Methods of Recruitment at Dubai Metro - Case Study Example

PART A With intense competition in the global market, organizations are obliged to embrace talent management in order to stay in business. Resourcing and talent management practices are valuable because they assist in incorporating fresh employees thereby ensuring they are productive people who can ultimately bring to the success of the business operations. The common adage that no resource is more important then people in the organization still holds true particularly in the 21st century. Basically, an organization cannot afford to disregard talent management if they wish to retain competitive edge. Employees are regarded as the energy that keeps an entity running. Therefore, recruitment and selection of fresh manpower is part of the important decisions that a business entity can make. To make sure that the best employees are hired, an organization ought to embrace appropriate recruitment and selection strategy. Better recruitment and selection procedures would lead to improved optimal results in an organization. Effective recruitment and selection of candidates enables an organization hire and retain satisfied workforce. The success of most business firms in today’s world is associated with effective recruitment and selection strategies. Dubai Metro is one of the firms whose success is attributed to the best practices in hiring and retaining of employees (Caplan, 2011). Since its inception, Dubai Metro has embraced appropriate recruitment and selection procedures due to its perceived importance. According to the company’s management, best recruitment and selection practices enables an organization avert the negative effects of shortage of skilled employees. Additionally, the company believes that such practices help downsize costs thus leaving recruitment budgets smaller (Goldsmith & Carter, 2010). A Diagnostic Approach to Recruitment at Dubai Metro Dubai Metro considers various factors in the environment which may influence recruitment and selection process. Like most organizations, the recruitment process at Dubai Metro begins with an attempt to identify the knowledge, skills, abilities and attitudes required and to match them with various business tasks and operations to be performed. Whether an individual candidate will respond to recruitment and selection efforts will be largely influenced by the attitudes the have towards specific business tasks and the entity. The development of these attitudes is based on past social and working experiences of the employees. In other situations, the working environment greatly influences the individual perception of organizational tasks. Recruiting and selection process government and union restrictions, labor markets, employer’s requirements and individuals’ preferences. Government and union regulations condemns discrimination in employment, and this has ultimate effect on recruiting practices. Even though there is no guaranteed way of avoiding legal entanglements that occur in the course of recruitment and selection, organizations are required to follow basic principles during hiring process. Dubai’s government has emphasized that organizations ought to post notices indicating vacancies available to create public awareness. It is mandatory for organizations to publish list of qualifications that a candidate should have in order to fill the job. In order to attract people with vast range of skills and other qualifications, Dubai Metro has employed recruitment sources that enable them to reach large number of potential applicants. Before posting qualifications, the organization is required by the government to be careful when establishing the qualifications to avoid excluding members of protected group. Composition of labor force and location of an organization also influence recruitment and selection strategies to be adopted. In the recent years, the number of legal requirements that ought to be fulfilled by an organization has greatly increased thus necessitating for the organization to critically analyze the composition of the workforce. This helps to ascertain any discriminatory employment practices that marred the previous hiring processes. Note mentioning, the location of the entity within the global market influences the composition of the entire workforce. Methods of recruiting at Metro Dubai Company In Metro Dubai Company, most job openings are filled by individuals within the workforce while entry level jobs are filled by new people outside the organization. Metro Dubai has employed various methods of internal recruiting and these include skill inventories, job posting, job bidding and referrals. The common external recruiting methods used are school and college recruiting, using employment and recruitment agencies, advertising and internet. Internal Recruiting methods These methods look to internal sources to fill job vacancies and positions within the organization. It entails posting position openings and searching for individuals with skills that match the needs and demands of a specific job. a. Job Posting Job posting is one of the internal recruiting methods that has been embraced by Metro Dubai. This method entails posting particular job vacancy on the bulleting boards, creating awareness of the job opening through organization’s newsletter. With the advancement of technology, the company has opted to post the announcement on its intranet. In the recent days, Metro Dubai has used computers to guarantee fruitful job posting. As