consideration. This can save hiring managers and organizations a lot of time and effort where they are presented candidates only after they have been technically vetted and interviewed. This can make the hiring and decision making process much easier, quicker and efficient for the hiring managers.
This is why we see organizations looking to these sort of arrangements with the staffing organizations and firms that they currently work with. This type of situation can be a win-win for both organizations: the hiring firm gets qualified candidates that are ready to be hired or brought on as consultants and the staffing firm gets initial consideration for their candidates and this incents the staffing firm to provide the best talent possible.
Traditionally, this type of arrangement (RPO) is offered by the largest staffing organizations to the largest enterprise customers, but we have seen this become popular within our small-midsized customers who need to hire and bring on resources quickly and efficiently. These "smaller" organizations are demanding the same service as larger enterprise organizations--and they should.
So within your hiring and consulting needs, consider the concept of RPO with the staffing firm that are currently working with or look for one that can provide this model for you. It can be a way to get you the IT personnel you need to hire or bring on consultants in a way that is streamlined and efficient versus traditional staffing. And quicker and efficient is something we can all use in the IT world.
Andy