Recruitment Process Outsourcing - Behind the Curtain with Recruiting Industry Expert Mary Claire Ryan
 Mary Claire Ryan
Prior to consulting and joining Riviera Advisors in 2005, Mary Claire led Abbott Laboratories’ Talent Acquisition Organization and was instrumental in engineering a new recruitment and sourcing organizational model. As Director, Global Executive Search and Diversity Staffing, she was responsible for all sources of hire for the company, as well as executive search activities.
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Questions:
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Give us some background on RPO -- from what I’ve read this concept really gained traction back in the 1970’s in Silicon Valley where the competition for high-tech employees was really intense, and companies were desperate to find a way to recruit talent that did not involve high priced executive search firms.
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So here we are in the midst of a terrible recession, with a glut of talent available -- why is RPO attractive to companies in this economy?
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What are the primary components of an RPO program?
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What are the primary drivers? Is this all about cost?
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What are the factors that determine if a company really needs an RPO solution?
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For those companies that actually believe talent is their most important asset, does it make sense to outsource recruiting?
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When you go into a company, what do you find are the biggest roadblocks to implementing an RPO program?
- I know that Riviera Advisors is “vendor neutral” -- but for those unfamiliar with this space there are lot of big companies involved in RPO -- The Right Thing, Source Right, FutureStep, Adecco, AON, Kenexa, Manpower -- how do you help your clients make the right choice of an RPO partner? What’s the criteria they need to evaluate?
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What’s the biggest disconnect you find when you start working on an RPO project with a client?
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What’s the number one thing you recommend companies consider when they’re evaluating RPO?
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What didn’t I ask that’s important to share?
Mary Claire Ryan Transcript
Welcome to an inside recruiting channel podcast on Total Picture Radio. This is Peter Clayton reporting.
Today, we’re going to delve into the rather mysterious world of RPO (Recruitment Process Outsourcing) with industry expert Mary Claire Ryan, Principal of Riviera Advisors. Mary Claire has significant experience in the disciplines of recruitment, organizational and strategic planning, employee relations, change management, training, regulatory issues, safety and staffing management.
Mary Claire regularly consults with Riviera Advisors’ clients on RPO initiatives.
Mary Claire, welcome to Total Picture Radio.
Mary Claire: Thank you very much, Peter.
Peter: So, give us some background on RPO. From what I’ve read, this concept really gained traction back in the 1970s in Silicon Valley where the competition for high tech employees was really intense and companies were desperate to find a way to recruit talent that did not involve high-priced executive search firms.
Mary Claire: Well, you’re right about the timing and the history of RPOs; it was really a crazy time when companies needed volumes of positions filled really rather quickly. And once they completed that exercise, they all of a sudden decided that there was some reduction of costs that were available to them. So they started then to basically look at step by step of how they identify talent and sourcing, more of the front end of the recruiting process and started to let out more jobs that were harder to fill and that had greater value to the company. And then once the company sees the reduction in overhead costs and agency’s fees, like you said, due to outsourcing, the RPO solution becomes more of an acceptable option.
And remember, HR has been outsourcing benefits, taxes and payrolls, so you’re right about the timing around 2000-2001, more companies really started taking advantage of what RPOs can actually deliver.
Peter: Here we are in the midst of a really bad recession with a glut of great talent out there, Mary Claire. Why is RPO attractive to companies in this economy?
Mary Claire: Well, all the more reason to get help from an RPO provider with a large applicant pool; it can be really overwhelming to any organization where someone needs to review all those resumes, make those phone calls to screen and schedule applicants for interviews. So RPOs play an important role in getting to those applicants you want to see quickly.
I want to comment, there are still jobs out there that companies struggle to find the appropriate applicants. For instance, there is a struggle to find general managers, operations managers, accountants, auditors, tax positions, nurses, of course, and sales folks. And so the RPO really works 24/7 so they can identify and source for you and help you with your in house recruiters.