soon as the job opening is posted, the employees are required to complete questionnaires about themselves. The central focus of the questionnaires includes employee’s willingness and preferences to be relocated and training and educational background. In most cases, Metro Dubai management has opted to selection of few skills that best represent required functional skills. To determine the best person, the skills of the participating candidates are matched with the requirements of the position. This method has been intensively used by the organization because it is efficient and effective. Qualified employees with good track of records are selected to fill the positions. This guarantees the success of the business entity. On employee’s perspective, the method is valuable because it boosts their morale to strive for better position within the organization. As such, they can improve their skills. Although the method can be efficient, it can lead personal bias. b. Skills inventory Metro Dubai has adopted skill inventories as another recruiting method. Basically, skills inventories comprises of lists of employees within the organization, their education backgrounds, training progresses, work experience, present positions, relevant job skills and other qualifications. The Human Resource Management Department searches through the organization’s skills inventory to ascertain the best candidates for particular job opening. The HR department can track individual skills and abilities of the existing employee population thus enables it focus on the organization’s recruiting efforts. Metro Dubai considers this method valuable by the mere fact that it provides appropriate accounting of the abilities, skills and work experience of the employees thus facilitating identification of skills gaps. Skills inventories also guide the recruitment and selection decisions thus ensuring that employees with necessary manpower are selected to address the present and future demands and requirement of the organization. Despite its numerous merits, skill inventory should not be used as the only recruiting method because it may end up discarding employees who have developed valuable skills in the recent times. In most cases, skills inventories are not up to date hence may lock out employees with brilliant skills. c. Job bidding This method involves announcing position opening within the organization and requesting the existing employees to bid for the position. At Metro Dubai, job bidding procedures requires that all job openings must be filled by qualified individuals within specific bargaining unit. Interested employees in the vacancy are required to bid for the job by making application basing on their qualifications. Metro requires that applicants are exposed to very competitive examinations which help determined the best applicants for specific job openings. Metro Dubai has embraced advanced job bidding systems which have made recruiting process easier. Job bidding process has been less costly to the organization hence has been thought to immensely contribute towards organization’s growth and development. However, the method limits the number of applicants since only current employees are eligible to bid for a particular job opening. d. Referrals Primarily, existing employees of an organization carries valuable information pertaining qualified individuals who may be interested in particular open positions. Metro Dubai has been using the existing employees to access valuable information about qualified individuals who wish to fill specific job openings. The organization entices some of its employees to make job referrals. In the recent days, the company’s management has awarded referral bonus to employees who can make referrals. The method is effective because a qualified employee with relevant skills and knowledge would be proposed by other employees to fill the job opening. However, employees whose referrals have been hired may pursue the hiring process with sinister motives thus impairing various business operations of the organizations. In cases where the organization offer referral bonus, the expenditure on operations may increase thus reducing the profitability level of the organization. The method is also susceptible to personal bias hence compromising fair treatment principle. External recruiting methods Metro Dubai Company uses school and college recruiting, classified employment agencies, advertising as well as the internet methods a. School and college recruiting method Recruiting at high school or vocational schools and colleges is a strategic approach adopted by the company especially when handling position openings at entry level. According to.., school and college recruitment method serves as fundamental basis for acquisition of managerial, professional and technical skills. Metro believes that fresh learners posses vast range of skills that can boost various business operations. The company’s management believes that this method would enable the company to eradicate the growing gap between skills required in the future and those possessed by current employees. With intensified competition in the market, organization’s operations ought to be undertaken effectively, and this calls for high level of skills commonly possessed by fresh graduates. The number of jobs that demand for college degree is continually increasing. In this method, the organization usually appoints a recruiter whose duties is to go to colleges or schools to conduct interrogate with the students