“Every role is different,” explains resourcing relationship manager Claire Duggan, regarding the nature of non-volume recruitment (often of scarce digital talent) at Telefónica.
Duggan cites time and cost to hire, and providing a consistent candidate experience as key drivers. “There are lots of benefits, particularly around efficiencies,” she says. “We’ve got visibility and control, particularly around the key metrics – so time to hire, time to fill, looking at the sustainability and quality of hire. That was something we struggled with; we didn’t have a consistent process. We’ve also seen a huge increase in hiring manager satisfaction.
“With RPO we have access to endless amounts of information, drawing on Cielo’s experience in maximising employer brand.”
Duggan can understand why an in-house approach might work for other companies, perhaps in different sectors. She confirms that outsourcing/insourcing decisions should always be organisation-specific. “We probably have a larger range of different skills we potentially might be looking for compared with someone in the finance sector, for example.”
Duggan’s top tip would be to embed a supplier within the organisation. “The thing for us is taking the time to properly embed an RPO in the business, so they truly understand the strategy, brand and culture,” she says. “We make sure we embed them with a really good induction. The senior account team come to our team meetings, and they present to the directors.”
It’s also important to ensure you have the right skills in your HR team to manage potentially complex activity. “We have myself, I manage the relationship. You definitely need to make sure there’s the right resource available,” says Duggan.
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