RPO case study: technology manufacturer slashes time to hire for executive recruitment.
Employer expands its recruitment process outsourcing program to reduce costs and reliance on executive search agencies.
| 3 min read|
long time to fill drags out the executive recruitment process
As a leading manufacturer of commercial and consumer products, this company relies on a global workforce of about 130,000 employees, hiring an average of 500 new employees each month. But when it comes to hiring for leadership positions across its lines of business, the company’s HR team hoped to reduce its reliance on agencies to fill these critical roles.
Previously, the company’s talent leaders relied on search firms to fill vice president and director-level roles. This resulted in significant costs, particularly for its HR and finance roles. At the time, time-to-fill rates averaged at 153 days per requisition. The technology manufacturer also hoped to provide greater hands-on recruiting support for these high-level requisitions.
With the goal of reducing costs, improving recruiting efficiency and creating higher satisfaction among hiring managers and candidates, the company looked to implement a new strategy for recruiting executive talent. At the same time, it recognized the opportunity to improve its employer branding to better attract top talent, and expand on its diversity hiring.
RPO delivers hands-on support for executive recruitment
Building upon a successful recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) program with Randstad Sourceright, the company expanded its program to include specialized support for its leadership roles.
The new solution, known as the Specialized Recruiting Team (SRT), builds on more than 10 years of partnership between the company and Randstad Sourceright. Already familiar with the organization's industry, processes and goals, the RPO uses niche market expertise to ensure better continuity and performance for the company.
With the SRT in place, the company benefits from high-touch client service and deep candidate sourcing. Each specialized recruiter focuses on a set number of requisitions per year. This ensures a high level of attention and communication with company leadership and candidates, as compared to the previous process.
While the SRT was first brought on board to recruit executive talent for key roles in HR and finance, the arrangement soon expanded to other areas, such as sales, marketing, cyber, software and more. As a result, these lines of business also gain the recruiting support they need to fill leadership roles.
To further improve talent attraction, the company also worked with Randstad Sourceright to revamp its employee value proposition (EVP) and enhance employer branding. This included creating recruitment campaigns that target hard-to-fill positions, as well as supporting the company’s diversity hiring strategy. Using modern recruiting technology, such as branded landing pages, Montage video interviewing and the TextRecruit communication platform, the company also offers a more engaging candidate experience.
significant cost savings and faster time to hire
Since expanding its RPO program, the technology manufacturer has been able to better drive organizational goals with executive-level talent. For instance, the leader of the company’s new software center was filled by the SRT, as well as high-level human resource, general counsel and cyber security positions.
Over the course of two years, the company has reduced the number of days it takes to fill these roles: dropping to just 60 days, compared to the average previous time to fill of 153 days. The company also achieved significant cost savings; spend on executive recruitment costs 75% less than a contingent search firm would on average.
And, while previously, the company was able to bring 33 executive hires per year, the SRT delivered 76 leaders in the first full year of the program, and more than 200 hires in 2018 alone.
By rolling executive hiring into its existing RPO, the company gains the recruiting efficiency and cost savings, while providing a positive experience for candidates and hiring managers alike.
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