What happens when your project-based RPO service ends?

The end of a project RPO engagement isn’t solely about turning off the lights and saying thanks. It’s your chance to step back, reflect, and squeeze every last drop of value from the experience. Because even after the hires are made, there’s still a lot to learn – and more you can gain.

What strategic organizations do when their project RPO initiative wraps up

Evaluate for ongoing needs

Before anything else, take stock. Are your workforce needs truly met? Are there lingering roles to fill in the future? Are some departments still stretched thin? Sometimes, a project closes and reveals new or extended hiring needs. That might mean re-engaging your outsourcing partner for a phase two – or identifying areas to transition back to internal teams.

Review delivery metrics

This is the moment for data to shine. Sit down with your RPO partner and review

• Time-to-fill
• Cost-per-hire
• Candidate satisfaction
• Hiring manager feedback
• Diversity metrics

These KPIs will give you a clear picture of performance – and where future processes can be tightened up. Don’t skip this step. It turns a good engagement into a great one.

Celebrate the wins (and note the lessons)

What worked? Where did we exceed expectations? Was there a particular recruiter who knocked it out of the park? Recognizing these successes builds goodwill – and helps you build a blueprint for future engagements.

Conduct a partnership debrief

Bring the key players together – your internal stakeholders and ours – and talk it out.

Go beyond the what and explore the why:

• Why did certain roles take longer to fill?
• Why did some sourcing channels work better than others?
• Why was candidate engagement higher (or lower) in certain phases?

This isn’t a performance review. It’s a strategy session. The goal? Build on what you’ve learned and strengthen the partnership for what’s next.

Explore what’s next – together

Sometimes, project RPO is the start of something bigger. You may find that a recruitment outsourcer understands your business so well, that it’s a natural fit for additional work – maybe ongoing sourcing support, employer branding, or data analysis. Or maybe you transition into a long-term service like recruitment process outsourcing (RPO).

Keep the door open. A good integrated talent partner grows with you.

Wrap-up with purpose

Ending a project RPO should feel like wrapping a successful campaign – not unplugging a temp solution. The key is to treat the conclusion as a beginning: of better insights, improved practices, and a stronger strategy for the future.

Because when you treat the end of a project like a stepping stone – not a finish line – you set your organization up for lasting talent success.