IMPORTANCE OF RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION

 

Introduction

 

The ultimate goal of Recruitment and Selection process is to have the right person in the right job at the right time for the right price (Compton, R., Morrissey, W. & Nankervis, A., 2009). Therefore, identifying, attracting and choosing a suitable person to meet human resource requirements of an organization is the main concern of the Recruitment and Selection process (Anderson, 2001). Recruitment being the process of identifying and attracting potential candidates within the Organisation and outside the Organisation for future employment, Selection is to pick the right type of candidate from the pool (Walker, 2009). If wrong candidates are selected who are not capable, do not fit the culture or vibes of the organisation which may not be able to afford and the effect shall be a huge negative impact (Gamage, 2014). The quality of human resource of an organisation heavily depends on the effectiveness of Recruitment and Selection (Gamage, 2014).

 

Recruitment

 

In order to function effectively an organisation should be able to select a suitable candidate when a necessity arises (Opatha, 2010) and therefore the process of Recruitment is to attract suitable people to apply for job vacancies and to have a pool of competent candidates for the benefit of the Organisation (Kumar and Gupta, 2014).

Recruitment being the process of hiring the right types of contenders on the right job, attracting potential employees and motivating them for applying job in an organization it is an important task vested with the Human Resource Department of an Organisation (Kumar and Gupta, 2014). Recruitment is the process of finding and attracting suitably qualified and motivated job seekers to apply for job vacancies in the organization (Opatha, 2010) and as per Ofori & Aryeetey (2011) recruitment is the process of creating a pool of capable individuals to apply for employment within an organization.

 

Selection

Selection is a strenuous task to when picking the ideal candidates from and out of those who were considered as suitable contenders and according to István, J. (2010) Selection could be evaluated in several methods based on validity, impartiality, scope of usage, and cost using suitable techniques. Selection is not just choosing the best candidate, but it is an attempt to balance between the capabilities of the applicant and the necessity of the organization (Kumar and Gupta, 2014). In order to gain better performance, to afford costs and to meet with legal obligations it is very much important to Select the right employee (Kumar and Gupta, 2014).

Objectives of Selection function according to Gamage (2014) are to get the right person to the right job, to establish and to maintain a good image as a good employer, and to maintain a cost effective the selection process.

 

Importance

Recruitment process is more important to an Organisation to create a talent pool of potential candidates in order to increases the pool of job seeking candidates (Kumar and Gupta, 2014).

Ulterior motive of any Organisation is to increase its productivity and to run its operation smoothly and therefore, if the best person is selected to a job, it is obvious that the productivity increases (Gamage, 2014). The use of the proper selection criteria will increase the probability of the right person is chosen (Gamage, 2014).

 

References

• Anderson, N. (2001). Towards a theory of socialization impact: Selection as pre-entry socialization. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 9, 84-91.
• Compton, R., Morrissey, W. & Nankervis, A. (2009) Effective Recruitment Selection Practices. 5^th Edition. Australia: CCH Australia [Online]. Available at <https://www.pbookshop.com/effective-recruitment-and-selection-practices-5th-edition-9781921485770.html>
• Ekwoaba, J. O., Ikeije, U. U. & Ufoma, N. (2015) The Impact of Recruitment and Selection Criteria on Organizational Performance. Global Journal of Human Resource Management Vol.3, No.2, pp.22-33: Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK. [Online]. Available at <https://www.eajournals.org/wp-content/uploads/The-Impact-of-Recruitment-and-Selection-Criteria-on-Organizational-Performance.pdf>
• Gamage, A. (2014). Recruitment and selection practices in manufacturing SMEs in Japan: An analysis of the link with business performance. Ruhuna Journal of Management and Finance, 1(1), pp. 37-52.
• István, J. (2010). Selection methods used in recruiting sales team members. Periodica Oeconomica, October, 110–117.
• Kumar, S. and Gupta, A.  (2014). A Study on Recruitment & Selection Process with Reference. ResearchGate. [Online] Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/268210664.
• Ofori,D., & Aryeetey, M. (2011). Recruitment and selection practices in small and medium enterprises. International Journal of Business Administration, 2(3):45-60.
•  Opatha, H.H.D.N.P. (2010). Human resource management. Colombo: Author published.
• Walker, J. (2009) Human Resource Planning. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co., P95.

 

INTERNAL RECRUITMENT AS A SOURCE OF RECRUITMENT

 

METHODS AND SOURCES OF RECRUITMENT

 

Recruitment being the process of creating a group of qualified candidates for job vacancies in an Organisation (Saviour et al., 2016). Recruitment plans may derive from the number of employees and categories of people required as set out in workforce plans of the Organisation (Armstrong & Taylor, 2014).

