Posted on Thu, Apr 12, 2012
I was recently reading an article about how the Fairfax County (VA) Public School system has decided to phase out the 26-ingredient burger served in the cafeteria. I knew that this staple of school lunches was probably not 100% ground beef, but I was absolutely shocked that the component count was over 2 dozen.
I couldn’t help but wonder:
“How does something as simple as a hamburger become so complex?”
Over the past 12 months, I have had the opportunity to look at several companies with non-Pinstripe RPO programs that are considering changing service providers. As part of our due diligence, we are able to peek behind the curtain and see how things are working.
Like the Fairfax County Public School burger situation, I am amazed at how cluttered and convoluted some of these outsourced relationships have gotten. These programs have become derailed, in part, because the service providers have forgotten about the 3 basic ingredients of a solid RPO program: People, Process and Technology.
- People - There is no real governance overseeing the program strategy. Sure there might be a RPO client services director watching over the day-to-day recruitment team but there is almost no engagement and guidance at the executive level from the RPO service provider.
- Process - The most efficient path between two points is a straight line. The same is true with recruitment and, yet, these unwieldy programs zigzag and twist without real reason or purpose.
- Technology - Many of these troubled programs lack technology. Simple tasks are manual versus automated. Recruitment technology, including social media, has flourished over the past ½ decade yet many of these legacy programs haven’t been updated since the initial implementation.
I fully acknowledge that making observations is much easier than making changes; however, the 1st step towards making improvements, whether it is a school lunch hamburger or an RPO program, is recognizing you have a problem.
Post contributed by Barry Diamond. Follow me on Twitter @bddiamond
Posted on Wed, Jul 20, 2011
Post contributed by Barry Diamond. Follow Barry on Twitter @bddiamond
Over the past several months, we have witnessed a budget debate that is focused on two perhaps equally unpopular remedies: sharp cuts to popular government-funded programs and tax increases.
However, as unpopular as compromising on spending and taxes may be, most Americans (including a majority of Republicans) believe that to successfully reduce our government’s debt with must have a comprehensive plan that limits spending and closes tax loopholes.
Unfortunately, many of our elected officials seem to be unaware of and oblivious to public opinion. Their inability to discuss rationally and compromise is just reaffirming our opinions of Washington and fueling our frustrations.
Imagine a recruitment process outsourcing program that took the same “one-sided” approach as our politicians have taken.
For example, what if we:
- Only focused on active candidates instead of a executing a comprehensive talent attraction strategy that also includes passive candidates, social recruiting and talent communities.
- Picked just one constituent group to survey instead of surveying all key stakeholders regarding satisfaction, deliverables and process improvement.
- Implemented a RPO program and left out such necessary components as change management and governance.
The answer is: Failure
A 50%, 75% or 90% partial strategy just doesn’t work. It doesn’t work for Recruitment Process Outsourcing and it won’t fix our current budget dilemma either.
The key to success, whether solving our debt crisis or delivering great RPO services, is have an all inclusive, complete solution. Everyone needs to pitch in, give in, and make it work.
