Recruitment plays a key role in organisational strategies and future goals. With reference to the literature, we’ll focus on three major issues that relate to recruitment today. They are, recruitment sources, the selection process and structuring an interview. Each issue will be defined and discussed in relation to recruitment. Also shown will be the relationship between recruitment and organisational strategies.
Recruitment sources are a major issue for an organisation when there is a new position vacant. Two key factors in this issue are internal and external sources. Internal sources are when an organisation encourages promotions within the company, rather than placing someone from the outside world straight into a superior position. According to De Cieri and Kramer (2003) there are several advantages to recruiting within the organisation. Firstly, “it is generally cheaper and faster to fill vacancies internally” (De Cieri & Kramar, 2003, p.187). Another key advantage is motivation and enthusiasm within the workplace. An incentive such as a promotion encourages employees to stay motivated and enthusiastic (Le Boeuf, 1990). If they continuously complete the work in a professional manner, he or she will reap the greatest rewards in the future when a position does arise. One more advantage for internal recruitment is all applicants will already be well known within the organisation. Furthermore, the applicants will have a better understanding of what the vacant position really is, whilst they will also know what to expect rather than having an exaggerated prospect of the jobs criteria (De Cieri & Kramar, 2003).
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A promotion within the organisation will often lead to a candidate vacating their position, which in turn is refilled by another employee awaiting a newly appointed position. This chain effect on promotion means that not only one position is filled within the organisation, but two or more positions will often be filled when internal recruitment is implemented.
In contrast to internal recruitment, there are also several advantages on the external side of recruitment. One advantage that can play a key role in an organisation’s decision is the large number of applicants that can be chosen from. External applicants are predominantly more qualified and have the ability to bring new ideas, work techniques, production methods and training into the workplace. Other factors that may persuade recruiters to choose external recruitment are possible new contacts and customers that the external applicant might know on a personal level. In addition, the external applicant will bring a sense of competition, which will motivate internal employees to do their best within the workplace. This grouped together can result in new insights into profitability (Compton, Morrissey & Nankervis, 2002).
When it comes down to choosing the more preferred applicant, regardless of being internal or external, it is definitely one of the most difficult steps to finalise. The results from the recruiter’s final decisions rely on good recruiting procedures. If the organisation fails to go to all extremes to make sure that they have chosen the right employee, the affects on the organisation will be dramatic. This leads to the next major issue with recruitment, the selection process.
The selection process is vital to an organisation. If the wrong decision is made, the organisation can suffer severely (Dwyer, 2002). An organisation would use the selection process to assist in choosing the right person for the job. However, this isn’t as easy as it sounds. As the importance of the vacancy increases, so does the pressure on the recruitment panel to fill the job with a suitable applicant. The selection process tries to optimise the fit between person and position, meaning that it helps to predict who will be the most successful in the position both mentally and physically (Bartol, Tein, Matthews & Martin, 2003).
The selection process consists of five generic standards that should be met by all organisations before making a final decision: (1) Reliability, (2) validity, (3) generalisability, (4) utility and (5) legality. “The first four build off each other, in the sense that the preceding standard is often necessary but not for the one that follows” (De Cieri & Kramar, 2003, p.196). The legal standard basically falls into place by itself because if there is a thorough understanding of the first four standards the legal side will have already been covered (De Cieri & Kramar, 2003).
A clear indication of the affect a wrong decision can have is displayed in the following quote by Alberici (1999):
“A recent survey in the United States found that 70 per cent of customers stopped shopping at their local store not because of price but because of staff who were unfriendly, uncaring and simply not interested in what they were doing” (p35).
This is just one of many negative outcomes an organisation can face if they have chosen an unsuitable person for the job. Selection mistakes can cause many problems for an organisation; examples of more dramatic affects are reduced profits, an impaired image and reputation, decreased internal status, threats to company viability, etc (O’Meara, 2003). It is clear that the severity of the selection process is a very serious issue and needs extreme caution when used for recruiting.
The structure of an interview plays a major role in determining a good applicant. It is an obvious issue in relation to recruitment because it establishes a framework to make sure the best applicant will be chosen. If an interview is not structured properly, the applicant can react in many different ways. Many ways are similar to making a wrong decision in the selection process, although in the interview itself things can get personal quite easily. Recruiters have to be extremely careful when it comes down to asking an applicant questions. All questions must be the same for all applicants and should have a bearing on the job. Interviewer/s should steer clear of any personal questions otherwise the applicant could cause a legislative war zone (Klopp & Tarcy, 1998).
In order to gain the most valuable information from each applicant the interviewer/s need to focus on asking only pertinent questions (Alberici, 1999). For example, instead of asking someone if they can lead and motivate, an applicant could be asked to recall an experience where they led and motivated people. The question asked should not be able to be answered with a simple yes or no; there must be a relevant meaning as to why the question is being asked in the first place. In relation to the structure of the questions, the atmosphere surrounding the applicant needs to be as comfortable as possible as well. If the applicant feels uneasy or pressured, there is no chance that they are going to be themselves when questions are fired at them. From a psychological point of view, the atmosphere is basically the most important factor in getting the most valuable information out of an applicant (Cooper & Robinson, 2001). If the atmosphere is comfortable and the structure is professional, there is a better chance of choosing the right person for the job.
Recruitment is in everyway related to organisational strategy. Every aspect of recruitment from advertising through to hiring has a purpose and is implemented to suit the framework of the organisational strategy. Organisations are slowly moving away from the ‘wait till we need them’ approach into a more innovative and strategic approach for recruiting staff. A great example of a strategy in action is an organisation building a long-term relationship with academics, tertiary institutions and recruitment agencies. Organisations are becoming more involved with resources like the internet, special interest groups and relationships to name a few. (De Cieri & Kramar, 2003). The organisations that are focusing on the public relations are familiarising themselves amongst what they plan to be their future prospects. This simply shows a trend towards organisational strategies now taking a people orientated approach to recruitment. Organisations are moving with the times and preparing by making good relationships and really getting to know the people and places that are going to keep them on top in the future.
It is clear that recruitment is not as basic as it may seem. Human Resource Managers need to focus on the issues relating to recruitment, and need to make sure that their own hiring and firing works in conjunction with the organisations strategies and future goals. Three major issues relating to recruitment are; recruitment sources, the selection process and structuring an interview. The recruitment sources are made up of an internal and external approach. Internal recruitment motivates people within the organisation and keeps them enthusiastic about their job. It also gives an incentive to do the best job possible due to the good chance of getting a promotion. In contrast, external recruitment tends to involve applicants who are predominantly more qualified and have the ability to bring new ideas, work techniques, production methods and training into the workplace. The next key issue is the selection process; it is one of the most important steps in recruiting. The selection process tries to optimise the fit between person and position, meaning that it helps to predict who will be the most successful in the position both mentally and physically. This is a vital step to recruitment because if not followed properly it can reduce profits, impair image and reputation, decrease internal status and can threaten the company’s viabilities. Another issue that is related to recruitment is that of the interviews structure. The interview structure plays a key role in getting the most information out of each applicant. In addition, a good structure will make sure that all applicants are treated fairly, feel comfortable and only ask question relating to the job at hand. Without a good interview structure the applicant can feel very uncomfortable and will not be his or herself in the interview. Organisations are really adapting to change and moving with the times. They no longer tend to use the ‘wait till we need them’ approach anymore. The organisational strategies of today are focusing on the people and places that will keep them on top in the future. Organisations are building relationships with academics, tertiary institutions and recruitment agencies. With all this in mind, there is no doubt that the issues of today are being dealt with by the organisational strategies of tomorrow.
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