during which he/she describes all aspects of this organization. Recruits on a visit to the organization are required to avail organizational brochures and other literature books. The method also requires the organization to run intensive ads in order to attract large number of candidates. Typically, the job seekers and interested applicants are required to register with their institutional placement service. With the presence of placement service in the learning institutions, students and employers can access opportunities to exchange information concerning potential hiring. The interested applicants are exposed to preliminary interview with the organization human resource personnel. The method enables the organization develop stronger relationship with schools and colleges who may be valuable source of employees in future. Unfortunately, the method is time consuming and expensive hence can easily erode profitability of the organization. b. Advertising Dubai Metro advertises some of job openings in newspapers, newsletters, magazines and other media sources that are famous within the country. It is a cheaper recruiting mechanism and important when filling vacant positions promptly. Defined advertisements would attract large number of applicants since it does not target specific audiences. c. Internet Internet is one of the fast growing methods that have been used by Dubai Metro. The company has acknowledges the efficiency and optimal results of internet recruiting method. The method is effective because it allows the company to access set of people hence large pool of expertise and skills. Internet recruitment is faster and convenient. Sorry to say, the method cannot be access by all job seekers. Selection Process After attracting individuals with desired qualifications, then selection process begins. Dubai Metro has more than one selection process. The company has established elaborate selection system in order to guarantee selection of the best person. As the initial stage in selection of the best candidates, the potential employees are screened by examining their resumes. They are requested to fill out an application blank so as to enable the recruiting personnel access biographical information. This information is further verified by to avoid inattentive hiring of employees. Once the individual application has been verified, they are qualified and applicants are awarded points. The candidate with the highest point is considered the appropriate person to fill the position. At Dubai Metro, recruited individuals are required to undergo a number of selection tests. These include: “work sample tests, mental ability tests, trainability tests and personality tests. The mental ability tests have been developed by psychologists and used to individual mental ability. It examines general intelligence, numerical skills and comprehension.” Recruited candidates are subjected to work samples to measure their abilities to perform certain tasks as opposed to knowing it. Work sample tests are commonly used to test motor and verbal skills. In addition, the tests also tests valuable aspects of the job that an individual is intended to perform. Trainability tests are used to measure trainability of a candidate. The recruited candidates are required to demonstrate how they can perform certain organizational tasks. Dubai Metro has embraced interview as an important tool during selection process. The company’s management uses structured and semi structured interviews as part of recruiting and selection strategy. Under structured interviews, the interviewer asks questions that have are prepared prior. In most cases, Dubai Metro conducts situational interview, which encompasses asking a candidate questions that may arise in the actual working environment.   PART B Shukla (2009, 159), affirms that many organizations around the world have acknowledged talent management to a critical to success. In order survive in the competitive environment; employees’ efficiency has to be guaranteed. This can only be achieved by availing additional management processes and opportunities to organizational employees perceived to be talented. Individuals perceived to posses high potential ought to be systematically attracted, developed, engaged, retained and deployed. Across the global market, organizations have adopted either inclusive or exclusive approaches to talent management. Exclusive approach pursues talent management practices on particular of employees i.e. it focuses on talent management on employees with high potentials in the pursuit of developing important people in future. On the other hand, inclusive approach involves nurturing the talents of all employees in an organization (Shukla, 2009). Inclusive Approach to Talent Management The old cliché that all employees are equal is still paramount even in the recent days. All employees deserve to pursue their objectives in life; therefore, they should be subjected to equal training and development programs. The educational and training setting ought to make high quality and balanced provision to all employees to facilitate them achieve their full potential. Under the inclusive approach to talent management, the organization continually plans and develops new provisions to ensure that the needs and demands of all employees are met in an organizational setting. An organization should have sufficient resources to give vital support for all employees with divergent needs. Personally, I have realized that inclusive approach geared