Importance of Recruitment and Selection to the Performance of an Organization - Literature review Example

Importance of recruitment and selection to the performance of an organization s Submitted by s: Introduction Recruiting and selecting involves attracting people in a timely manner, in enough numbers and with the needed qualifications for particular openings or vacancies in an organization (Shukla, 2009, p. 281). The use of appropriate methods provides for an efficient and effective recruitment that is vital to the career development of the prospective candidates (Werner and DeSimone, 2012, p. 432). It is considered that for a company to develop and sustain competitive advantage, adequate and appropriate staffing is important. This makes recruitment and selection a key aspect of HRM as it entails all the practices and decisions of the company. Recent advancement in technology, internationalization, social trends as well as evolution of the structure of organizations has created newer challenges for recruiting and selecting prospective candidates. In order to successfully deal with the new challenges associated with recruitment and selection, these aspects human resource management need to be incorporated in to the plans of the company. Strategies associated with recruitment and selections originate from the mission and strategic goals of the organization and thus must demonstrate a compatibility with the business strategies of the firm (Sims, 2007, p. 5). Social scientists have argued that if these aspects are integrated with business strategies, they may be able to achieve particular objectives, which will be important in enhancing the performance of the organization (Compton, Morrissey and Nankervis, 2009, p. 4). Integrating HRM with business strategies is an achievable fete through various human resource practices such as recruitment and selection based on the needs of the business (Mishra, Sarkar and Singh, 2012, p. 30). This means that there are set priorities for companies to have the processes of recruitment and selection purposefully incorporated into the strategies associated with the company. However, a commonplace barrier in regard to recruitment and selection being integrated into the strategy of the business mainly revolves around inadequate planning and controls that result in impractical timelines, unknown problems, lack of coordination and poor monitoring. Achieving strategic integration of business strategies and recruitment and selection processes is a necessary goal that necessitates these common barriers to be resolved. In the last three decades, the level of research focusing on recruitment and selection has experienced a dramatic increase (Evers, Anderson and Voskuijl, 2005, p. 63). However, regardless of this increase, reviews of previous studies have demonstrated that they mainly emphasized on exploring the recruiting and selecting activities employed by the business and not its relation to strategy and performance of the business. Therefore, this essay will consider recruiting and selection, as a HR practice, and its effects on the performance of a company. Literature review Recruitment Recruitment entails attracting candidates to fill positions in the structure of an organization, but prior to the commencement of this process, the requirement of the position, which are supposed to be linked to the tasks of this position are supposed to be identified clearly (Grimshaw, 2009, p. 92). The main aim of recruitment is to come up with a group of candidates that is big enough to enable the managers chose the employees they require. Recruitment is also considered as the first step in the process of filling vacancies and the process entails an examination of the requirements needed to fill this vacancy (Durai, 2010, p. 135). It also entails considerations of resources for the appropriate candidates, creation of job advertisements as well as selection of the media that is most appropriate to carry these advertisements among other activities. On the other hand, selection entails making decisions that concern people, which involves managers choosing the most qualified candidate for a job in the cases where there are numerous job applicants for an opening (DeNisi and Griffin, 2014, p. 149). The sources of employees can be classified into internal or external and the methods involved in recruitment are dependent on the sources of recruitment the company considers effective and wishes to employ (Bates, 2005, p. 287). In a case where the company settles on a policy to recruit from within, then the recruitment approach will involve posting jobs on public boards so that all the employees can be aware and allow for open competition. Employees’ records will also be secretly reviewed and announcement made to both the workers and their unions that vacancies exist and applications to fill these vacancies are welcome and the workers and their unions will therefore be able to inform their other people of these vacancies. This approach to recruitments is best suited for filling positions that are lowly paid in a company (DeCenzo and Robbins, 2005, p. 150). This approach is considered as superior compared to the external approach as it enables the individual development of employees since company workers have a right to advance their careers (Hodgetts and Hegar, 2008, p. 418). This form of recruitment is also advantageous as it increases the general degree of morale in the workers and provides more information concerning candidates through an analysis of work history in the company (Somers, Cain and Jeffery, 2009, p. 164). Even though internal recruitment has its fair share of advantages, there are situations that arise where the existing employees do not have the expertise for the tasks or when providing these skills to the workers through training may be costly to the company. It is considered that regardless of how much emphasis a company directs at designing its work force requirements to address the development of skills internally, it remains necessary to bring in newer talents through external recruitment. The approaches to external recruitment are many and dependent on the category of employees who are being sought including media advertisements, recruiting from colleges and universities, using employment agencies and conducting headhunts in conferences (Williams, 2000, p. 415). Depending on the reputation and image of the company in the society to invite unsolicited applications through mail is also an external approach to recruitment (Mensah and Mensah, 2013, p. 94). When conducting external recruitments, it is imperative that the advertisements utilized carry all the appropriate information concerning the job and the company for the candidates to access. It is vital for the recruiters and the job advertisements not to oversell the jobs