Internal Recruitment and External Recruitment could be simply categorized as methods of Recruitment among various other methods (Kumar and Gupta, 2014). According to Wanous (1992) Recruitment resources could be considered as Internal Recruitment, External Recruitment, and also Walk-in. As per Hunter & Schmidt (1990) recruitment resources may be either formal or informal.

Harky (2018) also explains that there are two main types of Recruitment sources and that they are namely internal sources and external sources. Harky (2018) further explains that HR Departments in Organisations use these two methods to effectively carry out management of the recruitment and selection process from beginning to end, commencing with searching for applicants of qualified and suitable candidates.

 

Figure 1: Internal and External Sources of Recruitment

Source: Sources of Recruitment (Prashant, 2009).

 

Internal Recruitment

 

Internal Recruitment is much beneficial than External Recruitment because it allows individual development, employees having the right to advance in their jobs, motivating of employees and enhancing their moral, availability of more information about job candidates through analyses of work histories within the organization and having a database of the employees with their qualification that could be easily utilised (Saviour et al., 2016).

For Example, a leading Logistic Company which I work for, inexperienced drivers who are used as helpers in prime-movers are later used as drivers according to their performances.

As per Hoye & Lievens (2005) Organisation prefer Internal Recruitment resources because they allow to fill a vacancy from a known pool of employees and that these resources are under the control of the organization.

For Example, a leading Outsourcing Company which I previously worked for, positions such as Team Leaders, Specialists and Senior Associates are mostly Recruited for the Data Entry and Quality Assurance Departments by using the Internal Recruitment method.

Harky (2018) explains that when vacancies exist, first consideration should be given to internal candidates who already work in the Organisation.

As an Example, when a vacancy arises in overseas branches preference is given to the existing employees in the above said Outsourcing Company.

 

Methods of Internal Recruitment

 

It is described in Armstrong (2006), that internal sources of recruitment could basically be segregated into five types, they being Promotion, Demotion, Transfer, Job Posting and Job Bidding.

 

Promotion

 

Upgrading of a presently employed worker to a more responsible and higher paid job with better privileges (Shammot, 2014).

As an Example, the abovesaid leading Outsourcing Company when Project Manager positions become vacant, best performers among the Team Leaders are considered for the vacancy.

 

Demotion

 

As an Example, in the leading Outsourcing company that always maintain hundred percent accuracy when handling customer data, demotes Quality Assurance Specialists to QA Senior Associate level for a short period until regain expertise.

 

Transfer

 

The employee being shifted from one place to another within the Organisation without any change to his position or responsibility (Shammot, 2014).

In the above said leading Logistic Company, employees attached to Administration Department and Transport Department are transferred between departments as per job requirements could be given as an Example.

 

Job Posting

 

From the view point of the employee, this provides flexibility and better control over career progress (Saviour et al., 2016).

For Example, in the leading Outsourcing Company, it is notified through internal email to all employees when vacancies are available and in the leading Logistic Company available vacancies are notified in the common notice board.

 

Job Bidding

 

Job bidding is organised when the Organisation wants its current employees to compete with other applicant for available positions (Armstrong 2006).

In the leading Outsourcing Company, when employees gain higher educational qualifications together with experience they are allowed to apply for higher level job vacancies.

 

References

•  Armstrong, M (2006). A handbook of human resource management practice, 10th
  edn, Kogan Page, Ltd.
• Armstrong, M. & Taylor, S. 2014. Armstrong’s Handbook of Human Resource Man-agement Practice. 13th ed. Ashford Colour press Ltd. London.
• Harky, Y. (2018). The Significance of Recruitment and Selection on Organizational Performance: The Case of Private owned Organizations in Erbil, North of Iraq. International Journal of Contemporary Research and Review, Section: Social Science, [online] 9(02). Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/323380295_The_Significance_of_Recruitment_and_Selection_on_Organizational_Performance_The_Case_of_Private_owned_Organizations_in_Erbil_North_of_Iraq.
• Hoye, G., & Lievens, F. (2005). Recruitment Related Information Sources and Orgnisational Attractiveness: Can Something Be Done about Negative Publicity? International Jouirnal of Selection and Assessment, 13(3).
• Hunter, J. E., & Schmidt, F. L. (1990). Methods of Meta-Analysis: Correcting Error and Bias in Research  Findings. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
• Kumar, S. and Gupta, A. (2014). A Study on Recruitment & Selection Process with Reference. ResearchGate. [online] Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/268210664.
• Saviour, A., Kofi, A., Yao, B. and Kafui, L. (2016). The Impact of Effective Recruitment and Selection Practice on Organisational Performance (A Case Study at University of Ghana). Global Journal of Management and Business Research: A Administration and Management, [online] 16(11). Available at: ttps://globaljournals.org/GJMBR_Volume16/3-The-Impact-of-Effective-Recruitment.pdf.
• Shammot, M. (2014). The role of human resources management practices represented by employee recruitment and training and motivation for realization of competitive advantage. African Journal of Business Management, [online] 8(1). Available at: http://www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/ibr/article/view/35379.
• Wanous, J. (1992). Organisational Entry. Reading, Massachusetts: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company.

