We are more than halfway through 2009 now, and as I reflect back, it’s been about a year since the economy started to really slip. It’s been a privilege to work alongside all of our clients — some of whom have experienced “downs,” and some, “ups” — during this trying time. We have seen a number of new clients join us in the past six months, and we are starting to see glimmers of greater activity as we settle into Q3.
The current economic turbulence has been as much an opportunity for redefinition as it has been a challenge. I really believe that the winning equation is one that maximizes the power of collaboration and adaptation. We’ve been able to adopt new models for partnership to weather variances in economic conditions, and that’s part of what the value proposition of outsourcing is about. RPO empowers moving fixed costs to variable costs; flexibility and agility in HR service delivery models and costs; and acceleration of change.
But the RPO industry needs to continue to elevate their offerings and step up to new levels of performance. The firms that focus on helping clients transform their current talent infrastructure (and by this I mean helping to execute not just the transaction, but the strategy, the planning, and the employee engagement following the transaction), will provide results that will transcend expectations and help their clients win in the market.
Our entire team at Pinstripe knows our goal has always been to be the best, not the biggest, and I believe this focus has served us well. Now as a strategic marketer, I would say it’s time to create a new market segment to capitalize on these times of challenge and opportunity, and be the first to occupy it (which is where we have been in the past before RPO was called RPO and before VMS was coined). So once again we are working to create new, improved services that help our clients make the most of the recovery. Keep an eye on where we go, yes. But more importantly, keep an eye on where our clients go!
Tags: HR, recruitment process outsourcing, RPO
