Published By: In Partnership with:

Buyer Beware:

Eight Red Flags

You Should Know
with RPO
Buyer Beware: Eight Red Flags You Should Know with RPO

CONTENTS
2 About the Author
3 Introduction
4 The Problem: Not All RPO is Created Equal
5 Why Are We Here?
Eight Red Flags When Vetting an RPO Vendor
6 The Over-Promise
7 The Under-Price
8 The Thin-Spread
9 The Solo Contact
10 The Bobble-Headed Sales Guy
11 The Templated Process Approach
12 The Non-Existent Process Approach
13 The Vendor Valet
14 Key Takeaways
15 View the Webinar
16 About The RPOA and Novotus
 ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jen Iliff is a veteran marketing professional and serves as the Vice

President of Marketing for Novotus. Iliff specializes in developing
innovative marketing programs with emphasis on branding and
strategic planning.

In addition to serving Novotus, Iliff is the founder of 3X Marketing,

an outsourced marketing solutions company. She has almost 20 years
of sales, marketing, public relations and corporate communications
experience. Her career includes serving both business-to-business
and business-to-consumer companies across a variety of industries.

ABOUT THIS E-BOOK

The information presented here was authored by Jen Iliff,

President of Marketing at Novotus.

The contents of this document were produced and published by

the Recruitment Process Outsourcing Association.

© All rights reserved 2016. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the expressed written permission
of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

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Buyer Beware: Eight Red Flags You Should Know with RPO Introduction

SUMMARY

Deciding to outsource your recruitment process to an outside

provider can impact not only your Human Resources function
but your business results. Many of your business objectives are
affected by the quality of talent your company acquire and
retain. Therefore, it is critical to choose the right recruitment
process outsourcing partner for your company.

But let’s face it. Sometimes vendors over promise and under
deliver. That's part of doing business. Though it can be costly
to disengage with a partner and restart the process of seeking,
vetting and engaging with a new provider that fits your
company's hiring needs.

How can you avoid the wrong RPO provider? What should you
look for when vetting RPO providers? How can you guarantee
success and avoid failure?

This eBook provides you with warning signs (red flags) to look
for when seeking an RPO relationship. It should serve as a
resource when evaluating potential partners.

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 THE PROBLEM
NOT ALL RPO IS CREATED EQUAL

Many firms say that they deliver RPO.

But it can be hard to separate the wheat from the chaff.

Even once you understand that, there are different types

of firms that would best suit your needs.

It’s in your best interest to identify them.

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 WHY ARE WE HERE?

TO HELP PROSPECTIVE RPO BUYERS

ESCAPE THE PITFALLS OF A BAD DECISION
Many second and third generation deals have to get
established with RPO vendors because they “didn’t get it
right the first time”.

That means you have to go back to the drawing board and

seek out a new vendor.

That costs money and of course, time. Time that you can’t
get back.

INSIDE THIS EBOOK, YOU’LL FIND:

1. Eight (8) warning signs to look for when selecting
an RPO vendor

2. The truth about what a good RPO vendor will

provide

3. Good questions to help you vet and select the right

RPO firm

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Buyer Beware: Eight Red Flags You Should Know with RPO #1

#1 The Over-Promise “Our team will be dedicated to your

account 100% of the time.”

The Truth

If an RPO tells you that they’ll be 100% dedicated to your

account, proceed with caution.

Hundred percent (100%) dedication contradicts how

recruitment process outsourcing works. The ability to scale up
and down is a benefit of partnering with an RPO. Experienced
RPOs cross train their teams in order to pull team members and
move them seamlessly from one assignment to another as
needed.

When one client is ready to ramp up, they can pull from the
internal talent pool and move quickly to adjust to the increased
hiring volume.
Questions to Consider Asking an RPO Provider:
q How will you be staffing our team?
q How will you scale up and down given a change in the
recruiting environment?

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 Buyer Beware: Eight Red Flags You Should Know with RPO #2

#2 The Under-Price “The lowest price will achieve the

results you need.”

3 Primary RPO Models in The Truth

the Marketplace
Ø On-Demand – The firm is
called upon when the need
You know that old saying, “you get what
arises. The RPO swoops in to
meet increased demand, then
you pay for.” In the matter of buying
they disengage.
Ø Functional - The firm is
services such as RPO, it’s typically true.
focused on a specific business
unit or to solve a particular
complex hiring need.
Ø Full Service RPO – The firm
If the price seems too good to be true, you
manages a company’s entire
internal recruiting function.
want to make sure that the vendor isn’t
simply undercutting the price to get the
business while also cutting the services and
resources allocated to your project.