as well as the company as external recruitment is supposed to allow the company to inject new perspectives and deal with deficiencies in skills that may not be supplied by the current employees. The choice of using either the external or the internal approach is dependent on numerous aspects including the quality and number of vacancies, financial position, and availability of the needed staff as well as peculiar circumstances of the needed employees. Other aspects that determine the approach employed for recruiting staff in an organization include the policies of the company, the level of the vacant position, the number of openings and the availability of the needed staff within the company. Selection Selection is considered as a mutual process that involves making decisions on whether or not to offer a job to a specific candidate and whether the candidate accepts the job or not. It involves choosing from a pool of possible workers available for the job based on their qualifications and the requirements set by the company. The requirements of the organization may entail the need to consider the expectations of the employees already in the company and if; for instance, the new workers will be accepted by the existing workers. Selection normally takes place from among numerous applicants who submit applications for positions and meet the requirements set by the organization. During selection, the requirements of jobs are matched against the attributes of the potential candidates, which are made possible through creating a person specification that defines the background and other aspects of the possible candidate. The requirements described by the person specifications may not be easy to meet but it creates a standard that allows individuals to be compared. This makes selection a systematic effort at the identification of a candidate who best meets the requirements that have been identified for the vacant position. Selection is a highly important aspect that needs adequate planning and impartiality as the people who are chosen through the selection process defined the quality of the organization. Professionals who have expertise in the art of selection should carry out the selection process in order to make it successful and efficient. Critical review The process of recruiting and selecting is vital for both new and established organizations and human resource departments can use the support of employment professionals in order to make sure that the leaders of the organization are making the appropriate decisions (Brewster and Harris, 1999, p. 58). The recruitment process of a firm usually aims at attracting more talent towards job application and the process is designed in such a manner that will make sure a maximum number of individuals submit their applications for the job. The job description is typically advertised in order to make the best candidates aware and available after which this pool of talent is subjected to scrutiny that will lead to the selection of the candidate who best fits the position. The process of recruitment is usually founded on the present and future needs of the organization making it necessary for HR to analyse the human resource needs available in a company on a regular basis in order to recruit the candidate who is best suited for the job (Buhler, 2010, p. 144). There is also the possibility of recruitment taking place internally from other departments and the already existing employees. There are numerous approaches to recruitment and regardless of the approach taken; the aims and goals of recruitment remain the same (Kelly, 2009, p. 70). Since recruitment aims to create organizational growth, thus its significance and need must be appreciated. During the process of recruitment, the company gets access to pools of talent at one place at the same time, and if the number of candidates is high, the company will have access to ample skills that will allow it to select the best for present and future requirements. Recruitment processes that have been properly planned assists a company in the process of filtering out the candidate who do not meet the specified criteria allowing it to focus more on the ones that are eligible. Since the number of people who attend recruitments is high, the number of individuals who are eligible for the available position will also be high despite the eliminations. Further, a large group will include candidates with various skills, which allows the company to deal with the issue of recruiting multiple skills in the same area. Recruitment also eradicates any fears of workers leaving the company between projects as it assists in the recruitment of resources as back up for the main positions, therefore, the possibility of distress in the event that a worker leaves the company is essentially decreased. It also makes sure of diversity in selection of workers in order to adhere to all the legal and social obligations associated with the organization. Under normal circumstances, job vacancies come up based on the strategic plans of the company or requests made by managers, although they may also come up suddenly as a result of resignations or other reasons. Other issues that create vacancies in companies are changes in the culture of the organization as well as infrastructure (Schabracq, 2007, p. 19). Irrespective of the size of the organization, the capacity to recruit qualified individuals is important since the employees of a company are responsible for productivity of the company, performance and competitive advantage. The consequences in terms of costs associated with recruitment if the wrong people are extremely high as the process typically costs an organization around twenty five percent in basic yearly salaries of the workers in addition to the time spent conducting interviews and the costs of making them redundant (Davies, 2007, p. 167). Further, the internal time taken to deal with the assessment of the ineffective recruitment process and deliberations concerning an exit strategy also waste a lot of time for the senior management. This is more severe in the case small and new organizations where time, especially associated with senior management, is of extreme importance to the organization. After the inefficient recruitment has been dealt with, the entire process has to be redone and this utilized more finances and internal time of the company while all funds directed at training the departing worker are lost. Regarding the costs to the organization, it is much simpler to identify the costs associated with hiring the wrong person if the position he or she was hired for generates revenues directly, as their performance can be compared to the rest of the workforce. For top-tier professional services like consultancy, which involves extensive tasks, a failure to perform may have serious