Case Study - Technology Manufacturer

Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO)

Client Profile
Andrews Corporation, a leading provider of voice, video and data communications systems has been a pioneer in technological developments for 60 years. As the technologies of wireless communication systems expand, they remain an industry leader. Their trademark can be found on broadcast towers and mobile locating systems across the globe. Traditionally relying on contract recruiters to assist with their 11,000+ employees, this innovator decided to refine its recruitment process.
Business Challenge

Executives were experiencing significantly higher operating expenses than their competitors, which diminished the competitive edge. To effectively decrease these costs, it was necessary to cut departmental budgets. They wanted to implement a strategic plan to shrink human resources' operating expense by reducing the time-to-hire and cost-per-hire, while still continuing to acquire quality talent. Unfortunately, this company's HR department had a dubious reputation and was having difficulty finding interested candidates.

The challenge arose from this company's lack of consistent, effective recruiting tools, processes and in-house leadership. The internal hiring managers know that to attract and retain quality talent requires strategic, long-term planning and a proactive recruiting plan. Lacking in-house expertise, they hired Q4B to integrate new solutions into their existing practices and processes.

Strategy/Solution

Q4B designed and implemented a tailored recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) solution for this organization. Four objectives were established to help achieve the overall goal of reducing HR operating costs.

  1. Protect business units by maintaining recruiting production to ease the transition to full RPO

    Q4B put a team of trained recruiters and an experienced recruiting director on-site to continue the hiring process while the tailored solution was being designed.

  2. Implement a customized solution, using Q4B's proprietary Recruiting Domain Framework (RDF) that focuses on the organization's current practices and needs

    After assessing the current practices and needs against Q4B's S4 methodology (staging, sourcing, screening, selecting), it was obvious that this company's sourcing strategy and reporting techniques needed the most support. After consolidating costs on job boards and extending their presence to more appropriate job boards, Q4B took this company to recruiting events and developed relationships with universities. These strategies, combined with proactive sourcing tactics, allowed Q4B to create a talent warehouse of candidates that this communications giant could call on at any time, thus reducing time-to-fill.

  3. Apply candidate relationship techniques to improve the company's reputation in the marketplace

    Improving relationships with candidates enabled this organization to hire on-the-fence candidates who were previously hesitant about accepting offers from the hiring managers.

  4. Measure and manage these strategies with a client-specific recruiting dashboard

    To address the need for accurate reporting, Q4B developed a customized dashboard report and applicant tracking system. The dashboard monitors a variety of metrics in the recruiting process, but for this engagement focused on time-to-fill and days-in-phase. This intelligence allowed the organization to manage the recruiting team through weekly meetings with Q4B recruiting directors and quarterly reviews. The applicant tracking system provided important details regarding diversity and EEOC compliance and ensured a consistent hiring process.

Results

During the preliminary launch of the RPO, Q4B's recruiting team maintained production by filling 38 jobs in the first month. Prior to working with Q4B, this company's time-to-fill was an average of 70+ days with a cost of approximately $7,000. Working with Q4B, they were able to reduce time-to-hire to an average of 43 days with a cost just under $3,000. These efficiencies increased the number of yearly hires from 230 to 500. The organization's goal was to reduce HR's operating costs. By implementation of a consistent, effective solution, Q4B was able to help cut costs by reducing reliance on contingency staffing agencies, from $885,360 to $390,600, and improving time-to-hire and cost-per-hire with a savings of $127,457.