Viva the Revolution! The Age of the Candidate is Here

“Most companies still view employees as a cost.” This quote unfortunately still holds true in today’s business environment. However, the reality is that in an increasingly digital and robotics led business ecosystem, human talent is now the secret sauce that adds true value. With employees now augmented by technological innovation, the scope for increased efficiency gains and quality of service delivery is greater than ever. Herein lies the problem: organizations now need employees that are not just doers, but also learners, and exceptional ones, as it is these employees that now, more than ever, have the scope to truly impact an organization’s bottom line. In addition, the “one company” employee is now gone; workers can and will change employers to further their careers and to seek a working situation that fits their lifestyle. 

As a result, candidates are in the driver’s seat and are becoming increasingly picky about which company they will work for, due to the abundance of information at their fingertips. Work-life balance and a fulfilling work environment are now at the forefront of candidate’s decision-making process. As a result, candidates are more likely to check Glassdoor before joining a company than they are to check TripAdvisor before going on holiday. 

So what does this mean for organizations and for Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO)? HfS Research’s upcoming Blueprint on the RPO market aims to delve into the changing dynamic of this market and how service buyers and service providers are (or are not yet) using the Ideals of the As-a-Service Economy.

In what was traditionally an employer’s market, service providers now need to collaborate with buyers to tailor hiring practices that entice and engage a better informed and more transient candidate pool. There is also a need to future-proof operations by making informed forecasting decisions on future talent requirements.

Therefore, the full value chain of RPO now needs to be re-imagined, from sourcing and assessment through to onboarding. To start, design thinking can help refresh the candidate experience, making it more efficient and engaging by better understanding what potential candidates value. Previously, analysis of candidate engagement was, at best, conducted on an impromptu basis. That has changed. Now this type of analysis, and the person to whom this information is reported, is crucial to maintaining and improving an organization’s target and current workforce. Automation also plays a significant role in improving the candidate experience by simplifying previously frustrating tasks, rather than just decreasing cost.

With recruitment now including such a wide array of essential skills and behavioral characteristics, such as marketing, interviewing, analysis, empathy and time management, to name a few, service providers are changing the role of the recruiter to focus on essential “soft touch” candidate engagements rather than mundane calendar management tasks and administrative functions. This is being done in a number of ways—from automating interview dates and resume screening through to dividing workflow between recruitment marketing, assessment, customer care and onboarding.

Ultimately, there is a gulf forming in the RPO market between service providers that can and those that cannot adapt to the As-a-Service Economy. Much of the responsibility for transitioning to this new environment lies with service providers, especially at the front end of the recruiting process (e.g., sourcing, assessment and candidate care). The weight of responsibility shifts to buyers as the process moves through to the onboarding phase. Here buyers have not yet fully grasped the importance of providing a seamless pre-boarding and onboarding process, particularly when employees are still viewed as a cost although there is a clear ROI here, as it is at this stage where candidate fallout is the most costly, sometimes reaching as high as 200% of annual salary. Therefore, best practice sharing at both an industry and individual client level becomes ever more important.

Given the obvious impact to an organization’s bottom line and the importance of talent beginning to dawn on the C-level, the RPO market is set to undergo a revolution.