I was in Hollywood Florida at the ERE Expo last week and the weather was unbelievably hot and humid. Only 3 days and I was already missing those 55 degree September Milwaukee mornings.
However, regardless of the weather and where I’m traveling, I always attempt to workout (for both sanity and weight control reasons). After running on my first morning and upon entering the hotel, I shared my climate displeasure with another fitness enthusiast. He told me problem was:
“Not the heat, but the humidity.”
Even though this was simple inane hotel lobby chit chat, I was unsure of the actual scientific reason behind this phenomenon. My scientific curiosity was elicited. So I went to the Internet and here is the biology: Humidity prevents perspiration from evaporating off your skin, which is your body’s way of cooling itself. If the perspiration stays on your skin you will be hotter.
In addition to my scientific curiosity being peaked, so was my philosophical inquisitiveness. It seems to me that most things in life have their “humidity”; something that makes an ordinary, pleasant warm day turn into a hellish inferno. ….And Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) is no exception.
Fortunately at the ERE Expo, there was a great panel discuss on this very topic. Nury Plumley from Agilent, Tara Amaral from ADP, Mike Grennier from Wal-Mart, and Mark Mehler from CareerXRoads discussed why some RPO relationships work and why other RPO relationships feel like 95 degrees with 95% humidity.
The consensus of the group was that in order to outsource successfully, it is imperative that:
• The talent leadership of an organization must fully understand their processes and metrics and have their “house in order”
• A prospective buyer conduct a rigorous vendor due diligence (including simulations and “backdoor” references)
• A company works with their selected provider to clearly define roles and responsibilities and SLAs (no ambiguity)
Without these 3 key fundamental steps, the perspiration will accumulate quickly, followed by persistent misery. and you’ll wish you never went for that run.
Side Note: I really admired the candid panel observations and their recognition that a previous less than perfect RPO relationship should not preclude new RPO initiatives. Check out my previous blog: Non Sequitur: If RPO didn’t work the first time, then it will never work for more on this subject.
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