Workforce Management Featured Article
Will RPO Vendors Add Value to Workforce Management?
In the world of customer care, it was once considered a normal practice to bring in the individuals willing to work for low pay as long as they could answer the phone and take information. They needed little knowledge, education or skill to fulfill the role as long as they could meet quantity expectations. This created opportunity for recruitment process outsourcing (RPO), but often led to challenges for workforce management.
A recent Workforce article by Sarah Fister Gale highlighted the change that has occurred in this space – RPOs are being brought in to find those specialized professionals needed to fill critically important roles. This demand is making RPOs more valuable and their focus has shifted from time and cost to attracting the right individuals to the organization. This doesn’t mean efficiency is no longer important; it simply means that quantity no longer trumps quality.
According to KellyOCG’s “Global Trends in RPO & Talent Recruitment 2014” report, 73 percent of companies plan to increase their full-time hires this year. At the same time, 61 percent report hiring difficulties. One of the most difficult positions to fill is that of the recruiter. And, as companies are bracing for the mass exodus of Baby Boomers, the talent gap is expected to be quite wide. In response, RPOs need to think strategically and streamline their own recruiting processes in order to reduce the burden on human resources departments.
To truly hold on to the growing opportunities in the contact center space, RPOs will have to pay attention to analytics. Workforce management is all about the best use of talent in the best way to optimize customer interactions. RPOs need to position themselves as strategic partners if they want to keep pace with the industry. That means providing demonstrable proof of the value of their service and helping contact centers to perform more strategic workforce management planning for the future.
Contact centers throughout the world are using workforce management to accurately project volumes, schedule staff according to projections and skill-sets and manage exceptions on the fly. RPOs can fit right into this model when they can use analytics to demonstrate productivity, improved retention and the overall effect on sales. And while the practice is still early in the process, companies are paying more attention to tying talent acquisition to business measures. Some believe that RPOs that master this capability early will find a solid foothold in the contact center industry going forward.
To truly get the most value out of any workforce management solution, contact centers need to have top talent able to produce beyond expectations. Whether or not RPO vendors will play a valuable part – only time will tell.
Edited by Stefania Viscusi