You’ve heard the sales pitch, seen the headline figures and visited other organisations that wax lyrical about the benefits of their own outsourced recruitment arrangements. However, before you sign the contract, there are more questions that need to be asked: 1. Will I actually save money? Organisations with inefficient recruitment systems should initially save 10%-30% by outsourcing their recruitment because the vendor will streamline processes and take advantage of economies of scale. This will not apply to organisations that already have efficient in-house arrangements.

Follow-up questions: How long will these savings go on? Can we make equivalent savings by making our own processes more efficient? 2. What are the hidden costs? Analyse how much staff time will be spent managing the relationship and factor this into the overall budget. Examine the small print of the contract to see if the vendor has a menu of pricing items charging for individual tasks.

Follow-up question: How will the vendor be making its profit? 3. What could go wrong? A good contract will set service levels that give both parties a clear picture of what everything going right looks like, but thinking about what could go wrong is much harder because it is so open-ended. Do line managers think it is a good idea? Are senior managers publicly behind it?

Follow-up questions: Why have previous arrangements ended? How can those mistakes be avoided? 4. What about the IT? Technology is key to recruitment outsourcing (RO). It must work with the business’s existing platforms and, ideally, integrate with HR IT systems such as payroll .

Follow-up questions: Does my existing IT team have the ability to support this? Can the provider use our existing system? If using a bespoke system, who owns it? Who owns data such as candidate infor-mation? 5. What if I want to change some-thing? Recruitment needs can change fast and unexpectedly. A good contract should be flexible enough to cope.

Follow-up questions: Are there financial penalties for reducing the number of vacancies to be filled? Can the provider cope if I suddenly need to increase numbers? 6. What if it all goes wrong? Minor problems should be dealt with by mutual flexibility but not every relationship runs smoothly. Any contract must specify what happens if the relationship breaks down.

Follow-up questions: What financial penalties will apply on either side? Will the old provider cooperate with its replacement? If you have outsourced your recruitment function and have no staff left in-house, how will you recruit while you find a new provider?

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