Due to the economy, as you mentioned, HR functions have downsized, so many recruiters have been laid off. So the RPOs can be really an extra pair of hands not only ongoing, but also per project recruiting; they’re more flexible and they can move quickly.
A pretty good example of that is when a pharmaceutical company has a drug release and needs 300 salespeople as soon as possible, an RPO may be the right solution. You have to ask yourself do you have a world class recruiting staff delivering exactly what you need today and if not, an RPO would be called in.
I’m used to my clients saying there is a ton of noise about the recruiting function and they need help, so RPOs provide economies of scale and usually have a fixed cost.
Peter: Sort of in that same vein, I think it would be very helpful if you kind of described for us what the primary components of an RPO program are.
Mary Claire: Primary components really depend on your organizational needs. Components can include identifying talent, sourcing, mining databases, research of applicant pools, job posting, marketing the company and the job, phone screening and interviewing applicants, scheduling the interviews for hiring managers is usually a big hot topic for most companies, interacting with your background checking company, completing references and initiating the onboarding process.
There is also issues regarding compliance and reporting. So when I mentioned the topics above, it’s more high level components but we all know the devil is in the details, and so there is numerous steps in the recruiting process.
So knowing what the RPO can do for you is critical, and you want to plan and assess what you want to accomplish. Most of my clients need standard operating procedures developed so they can actually have the specifics – who is doing what, when, where, how does the process work. Most of the time when I’m called in is this piece is really critical for implementation success.
Speaking of implementation, knowing who should be involved, who will be making the decisions, when is this going to happen, who will this affect, how all this is going to be communicated, not only internally but externally, are major overarching components from the organizational standpoint.
Peter: Talking about your clients and your client needs, what are really the primary drivers behind this whole RPO process? Is this all about cost?
Mary Claire: Cost has always been a driver from the very beginning but I think you have to also include time or speed and the quality of service. A driver could be hiring managers, or for that matter, human resources may have lost confidence in staffing. Maybe past delivery isn’t acceptable anymore. Do you have experienced staff to meet your current business needs, what is missing, can it be scalable? So your RPO can add value to your current recruiting function as well.
Peter: What are the factors that determine if a company really needs an RPO solution?
Mary Claire: Well you have to recognize there is so much pressure on companies to staff more effectively, whether it’s cost or time effective. HR functions are being asked to investigate various outsourcing methods, whether it’s partial outsourcing, project outsourcing, whatever adds most value.
Outsourcing can be large or small scaled attempts at achieving costs and quality. So they’re being asked about results on investment, leveraging best practices, measuring all points of the recruiting process; so outsourcing becomes a recruitment strategy and sometimes expected in the mix of your recruiting efforts.
Factors could be lack of staff, under resourced staff, limited time, maybe funding to recruit, limited recruiting knowledge or skills in a particular area, a huge recruiting effort or continuing recruiting effort, such as call centers, retail sales, or a new business initiative; help with diversity recruitment efforts and the like.
Peter: For those companies that actually believe that talent is their most important asset, does it really make sense to outsource recruiting?
Mary Claire: Actually, HR functions have been outsourcing some staffing functions for some time now. You may be using a retainer search firm to identify source, phone screening, present the candidates, interview, conduct references and the like for management positions. So it all depends on where you need the help. No one wants to limp along.
Again, you have to ask do you have a world class recruiting function. If staffing isn’t a core competency, you have to decide if you want to focus your team on, let’s say, onboarding, which has proven to be a critical part of the process and then have the RPO assist at the front end piece of recruitment.
So needing to get help with identification, sourcing, prescreening and interviewing; RPOs can also be used for all of the administrative functions for compliance purposes and reporting and having a solid technology that can be integrated with the client’s technology is critical as well.
Peter: Mary Claire, when you’re brought into one of your client’s companies, what do you find that are the biggest roadblocks to implementing – to use your term ‘a world class RPO program.’
Mary Claire: Not being prepared. This is a change in management process and you need champions. Senior leadership or stakeholders need to be extremely supportive. The HRR function may have already identified some of these roadblocks and even explained those to the service provider, but I’ve found roadblocks could be lack of preparation, lack of assessing of what you really need the provider to do for you.