 

 

EXTERNAL RECRUITMENT AS A SOURCE OF RECRUITMENT

 

When short-term demands arise such as need of replacements, unplanned expansion into new area or in the event of ad hoc creation of new posts the HR Department of an Organisation will be under pressure to deliver suitable candidates without delay (Armstrong, 2010) and therefore information required to with regard to posts and vacancies may be published on the website or the internet of the company (Armstrong & Taylor, 2014).

For Example, a leading Outsourcing Company which I previously worked for, Externally Recruit Software Engineers, Network Developers, and Programmers for special projects.

 

External Recruitment is attracting those who are not attached to the organization to apply for posts within the organization when job vacancies exit and to create awareness, attract candidates and to make them interested for the vacant jobs External sources of Recruitment such as Advertisements, E-Recruitment, Employee Referrals, Labour Offices, Employment Agencies, Education and Training Establishments could be made use of (Armstrong, 2006).

 

Advertisements

 

The most common method of External Recruitment is publishing Advertisements and the vacant positions are advertised using both electronic and print media. (Saviour et al., 2016).

In terms of attracting candidates Advertising has traditionally been the most common method (Armstrong & Taylor, 2014).

For Example, the leading Logistic Company that I work for, when vacancies are available for forklift drivers, prime-mover drivers and machine operators the vacancies are advertised in local newspapers.

 

E-Recruitment

 

Of the above said External sources of Recruitment, in E-Recruitment method the Internet website of the Organisation is used to attract outside candidates and screening of applications, selecting rejecting and offering are done through electronic means which is considered one of the most cost-effective methods (Cappelli, 2001). Cappelli (2001) further states that E-recruitment process also cause online employment to a certain extent.

For Example, the leading Outsourcing Company uses E-Recruitment method to Recruit Data Entry Associates for new projects.

 

Employee Referrals

 

Employee Referrals being another aforesaid method of Recruitment, it could be described as recommending or referring a suitable outside person to the HR department by a current employee and in such instances when such person is hired the employee who made the recommendation shall be rewarded (Saviour et al., 2016).

For Example, when employees are hire on contract basis for short term projects in the leading Outsourcing Company widely use this method.

 

Labour Offices

 

The source labour offices are considered as unions available in Organizations. Unions are labour pools that supply workers to Organizations. At times, union could regulate which candidate should be hired by the Organization and in such instances union face problems in deciding the person to be selected and to which position to be selected (Harky, 2018).

 

Employment Agencies

 

Generally, Employment Agencies are quick and effective but they are expensive as they charge a fee for finding someone for employment, but there is a risk of getting unsuitable candidates if the Agency is not clear of the requirements. (Armstrong & Taylor, 2014).

For Example, in the leading Outsourcing Company, the service of Employment Agencies is sort for when Recruiting top management positions.

 

Education and Training Establishments

 

As the those who are almost to pass out of Universities are enthusiastic and motivated to perform well, picking and interviewing candidates form campuses is the Education and Training Establishment method which is also known as campus recruiting (Saviour et al., 2016). This is one of the cheapest methods of the recruitment and selection (Harky, 2018).

For Example, University students who need to complete their internship are given opportunity and later absorbed to the Company once graduated in the leading Logistic Company.

 

 