towards talent management is significant to ensure the success of an organization. The approach promotes integration and mixture of competence that is crucial for quality work and customer orientation in the working environment. Inclusive approach incorporates individuals with diverse perspectives about particular situations. Utilization of vast range of competencies contributes immensely towards integration of the workplace hence promoting efficiency in business operations. With inclusive approach, employees from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds are brought together. They can share ideas, views and opinions on ways of running business operations. Primarily, diversity within various business operations helps create higher level of creativity among the workforce. Inclusive approach gathers different experiences and opinions thus broadening the information that ought to be used to make decisions. In the modern business environment, most governments have demanded business firms to adopt the inclusive approach so as increase ethnic and cultural diversity among the employees at all levels of the organization. When individuals from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds work together, there is an increased chance of development of new ideas and simulation of new thinking (Ford et al, 2010). Optimal results can only be achieved under favorable working environment. Good working environment can be attained by embracing gender equality, mixture of competence and background. Due to greater mobility noticeable in the 21st century labor markets, there is increase demand for favorable working environment and employment conditions. Employees are very productive under attractive workplaces. Inclusive approach enables all employees acquire skills and knowledge that enables them to relate together. The employees will respect each other because of equal training and education opportunities they undergo. No employee will be undermined on the basis of their level of skills. By subjecting all employees to equal training programs, the public would have positive mind towards the employer. This has far reaching effect on the marketability of the entire entity. Inclusive approach enables an organization meets the future demand for specific skills. As stated earlier, inclusive approach entails pursuing talent management practices of all employees in the organization. Therefore, the continued demand for improved productivity calls for increased supply of long term competence employees to promote continuous production. It is essential for an organization to embrace inclusive approach so that it cannot important skills through the retiring personnel. Inclusive approach subjects talent management practices to young and old and male and female employees. This guarantees continued availability of important skills thus ensuring smooth running of business operations throughout the life of an organization. Organizations which have embraced inclusive approach towards talent management have been successful in the sense that they incur reduced costs than those organizations which pursue exclusive approaches. Inclusive method allows organization to subject large number of employees to talent management costs hence this processes can be pursued less frequently. Exclusive management approach subjects limited number of employees to the talent management practices thus the process has been carried out from time to time. Inclusive approach enables an organization acquire workforce with the very best possible mix of current and future talent, every level and at all locations of the business operations. Through the approach, an organization is in a position can increase overall efficiency and effectiveness in various operations. Furthermore, the organization can enhance ability for innovation through diversified workforce. With the inclusive approach, every employee is in a position to full realize their potentials. Through inclusive approach, an entity is capable of bringing talented people from all walks of life, thus harnessing the numerous talents that highly demanded by the competitive environment (Deb, 2006). An inclusive approach is not the best placement for all employees. The method has certain shortcomings which have direct negative consequence to both the individual and the organization. In most cases, the general talent management practices are not individualized. Therefore, organizations have devalued the approach on the basis that employees with specific needs have not been fully integrated in the inclusive approach setting. Inclusive approach has the effect of lowering the standard of learning and acquisition of skills for the entire employees thus rendering the practice useless. Critically, inclusive approach has the effect of undermining the extent to which the services are offered to the subject. In most cases, the services are not given to employees who need it most (Ford et al, 2010). Potential impact of Inclusive approach on individual career development According to Arbetsgivarverket (2010).An inclusive approach focuses more on recognizing the unique individual contributions and talents of employees as opposed centralizing on the key roles of the employees. Unlike exclusive approach, this approach does discriminate employees on the basis of their roles or key position in the organization. Therefore, no employee would get demoralized as they are equally treated. This enables each employee to pursue the objectives of career development