Dissertation on Recruitment and Selection Methods
Recruitment is a very important process of Human Resource Management. It is a very important tool that is used by many businesses or corporations. Recruitment is a form of business competition. This tool helps organizations get closer to achieving their overall corporation goal. This is why recruitment demands serious attention from upper management because it is said that any business strategy will falter without the talent to execute that tie of business. Recruitment has certain amount of steps or processes as mentioned in our text books. Recruitment is followed by a series of steps. For example, the initial screening, selection, orientation, placement, and performance management. All of these steps are somewhat dependent on the labor markets in which certain organizations exist in.
Recruitment consists of a two-way process in which organizations seek prospective employees and vice-versa. Recruitment success depends on timing. To succeed in the recruitment process there must be a medium of communication.
For an organization to successfully recruit there must be recruitment planning. An organization must know two key factors before recruiting; (1) How many employees are needed for the job and (2) when are they needed. The time frame should also be considered, in which the employment application and resume is submitted and when the employee is hired. Average time for the employee to start working is about 43 days. The recruitment pipeline includes: resume, invitation, interview, offer and acceptance.
Internal recruitment is when an organization initially considers the current employees especially for promotions. There can be several issues considered in the process of internal recruitment in which managers do not grant permission to current employees to be interviewed to transfer to a different department or promotion. “Most supervisors are about as reluctant to release current employee as they are to take a cut in pay.” (Lord, J.S. 1989). To overcome such issue promotion from within, policies have been developed but the support from upper management is needed to carry the policies. Internal recruitment consists of job postings, employee referrals and temporary work pools. Job postings can be posted in the company's intranet, bulletin boards or company's newsletter. Employee referrals consist of an existing employee that refers a selected candidate to fulfill the available positions. For this referral, the existing employee is compensated. Temporary work pools consist of temporary job openings. These positions help with labor demands due to factors such as illness, vacations, terminations and resignations. (Waynie F Cascio, p 210).
External recruitment is the process of recruiting from the outside labor market. Organizations seek this type of recruitment when existing employees do not have the needed skills for an available position. This type of recruitment varies in small and large firms. External recruitment process consists of the following sources: universal relations, executive search firms, employment agencies and recruitment advertising.
Organizations approach universities or colleges for recruiting candidates. They often seek the schools that meet their needs. In addition to recruitment the organizations often interact with the universities by providing various activities which will keep an opened network between them. Such activities include: gifts and grants, summer employment, and consulting projects with faculty.
Companies often have a contract with employment agencies. An organization provides the agency with the needed qualifications for each available position. Agency fees vary from 10%-30% of employees starting salaries. However, if the hired employee turns down the contract within 30 days, the agency may refund the organization up to 99% of the fee charged for that individual. Organizations often use this medium of recruitment when the company is so large.
Moreover, recruitment advertising consists of newspaper ads, corporate home page, careers fairs, former employers, government employment agencies. Like these, there are many ways to advertise jobs for external recruitment.
When it comes to inducements, the hunt for the perfect candidate becomes more difficult. Which is why special programs have been created in order for the filing and sorting of many resumes and applications. Relocation and sign-on bonuses are special offers that are not always given to just anyone. By having a dedicated HR department that will go through the trouble of carefully reviewing these applications, companies are reducing their turnover time and reducing the risk of hiring people who are under qualified and wrong for the position.
Setting the right job qualifications and expectations for the job in consideration is also important for the company in search. Realistic expectations and goals give both the job seeker and the potential employer the advantage of not wasting time with applicants who are only looking for the perks of the job. Managing of the recruitment process brings control and ease to a process that use to take months.
The selection process following initial screening is more rigorous and may vary from corporation to corporation. Every company has its own selection process. For example, some companies have board of directors or a committee. Some companies have just one person interviewing for the company. It all depends on the type of work and how the company has structured its hiring process. Some have a recruiting team that go around to universities and try to recruit students and hire on the spot or actually set-up appointments for interviews and selections within one day. There are many different ways a company can structure their selection process. Some companies set-up numerous screenings that include various tests such as: standardized measures of behavior (e.g., math, vocabulary), and inventories tests that are standardized measures of behavior (e.g., interests, attitudes), also, there are drug screening tests conducted before selecting a candidate. Other screenings utilized by some companies include: handwriting analysis, polygraph examinations, integrity tests, mental ability test, and validity generalization tests. Plus, other companies may use personality measures, projective measures, and leadership ability measures to assure themselves that their selection of the candidate for their company is the right one to hire and retain. Other selection criteria that companies use are personal history data, employment interviews, peer assessment and work-sample tests, leaderless group discussions, and in-basket testing. All these measures and testing are of utmost importance to different companies for various reasons, reliability and validity.
In conclusion, as previously stated, recruitment is a very important process done by Human Resource Management. Even a greater responsibility for any organization is the selection process. It all boils down to selecting the “most qualified and best person” for the job. It is the company's goal to choose the candidate that helps them achieve their mission goals, and gives them the advantage over their competitor's. Once selected, an employer's job is to retain the employee, and train him or her to become an outstanding employee for the organization. It may be a long process, but it is all worth it, when you see the employee's loyalty to the organization and the success of the organization.