We sat down with Mike Marschke, our Director of Strategic Programs and GM of Fountain Assist, to mine his years of insights on Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPOs) and how Fountain is improving on the traditional one-size-fits-all model. Mike has spent his career helping organizations navigate the realities of high-volume recruitment. He’s an expert in optimizing recruiting technology, process, policy, and selection science strategy.
His 360 knowledge has been invaluable here at Fountain, and we thought we’d share the wealth on how RPOs are changing and what that means for frontline employers!
Q: Okay Mike: How do you define an RPO in today’s hiring landscape?
RPOs have become a crucial component of many TA strategies. In the early days of RPO, many engagements involved fully outsourcing the entire process. That has evolved, and while there are still fully outsourced engagements, RPOs have become critical to parts of the hiring process—maybe a project focused on certain positions or steps in the process, like background checks and I-9.
Q: And where does Fountain Assist fits in the current landscape as far as the ‘traditional’ RPO v. a more modern approach?
Our approach is simple: we use the Fountain Frontline Workforce platform to get results for Fountain customers. We are not technology agnostic. We are not an RPO. We are a partner to TA and Operations teams to drive results in Frontline hiring, onboarding, and retention
Q: What do you think is Fountain Assist’s biggest strength?
We know the Frontline worker space better than anyone else, period. Hiring a traditional desk-based worker is very different from hiring a driver, a QSR employee, or an in-home caregiver. There is a volume component – we have customers that hire thousands of employees a month. But it is also about meeting the Frontline workers where they are and making it easy and fast for them to get hired. Reducing friction in the process by having a fully mobile application process, no logins or resumes required, and being able to ask questions appropriate to the job, and not a one-size-fits-all approach is critical. We have customers that measure time-to-fill in hours, not days.
This is due to our ability to provide adaptive workflows and AI-enabled technology that applies to the entire worker journey from hire to retire. With Fountain Assist, we’re covering the sourcing strategy for employers using AI to reach high-fit candidates and screen them efficiently, but also using human interaction where it really matters, like doing phone screens. Spending quality time with quality candidates.
Can I talk about phone screens?
Q: Please! (You mean ‘interviews’ and not the ones that get cracked when you forget to use a case, right?)
Yes, and I really like to call them “job previews.” This is an opportunity for the applicant to really understand the role and ask questions, too.
Fountain Assist was started because customers came to us with recruiting issues they could not resolve with their traditional corporate ATS. Our very first customer had an interview and hiring no-show rates of 70%. They needed help quickly to solve their peak hiring season.
We implemented Fountain Hire workflows in less than a week to take advantage of AI and automation in the sourcing and application process, but they wanted a human touch as well. We got a team together to do realistic job previews and answer questions for applicants – the so-called phone screen. These calls were 10-15 minutes long but had a huge impact on candidates who now understood more about the role and had an opportunity to ask questions ahead of time.
The no-show rate was reduced to less than 30% in the first week.
Q: What’s your take on the role of human versus the role of tech in the hiring process?
I don’t think it’s ‘versus’ at all. At Fountain, we’re all about using tech to make humans more effective, not replace them. Our platform automates all the low-value, manual stuff, freeing up talent teams to connect with quality applicants and employees. That’s the future we want: where recruiters and hiring managers can be more human, not less.
But here’s the cool part: with Fountain, you can actually measure how all this human-tech teamwork is paying off. Because Fountain is so flexible, we can A/B test different approaches and track both hire and post-hire metrics.
A great example of this is a major retailer asked us to help with their conversion rates and time to apply/fill. We set up unique workflows by region and tested which had the best conversion rates while also assessing if the conversion rates were impacting time to apply, quality, and time to fill. I am happy to report that their apply time was cut by over 50%, their conversion rates improved at every step in the process, and they have more Day 1 starts.
We now have a standard process but the flexibility remains pivotal for upcoming seasonal hiring.
Q: When do you think it makes most sense for a company to bring in a recruitment partner like Fountain Assist?
There’s no one-size-fits-all answer, but there are definitely times when having a partner like Fountain in your corner is a game-changer. Maybe you’re growing like crazy, expanding into new markets, or realizing your current Frontline hiring process is way too slow. Assist allows these customers to get all the benefits of the platform without the long implementation times, change management user adoption, etc. We can start hiring in a week or two, and the results are immediate for customers.
There are also times when customers already have a “corporate” ATS, and adding a second ATS to the tech stack is not always on the roadmap. Or a customer sees the value of Fountain but needs to build the ROI story. We are more than willing to come in and show the power of the platform via Assist and then hand the keys over when the customer wants to bring the platform in-house.
It’s all about finding the right balance. Many companies keep some recruitment functions in-house while letting partners handle the heavy lifting or specialized tasks. It’s all about what works best for you!
Q: Is there something you wish customers knew about RPOs or Fountain Assist specifically?
I think our customers really get how powerful our platform is, but when you work with Fountain, you’re also getting a team of expert, frontline hiring pros. So when you bring us on board, you’re not just getting software – you’re getting a whole team in your corner.
Ready to supercharge your hiring this summer? Join the Summer of Sourcing with Fountain!
Our AI-powered, people-loving platform finds and delivers top-notch, ready-to-rock talent, carefully picked to fit your company’s vibe and needs. Our flexible workflow gets you new hires faster than you can say “You’re hired!” – perfect for those summer hiring scrambles.
Want to see how Fountain can revolutionize your hiring? Check out our Summer of Sourcing landing page and let’s get this party started!