throughout their stay in the organization. The approach does not single out any employee hence eliminating chances of employees getting demotivated in pursuing their career development programs. The approach has also negative impact on the career development among employees. Inclusive approach does not focus on the special needs and demands of every employee thus individuals pursue their career development objectives blindly. This compromises the outcomes of the talent management as an integral component of career development (Arbetsgivarverket, 2010). Exclusive approach to talent management Exclusive approach has been widely used in the modern business environment. The approach focuses the talent management principles and practices on particular group of employees in the organization especially those who have shown high potentials. With the approach, an organization can derive numerous benefits. Firstly, exclusive approach segments employees according to their specific needs and demands thus resulting in remarkable differences in employees’ experiences in regard to employment relationships. With the approach, the employees who have been subjected to talent management practices and other training programs develop sense of belonging and feel that they are appreciated hence they get motivated to work towards attainment of organizational goals. As such, the organization would realize high productivity at lower costs (Accenture. 2010). Exclusive approach practices offer individualized services to employees. The subjected employees are in position of realizing their full potentials which are fruitful to the whole organization. The approach enables individual employees acquire specified skills that are paramount to them both within and outside the organization. When an exclusive approach is used, psychological contract violations is eminent. This implies that employees are in position of realizing when and how the organization breaches the promises made. According to Deb (2006), there exist direct correlation between employees’ behavioral aspects affecting their performances and breach of employer promises. Basically, the talented employees experience less psychological contract violation that their counterparts (Deb, 2006). Exclusive approach ensures that right person is placed in the right job and this has the effect of improved production in the organization. Exclusive approach requires that people skills, strengths and abilities are properly identified before pursuing the talent management practices. This implies that human resource management personnel are capable of making decisions for implementation of the strategic agenda of developing employees. During the dispensation of the approach, the management team is required to undertake competency mapping so as to enable the organization take stock of skill inventories available. From employee perspective, skill or competency mapping is important because it enabled the right individuals be deployed in the right position thus facilitating increased productivity. Exclusive approach geared towards talent management gives an opportunity for an organization to align between the interests, needs and demands of individual employees and their job profiles. By doing so, job satisfaction is largely increased (Accenture, 2010) Accenture (2010) asserts that exclusive approach promotes better professional development decisions in an organization. The approach enables the organization to understand who has high potential, it becomes easier for its to determine whether or not to invest in their professional development. Development programs calls for appropriate investment decisions that influence learning, training and development of employee for growth, performance management and succession planning. Ascertaining specific potentials that ought to be developed limits chances of wasting the organization’s resources. Exclusive approach enables an organization to understand various employees better. The employee is first assessed to acquire deep insights that aid management of the entire workforce. The organization is capable of understanding employee’s career aspirations, strengths and weakness, their development needs and their taste and preferences. Therefore, the approach makes it easier for management to ascertain the motivation needs of employees thus facilitating job enrichment process. Imperatively, the approach helps retain top talent employees in the organization. Under inclusive approach, the specific development needs and career aspirations of individual employees are not satisfactorily addressed. As such, employees will opt to quit the organization in search for what they believe to be ‘better’ organizations. Consequently, the organization will end up loosing people who might be possessing valuable knowledge and skills. However, this cannot happen easily under exclusive approach because individual needs of employees of high potentials are addressed as per their expectation. Retaining top talent is valuable to the future of an organization. Organizations which are capable of retaining top talent individuals are at minimal risks of losing out their competitors in the market. Through exclusive approach, employees’ career path is taken care of. Some organizations are not willing to embrace exclusive approach to talent management because of its perceived shortcomings. The approach is quite expensive than the inclusive approach. The talent management practices ought to be individualized so as to cater for the