The benefit of value match on an RPO relationship

Having been married for several years, I haven’t been exposed to the new way of starting a relationship. Mine began before the emergence of new social sites that promise a true match.

The idea of matching two people based on beliefs, preferences, and even attitudes is intriguing. Even more intriguing is that most of us spend more time with our work partners than our home partners. Shouldn’t they be based on match too?

My job involves managing a program that aligns to a client’s recruitment needs. There’s usually not a heck of a lot of time for “dating.” We need to quickly execute on our promise of delivery. That is, delivering quality talent to fill its hiring needs.

We must have compatible personalities and values with the client, so we can immediately and naturally appreciate each other’s work and goals. It can’t just be based on matching skill, because when values and personalities clash, the relationship might dissolve.

Several years ago, I was hired by Yoh to begin a work relationship with a client. We were selected to be its RPO partner and manage all external hiring for its growing business. During our first design meeting, the chemistry was instantly there.

It wasn’t my operations experience, my management experience, or even my RPO experience that sparked interest. It wasn’t that its needs matched my skill set. It was our values — these deep principles we adhere to when making decisions. We had such strong alignment that our behaviors, particularly how we approach work, instantly transformed into results.

It is vital for the health of the RPO engagement that the vendor’s approach and customer’s behavior match. At Yoh, our values of safety, diversity, integrity, and success are rooted in everyday employee actions. They are meaningful and might be the reason we connect so well with our clients.

Today, our relationship with this particular client is stronger than ever. The team hired to execute its hiring needs has the beliefs and attitudes that will make this RPO marriage a success. And the best part is that we didn’t even need to create a profile — we made it right to the altar.