Time to Hire

EP 25: Talent and Procurement Leaders on RPO's Evolving Role in Talent and Procurement

• Recruitment Process Outsourcing Association (RPOA)

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In this episode of Time to Hire, Lamees Abouramha welcomes global talent and procurement experts to discuss the changing role of Recruitment Process Outsourcing in talent acquisition and procurement strategies. Moderator Sherry Hamilton leads procurement officer Michael Stringer and global talent expert Gloria MacLennan through key developments for 2025. The panel explores how RPO providers deliver value through technology innovation while maintaining human connections. They highlight the importance of data transparency and strong partnerships between talent teams and procurement. Listeners will learn how RPO solutions help organizations address talent shortages and adapt to changing business needs. The discussion provides practical insights on selecting RPO partners who can future-proof talent strategies.

The panel discuss:

  • Changes expected in procurement and talent acquisition in 2025
  • The importance of simplification in recruitment processes
  • How AI is impacting talent acquisition while maintaining a human touch
  • The role of cost in RPO partnerships
  • Challenges talent and procurement teams face with evolving skill requirements
  • How organizations can select and work with RPO providers to future-proof their businesses
  • The importance of collaboration, transparency, and partnership between companies and RPO providers

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Sherry Hamilton 

Thank you. Lamees. Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to today's webinar on Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) and its evolving role in talent acquisition and procurement strategies.  My name is Sherry Hamilton, and I bring about twenty years of experience in human capital to our discussion today. Throughout my career, I've served as a talent acquisition leader working closely with procurement teams. I've helped organizations transform their recruitment strategies, led global talent solutions, and guided businesses through the complex process of selecting and implementing RPO partnerships and technology solutions.

My name is Sherry Hamilton. I am honored to be moderating today's session. I'll just do a quick introduction of myself. I've got about 20 years of experience in human capital. I've had the privilege of being a talent acquisition leader and working with procurement, helping organizations as they transform their recruitment strategies. I've also had the opportunity to lead global talent solutions, optimizing recruiting operations, and guide businesses through that complex process to select the right RPO partner and technology solution, which is a lot of what we'll be talking about today. 

We'll take a deep dive into best practices and how we partner with your RPO counterparts and also internal stakeholders, understanding what the nuances of procurement are and exploring the impact of the advanced technologies that we have at our fingertips today that shape the future of RPO.

We're joined by two incredible panelists who will share their unique insights from their perspective and talent acquisition and procurement joining us today we have Mr. Michael Stringer, chief procurement officer, and talent acquistion expert Gloria MacLennan.

Michael, can I call on you to make the first introduction? 

Michael Stringer 

Thank you Sherry and Lamees as well, looking for the discussion today. Good afternoon to everybody. The exciting part about today's discussion is that I get to talk about procurement, which I genuinely love. My background spans consulting across various industries, culminating in his current role heading global procurement for a Fortune 500 insurance company.

I'm a procurement leader and practitioner. Have experience from consulting across many industries, as well as, most recently, the head of global procurement for Fortune 500 insurance company across various  markets. I remember when I started my career, I was actually sourcing and partnering with HR leaders for RPO solutions. And then moved around the globe as my career progressed.

You're going to hear me talk about partnerships with RPO providers from a procurement perspective. How can RPO providers build something that's fit for clients' purposes, HR leaders and talent acquisition leaders. And the things to consider about your existing relationship or when starting a brand new relationship, 

Gloria MacLennan 

Hi everyone. Gloria MacLennan here and I am a global talent management strategic sourcing enthusiast. I'm excited to be here today to talk about another evolution in talent, how we're engaging it, and what we're using to engage it. I'm excited to be a part of this next evolution of talent, if you will. I come from the global solutions as well. I've had a fabulous career. I've been on the talent acquisition side, strategic sourcing side, buying, selling and implementing sides. It's been an amazing journey. I'm quite pleased to be here. And Lamees, thank you very much for having me. I'm quite honored to be part of the panel with Michael and having Sherry moderate for us as well. So exciting times ahead.

Sherry Hamilton 

Thank you Gloria, and thank you Michael. And it sounds like we've all been around talent, procurement, and RPO strategy implementation. We're going to have a great panel today, but just a little bit of information about what we're going to cover today. As we all know, the recruitment landscape for 2024 has experienced its challenges, including economic constraints, the fluctuating hiring needs, the ever evolving advancements in technology, which we'll continue to see, by the way, and we'll talk a little bit more about that, alongside some very cautious spending, which have led to what we're going to see in 2025 which looks like it's going to be a recalibration.

