RPO vs In-House Recruiting (Part 2): How to Choose the Right RPO Partner for Your Correctional Facility

Part 1 covered the big question—RPO vs. in-house recruiting—and why it matters when your facility is under real staffing pressure.

Part 2 is the practical playbook!

If you’ve decided RPO is worth a serious look (or you’re already shopping partners), this is how you make the call, roll it out without chaos, and prove it’s working with numbers your leadership team actually cares about.

How to Evaluate an RPO Partner for Corrections & Law Enforcement

Corrections hiring isn’t generic “recruiting.” The right partner understands security-sensitive screening, compliance, background standards, and what actually makes candidates stay.

Questions to Ask (Use These in Every RFP / Intro Call)

• Do you recruit exclusively for corrections and law enforcement—or is this just one of many verticals?

• What positions do you fill most often? (CO/DO, dispatch, court security, command staff, leadership, etc.)

• How do you build candidate pipelines nationwide (especially for rural/remote facilities)?

• What does your screening and vetting process include? (work history, disqualifiers, certifications, readiness)

• How do you protect candidate experience so we don’t lose good people to delays or confusion?

• How do you deliver realistic job previews? Do candidates hear the real story—strengths and challenges—before day one?

• How do you handle compliance and documentation (EEOC, state-specific requirements, defensibility)?

• What are your standard KPIs and reporting cadence? Weekly? Bi-weekly? Monthly?

Red Flags Facilities Shouldn’t Ignore

• “We can fill anything, anywhere” with no proof in corrections/law enforcement

• A process that’s all marketing and no vetting

• No clear plan for compliance documentation and audit readiness

• Vague answers on candidate drop-off, ghosting, or offer declines

• No commitment to stakeholder alignment (HR, command staff, training, background investigators)

  
  

What a 30/60/90-Day RPO Rollout Looks Like (And Who Owns What)

A strong transition doesn’t replace your HR team—it locks arms with them. The fastest wins happen when everyone knows their role and the handoffs are clean.

First 30 Days: Audit, Align, and Stabilize

Main goal: get a true baseline and stop the bleeding.

What the facility owns:

• Confirm hiring goals (headcount, priority posts, shifts, timelines)

• Share policies, disqualifiers, background requirements, and union constraints (if applicable)

• Assign internal stakeholders: HR lead, operations/command point person, background investigator contact

  
  

What the RPO partner owns:

• Audit the current funnel: source → applicant → qualified → interview → conditional offer → academy/onboarding

• Identify conversion killers (slow interview scheduling, unclear requirements, bottlenecks in background/medical)

• Build a recruiting plan by role and region (not “one plan for everything”)

• Launch consistent communications so candidates know what to expect

Days 31–60: Integrate and Start Producing Consistent Flow

Main goal: turn the process into a repeatable machine.

Facility + RPO together:

• Set weekly standups (15–30 minutes) with HR + command staff

• Define SLAs (service-level agreements) like:

• Clean up job descriptions and requirements so they match reality

  
  

RPO partner focus:

• Expand sourcing channels (nationwide pipelines, referrals, targeted outreach)

• Pre-screen for fit and readiness (schedule, commute, shift expectations, culture)

• Improve show rates and reduce drop-off with proactive follow-ups

Days 61–90: Optimize for Quality, Retention, and Cost Control

Main goal: prove ROI and improve the long-term health of staffing.

Facility focus:

• Tighten onboarding, FTO, and early support (where retention is won or lost)

• Track early turnover causes (the “why” matters as much as the number)

  
  

RPO partner focus:

• Deliver KPI reporting and trend insights (what’s working, what’s blocking)

• Fine-tune the funnel (remove friction, reduce time-to-hire, improve offer acceptance)

• Build pipeline depth so you’re not restarting from zero every time

Common Pitfalls When Switching from In-House to RPO (And How to Avoid Them)

Most RPO “failures” aren’t because the model doesn’t work—they happen because the transition is handled like a vendor swap instead of a change management project.

