Anything that is new and controversial is surrounded by myths and misconceptions. Offshore RPO is no stranger to this. It may be listed as among the fastest growing section of Human Resource’s Outsourcing, but it isn’t spared from misconceptions.

There are still some HR leaders and experts that are not familiar with how offshore RPO truly works.

They sometimes overcomplicate the process by automatically thinking that offshore RPO is a complete large-scale outsourcing of recruitment processes. Or they can be underestimating the process by thinking that offshore RPO cannot solve their main issues such as achieving recruitment velocity.

It’s natural for them to have their misconceptions. Offshore recruitment solutions are most of the time tailormade to staffing firms and capable of addressing recruitment problems by making use of different recruitment services.

Offshore RPO partnerships can be of varying degrees, involving many models, demands, expectations, stories of accomplishments, and losses. Hence, narratives of offshore RPO that are not coming from the main actors themselves can be missing the important facts.

It’s not surprising to find so many myths and misconceptions about offshore RPO both online and offline. And the worst part is that there is scarcely any reliable source about offshore RPO available in the public domain. But as we’ve mentioned before, offshore RPO can include services that are uniquely tailored for each client, making it hard to create comprehensive offshore RPO material.

In any case, many HR leaders find these misconceptions and lack facts a major turn-off. But ignorance is not always bliss. Relying on myths and misconceptions can be hurtful for your company.

88 percent of hiring managers have reported that they are satisfied with the results of outsourcing some or all of their recruitment process. But if you don’t believe in these statistics and don’t bother to clarify the misconceptions, then you may be robbing your business of the chance to grow and to take advantage of a very powerful tool that can cut dramatic recruitment costs, and gain you significant revenue.

We understand that you’re a busy person as the HR leader of your company. And having to scour the internet through all the volumes of misconceptions surrounding offshore RPO scattered across the market can be a time-consuming task.

Hence, in this article, we already did the job for you. We have compiled a list of the most common myths surrounding offshore RPO. Not only that, but we are also going to bust these myths and present to you the facts to finally clear the clouds of hesitations and suspicions in your minds.

Debunking Common Offshore RPO Myths and Misconceptions

As an executive of your staffing firm, there’s so much pressure on you to perform well. Retaining and acquiring talent in the most efficient ways can make or break your company. It’s only understandable that you have reservations when it comes to trying out new recruitment solutions.

But do not let your fear of the unknown get in the way of your company’s progress. One way to overcome your fears is through proper research. Put an effort to researching alternative recruitment solutions. Get hold of credible information to check if your fears and doubts have actual bases.

Myth #1—Offshore RPO Is A Temporary Fad

Fact: Offshore RPO is a mix of offshoring and outsourcing. Businesses noticed some flaws in outsourcing alone, and so they combined it with offshoring. The biggest reason for this fusion is, “to take advantage of the benefits of outsourcing and offshoring both,” according to Diffen.

There was a need for a more efficient form of outsourcing and as always, the market has answered. And judging by the advances of its industry, offshore RPO has proven itself to be an effective strategy.

In the past decades, the offshore RPO industry has had a steady climb to the top. The offshore outsourcing industry as a whole was estimated to be around $32 billion to $35 billion in the year 2002. And offshore RPO is predicted to keep rising in the coming years as more and more staffing firms realize how cost-efficient offshoring RPO can be.

With so many benefits to offshoring your RPO, it’s no longer just a fad anymore. It’s here to stay, and for a forward-thinking executive, you are going to want to be in on the action so as not to get left behind by your competition.

Myth #2—You Lose Control With Offshore RPO

Fact: Many HR executives are hesitant to partner with an offshore RPO firm simply because they fear that if they do so, they are going to lose control of their recruitment processes.

This mindset cannot be further from the truth.

The choice of whether you want to outsource all or only some parts of your recruitment process is still up to you. You are just using the recruitment services which they have expertise in alongside your usual functions. But in no way are you giving up your control over the recruitment functions.

Offshore RPO firms of today are capable of working alongside your company to streamline your recruitment processes. At the end of the day, the heart of a successful offshore RPO partnership is collaboration.