I mentioned the devil in details, so not having management buy in, not having enough time for implementing, developing a solid communication plan and alike.
Other roadblocks, of course, can be not giving your provider the access to the right people to learn the business. And even if they’re in your industry or have knowledge of your business, giving them a decent roadmap on how to work with you and your staff is critical.
Peter: I think those are also important. One thing you bring up that I see constantly is the whole communication component; companies really don’t seem to have a good way of communicating effectively with their employees, especially on a consistent basis.
Mary Claire: Right. They need reminders. So you might be rolling out a project and you might indicate in your first communication that you’re taking a look at how to best deliver the service that they need and then say okay, now this is the timeframe and here is the dates… but constant reminders have to be out there because people forget.
Peter: When we started talking about doing this interview, you told me that Riviera Advisors is bender neutral but for those who are unfamiliar with this space, there are a lot of big companies involved in this now – The Right Thing, Source Right, FutureStep, Adecco, AON, Kenexa, Manpower. So how do you help your clients make the right choice of an RPO partner; what’s the criteria they need to look at and evaluate?
Mary Claire: Some clients like to have me involved in the front end when they’re analyzing the recruitment function and how they’re doing and where they need to help. It could be reviewing their past recruiting efforts and the needs, of course, for today. Some clients need help with a request for proposal process where they’re collecting information and formally working with their procurement and legal departments prior to vendor selection.
Sometimes clients just need help with the implementation process, so I act as a project manager.
My clients really make the final decision and each client will have different criteria. However, all of them want a smooth recruiting process with great applicants hired as quickly as possible and most cost effective.
Some of the criteria would be how does the RPO do well in what space, what’s their sweet spot in recruiting, which positions job families do they recruit well or better than your competitors? You want to check their financial stability, the RPO’s ability to scale to your business needs. Do they have the technology to track all points of the recruitment process? And when they have difficulties with their clients, what do they normally do, how do they best escalate these types of problems?
I usually like samples of their past performance – good and bad. I like it when an RPO is open about lessons learned in the past and what they have to change to make it better. I’m a nut about the details, so I have a tendency to ask a lot of questions relating to the recruitment process and what metrics or performance measures they have, what their clients are asking for and I want to know their ability to report and deal with compliance-related issues.
Peter: One thing that’s come across in this interview, Mary Claire, is that recruiting today is a really complex process. It’s not “oh yeah, this person can do this job, so let’s hire them.” I mean there is so many components now, especially in larger organizations, through the recruiting process and as we all know, if you bring the wrong people in, the cost is tremendous… tremendous.
Mary Claire: Right. Huge. I agree.
Peter: What’s the biggest disconnect you find when you start working on an RPO project with your clients?
Mary Claire: First of all, all of my clients are wonderful.
Peter: Of course! Of course!
Mary Claire: Of course! But I’ve seen some struggles with lack of management support or not having a great recruiting process to start with. But then again, that’s why I get hired, right?
Peter: Right.
Mary Claire: You change management, so you have to be prepared for those who will be onboard and those who aren’t quite ready for change. I’m also a control freak about the details, so a solid implementation and communication plan is essential.
A disconnect could also be managing expectations. The company should just not hand over the keys to the kingdom and assume you let go of the responsibility; it’s a partnership and you have to keep asking yourself are you in sync with the provider.
Peter: What’s the #1 thing you recommend companies consider when they’re evaluating a recruitment process outsourcing project?
Mary Claire: Check references and obviously, go visit them. See how they’re set up, spend time with those that maybe assigned to your account, get to know them, how do they process a resume – see it actually in action.
Peter: Something that you’ve mentioned several times is change management, and I don’t think many people really consider or realize that in this kind of an environment that it really is a changed management process and you really have to kind of go into it with that kind of effort and expectation.
Mary Claire: Exactly, I agree.
Peter: What didn’t I ask that’s important to share?
