Outsourcing vs. In-House
Recruitment: Which is
Better?
You’ve probably wondered about the same thing as your competitors:
Should you do in-house hiring or recruitment process outsourcing (RPO)?
While both options have their merits, the decision mainly depends on the
scope of the project. But before we get to that, let’s discuss what exactly
RPO is and how it works.
Recruitment process outsourcing is a model where a company or an
employer transfers all or a part of the talent sourcing and hiring responsibility
to a third-party recruitment agency. The external service provider acts as an
extension of a company’s HR department who takes care of all recruitment
operations.
Both recruitment solutions, in-house and outsourcing, have their pros and
cons. To help you decide what’s right for your small business, check out some
of the key differences between hiring in-house and RPO.
Outsourcing vs. In-House Recruitment
Scope of responsibilities
The great thing about having an in-house HR team is that you get their
undivided attention. On the other hand, RPO agencies can juggle many hats
beyond recruiting.
 In-house – Your in-house team has the edge over knowing your company
culture, industry fit, and specific hiring needs. They have multiple areas of
responsibility, which can include duties like workforce planning and
development, employee and labor relations, risk management, employee
engagement programs, and recruitment, among others.
 RPO – External service providers can offer flexibility when it comes to
managing responsibilities. They can provide guidance on effective
workforce planning, employer branding, training and development,
building long-term talent pools, and more.
They can fall behind in their recruiting assignments if your team already has
their hands full of other HR responsibilities. Likewise, hiring can take away
valuable time from their other HR responsibilities. If this is the case with your
small business, enlisting the help of an RPO agency may be the optimal route
for you.
Cost-Savings
From interviewing to training, hiring an in-house recruitment team takes
extensive cost, time, and effort. Outsourcing is cost- and time-efficient since it
keeps finances flexible, not fixed.
 In-house – Hiring new staff members doesn’t come cheap. Companies
would have to face financial challenges with fixed HR expenses and even
intangible costs like time to hire a full-time team. These are all on top of
the compensation, benefits, training, and other overhead costs.
 RPO – Working with an RPO can cut your costs significantly as opposed to
hiring in-house HR employees. Finally, you wouldn’t have to bother paying
a monthly fee on LinkedIn and other recruitment platforms and tools. The
RPO agency will essentially cover all the bases of your hiring needs while
controlling recruitment spend.
If you’re a small company, it can put a strain on your resources to hire new
team members on your own. A more cost-effective alternative for you could
be outsourcing your recruiting needs.
Scalability
The RPO model is designed to conveniently scale recruitment processes and
resources up or down at a cost that won’t hurt your business.
 In-house – Hiring or building your own company’s in-house recruiters could
come in handy when business is booming. But what happens when you
realize you need to scale down after a few months? This could only leave
your company with a dent in finances and a surplus of resources.
Additionally, scaling your business up at short notice can be a challenge
for an in-house recruitment team.
 RPO – Hiring the expert services of an RPO can help expand the size of
your team at a comfortable rate. Working with an external service
provider allows you to focus on more important business while ramping up
your team.
Outsourcing provides a more scalable approach for small businesses
compared to having an internal recruitment team of your own. If you’re
thinking of scaling your small business, partnering with an RPO agency is your
best bet.
Degree of Control
Control is crucial for small businesses. Outsourcing will not mean relinquishing
control over your recruitment process. You will, however, have more limited
power over a third-party recruitment team compared to an in-house
department.
 In-house – You get more control over full-time employees because their
sole focus is your small business. You can quickly delegate tasks and easily
set priorities and workplace practices they can follow.
 RPO – Working with an RPO means you may be fighting for their time with
other clients. When you outsource too many responsibilities outside, you
might end up working with maintenance people who only keep the light
on as long as they’re paid.
In some cases, RPO and in-house recruiters can co-exist. You can realign your
in-house department’s responsibilities to focus on more strategic initiatives
and internal affairs. A third-party recruitment team can focus on securing
qualified candidates and hiring processes.
Expertise
RPO companies specialize in the field of recruitment and human resource
solutions. Their job is more than just screening candidates and filling job
positions. They oversee the strategic recruitment process and design solutions
that an in-house team may not be capable of.
 In-house – Surely, you wouldn’t hire an in-house recruitment team that isn’t
an expert in their field. However, some may lack expertise in certain areas,
such as managing all elements of the recruitment process, which is vital to
your business’s competitive edge.
 RPO – A recruitment process outsourcing agency utilizes technologies that
provide optimal audit trails, comprehensive management information,
better analysis, forecasting, and reporting for strategic headhunting.
RPO agencies have broader knowledge and spend more time in the market
to find the right talents for businesses. They know what an excellent
candidate looks like. This means getting right on to business and reducing
project delays.
Summing it up
There are instances that hiring one or a couple of in-house recruiters will do
your company good. However, there are cases where you don’t have the
time and resources to manage the demands of your business. And this is
where a recruitment process outsourcing company like SuperStaff comes
equipped with everything you need.
The only way you can attract the best talent in your industry is by having the
most candidate-friendly recruitment process. An in-house team or an RPO
team can do this for you. You only need to weigh in all the considerations to
help you form the most logical and fitting decision that will affect your
business positively.