References

•  Armstrong, M (2006). A handbook of human resource management practice, 10th
  edn, Kogan Page, Ltd.
• Armstrong, M. (2010). Armstrong's essential human resource management practice. London: Kogan Page.
• Armstrong, M. & Taylor, S. 2014. Armstrong’s Handbook of Human Resource Man-agement Practice. 13th ed. Ashford Colour press Ltd. London.
• Cappelli, P. (2001). Making the Most of On-Line Recruiting. Harvard Business Review. [online] Available at: https://hbr.org/2001/03/making-the-most-of-on-line-recruiting.
• Cappelli, P. (2001). ‘The national employer survey: Employer data on employment practices’.Industrial Relations 40(2), pp. 635-47. Coleman, James S. 1988, Social Capital.
• Harky, Y. (2018). The Significance of Recruitment and Selection on Organizational Performance: The Case of Private owned Organizations in Erbil, North of Iraq. International Journal of Contemporary Research and Review, Section: Social Science, [online] 9(02). Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/323380295_The_Significance_of_Recruitment_and_Selection_on_Organizational_Performance_The_Case_of_Private_owned_Organizations_in_Erbil_North_of_Iraq.
• Saviour, A., Kofi, A., Yao, B. and Kafui, L. (2016). The Impact of Effective Recruitment and Selection Practice on Organisational Performance (A Case Study at University of Ghana). Global Journal of Management and Business Research: A Administration and Management, [online] 16(11). Available at: https://globaljournals.org/GJMBR_Volume16/3-The-Impact-of-Effective-Recruitment.pdf.

 

 

INTERVIEWS AS A METHOD OF SELECTION

 

As it is vital to have employees with right skills to do a better job, to be cost-benefited to the Organisation and to be within the legal obligations, Selection is important for an Organisation (Kumar and Gupta, 2014). According Kumar and Gupta (2014) reception of applications, screening them, creating an application bank, holding selection tests and selection interviews, directing for medical examinations and conducting reference checks should be carried out in the process of Selection.

As per Armstrong, M. (2006) mainly Selection methods could be segregated as interview, assessment centres and tests. Selection is done by matching with the relevant roll of the job and person specification such as characteristics, competencies, experience, qualifications, education and training of the applicants (Armstrong, 2010). In Armstrong (2010) it is further explained that individual interviews and assessment centres are the main methods of Selection and it could be supported by conducting selection tests.

For Example, in the leading Outsourcing Company that I previously worked for when Selecting Quality Assurance Associates after they are being interviewed and the shortlisted the candidates are given selection tests.

 

Interview

 

Interview being the most common method of Selection, its target is to evaluate suitability of candidates that they are capable of handling the job (Armstrong & Taylor, 2014).

 

Arrangement and Planning of Interview

 

Though one-to-one interviews are frequently used method, to avoid the interviewer being bias a second interviewer or a board or panel of interviewer are used for the purpose if interviewing (Armstrong & Taylor, 2014). The method of conducting an Interview should be planned as the beginning, middle and end (Armstrong & Taylor, 2014).

 

For Example, in the above said leading Outsourcing Company, when Selecting Network Developers, the initial interview is with the Project Manager and the secondary interview is with a panel of Interviewers comprising of the Project Manager, Country Manager and the CEO.

 

Types of Interviews

 

According to Armstrong, M (2006) Interviews could be categorised as Individual Interviews, Interviewing panels and Selection board.

 

Individual interview

 

Individual interview being a face to face discussion and as there is possibility of being biased a second interviewer or interview panel is used (Armstrong, M 2006).

For Example, in the leading Logistic Company that I work for when Selecting drivers and machine operators, the transport manager interviews the candidates.

 

Interviewing Panel

 

Two or more people interviewing a candidate can be described as an interviewing panel (Armstrong, M., 2006),

For Example, in the leading Outsourcing Company the HR Manager and a Project manager interview a candidate when Selection is done to Select Associates.

 

Selection Board

 

Selection board is a formal way of interviewing and usually a larger panel of selectors interview a candidate and the advantage is that different people being able to examine an applicant in different angles at the same time (Armstrong, M., 2006).

 

 Adoption of Technology

 

According to Anderson, N (2003) use of technologies such as Telephone, video-based interviews helps the organization to save a lot of time and money (Anderson, 2003). Anderson, N (2003) further explains that for high demanding and high-risk jobs such as pilot and other military personnel Virtual Reality Technology, that reduces costs, is used in selection and training. It is described that Interactive Voice Response technology i.e. telephonic interview and internet-based screening is cost-effectively used for screening and Selection (Anderson, N 2003). Armstrong & Taylor, (2014) explains of two types of methods of interviews name Structured Interviews and Unstructured Interviews.

For Example, the said leading Outsourcing Company as the CEO is based overseas, when Selecting candidates for higher possessions final interviews are conducted by way of conference video calls.

 

Structured Interviews

 

All candidates being interviewed in the same framework by asking same questions and focusing on the same attributes and behaviours etc that match with the relevant job and rating them using a scoring system is the basic mode this type of interviewing (Armstrong & Taylor, 2014).

For Example, in the said Outsourcing Company when interviews are conducted to Select data entry associates, the same interview framework is followed.

