Procurement Playbook: Play 6 – The RPO Advantage

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Procurement Playbook: Play 6 – The RPO Advantage

In Play 1: Cut the Hidden Costs of Hiring, we uncovered the financial drain of vacancies, turnover, and inefficiency.

In Play 2: Prepare While Others Wait, we showed how Procurement can act during slow markets to strengthen hiring infrastructure.

In Play 3: Consolidate to Win the Vendor Game, we examined how fragmented vendor networks create waste and risk, and how Procurement can restore clarity through consolidation.

In Play 4: Bring Discipline to Your TA Tech Stack, we addressed the costs of unchecked technology sprawl and how Procurement can restore value and efficiency.

In Play 5: Eliminate the Risk of Legacy Contracts, we revealed how outdated agreements expose organizations to hidden costs and compliance liabilities.

Together, these plays highlight the problems Procurement is uniquely positioned to solve. Now, in Play 6, we focus on the solution that ties it all together: Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO).

The RPO Advantage

RPO is not just another vendor contract. It is a comprehensive model that consolidates talent acquisition into one accountable partnership that delivers measurable savings, risk reduction, and scalability.

Cost Control: Everest Group deal reviews show buyers securing 20%-30% savings in year one, with 35%-40% reductions between RFP and contract, with 65% cumulative savings over five years.
Efficiency: Everest Group research also finds that companies using RPO see an average 40% improvement in hiring efficiency, delivering significantly faster time-to-fill and reducing vacancy costs.
Compliance: RPO partners standardize processes and contracts across every requisition. This reduces audit exposure, misclassification risk, and inconsistent background checks, all of which are common with legacy or fragmented vendor models.
Scalability and Agility: Lighthouse Research & Advisory research shows that 84% of companies report that RPO enables them to scale hiring up or down as needed, providing flexible recruiting capacity without the fixed costs of internal teams or agencies.
Performance Improvements: 97% of employers say their hiring metrics improved overall after implementing RPO, demonstrating the model’s measurable effectiveness.

Why Procurement Leaders Should Care

Every pain point in this playbook converges here. Vacancies, turnover, vendor chaos, tech stack sprawl, and legacy contracts all add hidden costs and risks. Procurement leaders have the mandate to solve them. RPO provides a single, accountable model that delivers immediate savings while future-proofing hiring for the long term.

RPO Completes Procurement’s Playbook

RPO is the play that completes the playbook. It unifies cost control, efficiency, compliance, and scalability under one accountable structure, backed by data and results. For Procurement leaders, RPO is not just a sourcing decision. It is a strategic move that transforms Talent Acquisition into a disciplined, future-ready business function.

Ready to Lean More? Request Your Complimentary RPO Impact Assessment

Would you like to see what RPO could deliver for your organization? Complete this form to request your complimentary RPO Impact Assessment. Orion Talent’s Workforce Advisory team will review your current recruiting process and provide actionable insights to cut hidden costs, improve efficiency, increase agility, and improve your hiring outcomes.

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