What Is Recruitment Outsourcing? A Comprehensive Overview

By Cam Velasco

CEO & Co-Founder

Published: April 15, 2024

Recruitment outsourcing empowers companies to streamline hiring by leveraging external expertise, ensuring scalability, cost efficiency, and a focus on core business activities.
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Have you ever wondered what is recruitment outsourcing? With this blog’s content, you’ll understand that is a strategy where businesses delegate their hiring processes to external experts. This approach can significantly enhance hiring efficiency, quality of hires, and cost-effectiveness.

What Is Recruitment Outsourcing & Why Companies Should Implement It?

Companies decide to get help with hiring for a few big reasons:

Scalability

Using recruitment outsourcing means a company can easily hire more or fewer people as needed. Instead of having their team for hiring, which involves training and managing new staff, companies can use ready-to-go teams and resources. This is handy for quickly filling positions when there’s a sudden need or cutting back when things are slow.

Cost Efficiency

Choosing this option can save money on hiring. The outsourcing process has access to fancy tools and resources that would cost a lot for a company to get on its own. Also, by working with it, companies change fixed hiring costs into costs that go up and down based on how many people they’re hiring.

Expertise

They use the latest methods and tools and have a big network of potential employees. This kind of know-how is hard for companies to have on their own if hiring isn’t their main job.

Focus on Core Business

When companies let an outsourcing company handle hiring, they can spend more time and energy on the most important parts of their business. This means the company’s team can work on big goals that help make money and bring new ideas, instead of getting bogged down by the details of hiring. This helps them use their resources in the best way possible.

What is Recruitment Outsourcing? Types of Engagements

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Recruitment Outsourcing engagements can differ based on what a company needs and how they want to work together. 

End-to-End Offshoring

In this setup, the recruitment provider handles everything related to hiring for the client. This includes finding candidates, screening them, setting up interviews, and handling job offers.

The offshoring team works closely with the company’s hiring managers to make sure everything runs smoothly. They might work from the company’s office, remotely, or from a special recruitment center. This approach gives the company access to the best tools for tracking applicants and understanding hiring data.

Project-Based 

This type of contraction is all about filling a certain number of jobs or handling a sudden need to hire a lot of people quickly. It has specific goals and deadlines, like hiring 100 engineers in the next three months.

It can use the company’s current systems or bring in new tools. This option is flexible, allowing companies to adjust as their needs change.

On-Demand 

On-demand lets companies get recruiting help whenever they need it. For example, a company might use it for finding candidates or to help out when they’re hiring a lot of people at once.

This model is easy to start, with straightforward costs and no long-term commitments. It’s a quick way to get expert help with hiring.

Hybrid 

Hybrid mixes do some recruiting in-house and outsource other parts. Companies can decide what they want to handle themselves and what they’d rather have the outsourced company do.

For example, a company might use recruitment outsourcing for roles where they need to hire a lot of people, but keep hiring for specialized positions in-house. This mix offers a balance of control, saving money, and being flexible.

Benefits of Recruitment Outsourcing

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Recruitment outsourcing brings some big perks over doing hiring by yourself. These providers use their know-how and tools to make hiring better and easier.

Access to Wider Talent Pools

Some outsourcing companies have big lists of potential employees and know a lot of people. They look everywhere like online job sites, social media, and colleges to find the right folks for the job. This means they can find good people, even for jobs that are usually hard to fill.

Improved Candidate Quality

Recruitment outsourcing companies are good at checking if someone is right for the job. They do interviews, check references, and use tests to make sure only the best candidates are considered. This means the people you hire are likely to be a better fit than if you did it all on your own.

Recruitment Outsourcing Process: How It Works?

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The outsourcing process usually goes through a few important steps.

Initiation

The first step is to sit down and talk about what you need and expect. This includes figuring out what kind of people you need to hire and deciding what you can do yourself and what you need help with.

This early chat helps make a plan that’s just right for you.

Design

Then, the talent provider puts together a plan showing how they’ll help you hire, including what they’ll take care of, the tools and tech they’ll use, and how they’ll work with you (in your office, from afar, or a mix).

The plan makes sure everything fits well with what you need and how you work.

Performance Management

Lastly, the provider keeps an eye on things by watching important hiring numbers, checking how well things are going, and adjusting plans as things change.

This step makes sure the service keeps getting better and changes as your needs do.

Selecting the Right Talent Provider

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Expertise & Experience

When choosing an outsourcing service provider, it’s important to look at their skills and past work in hiring people, especially in areas like marketing and creative jobs. Check if they have a good track record of finding people who not only have the right skills but also fit well with the company’s culture. Ask them how they keep up with new ways of hiring and if they understand the latest trends in your industry.

Cultural Fit

It’s also important to see if the recruitment company understands your culture and values. They should be excited about what you do and understand the kind of people you’re looking for. If they don’t get your company, they might end up bringing in great candidates who don’t stick around because they don’t fit in well.

Choose partners who feel like a natural part of your team. If they don’t match well, it could make hiring harder and lead to more people leaving the job.

Passion for Matchmaking

The best recruitment provider should care about matching you with the right talent. They should see themselves as part of your team and be focused on finding people who will help your company succeed, not just filling positions.

Look for companies that want to deeply understand what yours needs, from the kind of team you have to the specific skills you’re missing. Providers who are really into finding the perfect match will come up with specific plans to tackle your hiring challenges. Their main goal should be to make both you and your new hires happy.

Pricing Models

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There are different ways talent providers charge for their services:

Cost Per Hire

With the cost-per-hire model, your company pays a set fee for each person you end up hiring. This fee can change depending on the job – hiring a manager might cost more than hiring someone just starting.

Usually, the fee for each hire is between 15-30% of the new employee’s first-year salary.

Monthly Fee

Some companies ask for a steady monthly fee to handle your hiring tasks. This fee pays for their team, the tech they use, and their office space. Sometimes, it might also cover extra stuff like making your company look good to job seekers.

This way, you know exactly what you’ll pay each month, which makes planning easier. But, if you suddenly need to hire more or fewer people, this model doesn’t change as easily. Monthly fees can be anywhere from $5,000 to over $15,000.

Hybrid Fee Structures

Lots of recruitment outsourcing companies mix a monthly fee with extra charges for each hire.

For example, the monthly fee might cover basic hiring work like looking for people and checking them out. Then, if you hire someone, you pay an extra fee for the additional steps like background checks and getting them started.

This mix lets you plan your costs but also gives you the flexibility to adjust if your hiring needs change.

Challenges and Considerations

Recruitment outsourcing can bring a lot of good things to the table, but there are some bumps in the road to watch out for. Knowing about these challenges ahead of time and figuring out how to handle them can help make sure your experience goes well.

Loss of Control

Some businesses worry that by using an outside company for hiring, they won’t have as much say in who gets hired. A good recruitment company will work closely with you at every step, making sure you’re involved in decisions from start to finish. They’re there to help carry out your plans, not to take over.

Keeping in touch often and sharing information about candidates makes sure you’re still in charge. 

Communication Gaps

Clear communication is key when working with these kinds of companies. It’s important to share what you’re looking for in employees, your company culture, and what makes a perfect candidate for you. Also, be open to hearing their suggestions.

Set up regular times to check in on how things are going and talk about any concerns early. Use technology like video calls to overcome any distance or cultural differences, and approach these conversations with understanding and patience.

Culture Clashes

Every outsourcing company has its way of doing things. It’s important to find one that works well with your company’s style. Ask about how they communicate, their values, and their approach to diversity, equity, and inclusion. 

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Cam Velasco

CEO & Co-Founder

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