implications. Investing in the recruiting process as well as an experienced and skilled recruiting team can assist in the reduction of poor hiring results (Hacker, 1996, p. 13). Good recruiting companies consistently identify candidates who are valuable to the operations of their clients while taking time to appreciate the culture and values of the organization to make sure the potential recruit fits into these aspects. People are the most crucial aspects of an organization; therefore, the seriousness that companies place in acquiring the latest technology to ease operations and maximize performance should also be applied in the area of recruitment and selection (Lövey, Nadkarni and Erdélyi, 2007, p. 66). Most of the companies and organizations are aware that people are the most important assets, but others are driven by an aspiration to reduce costs and save time along with resources in the short term. In such cases, the organizations settle for inexpensive recruitment tools at face value, which are not effective when it comes to sourcing for people who are required by the company to improve performance and achieve growth. These people are the employees who are needed to enhance the development of the organizations in order to attain outstanding outcomes for themselves as well as the organization (Andersen, 2007, p. 81). The resources and costs needed in order to conduct and efficient and successful selections are high, for instance, assessment centres are the most costly when considered in the short-term (Kaila, 2005, p. 30). Some organizations do not instantly understand the reasons why they should invest in this area but there are further potential costs and risks to the company that should be addressed including the difficulties associated with the defence of challenged recruitment decisions that employed ineffective selection methods (Hughes, 2012, p. 107). Organizations may be found guilty of direct or indirect discrimination against candidates and ignorance may not protect them for being prosecuted. Business can be reported to the Employee Tribunal by applicants who believe they were discriminated during the recruitment process, and without evidence to show that the was assessed against impartial criteria while using dependable tools, companies run the risk of huge fines as well as negative publicity (Barnett and Scrope, 2008, p. 403). Case study: Cummins A mechanic known as Clessie Cummins established Cummins in 1919, and the company mainly focused on the development of engines whose inventions had taken place two decades earlier. Regardless of the endurance tests that had been well publicized, the company was only able to their successful model that was utilized for small railroad switchers. In the road building boom that was experienced after the Second World War, the company became renowned for heavy-duty truck engines where at some point they controlled more than half of the market share. In the sixties, the company established an assembly plant in Scotland and by 2013; it was operating in almost two hundred counties in various regions. The company’s engine business unit includes aftermarket support and various categories of engines. The company is involved in manufacturing and marketing various diesel and gas powered engines for various uses including mining, oil and gas, construction and military equipment. The Power Generation Business Unit of the company involves the manufacture of alternators, power systems for commercial purposes, paralleling systems as well as engines among others. Cummins provides power generation systems all over the world along with components and services for standby power together with auxiliary power in mobile applications in order to serve the needs of various customers. The recruitment of employees is an expensive exercise but at the same time a very important part of any organization that has a lot of benefits when done in the correct manner. If organizations make the right choices when hiring people for a specific job, give them appropriate training and treat them in the best way, these people produce the best outcomes and stay in the company for a longer period. In these situations, the initial as well as current investments of the company are appropriately rewarded. A company may possess all the current technology as well as the best resources physically, but if it cannot employ the correct people, it will have a difficult time trying to achieve its goals. The potential of the new recruits in terms of their skills should also be adequately measured and evaluated so that the organization avoids the common mistake that organizations make when conducting interviews that involves depending too much on instincts (Farmer, 2008, p. 120). It is obvious that personal opinions must be involved in the recruitment process but it is supposed to be underpinned supported by an in-depth and impartial evaluation of the aptness of the candidate as well as their expertise based on the whole performance spectrum (De Pablos, 2013, p. 79). When an organization has a clear definition of what consistently successful workers are, this awareness can be critically utilized in order to allow it to recruit from an impartial standard going forward. Cummins is an organization involved in designing and manufacturing engines and other products used for filtration and power generation. Cummins is an organization that has knowledge of the significance of doing business correctly, as poor decisions during recruitment may prove to be costly in the end. The company has to ensure that its candidates has the required technical competencies, for instance, if an engineer comes up with a design of a specific component that fails and has to be re-designed, the company will lose in terms of finances and time, as well as incur penalties on delays regarding fulfilment of specific contracts. Finances and money spent on the recruitment of particular workers will therefore be an expensive exercise and a competitor may have already employed the better candidate. Recently Cummins was the first company to bring to market a comprehensive variety of engines that adhered to the new tough environmental regulation. The technical solution that it employed towards meeting this regulation was totally different from the approach taken by its competitor. If this approach had ended up being unsuccessful or not permitted by the government, the company may have experienced a downfall. Comparatively few people shared the accountability and responsibility associated with arriving at the correct decision. Apart for technical competency as well as adequate experience, a company has to be sure that it can depend on the goodwill of its employees along with their commitment to the company and its mission. The CEO of Cummins considers the most significant decision that a leader