employee’s unique needs. This implies that an organization has to design and fund various programs according to varied needs and demands of the employees. Exclusive approach also disregards the efforts and energies of other employees in the organization. The approach focuses only few individuals with high potentials and neglecting the larger employee population. Therefore, the neglected employees may get demotivated to fully engage themselves in the organization’s duties. This leads to increase employees’ turnover thus eroding organization’s profitability. Employees whose potentialities have not stood out are neglected (Ford et al, 2010) Impact of Exclusive approach towards individual career Exclusive approach addresses the development needs and career aspirations of individual employees. Therefore, the approach is a great boost to individual career development within an organizational setting. The approach impacts individual career positively in the sense that it enables an employee realizes his/her abilities which can be incorporated into personal career development strategies. Exclusive method allows the individual employees ascertain their strengths and weakness in their career path hence taking appropriate measures to ensure achievement of career objectives (Ford et al, 2010) References List Ford, J, Harding, N & Stoyanova, D 2010, Talent management and development, USA: Bradford University of School of Management, viewed April 26, 2010, Arbetsgivarverket 2010, An inclusive approach, viewed April 26, 2010, Accenture 2010, How effective are the talent management practices, USA: Tilburg University, viewed April 26, 2011, http://www.accenture.com/nl-en/Documents/PDF/Accenture_TMreport_A4_Brochure.pdf. Shukla, R 2009, Talent management: process of developing and integrating skilled workers. Delhi: Global India Publications. Deb, T 2006, Strategic approach to human resource management, USA: Atlantic Publishers & Dist. Smith, D & Susan C 2010, Workforce of one: revolutionizing talent management through customization, USA: Harvard Business Press. Caplan, J 2011, The value of talent: promoting talent management across the organization, New York: Kogan Page Publishers. Goldsmith, M & Carter, L 2010, Best practices in talent management: how the world's leading corporations manage, develop, and retain top talent, New York: John Wiley and Sons. Davis, T 2007, Talent assessment: a new strategy for talent management, New York: Gower Publishers. Barlow, L. 2006. ‘Talent Development: the New Imperative?’ Development and Learning in Organizations 20: 6-9. Bersin, J. 2010. “The Business of Talent Management” in L. Israelite (ed) Talent Management. Strategies for Success from Six Leading Companies. Danvers, MA: ASTD Press, pp.15-44. Cairns, T. 2009. ‘Talent Management At Homeland Security: a Corporate Model Suggests a Recipe For Success’. Employment relations today Fall 2009: 19-26. Cappelli, P. 2008. ‘Talent Management for the Twenty-First Century’. Harvard Business Review March 2008: 1-8. Cappelli, P. 2009. ‘A Supply Chain Model for Talent Management’. People & Strategy 32: 4-7. Chambers, G., Foulon, M., Handfield-Jones, H., Hankin, S. and Michaels III, E. 1998. ‘The War for Talent’. The McKinsey Quarterly 3: 44-57. CIPD 2008. ‘Talent management: design, implementation and evaluation’ CIPD online practical tool. London: CIPD. CIPD 2009. ‘Annual Survey Report Learning and Development’. London: CIPD. Clake, R. and Winkler, V. 2006. ‘Reflections on Talent Management’ Change agenda. London: CIPD. Collings, D. and Mellahi, K. 2009. ‘Strategic Talent Management: A Review and Research Agenda’. Human Resource Management Review 19: 304-313. Cook, S. and Macaulay, S. 2009. ‘Talent Management: Key questions for Learning and Development’. Training Journal July 2009: 37-41. Garrow, V. and Hirsh, W. 2009. ‘Talent Management: Issues of Focus and Fit.’ Brighton: Institute for Employment Studies. Guthridge, M., Komm, A. and Lawson, E. 2008. ‘Making Talent a Strategic Prority’. The McKinsey Quarterly 1: 49-59. Haskins, M. and Shaffer, G. 2010. ‘A talent Development Framework: Tackling the Puzzle’. Development and Learning in Organizations 24: 13-16. Hieronimus, F., Schaefer, K. and Schröder, J. 2005. ‘Using Branding to Attract Talent’. The McKinsely Quarterly September 28. Hiltrop, J.-M. 1999. ‘The Quest for the Best: Human Resource Practices to Attract and Retain Talent’. European Management Journal 17: 422-420. Hirsh, W. 2009. ‘Talent Management: Practical Issues in Implementation’. Brighton: The Institute for Employment Studies. Israelite, L. 2010. “Thinkign about Talent” in L. Israelite (ed) Talent Management. Strategies for Success from Six Leading Companies . Danvers, MA: ASTD Press, pp.1-14. Kirkland, S. 2009. ‘Creating a common language for building a successful talent management program: paving the path for succession, and success, within your organization’. Journal of Blood Services Management 49: 1498-1501. Lewis, R. and Heckman, R. 2006. ‘Talent Management: A Critical Review’. Human Resource Management Review 16: 139-154. McCartney, C. 2009a. ‘Fighting Back Through Talent Innovation. Talent Management Under Threat in Uncertain Times. Part 2.’ Hot topics. London: CIPD. McCartney, C. 2009b. ‘The War on Talent? Talent Management Under Threat in Uncertain Times. Part 1’ Hot topics. London: CIPD. Mellahi, K. and Collings, D.G. (2010). The barriers to effective global talent management: The example of corporate elites in MNEs. Journal of World Business, 45: 143-149. Read More