As we enter the new year, we're anticipating a refocus on what recruitment strategy looks like, and which brings RPO front and center and position very well as these recalibrations take place. I Want to really highlight the facts that scalability, flexibility and simple simplification process, and we'll hear more about those from our experts and providing that data transparency for our client. Partners are going to be front and center here. Clients are looking for that partnership, the expertise, the leadership, support and guidance as we look at the coming years.

RPO growth in 2022 the global Recruitment Process Outsourcing market was valued at about 7.3 billion, and it's expected to grow at about 16.1% from 2023 to 2030 we'll hear our panelists talk about how data helps them make big decisions on how AI, which I'm sure everyone's excited to hear about. And technology will play a huge part in the growth of RPO by giving us that simplification and helping develop the employer value proposition, let's not forget just how important it is to maintain the human touch, which I'm hoping we're also going to hear a lot about increasing transparency, how that's going to break down barriers across the entire organization. I think we've all seen that, how barriers get thrown up between talent and procurement and HR and technology. And I think we'll hear a lot about how we we go about breaking those down. And if I know these two, they'll also talk about multi generational workforces and how critical they are to our future proofing on the workplace and bringing the right skills together.

As enterprise RPO continues to lead the market share at approximately 69% on the global front, we're expecting that healthcare will outpace the rest by around 18% but before I begin, I want to encourage you all to engage with us by sending in your questions, and depending on the type or the nature of the question, we'll either address it right away or we'll save it until the end, and I'll be interacting with you as you enter your questions into the chat. And so let's go ahead and Gloria, Michael, are you ready? We'll go ahead and start with question number one.

What changes from a procurement and talent acquisition perspective, do you expect to experience in 2025

Michael Stringer 

Michael Stringer 7:23

As I talk to business leaders and so forth like that. It's a lot around the simplification. How can an RPO solution simplify our businesses?

And by the way, all your clients businesses are challenging, right? Everybody has hard processes. They could probably have some enhancements, and so forth. So again, something to consider. HR leaders are looking like for, how do we simplify our candidates experience. Because, again, and when you think of it, you're the first interaction they may have into the into the enterprise. I look at it from how do you simplify the operational experience, there's going to be AI there too. Gloria, we were talking about the other day, every organization is looking at where they can inject AI broader than just HR, finance, legal, etc, right, even from a procurement standpoint, right? Like it's here, right?

But then also we have that human touch, right? I'm bumping around a bit because, you know, everything we do, you know, we want to make sure that we have a simplified process internally, like with our internal stakeholders, right? We make it easier, but then also the candidate experience data, like Sherry, you hit on it, right? So I'm not gonna go too deep, because if we do, then we'll have to back pedal. So I don't know, Gloria, your thoughts on just simplification before we dive, because there's other areas too, right?

Gloria MacLennan 

Yeah, simplification is such a key these days, right? What I find in in my experience, in working with clients, is we have a lot of I don't want to call it old technology, but unnecessary technology that we're using and going through the process. And I think people are concerned about, if we remove it, what do we replace it with? How do we go about that? But it is necessary, and I keep thinking of the other thought process of we need to be thinking agile.

How do we work better. How do we work faster? How do we streamline these processes? What can we cut out and move along right that we don't need anymore that has just been there setting right, which, in many cases, is very hard for companies, right? And as far as AI goes, you know, I have read books, I have taken a couple of classes. I think that it is going to certainly be beneficial for our business. We need to be more agile again and move faster as well, right? And again, a lot of it has to do with that candidate experience. How do we make all of that work so that there is still an emphasis on how that candidate experiences, whether it's the interview processes, whether it's the onboarding process, or what ever it might be, because that is a determining factor these days with candidates and their decisions, right? You could have the most perfect candidate you want them, and there's something that in that whole process, right, that did not work for them.

Michael Stringer 

Business stakeholders I talked to want to make sure that we find top talent, they have a good, strong pipeline. Also ensure they provide a good candidate experience, because if you've got a candidate that has a couple options, and it is challenging, and if they've done things multiple times, and things take a long time, you run a risk of losing the candidate. That's going to be something that we talk about. 

Gloria MacLennan 

It's that personal touch, I guess, is a good way to describe it.

