In this episode, we talk about change management while implementing a new RPO program.
No matter the context, change is hard, but it’s also necessary for improvement. Whether it’s sore muscles after a new workout or frustrations as teams learn new, more efficient systems, it’s impossible to improve without at least things getting at least a little bit hard. The key is making sure that pain isn’t a symptom of something a little more serious.
We can apply this to talent acquisition. Implementing a new RPO program is almost like a merger. You’re assimilating teams, changing processes and likely adding new technologies. It’s not easy, and there will be difficult points. But it’s about making sure that pain is more like a sore muscle than a broken bone.
Emily Gordon, a client delivery leader at PeopleScout joins us to talk about this change management process.
Emily has more than 21 years’ experience in talent acquisition and has overseen sourcing, continual process improvement, and client implementations. Her expertise is in transitions, process improvement, team building, client relationship development, and operational delivery. She holds a Six Sigma Green Belt certification. Emily is a graduate of the University of Michigan.
Emily walks us through her four-step system to drive success during the first 100 days of a new implementation. She shares specific examples of things that went wrong – and right – over her career. Emily explains how you can diagnose the pain of a transition as either normal growing pains – or the symptom of a larger problem.
You can listen to our other podcasts related to RPO here:
The whole person model is a highly bespoke assessment process. We have found that the model functions best in two contexts: high-volume hiring and highly specialized leadership hiring.
If an organization needs to hire a large number of candidates for a specific role or type of role, the whole person model can produce stronger, more diverse candidates and can result in longer-tenured employees. The process of building out the tailored assessments is time- and cost-effective for high-volume hiring.
The whole person model can also be valuable when searching for the right candidate for a leadership role. For organizations in times of transition, it can be especially difficult to identify candidates with the ability to lead through change.
In this article, we will explain how we at PeopleScout apply the model practically to both hiring examples.
Whole Person Model Use Case:
High-Volume Hiring
This infographic is one example of the whole person model in practice for high-volume hiring. It includes three stages and each stage measures different aspects of a candidate’s background, or gears of the whole person model:
A realistic job and culture preview
The One Experience online assessment
The final stage of online assessments, which we
call the Assessment Center
During the realistic job and culture preview, a candidate gets a practical look at what it would be like to work for your organization and in this particular role. This section will include media like a video job description, shaped by your EVP and employer brand and customized to a job’s responsibilities.
Showcasing the job and the employer brand of the organization is critical during the realistic job and culture preview because it assesses the passion and purpose of the candidate. If the candidate identifies with and is enthusiastic about your organization, they will continue through the process. If a candidate does not feel as though their passion and purpose align, they will not continue in the process.
The One Experience assessment is an online holistic tool that assesses each part of the whole person model. Candidates answer questions in a variety of formats that allow them to demonstrate their different strengths Each of the six factors is weighted differently based upon their ability to predict candidate success and the requirements and expectations in a role.
In the One Experience tool, the scores for each type of assessment will be combined and weighted, and candidates who meet a certain threshold will be moved along to the next step. Because there are a variety of ways to earn a passing score on these assessments, there will be a more cognitively diverse group of candidates that make it through this part of the process.
At this stage, the assessments include automated feedback reports so that candidates have a better understanding of why they do or do not move forward. This improves the candidate experience because candidates who do not get the position are not left in the dark. It gives them an opportunity to see why they may not have been the best fit.
The final step is the last set of online assessments, which we call the assessment center, to further narrow the candidate pool. In this example, it measures mindset, passion, capability and behavior. However, it can be adapted to focus on the categories that show the strongest predictive ability for a specific position. This stage also includes automated feedback reports.
Using this model, we see fewer candidates making it past the realistic job and culture preview to complete the One Experience tool, but 50 percent of those who do complete that step go on to pass and move to the assessment center. Those who make it to the assessment center have a pass rate of 75 percent, which is higher than the traditional process. In the old process, clients viewed a pass rate of 50 percent at this stage as high.
Whole Person Model Use Case:
Leadership Hiring
In the case of leadership hiring, rather than using the One
Experience tool, the whole person model uses a deep-dive interview in which the
questions are designed to assess the candidate’s passion, purpose and mindset,
as well as their capability, behavior and results – the six factors included in
the model. By assessing top candidates for these factors, organizations can
better identify leaders who fit well with their organization and goals.
To understand how this works, let’s look at how we applied the whole person model to help the Scottish Police Authority appoint the next Chief Constable for Police Scotland.
How did this impact the onboarding process?
The new Chief Constable continued the developmental work they invested in during the assessments process and received a series of coaching sessions throughout the transition.
All candidates reported a positive experience that provided ample opportunity to demonstrate their capability and suitability for the role.
Applying the Whole Person
Model to Your Hiring
In the current economic climate, employers who hire and retain candidates with a growth mindset and who align with the passion and purpose of the organization will be at an advantage. By assessing for these factors and looking at the whole person, employers can better identify those candidates and set themselves up for success.
