Recruitment and Selection Methods - Essay Example

Recruitment and Selection methods The process of recruitment and selection is the process of categorizing and identifying the requirements for a job, its positional requirements especially with regard to the job holder, advertising for the position and selecting the most suitable candidate for the job. This activity of employee selection and recruitment is one of the most important objectives of management, especially the human resource management. Having the right person, in the right place, at the right time, is crucial to organisational performance. Recruitment is a critical activity, not just for the HR team but also for line managers who are increasingly involved in the selection process (CIPD (U.K.) Recruitment Viewpoint. December, 1996). Employees of a business should hence be carefully selected, retained and managed, along with management of other resources. In the science of human resource management, recruitment and selection elements are not just methods of filling available vacancies, the importance of a well executed recruitment and selection process allow a management to establish and then progressively transform the behavioural fitness and characteristics of the organisational workforce. The report is an effort to assess and understand the latest recruitment and selection practices especially with a focus on the recruitment and selection methods in the United Kingdom. RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION METHODS Organisational Recruitment The term recruitment generally refers to the practice of sourcing, screening and selecting the right candidates for a job or a vacancy in an organisation. The job or vacancy can be for recruiting people from outside the organisation or from within the organisation for a new role (Armstrong, 2006). Though the process of recruitment can be handled by a single person in some cases, typically, the process of recruitment and selection for a mid-sized or a large organisation is done by professional recruiters, or a recruitment company (Hofmeister, 2005), Recruitment Process The results of your recruitment process will directly impact several areas, including morale, motivation, respect, retention, quality of service projects, relationships with service partners and community members, funding, and your ability to focus on the program rather than spend the majority of your time addressing problems (Williams, 2000). The process of recruitment can be broadly divided into three steps: Requirement definition stage, potential employee attraction stage and selection of the right candidate stage (Williams, 2000). Stage One: Requirements Definition – In this stage, the there is an analysis of the job in order to document the job description and the job specifications, defining the kind of skill sets a business is expecting in a potential candidate for the job. Stage Two: Attract potential employees – This is the stage of attracting potential candidates for the job by advertising for the job. Stage Three: Select the right candidate – This stage include the selection of the right candidate from the list of potential candidates who applied for the job through job interview and ability tests. Recruitment Industry With the change in attention from rigid skill sets and capability requirements to broader competency sets, personal flexibility and adaptability, the recruitment industry has seen much revolution in the way it helps businesses recruit and select employees (Osborne, 2008). The current recruitment industry can be broadly categorized into four basic types of agencies: the traditional recruitment agency, online recruitment website, in – house recruitment and headhunters (Sears, 2002). Traditional Recruitment Agency: The traditional recruitment agency, commonly known as an employment agency mostly has a physical location, though now a day; we can find online recruitment agencies as well. For registering oneself with recruitment agency, for getting a job, a candidate mostly visits the local branch of employment agency and undergoes a short interview and assessment test so that his competencies may be mapped to the job specifications given by a penitential employer. The candidates matching the job requirements are then sent to the potential employer for further selection and processing (Weddle, no date). Online Recruitment Websites: These are internet websites providing access to potential candidates to post their resumes and candidature and also for businesses posting their job requirements and openings looking for the right candidate for a fee (Introduction to Online Recruitment. HRM Guide, 9-Apr-08). In present days, these websites have progressed to become end to end recruitment solution provider (Amble, 2003). These websites gather candidate details and then pool them in an online client accessible candidate management interfaces. The drawback of such a recruitment agency is the inability to attract “passive’ candidates, who are not looking actively for a job, but might be interested in a job opportunity coming their way by other means (Largest ever UK survey into recruitment and the Internet, 2000). Also, candidates looking for a change of job might fear being found out by their employer or co – workers, if they put up their resume for other opportunities (Dixon, 1998). In-House Recruitment: Large businesses having their own full fledged human resource department generally carry out the recruitment process in house using their human resource department (Rezende, et al. 1994. Management in Transition: Engineering a Changing World. In: Proceedings of the 1994 IEEE International. Engineering Management Conference). The human resource department may also coordinate with the recruitment agencies mentioned above including headhunters for various stages of the recruitment process. The in – house recruiters also put up advertisements on their internal and external websites, coordinate with their employees for references under the employee referral scheme and / or undertake on campus graduate recruitment depending on the type of job opening. Many large organisations also outsource some or all of their recruitment process to an agency; this is called recruitment process outsourcing Holcomb & Hitt, 2007. Toward a model of strategic outsourcing. Journal of Operations Management). Headhunters: Headhunters are third party recruiters who are used by organisations when the standard recruitment efforts have not yielded satisfactory results (Kumar, 2006. Hunting the headhunter: DNA (Daily News & Analysis). They are usually more aggressive as compared to the in house recruiters since they are involved in not only attract candidates for jobs but also search for them. “The recruiter/headhunter/search consultant (the terms are used interchangeably) is the person you will actually work with on your job search. You may be approached by a headhunter trying to recruit you to apply for a new job working for