CANBERRA, Australia, April 27, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- ManpowerGroup, (NYSE: MAN), the world leader in innovative workforce solutions, today announced a new contract, worth at least $400 million over five years, for Recruiting Services to the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The new contract renews ManpowerGroup's Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) collaboration with the ADF for the next five years — and has set a record as the industry's largest RPO partnership.

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The contract covers the entire recruiting process — including marketing, recruiting operations, medical and psychological assessments and the coordination of selection boards and employment offers. The ADF first partnered with ManpowerGroup in 2003 to create the first Defence Force Recruiting (DFR) contract.  This unique private-public collaborative effort was an industry first and continues to evolve into its second decade.

The DFR engagement is managed from its own headquarters and includes a candidate relationship management center and 16 national recruiting centers. More than 20,000 — 40,000 candidates are processed annually for the Australian Navy, Army and Air Force.

"An increasing number of employers worldwide are seeking to outsource the permanent recruitment function as this enhances their flexibility and efficiency in securing the right talent," said Darryl Green, ManpowerGroup President of Asia Pacific and Middle East. "ManpowerGroup clients continue to tell us that our deep recruiting insight, innovation and rigorous processes enable us to deliver the best talent."

Under the new contract, beginning in November of this year, ManpowerGroup will continue to manage the largest and most complex RPO program in the world for the next five years. If successful in exceeding the ADF's outcome-based requirements the contract can grow to 10 years. ManpowerGroup will manage two major subcontractors, Corporate Health Group Defence (CHG Defence) for the provision of medical services, and Hewlett-Packard (HP) for ICT services.

"The size and complexity of DFR's recruiting services contract is second to none and the recruiting environment is becoming increasingly complex," said Air Commodore Henrik Ehlers, the Director General of Defence Force Recruiting. "We need to ensure that DFR continues to innovate in order to meet ADF requirements in the future. Today's announcement of ManpowerGroup as our collaborative Recruiting Services partner, after an open competitive tender process, helps to ensure we do this."

In this unique initiative, ManpowerGroup manages Recruiting Services for the ADF. DFR is an integrated organization comprising personnel from the ADF, the Australian Public Service, ManpowerGroup, Corporate Health Group Defence and Hewlett-Packard.  

"We are proud to be selected as a long-term collaborative and strategic partner for the Australian Defence Force," said Lincoln Crawley, ManpowerGroup Managing Director, Australia & New Zealand. "The strategic workforce challenges faced by our clients are becoming more complex. ManpowerGroup will continue to work alongside Defence to meet and exceed the ADF's recruiting needs and help solve the challenges and recruiting priorities of Australia's Navy, Army and Air Force."

This RPO contract solidifies ManpowerGroup's position as the global leader in RPO delivery. The ADF's complex requirements include a range of roles, high-quality standards and the quantity of recruits required. The number can exceed 10,000 new entrants annually. DFR recruits more than 300 different job types for permanent and part-time officers, sailors, soldiers and airmen/women. Specialist roles such as engineers, technicians, doctors, legal professionals and pilots are included.

"ManpowerGroup's extensive global capability and deep understanding of our client's requirements enable us to deliver such a complex RPO solution to the Australian Defence Force, in order to meet their needs over the next decade," Green added. "Our expertise as the world's RPO leader and capability and experience within DFR, and our ongoing close relationship with the ADF have demonstrated that."

ManpowerGroup was recently ranked as both the Leader and Star Performer in the Everest Group PEAK Matrix, published in the April 2012 Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) — Service Provider Landscape and Capability Assessment report. This is the second consecutive year ManpowerGroup has been recognized as the Leader by Everest Group, further cementing its status as the top global provider of RPO solutions.

More information about Defence Force Recruiting is available at www.defencejobs.gov.au  

About ManpowerGroup

ManpowerGroup™ (NYSE: MAN), the world leader in innovative workforce solutions, creates and delivers high-impact solutions that enable our clients to achieve their business goals and enhance their competitiveness. With over 60 years of experience, our $22 billion company creates unique time to value through a comprehensive suite of innovative solutions that help clients win in the Human Age. These solutions cover an entire range of talent-driven needs from recruitment and assessment, training and development, and career management, to outsourcing and workforce consulting. ManpowerGroup maintains the world's largest and industry-leading network of nearly 3,800 offices in over 80 countries and territories, generating a dynamic mix of an unmatched global footprint with valuable insight and local expertise to meet the needs of its 400,000 clients per year, across all industry sectors, small and medium-sized enterprises, local, multinational and global companies. By connecting our deep understanding of human potential to the ambitions of clients, ManpowerGroup helps the organizations and individuals we serve achieve more than they imagined — because their success leads to our success. And by creating these powerful connections, we create power that drives organizations forward, accelerates personal success and builds more sustainable communities. We help power the world of work. The ManpowerGroup suite of solutions is offered through ManpowerGroup™ Solutions, Manpower®, Experis™ and Right Management®. Learn more about how the ManpowerGroup can help you win in the Human Age at www.manpowergroup.com.

ManpowerGroup is the most trusted brand in the industry, and was once again the only company in our industry to be named to the Ethisphere Institute's 2012 World's Most Ethical Companies list for our proven commitment to ethical business practices, including an outstanding commitment to ethical leadership, compliance practices and corporate social responsibility.

In January 2011, at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, ManpowerGroup announced the world has entered the Human Age, where talent has replaced capital as the key competitive differentiator. This concept of talentism as the new capitalism continues to resonate and was echoed as a core theme of the 2012 Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos. Learn more about this new age at www.manpowergroup.com/humanage

Gain access to ManpowerGroup's extensive thought leadership papers, annual Talent Shortage surveys and the Manpower Employment Outlook Survey, one of the most trusted indices of employment activity in the world, via the ManpowerGroup World of Work Insight iPad application. This thought leadership app explores the challenges faced by employers navigating the changing world of work and provides in-depth commentary, analysis, insight and advice on strategies for success. 

Follow ManpowerGroup Chairman and CEO Jeff Joerres on Twitter: twitter.com/manpowergroupjj. Joerres is one of only six Fortune 500 CEOs who leverages a Twitter account to get his message out.

SOURCE ManpowerGroup