Mary Claire: No one can recruit all jobs all the time and make sure that the RPO service provider has the ability to scale when a market gets better. Actually now is a really good time to review who you want to do business with prior to the economy picking up in full force because it will.
Peter: Yes, absolutely.
Mary Claire: It is going to get better, and are you prepared for the influx of opportunities and jobs that are going to be needed to fill and what kinds of positions that have changed over the past couple of years and how can you best evaluate exactly how to move forward.
Peter: And if you’re doing this correctly, it really can be a competitive advantage.
Mary Claire: Totally. Totally.
Peter: Because then you’re not floundering around trying to figure out how you’re going to recruit these 200 people that you all of a sudden need because everything has turned around in the economy.
Mary Claire: I ask a lot of questions about sourcing and the RPO source methodology. Some have their own sourcing units basically that that’s all they do. So, it’s really terrific to take a look, as I said – besides checking references – go see how they work, see how they source for the types of positions that you want to recruit for, take a look at other methodology when it comes to phone screens. Do you want them to do some assessments for you… there is a whole host of things that you need to review when you’re taking a look at who you want to do business with.
Peter: Mary Claire, thank you so much for taking time to speak with us today on Total Picture Radio. I really appreciate your knowledge and background in this area, which is quite arcane and a lot of people really don’t understand it.
Mary Claire: Thank you very much, Peter, for your time today.
Peter: Thank you.
We’ve been speaking with expert Mary Claire Ryan, Principal with Riviera Advisors.
Be sure to visit Mary Claire’s feature page in the Inside Recruiting Channel of Total Picture Radio. That’s www.TotalPictureRadio.com for resource links and much more information.
This is Peter Clayton reporting. Thank you for tuning in to Total Picture Radio, the voice of career leadership.
Mary Claire Ryan Biography:
Mary Claire Ryan is an accomplished consultant grounded in Human Resources. She has significant experience in the disciplines of recruitment, organizational and strategic planning, employee relations, change management, training, regulatory issues, safety, and staffing management in both union and non-union environments.
Prior to consulting and joining Riviera Advisors in 2005, Mary Claire led Abbott Laboratories’ Talent Acquisition Organization and was instrumental in engineering a new recruitment and sourcing organizational model. As Director, Global Executive Search and Diversity Staffing, she was responsible for all sources of hire for the company, as well as executive search activities. While at Abbott, she has established a team of 10 search consultants focused on key strategic staffing issues. Mary Claire introduced a variety of new and innovative sourcing strategies that were key in improving Abbott’s global Talent Acquisition capabilities. Just prior to Abbott Laboratories, Mary Claire was a part of Agency.com, leading global recruiting for this global e-business builder which provided interactive solutions. As Executive Vice President of Global Recruiting, she leveraged significant recruitment knowledge in Europe and assisted with the company’s global expansion and mergers/acquisitions. Mary Claire personally recruited some key personnel throughout the world for the company. Subsequent to Agency.com, Mary Claire spent many years at KPMG Consulting. In her role as National Director, Staffing, she managed and led the complex US recruitment function, hiring approximately 10,000 people per year with 200 professionals in her department. Other roles at KPMG included National Director-Human Resource, National Director-Tax, and National Director-US Staffing. Mary Claire’s diverse experiences in the past also included key human resource and recruitment leadership roles at Swiss Bank Corporation, the Chicago Sun-Times, Morton-Thiokol, and American Hospital Supply. As a consultant, Mary Claire spent several years at Grant-Thornton, developing and managing their human resource consulting practice.
An internationally renowned speaker and authority on staffing and recruitment issues. In 2004, Mary Claire was awarded the “Staffing Professional of the Year” by the Chicago Employment Management Association. Mary Claire served on the Board of Directors of the Staffing Management Association of Greater Chicago from 2005 to 2006, and has been a member of the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM) since 1979. Mary Claire received her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from Barat College of DePaul University and holds certification as a Certified Internet Recruiter (CIR) and as a Certified Diversity Recruiter (CDR). Mary Claire is based in Chicago, Illinois.
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