A political approach to electing an RPO

Electing the right RPO can be as complicated as deciding who to vote for in the general election. You have the problem of trying to establish who’s going to give you what you want and trying to work out what it is they really stand for. And that’s to say nothing of the impact that can come with making the wrong choice.

The political parties

Each of the major political parties in the UK has a different approach to business, which can be seen in the way recruitment was conducted during their main periods in power. The Conservative Party was dominant during the manual era of the 1950s to the 1970s, while Labour was in charge during the early 2000s, which saw the internet really come into its own.

The Conservative Approach (Manual era)

In the early 1970s, the Conservative Party was the ruling political party in the UK. This was largely a good time for employers, as the party introduced various business-friendly policies, like lowering taxes and reducing what it called “government interference”.

Reflecting this was the way RPOs operated. There was an employer-centric approach, with hiring managers and recruiters identifying the agencies that would provide a personalized service. It resulted in companies being matched with the right talent for them, which then saw high satisfaction levels. The major downside was that it was an expensive way of doing things.

Recruitment didn’t change drastically until the early 2000s, when technology became more important.

The Labour Approach (Internet era)

In 1997, Labour took power. Labour has historically been less concerned with the success of private industry and business than the Conservatives, a trait that the recruitment sector seemed to reflect with the advent of the internet, which ushered in a new way for companies to find candidates.

Job boards began popping up and hiring managers were able to simply post a vacancy and see the applications flood in. While this was a cheaper way of finding new employees, companies lost the personal touch that the previous years had offered. Phone calls and face-to-face meetings seemed to fade, with the use of the internet becoming much more prevalent.

Companies were becoming far less reliant on recruitment agencies, but were losing that personal touch that had been such a strength of the manual era.

So, what’s next?

The AGS Party! (Digital era)

Let me introduce you to The AGS Party! We want the best of both worlds - to improve the recruitment situation for both workers and companies. How do we do this? The brief answer is by combining the best elements of the eras that have gone before. We aim to use technology to improve the relationships that exist between ourselves, candidates and companies.

According to a recent report by Fairsail, 83 percent of HR leaders think all people decisions should be based on data and analytics, but that only 37 percent are currently so. This is where the AGS Party can help your business.

We use automation and artificial intelligence (AI) to effectively track how candidates interact with your brand and use that knowledge to alter our campaigns and the hiring experience to fit what we’ve seen works for you. This is then combined with how we consult with companies and candidates to work through the emotive nature of the recruitment process.

Party manifestos

To help you make the right choice when you elect an RPO, we’ve set out what the various parties stand for.

The Conservatives want:

• The personal touch

• To know companies and candidates

• Personal referrals

• Reliance on agencies

Labour wants:

• Online job boards

• Applicant tracking systems

• Less reliance on agencies

• Fewer personal networks

AGS wants:

• To make the best use of AI and automation

• Relationships with companies and candidates

• Personalized communications

• To use customer relationship management systems for communications and talent pipelines