When comparing proposals, be sure that

you’re comparing apples to apples.
Are you looking for Vetted
RPO Providers?
Search and connect with
Questions to Consider Asking:
vetted RPO providers for your
specific recruiting needs in
the RPO Discover Center.
q Has the RPO done the due diligence
up front to vet your needs?
q Has the RPO provided a realistic,
customized proposal that encompasses
all your needs to deliver at the level
desired?

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Buyer Beware: Eight Red Flags You Should Know with RPO #3

#3 The Thin-Spread “Our recruiters do it all.”

The Truth

This speaks to ensuring the RPO provider truly understands

your hiring environment. In the best hiring situations, the
recruiter is surrounded by self-sufficient hiring managers, sharp
analysts, experienced administrative staff and a great
management team.

This allows the recruiters to focus on what they’re best at:

talking to candidates and hiring managers to facilitate finding
the right match for each role. If recruiters are spending all or
most of their time on things like scheduling and reporting, it
reduces their ability to focus on sourcing and closing top talent.

Remember, the purpose of RPO is to drive efficiency.

Questions to Consider Asking

q What does the full scope of the RPO team look like?
q How many dedicated recruiters are scoped for your
project?
q How many do you need?

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Buyer Beware: Eight Red Flags You Should Know with RPO #4

The vendor only introduces you to one

#4 The Solo Contact or two people on your “account
team.”

The Truth

To have success in a relationship based engagement, there needs

to be an understanding of one another’s business and the
growth and development of long term relationships. Not only
should there be a needs-match but a cultural fit as well.

Sophisticated RPO vendors have various support teams (aka

shared services or centers of excellence) that you can meet who
support your account. Those resources range from research and
market intelligence to technology, marketing and analytics.

A vendor that’s focused on the development of the relationship

will introduce you to the full breadth of resources at your
disposal – not just the people assigned to your project. That
means folks from the administrative team to the President.
Questions to Consider Asking

q Is this a company that works the way we do? Are they a good
cultural fit?
q How can we better understand the training recruiters undergo and
the process for getting new teams up to speed?
q How can we meet the internal team and start building these
relationships early?

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Buyer Beware: Eight Red Flags You Should Know with RPO #5

#5 The Bobble-headed It seems like the bobble-headed

Sales Guy salesman is nodding yes to
everything you ask

The Truth

The process of selecting an RPO provider should not be driven

by the client asking questions and the sales team nodding yes.
The process should look more like a consultation on behalf of
the client. That consultation should start a dialogue about what
strategy would best suit your recruiting needs and how the RPO
can be an effective partner.

Operative word being partnership.

Not engaging in a solution’s based discussion could result in

missed opportunities to explore the best option for your
organization. It can result in your organization being over-sold
during the sales process.
Questions to Consider Asking
q Who is involved in the initial process? How will they facilitate a discussion
to get to the best solution for you?
q Can the vendor validate their pitch with previous examples or let you speak
with references?
q How quickly can the program offerings be implemented?
q Can the vendor develop a reasonable service level agreement (SLA)?
q Will the vendor outline their system capabilities and limitations?
q Can the vendor speak to what they feel their strengths are and where they
anticipate challenges?

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 Buyer Beware: Eight Red Flags You Should Know with RPO #6

#6 The Templated Process The vendor uses the same

Approach process regardless of the
complexity of hire.

The Truth
WARNING:
A cookie cutter process is not ideal when
Don’t make the assumption
that “BIG RPO PLAYERS” can
selecting an RPO vendor. Ideally, your
do it all (or are the right fit)
because they’re big. RPO provider should be vetting your
Sometimes a specialized
needs and providing a customized
approach is a better solution
for your unique hiring needs. approach and team.
You wouldn’t necessarily go to
Walmart to buy a wedding
dress, would you?
One size fits all, is not the best approach
when it comes to RPO solutions.
You need to consider your specific needs
first and find a vendor that can fill that
need.
White Paper: Planning for
a RPO Engagement
For example, a vendor that specializes in
Click below for more info on
planning for an RPO low complexity and high volume may not
engagement, evaluating
providers and more view our be able to expertly fill complex niche roles.
whitepaper below
Questions to Consider Asking
q What are the essentials that you might need to
fill your hiring needs?
Whitepaper: Planning for an
RPO Engagement w/
q How will the RPO provide a customized
process to get your desired result?
q Does the vendor specialize in a particular type
of hiring solution?