can make as the choice of the people who will back up their ideas. In a market that is characterized by a high level of technological competition, Cummins needs individuals who have a high level of technical competency, adequately informed as well as committed with ability to demonstrated good judgment even under pressure. During submission of a written tender for contracts, for instance, the group working on it needs to make a decision on what the organization can deliver, at what time and the price. This may be specifically tricky when coming up with a new product for the first time making it important that the people tasked with such a duty be competent and qualified. Hiring the wrong individual has severe financial ramifications along with other effects that influence the company directly especially in regard to the recruitment for senior positions (Cascio, 2010, p. 200). Constant employee turnover results from poor recruitment processes particularly if the personality fits are wrong and this may cause long-term damage to the morale of the rest of the employees and the company in general. Therefore, before an organization can start the recruitment process, it is imperative that it conducts a comprehensive evaluation of the qualities and expertise that are needed from the new recruits filling particular positions (Rao, 2007, p. 133). In order to achieve this, the organization must understand why it needs to conduct the recruitment, the duties associated with the vacant position, the purpose of the position and how the recruitment will fit with other employees in the company. Job advertisements are a critical component of the recruitment process and Cummins utilizes several methods of communication to make their job advertisements known including advertising in newspapers, the use of recruitment consultants who have skills in recruitment and will go through their database as well as job centers and the internet. However, not all the vacancies appear on all the media forms as junior roles at specific Cummins plants may be advertised in the local newspapers while the technical newspapers are advertised on the internet. However, the balance for advertising has been evolving and in 1999, the company dedicated most of its advertising budget to print media. Five year later, almost all the technical and managerial positions that are vacant are advertised through the internet leading to a reduction of advertising spending by almost eighty percent. Advertisements on the internet are considered as operational for a prolonged time as compared to those done in print media as the online advertisements are directed more diligently. It also makes it easier for the company to track and keep record of individuals who have developed an interest and consequently communicate with them in the event that a vacancy emerges. The use of the internet has assisted Cummins to place advertisements that are seen all over the globe while reaching potential candidates who are diverse, which has allowed the company to reach its potential candidates quickly during the times when vacancies come up. The company’s website also includes a link that is can be used by people searching for jobs to access all the vacancies that are available at any particular time. All the company’s advertisements underscore the knowledge, expertise and experiences people need for every post, which are the competencies that are linked to the vacancies. It also uses position profiles in the identification of important technical and non-technical competencies needed for all the jobs it advertises. These aspects feature in the company’s advertisements and are used in shaping the questions that the candidates are asked during their interviews. Therefore, if a recruitment and selection program is effectively conducted, there are more chances that the results of the company will be better as the quality of services or products is improved when the most qualified workers are hired (Caruth, Caruth and Pane, 2009, p. 262). Furthermore, the financial success of an organization can be achieved when the best candidates are hired and trained as fewer people achieve more and the structure of the organization allows for a higher level of freedom when the workers are aware of the best approaches to their jobs. It becomes relatively easier to attract new employees when the reputation of the organization on how it hires and trains its workers is excellent, reducing the need for the recruitment and selection department as hiring does not repetitively occur. Conclusion Conducting efficient recruitment and selection is vital to the successful functioning of a company, as it is reliant on identifying individuals with the required expertise and skills to achieve the strategic goals of the organization while making positive contributions to the mission and vision of the company (Jackson, Schuler and Werner, 2012, p. 188). The outcomes of the organization also improve when recruitment and selection is conducted meticulously as this creates a bigger probability of hiring and retaining workers (McTague, 2001, p. 2). Additionally, if the selection system of an organization is effective, there will be an effect on the bottom-line outcomes of the business as well as financial outlook. Therefore, channelling investment towards the creation of a wide-ranging and effective selection structure can be considered as positive investing. Work in organizations is classified into roles and responsibilities based on the recruitment requirements as well as the strategic plans of the company which act as the starting point from which objectives and goals will develop the necessary parameters. The main role of the HR department involves aligning performance associated with the identified roles with the strategies and this is typically done through competency frameworks. Unsuccessful recruitment is linked to a several disadvantages in terms of costs to the organization and low morale that negatively affects the performance of the workers. It may also lead to the business losing opportunities along with increased turnover that considerably affects the performance and success of the organization. A lot of money is wasted every year by organizations that do not have an elaborate priority when it comes to recruitment and selection of the most suitable staff for their vacant positions. Along with costs incurred during the recruitment process, there is also a waste of investment in terms of time and money channelled into the induction process if the applicant leaves the organization. More often than not, the effect of staff who have been in the company for a long time is overlooked and this may have a negative impact on their moral in the work setting and consequently the performance of the company. 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