Talent Management - November 2008 - (Page 19)

Improve Predictability of RPO Staffing Challenges Rob Hungerford Because of the many variables that go into sourcing, screening, interviewing, offer acceptance and on-boarding, when recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) providers are faced with high-volume or unexpected hiring requirements, they face a central question: “Can we deliver the required number of hires by the committed fulﬁllment date?” Unforecasted hiring demand or high-volume talent acquisition projects can be managed with conﬁdence by approaching the process with a reliable, predictive modeling tool. The tool starts with basic components: target date, target number of hires, number of candidates that have accepted offers, number of candidates needed to fulﬁll the hiring goal and candidates in process. It also ultimately adds a highly advanced level of predictability to the recruitment process. Imagine leading a recruitment team with a target of 25 hires, and ﬁve candidates have accepted offers. The target date is just eight days away. A stakeholder calls and asks if the RPO provider will meet the target. The response: “I am conﬁdent we will fulﬁll the need and meet the target date. My team just needs to complete 20 more hires in eight days. No problem.” Is the team lead delusional, rolling the dice or making a best guess? In this case, the answer is none of the above. By using a predictive hiring model, the leader can predict with conﬁdence the hiring goals will be met, as well as better understand recruiting process capability and production capacity. The predictive model also may include the number of candidates and the pass rate for each step of the hiring process. The following scenario illustrates the importance of these two elements. There are 48 candidates in the last three steps of the hiring process. The overall pass rate for these steps is 71 percent. By multiplying the pass rate and the number of candidates, the result suggests the process will contribute 34 hires to the recruiting effort. This appears to be more than enough to fulﬁll the team’s needs. But more information is needed to accurately predict the number of hires. Speciﬁcally, how long will it take to complete the last three steps? If it takes more than eight days to complete the workﬂow, the requirements may not be met. The last piece of the predictive model is the time required to complete each step of the hiring process. If it takes nine days to complete the remaining steps, one needs to ignore candidates in preceding steps. Otherwise, it will take too long to ﬂow through the process to meet the hiring/target date. In the last two steps, there are 27 candidates. The pass rate is 81 percent, and candidates will complete the steps in fewer than seven days. Again, one multiplies the pass rate and the number of candidates and discovers 22 additional candidates will be available. Combined with the ﬁve current hires, the team lead is conﬁdent the target hires are achievable. Predictive hiring also makes it easy to identify choke points in the hiring process at which candidate ﬂow is impeded. Further, using a predictive hiring model as part of an overall RPO strategy offers a streamlined recruitment process, better quality candidates, reduced time to ﬁll and lower cost per hire, plus the beneﬁt of predictability for the client and the RPO provider. It also can be an effective planning tool for future engagements. By using historical data and past performance, the RPO team can mobilize needed resources at the beginning of a project to meet the client’s requirements. Once a new project’s process is under way, the tool can be used to adjust original estimates. However, predictive modeling for the hiring process — whether internally managed or outsourced — is only as good as the reporting and process measuring systems at its core. Speciﬁcally, the modeling analysis is only as reliable as the pass-rate averages and comprehensive measurement of all components in the process. Any high degree of variability in the pass-rate averages or any missing key process steps not considered or measured will invalidate analysis reliability. RPO providers and talent managers charged with unforeseen or high-volume hiring needs are turning to predictive modeling to meet the needs of their clients. Using the sophisticated analytics of predictive hiring, RPO providers can ensure clients will have the right people in place when they need them. Rob Hungerford is director of strategic solution architecture for Spherion’s recruitment process outsourcing division. He can be reached at editor@talentmgt.com. talent management magazine www.talentmgt.com 19 http://www.talentmgt.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Talent Management - November 2008

Talent Management - November 2008 Editor’s Letter Contents Human Performance Leading Edge Learning Connections Recruitment & Retention Assessment & Evaluation Compensation & Benefits Performance Management Learning & Development Succession Planning Insight Dashboard Application Advertisers’ Index Editorial Resources Full Potential

Talent Management - November 2008

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