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Buyer Beware: Eight Red Flags You Should Know with RPO #7

#7 The Non-Existent The RPO vendor doesn’t

have a formal issue
Process Approach escalation process.

The Truth

Issues will arise. That’s inevitable.

That means that change management will be a critical point of

implementation.

Ensuring you have common values and a culture fit with your
vendor will help you build a process for ensuring issues are
addressed timely, and can build the partnership, rather than tear
it apart.

Difficult hiring managers and complicated searches will happen,

too. You want to ensure your RPO vendor acts as a strategic
consultant and can address these issues proactively.

Questions to Consider Asking

q Does the vendor have a formal issue escalation process?
q What does that process look like? Who is involved?
q What’s does the knowledge sharing process look like after the issue has been
resolved?
q What is the course of action for optimizing on those learnings?

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Buyer Beware: Eight Red Flags You Should Know with RPO #8

#8 The Vendor Valet The RPO Vendor asks

you about the next
step in the process.

The Truth

The RPO provider should be there to help you craft your

strategic recruiting road map. They should be tracking where
you’ve been, what objectives have been accomplished and what
are ongoing areas of improvement. They should be setting the
vision for what’s next making sure you’re on the same page– not
asking you.

This is particularly important if you’re using a full service RPO

provider. It’s important to have a vendor that will lead and
ultimately help you to build the map to take you to the next level
versus simply act as a task master.

Questions to Consider Asking

q Does the vendor provide updates at key check-points or intervals?
q What does the review process look like?
q How is the vendor tracking progress, trends and the hiring landscape?

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 KEY TAKEAWAYS
TRANSPARENCY
You want to ensure there is open, honest communication from the
beginning of the relationship. You should feel comfortable asking your
vendor anything. You should feel welcome to visit their facility, meet
their team, etc.

A company’s success is contingent upon their people. If you sense a lack

of transparency with an RPO vendor, you should either ask more
questions or move onto another provider that will give it to you straight.

KNOWING WHAT YOU NEED

You’ll only help yourself if you do the due diligence to assess your
business environment and understand your short and long term needs
before engaging in discussions with an RPO vendor.

In other words, be sure that you’re not buying an economy car when you
need an SUV with a third row seat.

Crunched for Time? Free NovoCore

Evaluation Tool
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Hire an HR Consultant to deep dive into your and areas for
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This tool also provides a prelude and idea of expectations

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Buyer Beware: Eight Red Flags You Should Know with RPO Watch Webinar

THANK YOU!

If your RPO
Provider Says This,
Buyer Beware
Learn what to watch out for when
selecting an RPO vendor.

View Webinar

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Recruitment Process Outsourcing Association
The Recruitment Process Outsourcing Association
(RPOA) is the leading organization for companies
who find themselves in the consideration and/or
decision-making process with regards to RPO
services.
Our vision is to be the world educational leader on
recruitment process outsourcing, (RPO).
We service our members and the community by
providing educational resources and tools to assist
the RPO consumer market through the process of
finding and partnering with RPO vendors.
We also provide RPO providers and customers
with a place to learn industry trends and best
practices.
In addition, we manage a platform for vendors to
share their thought leadership and gain business
opportunities.
14621 Charter Walk Place
Midlothian, VA 23114
email: info@rpoassociation.org
Lamees Abourahma, Executive Director
lamees@rpoassociation.org
ph: 804-897-1310
/rpoassociation @rpoassociation
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About Us
Novotus
Novotus solves recruiting problems. We partner
with companies to help them attract, recruit, hire
and retain the talent they need to grow their
business, at a fraction of the cost of traditional
options.
We serve as an extension of our clients Human
Resource department. Our customized recruiting
solutions, for large hiring projects or individual
hires, are developed with the client through an
initial recruiting assessment. Once the goal is
established, the recruiting is delivered by seasoned
recruiters, supported by unique technology
solutions and methodology.
Innovative solutions, deep industry experience,
and delivery execution that consistently exceed our
clients expectation have fueled Novotus’ rapid
growth. Our clients range from Fortune 1000
companies, like Dell, Travelocity, and Superior
Energy, to mid-size growing companies and start-
ups. Novotus is a co-founder of the Recruitment
Process Outsource Association.
5508 Parkcrest Drive STE 100
Austin, TX 78731
website: www.novotus.com
Lindsey Page, Business Development Manager
lpage@novotus.com
ph: 512.733.2244
/novotus @Novotus