A recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) engagement may be different than any other “outsourced” relationship you have with a vendor. And that’s the way it should be. It should be a healthy relationship that gets results.

That’s what we’ll be talking about on Wednesday, January 22 at 1:00 pm EST during a short panel discussion produced by the RPOA, titled, yes, you guessed it: How to Manage a Healthy RPO Relationship that Stays Focused on Results. Ray Rike, COO of Accolo, Inc., and I will be giving you some tips on how to do just that.

It will be a great discussion. You can get more information and register for the panel discussion here, or on the RPOA site. I hope you can join us, but I thought I’d get you started with a few things to think about right now.

So what do I mean by different? Shouldn’t all of your relationships be healthy and get results? The answer is “yes” and “yes”. However, with RPO, this aspect is critical to success. To actually reap the benefits of an RPO engagement, certain things need to be in place.

Here are a few things that immediately come to mind:

Cultural Fit and Understanding – To begin with, you, as a client, need to be comfortable with the nature of RPO and the concept of outsourcing something as critical and internal to your organization as recruiting. The idea of outsourcing is really not the best concept for recruiting for the very reason that it is such an internal process with great internal impact. But if you are good with the overall concept, then you need to find an RPO partner who can integrate into your culture. Success will only come with an RPO partner who understands and fits with your culture.

Good Communication – Most of us don’t communicate well all the time, in every instance. And let’s face it – when it comes to hiring, sometimes we just want to get it over with. But with RPO, communication is critical on both sides of the relationship because there are so many people involved. There is the HR stakeholder who is, to some extent, putting his or her reputation on the line by outsourcing part or all of the company’s recruiting. Then there are all the department heads, project managers and hiring managers who consume the service. Good communication on all levels is critical to success.

Trust – Lastly, and most importantly, is trust. This encompasses both ideas above, because if you choose the right RPO provider, with a good cultural fit and good communication, you should be able to trust that they will get the job done. Now, trust usually works best when there are reasonable expectations, measurable goals in place and clear communication. But in RPO, one of the best things that can happen is for the client to trust the RPO provider to develop the right program to achieve the goals.

That’s just a quick taste of some of the things needed for a healthy RPO relationship. Join us on Wednesday, when we’ll talk in more detail during the RPOA panel discussion, How to Manage a Healthy RPO Relationship that Stays Focused on Results. Hope you’ll join us.