Sherry Hamilton 

Gloria and Michael, I love what you're talking about, the direction you're going with the human touch too, because we all have to work together. At the end of the day, if AI is going to help hire us , we still have to work together and get along and have the same sense of culture that the organization has so really important that we maintain that human touch.

Gloria MacLennan 

When we think about the culture and the business objectives and the branding that all fits into that whole candidate experience.  And how we're engaging them, whether we're doing it ourselves, whether we're using a RPO provider that is all part of that process, and how we need to all work together to bring that to life, so to speak, and bring that out to the candidate. It falls under the employer value proposition. You know, it's all evolving, it's a critical part of it. And especially with many things that have changed in the industries today. Every industry is different. So when we're looking at those employer value propositions, how does it pertain to the specific industry. And the branding as well, it's a big bucket to work through. For sure, we have a lot on our plates as talent acquisition leaders and engagements and our RPO providers as well.

Sherry Hamilton 

I want to throw kind of a curve ball out there at you, Michael, so when we think about AI what's most important to you and your role and as a CPO from an AI perspective, and then we'll also talk about it from a candidate experience perspective.

Michael Stringer 

Okay? I've got the view of as a procurement leader, right? I'm looking at individually my business, just like an HR leader would or a finance leader as well, right? How do we take out, sometimes manual processes and then take out additional steps, like Gloria was talking about, like, how do we stop doing things, and sometimes even from my consulting days and even, like, Industry Days, right? You know, some companies, whether they're early in their evolution or they've been around greater than 100 years, they pick up things in the process sometimes get convoluted, and challenging. So you definitely want to be able to leverage AI to actually cut through that, take steps out, speed up the process as well. When I put the, you know, the hat on, from one working with our HR business partners and so forth like that, as well, we look at it to say, one, you know. And I hear them talk about, how do we find the right candidates, right? But then also ensuring that you have the right controls in place, right? So there's not a bias and so forth as well. That's a whole another area, right? But they're going to be looking to, they're thinking about it, right? We're all thinking about AI internally, but as an RPO provider, you have to be able to talk to that, right? So even if you're going through, so if you're going through a sourcing process, right, you're, you're coming into a new business. You're trying to win business, even if your client, potential client, doesn't ask about AI, you better be talking about it right, because the majority of, like, leading edge, they're already doing it right. And then you've got other other firms that are like, hey, sort of, let's wait and see, but we're still interested. And then you've got others are like, well, so you've got to be ready for that, right? You've got to be able to talk about where you are using technology and AI, right, to simplify their business too, and make things easier for them.

So that was long winded, but again, you've got to be ready for that. And then, oh, by the way, for HR leaders on the call and our talent acquisition leaders, you should be asking about that, even if your organization's not right. So if you've got a really good procurement team, which I hope you all do, they should be also guiding you as a business partner, right to say, okay, these are the things going on in the marketplace. These are the things we should be asking about. But again, as we go through the day, you should hopefully have a checklist, right to say, these are things as a TA or HR leader, right? These are things I should be asking about, but definitely RPO provider, same thing. I'm going to flip the script and also say, Yes, you should be talking about these things regardless in your sales pitch, and then, oh, by the way, even after you you win the business, right? So you're going to hear me talk about and Gloria. You've heard me, you know, we've all been part of the process of helping clients through this set in the past, right? Even your year one year two, in your in your relationship, you should be, every year, aligning with business objectives. Where are you right from your HR strategy? Where are you from a tech strategy? How are we aligned that way? You don't find yourself in an RFP process, right? If they love you so much. Again, we want those are the things that you're going to continue to evolve as well. So I took that far. Sherry, Gloria, what did I miss?

Sherry Hamilton

I love what you said. Sorry there. Gloria, I was just going to throw that out there to you too. When RPO approaches you, from a talent perspective, what do you want to hear about AI?

Gloria MacLennan 

I want to understand, first of all, what their tech stack looks like. What have they done? What are they improving? What do they have to bring to the party, so to speak. How are they going to build that people strategy, and help to create that future ready workforce, right? Because that's all part of that whole technology piece of it, right? But I really want to understand, you know, what does their tech stack look like? What is their CRM? What are they doing? How are they building their pipelines and and how are they sourcing based on specific industries as well.