When employers face the challenge of hiring a large volume of employees, the model can be customized to efficiently identify the best candidates with a passion for the work and the organization. When an organization is looking to make a leadership hire but is struggling to find candidates with relevant experience, the model can be customized to identify those who can learn, lead and grow with the organization.
Key Takeaways:
The whole person model is a bespoke process and
works best for high-volume and leadership hiring.
When used for high-volume hiring, the whole
person model can produce stronger, more diverse candidates and can result in
longer-tenured employees.
When used for leadership hiring, the model can identify
leaders who fit well with an organization and its culture and goals.
High-Volume Global RPO Solution for International Hospitality Brand
An international hospitality brand—and longstanding PeopleScout client—was experiencing growing pains after an acquisition. The client needed to source, screen and hire an additional 20,000 staff for both corporate and on-site positions at hotel properties across multiple continents—bringing the annual headcount to 65,000 new hires. PeopleScout’s global RPO solution proved agile enough to seamlessly scale up to absorb the increased hiring volume, while hitting target service levels across regions.
65,000Annual Hires
90%Customer Satisfaction Scores Among Hiring Managers
84%Time-to-Fill Targets Achieved for In-Market Roles
100%Time-to-Fill Targets Achieved for Corporate Roles
Situation
PeopleScout facilitates more than 65,000 hires annually for the hospitality brand, delivering RPO through a 350-member team across continents. Roles include management and hourly hiring needs in both corporate and in-market environments, including sales, accounting, technology, e-commerce, infrastructure, risk management, engineering, architecture, property management, customer service, housekeeping, culinary and more.
In addition to corporate hiring in the U.S. and Canada, we’ve recruited for their operations centers in the UK and India and hospitality properties spanning North America, Latin America, EMEA and APAC.
Solution
Starting with a small pilot in 2007, our relationship has developed into a strategic partnership over 15 years. At the start, the client had disjointed hiring processes across regions. PeopleScout’s RPO team streamlined their recruitment processes and developed robust, standardized compliance practices across the entire recruiting program.
Following an acquisition in 2017, the client gained nearly 1,300 properties across over 100 countries. PeopleScout scaled our global talent acquisition program to ensure the established standardized processes and compliance practices were applied to the newly acquired properties, while keeping costs down.
PeopleScout seamlessly absorbed a 20,000-position increase and easily increased resources to meet a 50% increase in the scope of services. This included scaling our RPO solution to cover the end-to-end recruitment process for management positions for all hotel locations and the U.S. and Canadian headquarters. This allowed the in-house HR team to focus on training, workforce planning and employer branding.
PeopleScout also supported the client through three talent technology transitions over the course of the partnership, creating new levels of efficiency through automation. Plus, our in-house creative agency TMP assisted the client with their recruitment marketing efforts, creating attraction content in English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and Turkish.
Results
In just two months, PeopleScout was able to achieve the same level of performance at the newly acquired locations as they had at the legacy locations.
Created standardized recruitment processes and robust compliance practices across all in-market locations resulting in significant cost savings through efficiency
84% time-to-fill targets achieved for in-market hires
Nearly 100% time-to-fill targets achieved for corporate hires
90%+ customer satisfaction scores hit for both in-market and management hires
Achieved nearly 100% consistency in SLAs thanks to standardized operations across PeopleScout’s global delivery centers.
At a Glance
COMPANY: International hospitality brand
PEOPLESCOUT SOLUTIONS: Recruitment Process Outsourcing
ANNUAL HIRES: 65,000
LOCATIONS: Hospitality properties, corporate offices and operational centers across North America, Latin America, Europe and APAC
On this episode of Talking Talent, we’re talking about Recruitment Process Outsourcing or RPO.
RPO is a type of business process outsourcing where an external organization, an RPO provider, supports an employer’s talent acquisition function by assuming responsibility for parts or all facets of talent acquisition for some or all of an employer’s hiring needs.
During an RPO engagement, the RPO company works closely with a client’s talent acquisition or HR department and hiring managers to learn the organization’s long-term talent acquisition strategy, hiring challenges and goals.
RPO providers then design a customized recruiting program tailored to support the client’s specific needs. This focus on client consultation and partnership distinguishes an RPO program from standard staffing agencies and headhunters.
RPO engagements are not only about outsourcing your recruiting, they are also about finding the best partner to help manage the people, process, technology and strategy of your talent acquisition function.
To talk about RPO, joining us is Jessie McGowan, PeopleScout’s leader of business development in North America. She spends the majority of her time talking to prospective customers about our solutions here at PeopleScout, but she is client delivery at heart.
Jessie talks about the factors that drive RPO buyers, what makes an RPO partnership different than other third-party vendors and how you can set the right SLAs and KPIs to drive success in your program. Looking forward, Jessie digs into what technology and the push toward total workforce solutions mean for talent acquisition.
Learn from our other PeopleScout experts in previous Talking Talent episodes:
