One federal agency has enlisted the help of a recruiting and RPO company for its hiring needs.

The Securities and Exchange Commission recently announced that it has hired Futurestep to provide strategic talent acquisition solutions to help the agency address its continuing talent needs. The partnership, which comes from a General Services Administration contract awarded in 2009, includes a one-year contract with three additional renewable years and the option for a fifth year.

Futurestep will provide the SEC with recruitment and strategic services, with a focus on the implementation of best-practice talent acquisition processes and expert support related to workforce planning, employment branding and talent technology strategy.

The main goals of this effort are to expand and support the SEC’s capability to identify, attract and retain talent in areas such as accounting, law, management, IT, industry specialists and financial professionals.

The company will provide recruitment, project management and consulting services, as well as an on-site team structured to change based on the SEC’s talent needs. The program will support the agency’s growth and transformational strategy.

“We understand the importance of talent in driving the success of the SEC,” Robert McNabb, executive vice president for Korn/Ferry International and CEO of Futurestep, said. “Futurestep has provided essential support in helping the Commission secure critical talent in the past.

“We look forward to continuing that relationship, leveraging our strategic solutions to help the agency enhance its ability to compete for the vital talent it needs, both today and in the future,” he added.

For many larger companies, trying to handle all various responsibilities that go along with trying to find the best talent to fill numerous staff vacancies can be difficult. Posting jobs online and managing other tasks related to recruiting new workers for a large number of staff vacancies can be overwhelming on a good day, but when the economy is suffering the need to utilize a services that handles businesses’ recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) needs grows.

In times of economic strife, the number of unemployed individuals rises significantly. This means that, for every job listing placed on the web, the number of people who send in their resumes skyrockets. Since HR professionals have many day-to-day responsibilities, trying to find the time to go through so many applications, without neglecting other tasks, can be difficult, especially at companies that have a large number of employees.

Instead of trying to handle all of the work associated with recruiting new workers in-house, many larger employers find it much more efficient to hire an outside company to take care of all of their RPO requirements. Doing so frees up HR workers to handle other responsibilities without having to do without new workers. By going with one company to handle all of their recruitment needs, instead of various agencies like some do, larger companies also usually stand to save a significant sum of money.

RPO firms can help out a lot, but this doesn’t mean that the business utilizing it won’t still have to handle some things. . If a company fails to sit down with a representative from the agency they are working with and outline their recruitment strategy and their hiring objectives, then no matter how talented the recruiters are, they may fail to meet the company’s needs. Since each business has its own needs, a recruitment processing firm can’t be expected to know what will fit each organization without being told.

Although an RPO agency can take care of the majority of a company’s recruitment needs, someone from the business still has to monitor its RPO activities. Initial direction can make sure that everything is on the right track, but continual monitoring makes sure it stays there. By doing this a company can also find out if the firm they are working with is not a perfect fit for them before too much money is spent on these services.