What is their plan? Because every industry is different. We've talked about that, right? And so that workforce is going to look different. What are they doing to address that? Is that their niche? You know, I have a list of 14 questions that you know that go far, because I love my list that go far, talent acquisition leaders, HR folks, but it's also the same sort of questions for RPO providers, right? Because the one thing that that is important as we think about this journey collaboration is a key cross functional collaboration, transparency and also partnerships. And I think that is our key to success, is getting everyone on that same page, in the same room, right to build out the strategy for that workforce and also understanding what's coming next, what is coming next. And we need that from our customers, and we need that from our RPO providers as well. You know, my expectation, if I put my sourcing hat on, has always been, what are you going to tell me what? What's going on in the industry? How is it going to impact my business? I have a very specialized business. How are we going to address that, short term and long term, right? How is that going to look? And conversely, so being on the talent acquisition side and hiring engaging talent, talking to my team members, cross functional team members, what are you looking at? What are the needs going to be? How are we going to source that? It's it's a it's a big job. Talent is talent makes our world go round. And you know, gotta have it. Gotta have the right talents, right?

Michael Stringer 

You hit on a couple things that are interesting, right? So, of course, I immediately went to my the tech stack, right? Like every organization is also so where you can plug. Like, you know your technology, and is it better? Can you help your, your, you know your your client, right, or potential client, right? Like you're gonna, you're trying to win business. How can you help them some sunset, some of their tech? Right? Because that's always something to manage, too, right? I always think through that. And from my consulting days in my my industry days, there's times that it's like, what is on our tech stack, why we have so much? What can we sunset? How can we simplify that too? That's a whole nother realm of simplification, right? But if you bring a solution that can help your your your client, right, as an RPO solutions provider, and you can help your client sunset, a few systems, beautiful, right? So just keep that in mind too.

And then Gloria, you hit on again, that business partner, like relationship strategic partner, right, right? It's expected for you to be that way, right? So from a cara standpoint, we're going to be like working with the line of business as we're evaluating right, new business and existing business. Of like, how's the relationship, right? What are they bringing to the table, right? Or, how are they helping you understand the external market, right? Yeah. So, just, it's almost back Sherry and I were talking right about, again, what makes a customer happy, right? And it's that relationship. And you have to be careful, too, because sometimes, like an RPO solution can be great year one, year two. But then, you know, if there's changes in leadership, maybe within the company, the enterprise changes the leadership about RPO, you've gotta keep your finger like on the you gotta keep a pulse on that, right? So even at a minimum, you're annually, sitting down going through and saying, what's changing in your business. What are you guys thinking? Where are you going from an HR talent standpoint, What are you looking to do? Because you always want to be aligned, right? So that's one thing I see occasionally. And again, Gloria Sherry chime in as well. You get the year three, year four, year five down the road. And that, I must want to say, the relationship sort of pools, right? And you're like, Oh, okay. And it's hard to implement an RPO solution, right? So companies don't, like, enjoy, you know, changing one out, right? And a lot goes into bringing one in and changing a business.

Gloria MacLennan 

What I see now happening is that, because of our overall economic climate, how things have changed, businesses change their business model. One day they're building something, a widget and wages, that business slows down, and all of a sudden they've got a course correct and start a different product or start a different service. And how does that impact the talent, and how they're going to get that talent, and how does that impact the RPO provider, and how they need to be able to switch gears to to adjust to this new business model. That is some of the bigger challenges that I've seen out there recently, right? And where does that talent come from? And you know, and how you upskill that talent to, rather than replace, how do you upskill that talent to address the new business model, right? It's very interesting dynamic.

Sherry Hamilton 

Gloria and  Michael, I think I'm hearing a common theme here. I think I'm hearing something I like to say is, you know, innovation is not what we're going to read about today in HRO Magazine, it's what we are going to innovate that is going to be written about six months from now, right? So continuing to keep things fresh, keep that innovation going. That's what you both want to see in your respective roles, is what kind of innovation are you bringing to the table? And continue to bring that right?

Gloria MacLennan 

Absolutely. 

Michael Stringer 

How are we doing on time, Sherry, we can keep going, right?

Sherry Hamilton 

We can keep going, and we've got a few more minutes for this question. And I just now want to, we talked about AI, and now I want to talk about the other side of that coin, right the human touch. So let's kind of touch on, you know, what? Where do you see that human touch being so critically important and and why? How does it impact culture, etc?

