Are you focused on the benefits of creating strong stakeholder engagement from the outset, and on working on the business case for change? Are you teaching and solving or reciting and repeating? Once you’ve got the crucial foundations in place, the key area of focus is to get the scope of the services right. This is where you can add real value, and you’d be well-served to recognize this opportunity to do so in these early stages when engaging with a client.

Recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) or managed services providers (MPSs) are frequently contracted to drive improvements in high-level outcomes like risk mitigation, time-tohire or cost-per-hire. While achieving improvements in these key metrics is important, a singular focus here without considering how the proposed service improves the efficiency of the organization can sometimes lead to an organization adopting a service and a technology that isn’t fit for purpose for their organization or ways of working. Be wary of this landmine as it surely flows to the supply chain. Any MSP provider should consult with you around the technology, tools and business processes required to deliver the services, designing them in such a way as they streamline processes, and avoid annoying workarounds, so that the client is benefiting from improved efficiency as well.

Now, unless you are an expert in recruitment platforms and have a detailed knowledge of the wide variety of systems that can be deployed for these solutions, you should ask the MSP to workshop with you around what the key processes will be, so you can see how they will introduce efficiency as another key outcome of the services being implemented.

One key trend that has steadily increased since the mid-2000s is the deployment of outsourced recruitment programs across ever-broader geographies. The benefits are clear to your multinational clients as they have to work with fewer partners and benefit from the economies of scale of working with one partner in many places. Unfortunately, a related trend is client organizations assuming all geographies are the same, and that what works in one country will work in others.

The significance of cultural difference itself warrants a separate article, however working with an international outsourcing partner that is based in the main territories you are considering should help to shortcut the learning here, and help you avoid the embarrassing situation where a local outpost refuses to adopt your program, hence limiting your client’s return on investment.

Most organizations use due diligence extensively in determining which suppliers to work with, with customer references key in the decision-making process. We find that site visits to see suppliers and their premises are used less frequently, even though it’s an opportunity to meet the day-to-day delivery teams. I actively encourage prospective clients to visit our Centers of Excellence around the world, and you should take this approach, too, to differentiate against your competitors. If you are, as are we, truly proud of their achievements, and the environment created for our teams to deliver exceptional service, encouraging buyers to use supplier visits more regularly will only work in your favor. We would certainly welcome any request to visit one of our centers from any interested buyer. I always recommend that you bring a mix of advocates and detractors to a site visit as it can often help buyers, key stakeholders or service users to see the services in action and bring the outsourced service to life.

In the end, tailoring your approach to a client and its service provider will grow opportunity for you when others see it shrinking for them. Those that embrace service and technology evolution will outpace, and eventually outlast, those dinosaurs that stick to the same old way of doing things.