Recruitment Solutions

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For many businesses, hiring needs are rarely predictable. Growth spurts, backfills, and hard-to-fill roles often come up quickly—without the budget or need for a fully outsourced recruiting function.

As companies look for flexible ways to support their hiring needs, two models often come up: Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) and Turnkey Recruiting. While they may seem similar, they serve very different business needs.

What is RPO?

Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) is a long-term outsourcing model where an external provider takes over most or all of your recruiting function. Designed for organizations with high-volume, ongoing hiring, it typically requires long-term contracts, dedicated teams, and a shift to externally driven recruiting processes. While effective for large enterprises, RPO can feel rigid and costly for companies that need flexibility and targeted support rather than full replacement of their recruiting function.

What is Turnkey Recruiting?

Turnkey Recruiting provides senior-level recruiting expertise on a flexible, project-based basis, allowing organizations to quickly ramp up hiring efforts during peak periods and scale down when demand decreases. Instead of outsourcing everything, experienced recruiters work as an extension of your team to handle critical hires, leadership roles, or temporary hiring spikes—without long-term commitments.

If you’re a growing business that hires in waves—not continuously—RPO may be more than you need. Turnkey Recruiting delivers the speed, expertise, and flexibility you need to grow without overextending resources.

Why Turnkey Recruiting Works

Speed and agility – Flexible, rapid deployment for volatile hiring needs
Expertise where it counts – Faster impact from expert recruiters who ramp quickly
Scalable support – Increase or reduce support as business needs change
Minimal disruption – Works within your existing systems and culture
Cost efficiency – Pay only for what you need, when you need it

Key Differences at a Glance

	RPO	Turnkey Recruiting
Commitment	Long-term multiyear contract Replaces your process	Scalable as needed Enhances your process
Implementation	Typically 2 – 3 months for implementation	Immediate availability, rapid deployment
Scalability	Highly structured. Best for consistent, high volume hiring	Highly flexible, allows quick ramp up for sudden growth needs
Investment	Variable. Contracted monthly fee plus req / placement fee	Fixed hourly or monthly rate, no additional fees. Easy to budget
Expertise	Expert recruiters function as an extension of your internal team	Variable recruiter experience levels

Which Model Is Right for You?

If you’re hiring at scale and want to fully outsource recruiting, RPO may make sense. If you need flexible, high-impact recruiting support without locking into a long-term model, Turnkey Recruiting is often the smarter choice—especially for growing or evolving organizations.

Author – Gayle Norton, Senior Vice President of Search Solutions at CMP

For over 25 years, CMP has been providing outplacement services globally. Combining high-touch expertise with high-tech solutions, CMP offers the highest value outplacement support for companies and a uniquely individualized career transition experience for each candidate.

To learn more and discuss your specific outplacement needs, visit: www.careermp.com.

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