Gloria MacLennan 

The human touch, you know, from my perspective, right? It is the critical one. And how do we do interviews on platforms. We are going through those processes, which has been happening for quite some time. But how do we pull out of that and get back to a closer relationship with that candidate? Right? I just think that is a critical point in that when you're talking with a candidate about a position, that they are understanding more about the business and what the culture is. And the culture can be many different things, right? It's very broad perspective. So, you know, how do you foster; how are you fostering growth? What does my future look like? Do you have plans for me? You know, what are you doing from a business perspective to help educate us? Are we being paired with people who can increase my knowledge. 

Michael Stringer 

Human touch isn't going away. I mean, it's got to be there. If it were to move away, you would have challenges. From the employer value prop, what sets your business above. Those are going to be the discussions that happen to ensure one as they're looking at candidates and how successful they are in bringing candidates in, too, that's going to tie back to the data, too. So Sherry, you're seeing me go back and say absolutely, if you go through, you know, as you work with procurement leaders and a lot of business leaders for any RPO solution, you know, again, having that data, I'm switching Gloria, because I was thinking through this. I was like, you've got the human touch, right? But then you're also looking at the data, right? So you can make decisions quickly, right? And also very transparent, because when, when I sit down with HR leaders, they need to look at their total population, right, of their business, right? So their FTEs and their contingent workforce, and, oh, by the way, there's a risk component around that too, right? Like, how are we protecting the business we've got, you know, so there's so much that goes into it. I don't see that going away with with with AI, right? And there's gonna be more and more focus to ensure that we have that right. But, and then, even with my procurement hat on, right, too, right, as I'm bringing individuals into my business, that partner across the globe, right, and work with leaders at the global, region and country level, right? I've got to make sure that I have top talent right, that aligns with our business culture wherever you are, right? So that goes back to that fit for purpose. You're going to hear me talk about that as you go into relationships too. So I jumped around from human touch. 100% agree, right? You can't get away from that, or you're going to start you will have challenges, right? And bringing individuals in, and then also keeping them too, right? That's a whole nother challenge, right? So, all right, I just, I was just

Sherry Hamilton 

I love where both of you guys are going with that, and I'm just keeping an eye on time. I don't have any questions yet, so I want to throw one more question out there, Michael, which I know is going to be near and dear to your heart before we move on to the next topic. But how important is cost?

Michael Stringer 

People always say, people always think like procurement only cares about cost. Um, so at the end of the day, I always say cost just so good procurement organizations, right, and leaders, right. They partner with the line of business, right. Line of Business has, has a budget, right? But, you know, really, at the end of the day, it's important, but it's not the key driving factor, right? So that's where we talk about, you know, having a strong partnership with your HR leadership right, to ensure one you're delivering on, right? Their key objectives, like, maybe your stakeholder wants standardized processes globally, right? They want better data so they can understand what's happening around the globe, but from their workforce, right? So I would say I'm a different type of procurement leader, where. Cost. It's important. But again, at the end of the day, if you're, you know, delivering against, you know, your HR leaders like objectives, cost, it works out, right? So again, and by the way, and Gloria has heard me say this, I was like any RPO provider, if all you're doing is getting beaten up on price. You should maybe question like, is this a relationship we want to be in? Because, you know, you know, and I have a finance background, so yes, I get it, but you've got to make sure you have solutions in place that meet objectives where you won't be there, right? So, so it's, it's interesting, right? So we could have fun with this, but I'd say you got to make sure that you align with the budget, right? But at the end of the day, you deliver for your your HR leaders, a solution that they can't live without. And we have top talent coming in the organization. Which talents the most important thing in any organization? GLORIA We've talked about that you could have the Great, the best product or services, but your talent is the key right to your business, right? So I'll stop there. 

Gloria MacLennan 

I'd like to add something to that too, if I might, too. So when we think about because I just recently went through, you know, this cost analysis for bringing on talent and technology, and I look at it and say that cost that we're looking at is going to come back two fold to us, because the talent that we bring on board, the technology that we're using that helps engage that talent and identify the talent Bring It On is going to add revenue to that bottom line. So we're going to recoup that cost, right by bringing on the right resources that will contribute to the continued growth and success of a business.

Sherry Hamilton 

I'm so glad youadded  that Gloria because I was just going to say it sounds like the theme here is there's the cost of quality.