Pitfall 1: No Internal Owner

If nobody internally owns the partnership, decisions stall and candidates drop.

Fix: appoint a single accountable lead (HR or operations) who can unblock approvals fast.

Pitfall 2: Candidate Experience Gets Worse Before It Gets Better

A new process + unclear communication = confusion, delays, and ghosting.

Fix: standardize the candidate journey (what candidates hear, when they hear it, and who’s contacting them).

Pitfall 3: Compliance and Documentation Become an Afterthought

Corrections hiring needs defensible processes. Period.

Fix: require your partner to document screening steps, reasons for disposition, and status movement—clean and consistent.

Pitfall 4: Leadership Hires Get Treated Like Volume Roles

A Warden, Superintendent, or Chief of Corrections hire needs a different search strategy.

Fix: separate workflows and timelines for leadership recruitment—more stakeholder touchpoints, deeper screening, tighter confidentiality.

How to Measure Success: KPIs That Prove the RPO Is Working

If you don’t measure it, you can’t defend it at budget time.

Track these consistently (monthly is a good start; weekly during ramp-up is better):

• Time-to-hire: application → start date (and break it down by stage)

• Quality-of-hire: pass rates, academy completion, early performance markers, supervisor feedback

• Offer acceptance rate: signals competitiveness and candidate alignment

• Retention / early turnover: 30/60/90-day attrition and 6–12 month retention trends

• Overtime impact: OT hours and OT spend trend lines tied to vacancy reduction

• Vacancy cost reduction: fewer open posts = fewer backfill costs, fewer forced doubles, lower burnout risk

• Pipeline health: qualified candidates in process per opening (so you can forecast, not guess)

Mini Examples: What “Right” Looks Like in the Real World

Rural County Jail (Hard-to-Reach Candidate Market)

Challenge: limited local applicant volume + commute concerns + constant OT.

What works: nationwide sourcing, realistic job previews (so you don’t hire-and-lose), and fast scheduling to avoid drop-off.

Success signals: improved show rate, shorter time-to-hire, OT hours trending down as posts fill.

Metro Facility (High Volume, High Competition)

Challenge: lots of applicants, but low qualification and high drop-off.

What works: tighter pre-screening, better candidate communication, and clear SLAs with hiring managers so interviews happen fast.

Success signals: higher qualified-to-interview ratio, stronger offer acceptance, reduced time stuck “in background.”

Leadership Hire (Warden / Superintendent / Command Staff)

Challenge: small candidate pool, reputational risk, confidentiality, and high stakes.

What works: targeted outreach, structured stakeholder interviews, and alignment on “non-negotiables” before sourcing begins.

Success signals: fewer late-stage falloffs, faster finalist selection, stronger 6–12 month retention.

Why Whalls Group Is THE #1 RPO Partner for Corrections & Law Enforcement

If you’re going to switch from in-house to RPO, you don’t need a generalist. You need a partner who lives in this world every day.

Whalls Group is the ONLY end-to-end, direct-hire agency dedicated exclusively to nationwide recruitment for correctional facilities and law enforcement. That focus matters—because it drives speed, quality, and retention.

What you get with Whalls Group:

• GSA Approved: We’re ready to work with federal, state, and local agencies—clean procurement and compliant execution.

• End-to-end direct-hire recruitment: We build permanent teams, not short-term fixes.

• Nationwide reach: We recruit across all 50 states—rural, metro, and everything in between.

• Realistic job previews: We use direct conversations and virtual meetings so candidates understand the role, the facility, and the reality—before they commit.

• People-first partnership: We integrate with your HR and leadership team, streamline the process, and keep candidates moving.

Let’s Build Your Transition Plan

If your facility is ready to move from overwhelmed in-house recruiting to a structured RPO partnership, Whalls Group will map a rollout that fits your operation—and track results you can take straight to leadership.

Contact Whalls Group today and let’s talk 30/60/90-day rollout, KPIs, and how fast we can start relieving vacancy pressure.

We’ve got you.