As industry dynamics are changing, companies are increasingly looking at smarter ways to fulfil their hiring requirements. To remain competitive, they need to do it in a way that is fast, scalable, and cost efficient. This is where Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) comes into play. RPO is a form of business process outsourcing (BPO) where an employer transfers all or part of its recruitment processes to an external service provider.
Currently, the global staffing market is pegged at $450 billion, of which India contributes about $6.5 billion growing at 20 per cent annually. Specifically, the RPO market in India is estimated at Rs 400 crore, which is growing at 30 per cent annually. The market is expected to double in the next three years.
Evidently, the market is still nascent in India and opportunities galore. In this backdrop, BW Businessworld in partnership with Kelly Services recently hosted a panel discussion titled “Redefining HR through RPO” in Bengaluru, where experts shared their ideas and views on the topic. The panel was moderated by Kamal Karanth A., managing director at Kelly Services and KellyOCG India, and the panellists included Anil Misra, chief human resources officer at Fidelity; Sumedha Pal, country staffing director at Honeywell India; Sumathi Sampath, head-Talent Acquisition at Infosys BPO; and Nadeem Pasha, associate director, HR at Mindtree.
The discussions revolved around a range of thought-provoking ideas around the key drivers of RPO and the associated best practices and challenges. Misra of Fidelity said in India, surprisingly, the key driver for RPO was speed in contrast to developed countries where cost was the key driver. Pal of Honeywell India added that speed, scale and efficiency, and standardisation were the key drivers of RPO in her organisation. She added that cultural assimilation between the RPO and the company is the key to deliver successful outcomes.
Pasha of Mindtree said the success of a company’s relationship with an RPO lies in being able to clearly define the goals and requirements. For instance, at Mindtree, they categorise the skills under three heads — mandatory, desirable, and optional — so that the process of filtering is clear based on the relevance of the skill sets. He added that sometimes it’s also wise to hire a candidate whose skills match just about 60 per cent of the requirements so as to allow further scope for learning and growth.
Similarly, the panel shared a host of insights on the drivers, challenges, and opportunities of RPO. The market in India is indeed nascent with lots of room for growth.
