Human Resource Management - Recruitment, Retention, and Employee Relations - Essay Example

Running head: Human Resource Management Human Resource Management By _____________________ While making selection, HR- managers adopt attractive strategies like advertising and recruitment channelling, the outcome of which is the huge queue of participants. Now, whether the participants are talented people/professionals with well-set jobs or they are unqualified personnel, it is often observed that all categories of people have to wait for their turn. Obviously if they are busy professionals, it would be a wastage of time for them to visit the organisation in such circumstances. And if suppose they make visits and during an interview, they are faced to a critical situation where their expectations exceeds during the recruitment process, how much that organisation would be going to compensate that candidate. Another aspect of the selection that may raise expectations is an unintended consequence of its recruitment process. A rigorous recruitment process can have two unintended outcomes. If the recruitment is competitive, it can create a feeling that those who are selected are truly terrific and valued. It can help build a positive self-image if the on-the-job experiences confirm that feeling. It can set the recruits up for disillusionment, however, if their on-the-job experiences do not confirm the self-image created through the recruitment process; it can make them feel that they are not valued. Similarly, by focusing on expectations as a key component in the decision to join a particular organizational workplace, we come to know that when a person chooses between alternative jobs, the choice is affected by the degree to which desired outcomes are likely to be realised. These desired outcomes may be interesting and challenging work, autonomy, responsibility, importance of work, competent boss, and a certain level of salary. The Program creates expectations by advertising training opportunities, rotational assignments, career planning, quick promotions, access to high-level officials, and opportunities for networking as features of the internship. In addition, they are believed to have expectations about the amount of challenge, responsibility, participation, meaningfulness of work, and opportunities to make a difference. Conversely, they are more likely to leave if their expectations are not met. Expectations may be influenced by prior work experiences. Those who have little prior work experience may have a more idealized view of what work will be like, and therefore have more unrealistic expectations than those who have at least some work experience. The good point is that expectations may be more implicit than explicit. The interviews reveal vagueness about expectations; it seems not a frame of reference for many of the interviewees. They possess goals, hopes, or desires about what they want from their work experience but it they are not framed in terms of expectations. Expectancy theory may work best for those who clearly thought about what they wanted and weighed their alternatives and the probabilities of having the experiences they desired. The expectancy model also assumes that people behave rationally in situations where their expectations are not met. When confronted with unmet expectations, the rational response, according to the theory, is to seek new employment that will more likely meet their expectations. However, it appears that not all people seek new employment under those circumstances. None of the interviewees who expressed great dissatisfaction with their current jobs are actively seeking other employment. So, at this point the best HR department does is the analysis of expectations and make decisions of recruitment while analyse candidate's intentions and future plans. While critically analysing the do's and don'ts of a human resource in any organisation, assessment is aimed at determining what are working and what is not working and identifying resource gaps and redundancies. (2006a) Finding employees Recruiting today is taken a lot more seriously and given a lot more thought than it used to be. Both positively and negatively it possesses the productivity of its communication sector employee recruiting department by the amount of money recruiters spent hiring individuals and even in that case recruiting department's productivity not always go up, as quality also matters. As according to Bill Smith, Motorola quality manager and vice president, "If you hired an idiot for 39 cents, you would meet your goal" (Henkoff, 1991) Increasingly, recruiting is an essential tool which if used effectively helps finding and keeping brilliant employees and if the department is unable to keep its employees satisfied, it becomes a symbol of success for the competitors. Being recognising it as a competitive weapon, the competitor does not lag behind making offers to the top most brilliant and effective employees. So, an effective employee for one organisation is also a weakness in terms of keeping him. Once prospective employees complete a general knowledge exam and they are tested in their attitude toward work, the company then takes the top 30 percent and scrutinizes them the way companies do their managers. Either consciously or unconsciously, companies keep returning to the same source for personnel. Whether they are truly successful or at the mercy of random selection depend on how organised they are. Many managers make choices based on assumptions rather than knowledge about which types of individuals actually do better than others. All too often the selection process is highly subjective, with applicants recognising this and trying to play the part they need to play. Companies need some way to recruit those who are best for their particular organisation. Two companies that have given systematic thought to this employee selection process are Merck and Hewlett-Packard (HP). A common error is to accept the human resource department's statement that 'we don't release information' or 'there's nothing in the file'. In checking with former employers, the prospective employer should make every attempt to contact the applicant's direct supervisor or even a co-worker someone who knew and had contact with the applicant. The purpose, in addition to gaining any information provided, is to verify information submitted by the applicant. When contacting sources on the application or resume, the employer is primarily looking for inconsistencies, false information, and outright lies. Incompleteness on an application indicates many possibilities. It may be an attempt to be deceitful by failing to provide exact facts, knowing they may or may not be verified. It may also indicate the applicant's inability to follow directions. Omitted information may be sought through the