RECRUITMENT & SELECTION

What is recruitment?

Process of Attracting the best Qualified individuals to apply for a given Job.

Three main stages in recruitment1) Identify and define the requirements. job

descriptions, job specifications

(2) Attract potential employees

(3) Select and employ the appropriate people from the job applicants

Recruitment & Selection is a continuous process

Staff departures (e.g. retirements, sackings, resignations)

Changes in business requirements (e.g. new products, markets, expanded operations)

Changes in business location (a relocation often triggers the need for substantial recruitment)

Promotions

Factors describing recruitment process

Characteristics of the jobCharacteristics of applicantsRecruiting PoliciesCharacteristics of the recruiter

Characteristics of the Job

PayChallengeJob securityChance for promotionGeographyBenefits (how much do you know?)

Applicant Characteristics

Applicants may decide whether to take a job based on:Non-compensatory factors (got to have this

in a job) minimum salary, locationCompensatory characteristics (would like to

have this)

Recruiting policies

The employer’s view (we just did the applicant’s view)

Recruiting sources:Do you recruit from inside or outside

company?

Recruiter characteristics

WarmthInformativeness (how much do they tell

you about job?)Studies show applicants find recruiter

less credible when from HR department

Methods

Internal RecruitmentThis refers to the filling of job vacancies from

within the business - where existing employees are selected rather than employing someone from outside.

A business might decide that it already has the right people with the right skills to do the job, particularly if its training and development programme has been effective.

How is it done?

Internal vacancies are usually advertised within the business via a variety of media:

Staff notice boards Intranets In-house magazines / newsletters (for

example, E-map, a major publishing business) have a weekly staff magazine devoted solely to advertising jobs within the organization!

Staff meetings

Advantages of internal recruitment

Gives existing employees greater opportunity to advance their careers in the business

May help to retain staff who might otherwise leave Requires a short induction training period Employer should know more about the internal

candidate's abilities (= a reduced risk of selecting an inappropriate candidate)

Usually quicker and less expensive than recruiting from outside

Disadvantages of internal recruitment

Limits the number of potential applicants for a job

External candidates might be better suited / qualified for the job

Another vacancy will be created that has to be filled

Existing staff may feel they have the automatic right to be promoted, whether or not they are competent & Business resistant to change

External Recruitment

This refers to the filling of job vacancies from outside the business (contrast with internal recruitment). Most businesses engage in external recruitment fairly frequently, particularly those that are growing strongly, or that operate in industries with high staff turnover

There are several ways of looking for staff outside the business

Employment / recruitment agencies

These businesses specialize in recruitment and selection. They often specialize in recruitment for specific sectors (e.g., finance, travel, secretarial). They usually provide a shortlist of candidates based on the people registered with the agency. They also supply temporary or interim employees.

The main advantages with using an agency are the

specialist skills they bring and the speed with which they normally provide candidates. They also reduce the administrative burden of recruitment. The cost is the high agency fees charged - often up to 30% of the first year wages of anyone employed.

Headhunters / Recruitment Consultancies

"Upmarket" recruitment agents who provide a more specialised approach to the recruitment of key employees and/or senior management. They tend to "approach" individuals with a good reputation rather than rely on long lists of registered applicants - often using privileged industry contacts to draw up a short list. The cost of using a headhunter or recruitment consultant is high.

Job centresGovernment run agency - good for identifying

local candidates for relatively straightforward jobs. The job centre service is free to employers and is most useful for advertising semi-skilled, clerical and manual jobs.

Government Funded Training SchemesThe advantage of these schemes is that

government funding lowers the cost of employment. However, relatively few employment requirements are covered by these schemes.

Probably the most common method. Advertising allows the employer to reach a wider audience. The choice of advertising media (e.g. national newspaper, internet, specialist magazine etc) depends on the requirement for the advert to reach a particular audience and, crucially, the advertising budget.

