In 1 minute
- Recruiting: hiring a person for an ongoing role.
- Staffing: adding capacity when your team leads the work.
- Project: agreeing on deliverables, scope and acceptance criteria.
- Who coordinates the work matters more than the duration.
A technology need can be met by hiring someone, adding capacity to a team or contracting a piece of work with deliverables. To choose, look at what you need to solve and who can lead the execution.
Duration matters, but it is not enough on its own to define the model.
Recruiting: hiring a person
The recruiting service helps search for and assess profiles for a new hire. The organization needs to define the responsibilities of the position, its conditions and who will support the person when they join.
It may be a good fit when there is an ongoing role and a team that can integrate it. The hiring decision belongs to the organization.
Staffing: adding work capacity
Staffing organizes the involvement of professionals in a defined work need. Profiles, time commitment, coordination and hiring conditions have to be agreed.
It may be a good fit when the team knows its priorities and can lead the work, but needs additional capacity. The specific responsibilities depend on the agreement; they should not be assumed from the name of the model.
Project: agreeing on deliverables and responsibilities
A project organizes the work around a scope and results that can be reviewed. The proposal should explain what is delivered, what the client needs to contribute and how progress is accepted.
It may be a good fit when the organization needs to solve a specific need and wants coordination and execution to be part of the service.
Compare these questions
| Question | Recruiting | Staffing | Project |
|---|---|---|---|
| What is contracted? | A search and selection process | Involvement of professionals as agreed | Work defined by scope and deliverables |
| Who defines the day-to-day work? | The hiring organization | It is agreed; the client team usually takes part | It is organized through project management |
| What does the client need to prepare? | Profile, conditions and onboarding | Priorities, coordination and access to tools | Objectives, key people and acceptance criteria |
| What is reviewed? | Profile fit and search progress | Time commitment, coordination and service performance | Fulfillment and acceptance of deliverables |
Three situations to guide the conversation
Hypothetical example 1. A company needs to fill a stable development role and has technical leadership. It can start by evaluating a recruiting search.
Hypothetical example 2. A team already has priorities and coordination, but needs additional capacity for a stage. It can evaluate staffing.
Hypothetical example 3. An organization wants to implement a management workflow and needs coordinated scope, planning and execution. It can evaluate a project.
These situations are only a guide. Any specific engagement requires reviewing the context and responsibilities.
Where does RPO fit in?
RPO is a model for supporting part or all of the talent acquisition process. It can be considered when the need is to organize several searches and their operation, with agreed responsibilities and follow-up.
On its own it is not the same as staffing or delivering a technology project. The scope should make clear which part of the recruiting process the provider takes on.
Before choosing, answer these five questions
- Do we need to fill a role or deliver a specific result?
- Who can prioritize and coordinate the work?
- Which part of the need is permanent and which is temporary?
- What knowledge needs to stay within the organization?
- What criteria will we use to judge whether the service works?
