Thanksgiving, a national holiday primarily celebrated in the U.S. and Canada as a day of “giving thanks” for the blessings of the harvest, the year that was and the year ahead. The first ever Thanksgiving feast—which took place in Plymouth, Massachusetts and joined together two unlikely groups, the Pilgrims and Wampanoag Indians—culminated in a three-day feast celebrating new-found teamwork, collaboration and unity; three components vital to the success of every workplace.
Suffice it to say, many are likely still in midst of their food coma and hopefully recovering while on vacation. But for those at work this fine Friday, Talent Acquisition Fast Factsremains a constant. As we shift our sights from November to December, from 2013 to 2014, and as we remember the importance of teamwork and partnership, this week’s edition features highlights from Aberdeen Group’s latest state of talent acquisition report—Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) 2013: Transforming Your Talent Acquisition Strategy.
Without further ado, talent acquisition on the go:
57% of organizations have or are planning to invest in RPO for support and guidance in identifying and recruiting quality talent, as well as driving strategic business outcomes on a long-term basis; this number is up from 43% of organizations in 2011 and 53% in 2012.
Organizations currently investing in RPO partnerships are experiencing hiring management satisfaction improvements twice as high as organizations that do not leverage RPO.
57% of organizations report having a “reactionary approach” to talent acquisition throughout 2013, this compared to 44% of organizations in 2012; this 13% increase over the past year indicates many companies have regressed in their approach to identifying talent.
One of the primary reasons for the aforementioned regression: internal and external pressures facing organizations have intensified—“leaving many organizations feeling paralyzed about what actions they need to take,” according to the report; for example, the top issue facing organizations is the shortage of critical skills—reaching 64% in 2013 compared to 55% in 2012.
According to the Aberdeen report, the top talent acquisition pressures/challenges facing organizations in 2013:
1) Shortages of required skills available in the labor pool (64%), as noted above
2) Pressure to meet the company’s growth objectives (48%)
3) Trouble sourcing enough qualified candidates to fill openings (47%)
True RPO partnerships are anchored in stringent, multi-year service level agreements (SLAs) to ensure the creation of a trusted partnership built on a foundation of accountability and transparency; as indicated by survey respondents investing in RPO, the top metrics built into SLAs to evaluate the success of RPO engagements are:
1) Time-to-fill (55%)
2) Candidate guaranteed (49%)
3) Position guaranteed (45%)
4) Customer satisfaction (40%)
5) Hiring manager satisfaction (35%)
Are you surprised by the continued rise in Recruitment Process Outsourcing partnerships? Why do you suppose RPO partnerships are leading to such a spike in hiring management satisfaction? Despite proven success for many organizations, do you believe an in-house approach to talent acquisition is more important for the long-term?
We’d love to hear your thoughts!