Advertising

Advertisement characteristics

Accurate - describes the job and its requirements accurately

Short - not too long-winded; covers just the important ground

Honest - does not make claims about the job or the business that will later prove false to applicants

Positive - gives the potential applicant a positive feel about joining the business

Relevant - provides details that prospective applicants need to know at the application stage (e.g. is shift-working required; are there any qualifications required)

Choice of medium - What kind of advertising medium should be chosen? The following factors are relevant: Type of job: senior management jobs merit adverts in the

national newspapers and/or specialist management magazines (e.g. the Economist, Business Week). Many semi-skilled jobs need only be advertised locally to attract sufficient good quality candidates

Cost of advertising: National newspapers and television cost significantly more than local newspapers etc

Readership and circulation: how many relevant people does the medium reach? How frequently (e.g. weekly, monthly, annually!. Is the target audience actually only a small fraction of the total readership or Viewer ship?

Frequency: how often does the business want to advertise the post?

Advantages of external recruitment

These are mainly the opposite of the disadvantages of internal recruitment. The main one being that a wider audience can be reached which increases the chance that the business will be able to recruit the skills it needs.

Revolutionary method

‘Friends program’ Prospective employee clicked on the Friends

program icon on the company’s website they had to fill in a form explained about the work and the company’s

culture

Internal referral program, Amazing People refer their friends and relatives for a job

Results

Through Friends Programme Attract:100/150 per week & 500,00 in a month.

Hiring cycle comes down to 45 days (65days).

Cost down to 40%Result in more qualified peopleLow attrition rate

Recruitment policies

EEO- equal employment opportunity makes it sure for equal probability of selection in terms of gender, race and caste

Reservations – while recruiting people all the reservations mentioned in the constitution needs to be taken into account

Contingency employment – to what post and in what strength one can hire temporary employee

Encouragement for disabled persons

Internet recruitment

Advancement in technology has caused recruitment and selection process to be more fast and easier.E- mails have replaced ordinary postElectronic CVs has speeded the process by

optical character recognition (OCR)Online recruitment sites include job sites,

agency sites and different media sites.

Common Selection Process

Multiple hurdle model: eliminating some candidates at each stage of the selection process

Compensatory model: a very high score on one type of assessment can make up for a low score on another. All candidates go through all selection procedures

Vs.

Selection Steps

1)Link to organization strategy and objectives.2) Job analysis --> job description --> job specification.3) Recruiting.4) Choose selection tool/method.5) Select from applicant pool.6) Evaluate.

Selection Methods

Application formsInterviewsAssessment centerPsychometric testPeer assessments-

Interviews

Most common method Not always most valid method- depends on

form of interview

Types of interviews: Structured (much higher validity than

unstructured) (questions oriented to past experience, and hypothetical questions)

Unstructured Panel/ Team

Problems with interviews

Biases on part of interviewer Halo effect Primacy effect (first impressions)

Psychometric test

Personality: Projective Technique: TAT 16Pf Test.

Interest Inventory: Thurston Inventory

Motivation: Achievement Test Need for Affiliation Need For Power

Honesty: Polygraph Graphology

Assessment center

The focus is on behavior Includes role-plays and group exercises Interviews and tests will be used in addition to

exercises Performance is measured in several dimensions

in terms of the competencies Several participants are assessed together in

order to allow interaction Several assessors and observers are used in

order to increase the objectivity

Application forms

Computer screening of application formsUsed by many large firms (Microsoft,

IBM) to save timeUsed for large numbers of applicantsBiodata- education, other information

about accomplishments (did you build a model airplane that flew?—this predicted success of pilot trainees)

important if teamwork involved

Peer assessments

Reference Checks

It is necessary to confirm the nature of the previous, period of time in employment, the reason for leaving, attendance record etc.

But Allowance should made for prejudice and a check should made.

Some firms fear liability in defamation suits for giving references

Importance of training referees to know difference between facts and generalizations

Credit checks- contain biographical data which can be checked against applicant info

If rejected due to credit check, applicant must be told under Fair Credit Reporting Act

Considerations When Choosing a Selection Method

Strategic goals of organization

Utility (benefits less costs)

Legal defensibility

Reliability and validity

Placement

Decision about placement can be made in the selection process itself based on interest, expertise and individual ability

Separate techniques ( interviews, psychometric tests etc) can be used for placing people

Generally after initial training, individuals are placed in their respective fields based on their performance in the training