Whether with the advent of open-source application development, just-in-time supply chain, recruiting process outsourcing (RPO), or for that matter any new business discipline, companies have struggled with business innovation and implementation in the absence of solid, proven best practices. In this absence we are left to invent and take a decidedly more trial and error, or perhaps more accurately trial by fire approach as we conceptualize, justify and execute new business practices to spirit our companies ahead of the competition or in some cases initiate as a means of survival.
The cycle usually begins with a whisper, a clue buried within an article, a spark, and voila, our careers take new paths into unchartered territory. And indeed, this may be how you’ve come upon this article, as you’ve either just taken initial steps or maybe have already blazed down the trail in pursuit of recruiting nirvana. What have you found?
With labor constraints, profit constraints, market demand, client demands, centralized vendor programs, and more all conspiring to challenge the very way you conduct business often forcing you to re-think hallowed business practices that have been effective for years, RPO may provide some answers. Many have thoroughly researched the space and have found less substantive data than hoped, have found a wrath of RPO providers all offering different opinions, services, and perspectives, and have spoken with and maybe even trialed a vendor or two or three… Trialing is common and even consistent and necessary should you desire to remain ahead of the curve.
That said, we are quickly reaching a point in the industry where different types of RPO are emerging, a sort of intra-discipline banding of companies that at last will make evaluation and selection more manageable.
At a high level, these bands could be characterized as:
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