interview or by investigation. (Layne, 1989) Interviewing When analysis of recruitment and selection is there, it would be of no use if 'interview' in terms of critics is not mentioned. The need to consider the applicant's perspective is an important aspect in HRM because of the role the interview plays as a recruiting device. Candidates have become increasingly sophisticated at interviewing. Some even take seminars in how to interview and how to present themselves. Despite all these efforts, when they fail it seems awkward as they possess all the qualification desired for the job, all the skills are there even they are prepared to face the interviewer. The hindrance lies with the interviewer, as he/she wants to explore the employee's personal as well as technical characteristics in a 25-minute interview. Although very time consuming but still HRM wants to find out the ability to work independently, to operate under close supervision, to be organised, and to resolve problems. Interview, a reasonable approach to hiring provides many opportunities to evaluate the applicant but mistakenly the opportunities are not utilised as they are suppose to. Not all employees are expert interviewees, nor do they all have similar styles in handling a one-on-one situation. Thus it is difficult to establish setting standards for taking interviews. However, in general, interviews should be conducted in a comfortable, sterile situation where there is little chance of interruption or distraction. A good interviewer poses questions that lead the applicant to discuss his or her qualifications, not to provide stock answers. Questions need to be suited to the background and situation of each interviewee, but in general they should be similar. Interviews also provide a time for the interviewer to fill in the blanks from the application and observe the applicant in a semi stressful situation. (Layne, 1989) Interviews are escorted by many loopholes, like on one hand interviewers have to assess the candidate's suitability in the organisation, whereas on the other hand the candidate seems to be in a stressful condition, of course he is not a psychologist nor an expert in taking interviews (might be he has taken many interviews and rejected) but still he is confronted to a situation where his emotions or intentions for the job are not considered as the major drawback of an interview is the lack of any hard and fast rule. All employers are not of the same kind and vice versa. The average interviewer or person responsible for hiring does not have an extensive background in psychology, investigation, or other forms of analysis. He or she is merely trying to fill a position as quickly and efficiently as possible, given the budget and personnel available. So far, the expense has been minimal and the process fairly simple. Now comes the difficult part--choosing commercial methods of testing. (Layne, 1989) Despite getting to know employee's characteristics HRM should concentrate upon the exact requirements for each job. The hiring process begins when the hiring managers determine what technical skills, aptitude, and behavioral characteristics will be necessary to do the job. When a candidate arrives, the hiring manager evaluates the person's technical skills. The interviewer then evaluates the behavioral or personality traits of the candidate and also tries to evaluate intangibles like interpersonal skills, motivation, initiative, leadership, and so forth. Often it is found that such probing questions are asked like: "Give me an example of a situation in which you've had to use your interpersonal skills," "How do you handle that situation" "What was the result of your handling of the situation" "How did you feel about the results" "How did your coworkers feel about it" "How did your superiors feel about it" It is better to ask such questions and evaluate rather than to assess on the basis of assumption. Practical Tests Practical tests is a well equipped approach to assess the technical skills of applicant but at the same time sometimes it becomes dubious to know whether this technique worked out or not especially in circumstances where the applicants are to perform one or more of the required skills. They may be asked to operate a piece of machinery, sort through a pen of steers, or load sacks of feed onto a trailer. It is not necessary that the applicant is always one hundred per cent of his capabilities. There might be situations around him due to which he remains unable to perform better but that would not be counted and as a result he might get rejected. However a committee of other employees and managers should evaluate the applicant's performance on practical tests. These tests also demonstrate the applicant's thought process did he or she ask questions, prioritise tasks, and stay calm if something went wrong References References provided by the applicant often include past employers. Now, HR- manager must keep in mind that some employers may hesitate to provide negative information about a former employee out of fear over lawsuits. Other employers may give glowing recommendations to unsatisfactory employees they hope will leave. So HR team must consider all these things when weighing employer references. (2006b) Ten years back, the organizations competed intensely for entry-level workers in the food service and hotel industries. Today every organisation is in a mode of continuous competition. In 1984, there were approximately 24 million 16 to 24 year olds. By 1995, that number of young adults shrunk to about 20 million. Today to find and keep an employee is a big deal, whereas hiring and firing is increased. Problems after hiring While good recruitment is certainly important, undoubtedly what occurs to recruits after joining the company determines whether a company will be able to retain them. Everything good that occurs is based on organisation's ability to involve its people. So what led to the good employee relations are not just talks, but rather deeds that impress employees and improve relations. Often companies talk about their employees as their most important asset, but where you can really tell whether it is very important or not is how much their senior management spends on the issues. (2006b) References 2006a, accessed from 2006b, accessed from Brewster Chris & Harris Hilary, 1999. "International HRM: Contemporary Issues in Europe": Routledge: New York. Denton Keith, 1992. "Recruitment, Retention, and Employee Relations: Field-Tested Strategies for the '90s": Quorum Books. Place of Publication: Westport, CT. Johnson Gail, 1991. "Recruiting, Retaining and Motivating the Federal Workforce": Quorum Books: New York. Layne P. Stevan, 1989. "A Closer Look at Hiring and Firing": Security Management. Volume: 33. Issue: 6. Publication Date: June 1989. Page Number: 48+. Read More