a firm she/he represents. Alternately, you may send your resume to a recruiter or apply for a position that a headhunter is trying to fill” (Doyle, A. Choosing a Headhunter. [Apr-2008]). They may undertake the process to prepare a candidate for interview, negotiate salary for the candidate and carry out all the activities to close the process. Headhunters are often seen as last resort and are employed to find senior management candidates and fill executive roles or to find extremely specialized role candidates since they are high in cost (Doyle, [no date]. Choosing a Headhunter. [Apr-2008]). The headhunters mostly use sophisticated sales techniques to do their job, often visiting trade shows and other national and international events attended by potential candidates and potential employers. To accomplish this, they generally network well and develop relationships with various organisations, keep and maintain large databases and also buy candidate lists and company directories along with the use of cold calling (Headhunters Directory .com. Apr-2008). Methods of Recruitment Over the ages the criticality and complexities of jobs have increased along with the intensification of business complexities resulting in developing and redefining methods to hire and select the right candidate for the job. The process of organisational recruitment and selection has seen orientation and reorientation of recruitment policies, the online recruitment boom and presently the recruitment outsourcing phenomenon (Veneeva, [no date]. Recruitment as the most important aspect of Human Resource Management). The methods of recruitment listed and discussed below are in no way an exhaustive list, since depending on the company or the role, the geography or the culture, the list might be an endless one with all possible permutations and combinations. Evidence suggests that job seekers in Britain use multiple search methods rather than rely on a single method strategy. Gregg and Wadsworth (1996) report that on average unemployed individuals in Britain use three job search methods, similar to the number used by unemployed youth in the U.S. (Holzer, 1988) but more than that recently found for the unemployed in Portugal (Addison and Portugal, 1998). The list below is just an attempt to record the well known methods of recruitment and selection, most commonly used by businesses world over to recruit and select new employees (Adler, 2002). Referrals: This method is used in most organisations where existing employees are paid to provide or suggest a right candidate for a specific job opening, getting paid a commission if their candidate gets selected and stays in the organisation for a specified period of time. This method may also be used for internal transfers and job openings. The method of referrals may be biased in nature due to preferences for a candidate of a specific employee (Grout, 2002). Word of mouth: This method uses word of mouth to inform interested candidates about a specific vacancy. This method is similar to the referral system but may not cost anything to the employer. It also has the potential drawbacks of limited candidate visibility to potential candidates, thus missing out on the option of choosing from a number of candidates. Newspaper: Placing an advertisement in the news paper for a vacancy is a way to reach out to maximum number of candidates. This process however is very tedious in terms of weeding out the unsuitable applicants and also the ‘number of words’ constraint while placing an ad. Hiring from within the organisation: This process is used for internal job transfers from one department or role to another within an organisation. This process is less complicated in terms of choosing a candidate, since his potentials are well documented, the employee is already aware of the organisation culture. However, the problems of favourability, allegations of bias etc may arise in this method. Work Force Commissions: These are government or semi autonomous bodies, assisting businesses to find potential candidates from their database. They function in a similar way as that of the recruitment agencies but their purpose is mostly social welfare rather than profit making motive. Help Wanted Signs: Very small businesses like shops, petrol pumps, salons etc, not requiring highly qualified candidates generally put up “help wanted signs” and entertain walk in candidature. Campus recruitments: College or university campus recruitments help organisations to attract the brightest and best talents freshly out of college or university. This method also helps to hire greater number of candidates in a single attempt rather than spending time on individual candidates. This method is suitable for trainee job or positions in the junior levels, for example positions of management trainees. Job Fairs: Job fairs are similar to trade shows and are organized by a third party, where several employee seeking companies participate and select candidates for the available vacancies. This method helps organisations to position themselves and their several vacancies in one go and carry out the recruitment and selection process. To participate in a job fair, an organisation needs to pay the organizer of the fair, a fee. Also, if similar companies with similar vacancies participate, it might lead to losing of the right candidate to a competitor. Trade Publications: Similar to news papers, advertisements can be placed in these journals to attract the applicants, however, the publicity or reach of these journals are limited. Trade and Technical Schools: This method is similar to the on campus college or university recruitment method. Television: This costly method of recruitment is generally used by very large organisations to advertise their job openings over the television. This method helps in the coverage and reaches for the opening and seeks out both ‘active’ and ‘passive’ candidates. The issues with this method are large number of candidates and cost. Corporate Personnel: This is the method of using in-house recruitment for filling vacancies. Unions: Reaching out to employee unions with openings also can help to find the applicants for a vacancy. Websites: placing job opening advertisements over the internet or intranet webpages of the company helps to find candidates who are specifically interested in joining that particular company. Selection A selection is the stage in the recruitment process where the received applications are assessed to shortlist the probable candidates and finally a candidate is selected for the job opening or vacancy. Commonly a selection committee is set up for candidate assessment and selection. The committee then recommends the most suitable candidate from among the applicants. If the recommendation gets approved, the candidate is appointed to the position. Selection Process The selection process consists of the following common steps though there might be variations depending on the vacancy, organisation, recruitment policies, type of industry etc. 1. Appointment of the selection committee consisting of one or more people. 