All the actors involved in the offshore RPO partnership have to be in constant communication and agreement over recruitment decisions. There has to be a regular exchange of reports between the offshore RPO firm and the staffing firm.

With these many interactions during the entire partnership, there is just no way you are going to lose control over the recruitment process. Especially because when it comes to hiring decisions, the final say is still going to be up to you.

If anything, an ideal offshore RPO partnership allows you to gain greater transparency and control. You can have an “external department” that can efficiently take charge of repetitive recruitment tasks such as gathering data for metrics and analytics.

Myth #3— Offshore RPO Replaces Your Internal Recruiting Team

Fact: The offshore RPO team replacing the internal recruiting department of your staffing firm is a common concern of staffing firm executives. In a way, this misconception is related to the previously discussed myth which is on the topic of lack of control on the recruitment functions.

And just like the previous myth, it could not have been more wrong.

As we’ve said before, an offshore RPO engagement is a strategic partnership. The internal recruiting team and the offshore team both have to overcome recruitment challenges together by coming up with collaborative recruitment solutions.

If developing your internal recruitment team is one of your top priorities, offshore RPO also allows you to do just that.  You can avail of recruitment services from the offshore RPO firm that will only serve as support for your internal recruitment team. These services may include resume sourcing, VMS recruiting, recruitment admin support, and remote staffing.

But you can choose to leave the task of the final interview of the potential candidate to your internal recruiter so as to develop their skills in judging the right candidates for the clients.

Myth #4—Offshore RPO Is Only About Cutting Costs

Fact: Offshoring RPO may have been designed for businesses to cut costs but it has already proven its usefulness in many other areas.

It enables staffing firms to focus on working on core functions, such as coming up with ways to expand the business or developing the brand name of the staffing firm.

It also allows for round-the-clock shifts, resulting in recruitment velocity, giving staffing firms a competitive advantage. As we’ve mentioned before, better transparency can also be achieved through offshoring.

Some clients of staffing firms occasionally request talents that are hard to find their niche. Offshore RPO firms are best suited for handling these kinds of searches.

They can point you in the right direction to find these highly skilled candidates who specialize in certain fields, such as computer science, telecommunications, or industrial designs. They have the industry knowledge and make it their business to keep a database of the best talents even in uncommon industries. They are going to sift through different job boards to look for the right talent for you.

Myth #5— Offshore RPO Can Get Rid Of All Recruitment Problems

Fact: If you expect offshoring your RPO can somehow answer all your recruitment woes like a magical solution, then you are in for a disappointment.

Before actually getting into an offshore RPO partnership, know that it’s not a fix-all solution to all your recruitment issues. If in the first place, a staffing firm has a weak internal recruiting strategy and is solely relying on the offshore RPO firm to do all the recruitment work for them, then there’s a chance that this arrangement is not going to turn out well.

The initial step has to start with the staffing firm looking inwardly to identify their recruitment issues. Understanding your hiring needs can let you prepare a better framework which the offshore RPO firm can use to create a well-thought-out proposal.

From there, you can take advantage of the offshore RPO firm’s technologies, strategies, and resources, to troubleshoot your recruitment problems.

Myth #6— Offshore RPO Only Works for Large Staffing Firms

Fact: The staffing firms that are going to benefit most out of an offshore RPO partnership are small to medium-sized ones. Of all the wonderful things offshore RPO has to offer, one of its greatest assets is its scalability.

Offshore RPO services can be customized depending on the demand of the client. Staffing firms can efficiently adjust the number of resources they need, giving them full control over their offshore recruitment expenses.

Final Thoughts

In this age where information is easily accessible via the internet or through word of mouth, we now have the power to conduct research almost instantaneously.

Recruitment decisions that are not based on well-researched sources can prove to be harmful to your staffing firm. You can be deterring your company from gaining more revenues and cutting on costs.

Making a habit out of identifying which ones are actually credible information and just misconceptions can already put you miles ahead of your competition. So, it’s important to always remember to be wise when gathering information.

This was originally published on the Sysgen RPO website.

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