Unstructured Interviews

 

This mode of interviewing judges the general impression of the candidate and mostly being a general discussion (Armstrong & Taylor, 2014) and in unstructured interviews questions asked are not predetermined (Mathis & Jackson, 2010).

 

Semi-Structured Interviews

 

According to Mathis & Jackson (2010), a type of interviewing that lie between Structured and Unstructured Interviews is called Semi-Structured Interviews. When conducting telephone interviews before calling a candidate for a structed interview this Semi-Structured Interviewing method is used.

 

References

•  Anderson, N. (2003). Applicants and recruitments’ reactions to new technology in selection. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 2(5), 121-136.
• Armstrong, M (2006). A handbook of human resource management practice, 10th edn, Kogan Page, Ltd.
• Armstrong, M. (2010). Armstrong's essential human resource management practice. London: Kogan Page.
• Armstrong, M. & Taylor, S. 2014. Armstrong’s Handbook of Human Resource Man-agement Practice. 13th ed. Ashford Colour press Ltd. London.
• Kumar, S. and Gupta, A.  (2014). A Study on Recruitment & Selection Process with Reference.  ResearchGate. [Online] Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/268210664.
• Mathis, R. L. & Jackson, J. H. (2010). Human Resource Management, 13e, Mason: South-Western Cengage Learning.

 

ASSESSMENT CENTRES AND SELECTION TESTS AS A METHOD OF SELECTION

 

Assessment centres and tests are among the three main Selection methods interview, assessment centres and tests according to Armstrong, M. (2006) and in Armstrong (2010) it is explained assessment centres and selection tests as methods of Selection.

 

 

Assessment Centres

 

Assessment Centres could be described as an assembly of a group of candidates for the purpose of Selection and apply various types of assessment techniques such as interviews, group exercises and tests over a short period may be for one or two days (Armstrong, 2010). In Armstrong (2010) it further explains that the purpose of having an Assessment Centre is to find out comprehensive and balanced view and suitability of individual members of the assembled group.

According to Armstrong & Taylor (2014) main features of Assessment Centres are as follows:

- carrying out exercises to capture and simulate the scopes of the job

- one-to-one role-plays and group exercises to perform simulations that predicts behaviour on the job

- interviewing and testing

- performances are measured by using dimensions that suits the job and the requirements of the Organisation.

 

Selection tests

 

Selection Tests are used in addition to the information gathered from interviews and from Selection Tests levels of abilities, intelligence, personality characteristics, aptitudes and attainments of candidates are tested (Armstrong, 2010).

For Example, in the leading Outsourcing Company that I previously worked for when Selecting Quality Assurance Associates shortlisted candidates are given selection tests.

 

Intelligence tests

 

This type of test is carried out to measure a range of mental abilities with regard to thinking and reasoning (Armstrong, 2010).

 

Ability tests

 

Ability tests are carried out to measure the capacity with regard to handling of the job (Armstrong, 2010).

For Example, the Outsourcing Company that I previously worked for, Ability tests are held when selecting candidates for special projects.

 

 

Aptitude tests

According to Armstrong (2010) Aptitude tests are specific to the job and designed to predict whether a candidate has the potential to perform tasks of the job.

 

Personality tests

 

Personality tests are used to assess traits relevant to job performance that will effectively predict of subsequent job performance (Pulakos, E., 2005) and according to Armstrong (2010) it is an attempt to assess the personality of candidates as to predict on their likely behaviour in the job.

Figure 1: Items of a Sample Personality Test

Source: Pulakos, E. (2005)

Pulakos, E. (2005) says that the first step in developing or selecting an assessment method for a given situation is to recognise what the job expects from the employees and for that what kind of Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSA) the employee should possess to do the job efficiently.

 

According to Pulakos, E. (2005) there are various type of tests as portrayed in the figure below.

 

Figure 2: types of tests

Source: Assessment Methods Pulakos, E. (2005)

 

Characteristics of a good test

According to Armstrong (2010) a good test is a test that provides with valid information to make valid decisions when selecting candidates for jobs.

References

• Armstrong, M (2006). A handbook of human resource management practice, 10th
  edn, Kogan Page, Ltd.
• Armstrong, M. (2010). Armstrong's essential human resource management practice. London: Kogan Page.
• Armstrong, M. & Taylor, S. 2014. Armstrong’s Handbook of Human Resource Man-agement Practice. 13th ed. Ashford Colour press Ltd. London.
• Pulakos, E. (2005). Selection Assessment Methods. United States of America, SHRM Foundation (Online). Available at https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/trends-and-forecasting/special-reports-and-expert-views/documents/selection-assessment-methods.pdf.