Michael Stringer 

You should question, right? If, again, and I've heard horror stories from providers, are like, hey, procurement, just like, beats us down. It's like, well, hold on a second. You've got to make sure your line of business is happy, right? And then you should also challenge, right? Because, again, both sides have to be happy to coexist, right? So, yeah, right. That's it. It's good.

Sherry Hamilton 

All right. So let's go ahead and I'm looking at the time here. I still don't see any questions. So we will move on to our question number two, which is, what are the most significant challenges talent and procurement teams face. And how do you see 2025 shaping the future for the way organizations select and interface with RPO providers, if they look to future proof their organizations when it comes to skills, process, technology and the human factor and that all important culture piece. I know that's a loaded question.

Gloria MacLennan 

It is a really loaded question. You know, we talk about a talent shortage. You know, there's a talent shortage, and there's a, there is a talent shortage. I think there are talent shortages, shortages in certain different types of positions in industries. We have new industries coming about, climate related industries, wind energy companies and things of that nature, and there is not a great deal of talent who has that experience. So I see that as a challenge. With new industries evolving, and so how do we cope with that.

And then the evolving skill requirements that are associated with that, that is a challenge. I think that is ahead of us. And so how do we, not just looking at corporations through it, but as a populist how do we help with that, right? How do we contribute to that that's and you know, you integrate technology into that as well. And so how do we, how do we make that happen? I think that is our biggest challenge, is the evolving skill sets that are going to require. And part of that is a function of AI, where is that talent going to come from, right? And again, new industries that are coming about. How do we, how do we get those folks up skilled, or get them skilled period in different industries that have not existed in the past? I experienced that with one of the companies that I worked for. You know, wind energy is new, and a lot of technical people and engineers and offshore people. Where do you get them? Right? It is. It's a challenge, and it's not one that we cannot conquer, right? But it requires a plan.

Sherry Hamilton 

That's maybe an area where RPO can really help in future proofing is to help organizations look at what is, what does the future of the skills that they may need in six months a year, two years from now, what is their business look like? Because RPO tend to deal or work across multiple types of organizations and businesses and and they can see that whereas Laura, you and Mike in your roles might be sitting within one organization, right? So they're seeing it from a very broad perspective. So certainly something that we would look to our RPO providers to to advise on.

Michael Stringer 

That's one of the top benefit of an RPO. They go across industries and they can say, Oh, by the way, potentially a great area for you to plug from this here, right? And then that is key, right? And also, again, being able to test, and then you have the data to see the success rates right from as you pull from other some, I'm sort of linking it all together, but the benefit of that right is, is like, hey, oh, by the way, Gloria, great example, right? It's a brand new industry skills like, yeah, yeah, there's not unicorns sometimes, right? And you have to be able to be creative, right? To say there's certain skill types that from other industries we can pull from. And it goes back to that multi generational experience, right from people or individuals that are early, mid and late career, right, that can come and you can pull from to help build out too. So that's key good point. Yeah, that's, that's a good, good there as well. You know, some of the challenges too, like I was trying to put my RPO hat on, right? And just when I worked with HR leaders, because, again, I remember my role, I go across and talk to the CMOS, the CFOs, you know, I'm in operations, I guess. So I talk to all of our leaders, but thinking from an HR standpoint too, right? So, you know everybody. You have to ensure that some of the challenges, right, you have to keep this in mind like always have. How do you simplify, right? All the relationships you have as you come into a new relationship as an RPO provider, look at the process today, right? How can you make that better, simplify that for your new business partner? Right? To say, here's how we're going to streamline. Oh, by the way, it could have taken you X numbers of days to actually, you know, go through an interview process on board, etc, right? Good. We're going to beat that, right? How are we going to do that? Because that does tie back as well, Gloria to and and Sherry as well. The can experience, right? We've all been part of this, right? And by the way, I've, I buy resources as well, right? As you know, in procurement, I'm like, Dear God, it's going to take me three to four months to actually backfill this role, right? Or to fill this role. You know, how do you have the data right to sit there and say, Oh, by the way, we've changed these processes, right? We're streamlining this right, so that you can get the right talent right, and and so forth as well. So I jumped around a little bit there as well. But Gloria Sherry, anything else that I've missed there, just thinking those are,

