That talent scarcity is one of  the biggest obstacles to growth of organizations across the world, is not a new phenomenon. However, the sheer number of candidates that are being recruited by organizations particularly in the IT, BPO and engineering sector is unprecedented. Globalization is compelling businesses to ramp-up their talent base across sectors and across geographies in the shortest possible time. Under such circumstances, organizations are facing an enormous challenge in ensuring high quality of hires. In today's fiercely competitive environment, hiring the best quality manpower is not just a requirement, it is mission-critical. Any HR Manager will agree that poor hires not only hit profitability but also pose a grave threat to a company's reputation. Hiring such candidates, particularly in Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), sales and information technology positions can sound the death knell for an organization. This brings one to the crucial question - How does one ensure hiring the right talent for the right position at the right time in the right location?

This is where the need for a strong "process" comes into the HR function - for both recruitment and retention. Both these areas figure as top priorities for Indian BPO industry which witnessed an attrition rate of close to 40% in 2006-07. Moreover, the process needs to be replicated across other markets to ensure that the grade and quality of candidates being hired globally is consistent. This requires a dedicated and highly experienced team of recruiters. While businesses have strong processes for most of their other functions like sales, manufacturing, customer relationships etc. they tend to be weak in recruiting.

Recruiting function is generally short staffed, lack sector specific specialist focus and rely on executive search firms for candidate pools. Most executive search firms or routine Human Resource Outsourcing (HRO) providers lack the core expertise required in hiring talent for specialized sectors such as IT and engineering.

Organizations are realizing the need to partner with world-class recruitment experts who can support an organization's requirements not just within the country of origin but across geographies. This is where Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) providers come into the picture as they bring an overriding focus on "process" which differentiates them from other HR service providers. No surprise then that RPO is the fastest growing segment for HR industry. IT companies are among the early adopters of this trend. Although organizations in the US were first to adopt RPO, they are now looking to extend the scope of work to their offices across the world including those in developing markets such as India.