2. Confirm committee meetings and time for interviewing candidates. 3. Read and understand the recruitment and selection policy of the company. Discuss the job opening to ascertain that the committee members understand the vacancy and candidate requirements. 4. Short listing of the applicants based on initial screening of their resumes. 5. Choosing appropriate selection techniques to be used for candidate selection. 6. Finalize, prepare and document interview questions and other tests to be used in the selection techniques. 7. Intimate short listed candidates about the selection methods to be used for screening them. 8. Conduct the selection process using the selection methods selected. 9. Check references provided by the candidates. 10. Deliberate and finalize on a candidate based on his performance in the selection process, his credentials etc. 11. Refer the selected candidate to the management for the final appointment formalities. Selection Techniques The type of position or opening determines the kinds of selection methods/techniques that can be used to choose a right candidate for the position which will help to accurately test the required skill sets, qualities and knowledge of a candidate for the vacancy. A combination of the selection methods help to accurately asses a candidate ion various parameters as compared to a single method. Results are used to assess a candidate’s technical knowledge, general problem-solving ability, interest in the operation, and other job-related attributes (Roper, 1988). While determining the methods to be used for selection, the seniority or level of the position, criticality of leadership or managerial ability, level of technical competence, time and effort required to use a selection method as compared to the risk associated with improper selection, available resources, budget for the process, the qualification, skills and knowledge of the assessors and discriminatory properties of the selected method, if any, needs to be considered. The following methods are commonly used in the selection process: Structured Interview Format – This encompasses the assessment of a candidate’s skills, attributes and behaviour using behaviour based questions. This method is highly objective in nature and hence preferred. Complementing this method with other techniques like skill tests, work sample tests, case studies, planning exercises, analysis and/or judgment exercises, presentation and team observations etc, help to identify the right candidate. Telephone Interviews (Video or Teleconference) – This method is mostly used for candidates located overseas or unable to attend the initial selection process in person because of distance. However, this method is an initial selection method and is mostly followed up by a face-to-face meeting, before the final recommendation. Work Samplesa – This method engages a candidate or a group of candidates for completing tasks or exercises that would be a part of their job, if selected. The various work sample techniques are leaderless group discussion ( a group of candidates required to have a discussion on a given topic for a specific period of time – attributes such as leadership, customer service orientation, coaching teamwork, etc can be assessed); in-tray test (administered on individual candidate, this method requires the candidate to simulate important or regular tasks related to the position); planning exercises (used to assess a candidates planning and judgment skills by testing a candidate to prioritize, plan activities, schedule and allocate resources and adapt to last minute changes for a typical project); analysis exercises (tests a candidate’s capacity for analysis and judgment by giving him a specific case study on an imaginary organisation for analysis, evaluation and recommendations); lectures or presentations (assesses a candidate’s communication and presentation skills) and computer exercises (tasks like spreadsheet creation, sorting of data etc, assess a candidate’s computer skills for using a specific program). Interviews suffer from a basic problem: When asked what they would do in a particular situation, candidates give the answer which they feel the interviewer wants to hear. The work sample technique attempts to overcome this problem by asking candidates to take on mini-jobs in a selection situation. Properly designed work samples capture key elements of a real job (Scheer, 2005). Peer Assessment – This method involves asking a candidate’s peers (with prior permission from the candidate) as to how he would respond to a given work situation and role. This method helps to assess leadership and managerial accomplishments in future. Assessment Centres – This method is mostly used for mass recruitment since they are costly and difficult to administer. These centres generally differ in complexities and are commonly carried out by trained consultants. These are like workshops held over a period of a day or two and using different techniques like interviews, written tests, individual and group exercises etc to assess candidates. Assessment centres are procedures and not necessarily places. They function on the principle that no individual method of selection is particularly good and no individual assessor is infallible. ... They use multiple methods and several assessors in structured programs which attempt to minimize the inadequacies of each method and cancel out the prejudices of individual selectors. Inevitably, assessment centres are a very expensive method of selection (Price, 2003). Psychometric Profiling – This technique uses cognitive ability tests, objective personality and interest inventory and leadership ability tests to determine the suitability of candidates. Trained professionals are used to administer these tests and help in assessment of a candidate’s performance in a team environment. The most common use of tests is in the process of selecting individuals at the point of entry into an organisation. Testing has been in use for more than 50 years, but there has been a significant rise in test use in the last decade and, as the selection process becomes ever more sophisticated, testing has assumed a more and more prominent role for a number of organisations (Price, 2003). Informal Meetings – This technique is used to observe a candidate’s behavior in a informal setting. Recruitment in the United Kingdom In the United Kingdom, the services of recruitment and selection for a job opening are offered by ‘employment agencies’ or ‘employment businesses’. These agencies are guided by the Employment Agency Act 1973 (Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform. [Apr-2008]). Basically, employment agencies offer organisations with candidates or applicants, whom these organisations can employ for a pre-defined and fixed fee. 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