Sherry Hamilton 

I like what you said about that. And the other thing that an RPO has a very, or should have, a very unique perspective on, is they're seeing what and so let me take a step back here. We all know that we're going to need to, at some point, change skill sets, right? Grow our skill sets. That's everyone's career path is going to change slightly, right? And the things that we know today will be very different than what we need to know tomorrow and the next day and next year. So RPO will have a very unique perspective on if we don't have this skill set in the marketplace today, what is the next best skill set that we can bring from to grow into those unicorns? So how do we start our own unicorn farm? Yeah,

Michael Stringer 

Hopefully our TAs on this call are are taking notes as well, right? To say, okay, because these are the things that we should be asking, right? And clearly they probably are right, but, but you know, it's the evolution of the skills that we're going to need for the future, right? Your existing, you've got an existing RPO provider, right? You should be asking that question. They should be coming to you and talking about that, right? And again, it goes back to that, how do we continue to your meeting on a regular basis? Right? Right? To talk through as businesses change, then they change quickly. So I'm trying to think what else fit for purpose, like, that's also, that's a challenge too, right? So sometimes, if you've got a large global relationship too, that's a challenge.

Michael Stringer 

it is. It's, it's not easy, but ensuring that you can support the business wherever they operate, right? So, and yes, that is not easy. But, and again, and I've worked in the regions and at the country levels, right? It's like, okay, but thinking through that as you are in relationships, right with your customer, right as an RPO provider, as an HR leader internally, you're thinking through like, wherever I break my talent, how's my RPO provider going to be able to solution that if you have gaps, how are we going to work through that, right? So because depending on the markets you're in, right, sometimes it's challenging, right? But that you have that visibility, you have the data to understand where we have potential areas that are concerned versus the noise that could bubble up, right? So again, I've been at, you know, I've had a small country of like, hey, this You're killing my market share, right? Because I can't find people. The beauty of this is, if you have good data and you understand what's going on and the success rates and so forth, like that, and the times, you can understand that before the noise even comes, that's a perfect world.

Sherry Hamilton 

So we've got about six minutes left for this. This last question here, because we are now getting a couple questions coming through here. So Mike, what's, what's the main takeaway as a procurement professional and Gloria you as a Talent Acquisition Professional and direct users of RPO services want other RPO end users to gain from today's discussion. I know you've touched briefly on some some checklist items, but anything that we may have missed,

Michael Stringer 

I was, you know, it goes back to you simplify, right? Every leader I talk to right says we need things to be easier, right? That data transparency. You've heard me talk about that through this process in the discussion today, human touch making processes easier, right? Simplification, and then probably just the big takeaways, those don't get comfortable, please, don't get comfortable, right? So reassess, right? So as your business, like you're sitting down with your HR leaders as an RPO solutions provider, right? Things can be going well. You're talking to them. How's your business changing? Right? How can we adapt with you, right? Because, from a procurement standpoint, we get the phone calls right, and we are buyers as well of RPO solutions too, right? And again, you just don't want to get comfortable. Never get comfortable, even if things are working well. And again, Gloria, from our consulting days in the in our days in industry, we've had, we've seen it and and Sherry, you may have as well, right where it's like, hey, things are running along, year one, year two, year three, and then all of a sudden there starts to be some challenges, right? And like I mentioned, you know, internal like your your customers, right? Like an RPO, like enterprises don't like change in RPO, right? It's not easy. So just to really stay like plugged in as well, I'll pause go Gloria.

Gloria MacLennan 

So from my perspective, I'm going to go back to what I call three big bubbles, right? Collaboration, the transparency in the partnership, right? Um, that's critical for both our talent and acquisition folks and our RPO providers, right? If we as talent acquisition folks, HR people, whatever our titles are, are not transparent with our RPO providers, with what we need, it sets them up to fail, right? And so the more information you can give them, the more successful they're going to be. But you also need to be prepared to ask all of your questions, and that is if you're in that evaluation stage, how does, how does your RPO solution fit our business model? Do we have the right one? What kind of technology do you bring to the party, right? What geographies are you going to be able to cover, right? Do you have the ability to customize your solutions to meet all. Specific needs, right? That is a big thing today, because everybody is unique, whether they are or not. We feel we are unique, and that is just a human, human behavior, okay, right? Yes. And scalability, do? Do the RPO providers have the ability to scale based on what your needs are going to be. Can they upscale? Can they go back the the fluidity, I think, is critical, especially these days, because we've seen what happens, right? So, you know, and and are they aligned with your corporate culture? And corporate culture means so many different things these days, but you know, those are some of the critical things that I think address both our talent acquisition folks as well as our RPO providers. Right? If I put an RPO hat on, I'm going to want to know everything I possibly can. What does it look like today? What is your forecast? Do you have your staffing plan, or what your expectations are for your staffing plan, so we can begin to work, and that's our foundation, and then we will go, you know, then we can move forward from there. And what does it look like in year two? And today, I think it's it is difficult for clients and companies to say, well, we're projecting this, and next year we're going to projecting that. But I think you have to have a plan. We always have to have a plan, because both parties then benefit from it. So I think that's advice for both pas, as well as our per go providers.

Michael Stringer 

Dead on, yes, dead on a fully aligned but then also be ready for your, your your tech roadmap too, right? So your HR leaders, as you're talking to an RPO provider, help me understand what's in your technology roadmap, right? Because you can learn a lot as you go through the procurement process with that. Because some absolutely, here's our tech roadmap, Here's more. Because also, hey, we can do it all this good stuff, right? We've got the sales hat on, right? Good. Is it in place, or is it in, you know, development, right? Because those are sort of the aha moments. Okay, okay, when is it going to be okay? Are we going to be the first ones to help you build that out, right? Are we going to, you know, have some like, you know, are we going to need some band aids and some bandages, right? Because we're going to learn together. So those are the types of things as well, too. Gloria, I just want to plug that on as well, because that definitely is an important thing that you should ask from an HR ta standpoint, right of caucus of your technology roadmap, you learn a lot in that. And just that very simple question. Because some might be like, we'll get back to you on that, or, Oh, by the way, yes, here's where we are, level of comfort well, and

Gloria MacLennan 47:59

that drives, and I know we're, we're getting close to time here, but it drives, that drives one more piece of it, and that is the data and the analytics. What does that look like? What is, what is the talent acquisition team? What from from the data? What can the RPO provider provide? And how frequently are we going to meet and discuss and look at those analytics and see where we're at another critical piece of it, because that's how we make judgments on our business needs, right? What we need? What are we at today? So it's a it is and continues to be an exciting environment, just full of all kinds of opportunity, right? As I always say, it's all about talent, right,

Sherry Hamilton 

Thank you both for staying right on time. Here we are just questions. We are exactly we've got one question here, but I love Michael. I just wanted to add that you just said, you know, the talent roadmap, is it really in production, or are we going to learn about this together? That I think that's really key. And I think making buyers aware of that, whatever stakeholder level they may be, or position they may be, making them aware of that, and being honest with them about that is really key, having been on on the RPO side before as well. So I think that's something really important. So we have our first question here. I'll go ahead and read it out. There are many services that can fall under the HR services or professional services category, including RPO from a procurement perspective, what sources do you rely on to stay up to date on the RPO industry, and how do you determine which vendors to include when issuing an RFI or an RFP?

Michael Stringer 49:49

I mean, again, we, we've got, there's a number of market intelligence firms that, and I can out, yeah, I've got my experience from consulting and so forth as well. Like, you know, again, they go to gartner. And there's others as well. There's many to go to, but it's actually a blend, right? And it depends on your the maturity of the procurement organization you're working with. They're going to have market intelligence that, again, readily available to help and partner with HR business as well. But then also, there's going to be input from our HR leaders as well, too. Right to say, Oh, by the way, we've been to conferences, so it's gonna be a blend. I wish I could say there's like, hey, these one or two market intelligence providers are, you know, the ones we would go to. It's a blend. Flore. Would you say anything different on that one?



Gloria MacLennan 50:39

No, I don't think so. I mean, you know, from from my perspective, you know, in doing that research, I'm going to look across every periodical, and Sherry knows that about me. Lamees has learned that about me, that whatever information is out there, I'm going to go get and I'm going to look at, I'm going to do my research and break that down by my specific business, and Are there providers that fit or have a specialization in my business, right? So yeah,

Sherry Hamilton 51:14

and from my my perspective and my experience, I would say, you know, there's, it depends is a great answer as well, because there's lots of things that come into play, like, are we working across multiple geographies? Do they have that capability to do so, right? Do they provide more in the tech and the finance industry, or are they more in the high volume industry? So there's lots of different things that come into play here, and there's a lot of available research out there that we can all turn to that would would lead us down that path in terms of who should we at least start to consider foreign

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