Recruitment and Selection - Essay Example

?Dissertation Proposal “Recruitment and Selection: Methods of Selection and Its acceptability by the organizations” Introduction Organizations need effective human resources to carry out their day to day operations and give the desired output resulting in the development of the company. Companies from different business recruit employees for the purpose of filling job openings. Recruitment is the process of searching for prospective employees and stimulating them to apply for jobs in the organizations (Hariyani 2008). It is an organization activity that provides a pool of applicants the opportunity to get employed. Various factors, both internal and external, contribute to the process of recruitment which includes recruitment policy, costs, growth and expansion of the organization along with supply and demand of specific skills in the market, political and legal considerations, etc. (Gupta, 2007). According to Edenborough (2007) ‘selection can be defined as the combination of processes that lead to the choice of one or more candidates over others for one or more jobs or roles’. However it is to mention that selection of the employees starts where recruitment ends. Selection is the process of discovering the qualifications and characteristics of the job applicant in order to establish their likely suitability of job position which requires a methodical approach so as to find the best person for the job (Haryani, 2008). There are various methods of selection to complete the recruitment process to get the best human resources that can carry out the work with elan. However it is necessary to understand that various other factors like employee union, political and legal pressure, etc. impede the selection process making it difficult for the companies to complete the process, therefore it is necessary to select a suitable methodical approach of selection for the completion of recruitment process. It is in this context, this research aims to find out to what extent organizations can accept selection methods. Aims and Objectives of the Study The aims and objectives of the present study are:- 1) To examine the most common form of selection method used by the companies 2) To analyze the importance of psychometric test and social method of selection process of recruitment 3) To analyze the extent of use of psychometric tools, social process and other internal and external sources by studying the selection process in one of the employee recruitment agency. 4) To analyze, the extent to which selection methods could be adapted by an organization. Review of Literature Recruitment is typically regarded as the poor relation of selection while selection has caught the attention of organizational psychologists keen to improve the reliability and validity of selection methods (Marchington and Wilkinson, 2005). Selection methods ensure that investments made in job design, advertising, career fairs and other recruitment activities bear fruit in the form of qualified, skilled and well motivated new employees who will be able and willing to contribute to the objectives of the organization (Nankervis, Compton and Morrissey, 2009). Selection techniques cannot overcome failures in recruitment but makes them evident (Marchington and Wilkinson, 2005). Williams (2005) mentions various factors which need to be considered while choosing selection methods. Selection criteria for the post to be filled, acceptability and appropriateness of methods, abilities of staff involved in the selection process, ease of administration, time factors, accuracy and cost are some of the factors that should be considered and worked upon while deciding the selection method. Most common recruitment methods used by employers include closed searches i.e. employment from internal sources, word of mouth, associations with schools, colleges and universities; recruitment agencies and responsive methods i.e. speculative applications, open searches, local newspaper advertisements, adverts in specialist press, national newspaper, website, radio and television advertisements. Closed searches are limited to those groups of workers the employer wants to hire which is not open to general applications. Word of mouth recruitment is carried out by existing staff who nominate potential recruits through their personal contacts; through recruitment agencies who submit the details of persons registered with them for employment; using external contacts with educational institution to recruit best person. Under responsive method, employers give advertisements in local newspaper, and all forms of media to attract huge number of applicants (Marchington and Wilkinson, 2005). Various studies have contributed to enhance the chances for successful recruitment and long term benefits for employers endorsing the utility of the ‘person-fit’ paradigm. Piotrowski and Armstrong (2006), in their study, found that most of the companies used traditional selection method such as resume, reference checks, etc. in comparison to only 9.3 percent recruiting through online pre-employment screening tests. It is further revealed that personality testing; background checks, jobs fair, referral from current employees are the least used techniques to fill the job positions. However, Caroll et al (1999) found that closed searches were among the most widely used recruitment methods wherein all the firms used for case study used recommendations from staff, 27 percent firms found staff through a network of contacts in the industry and 13 percent had poached staff directly from competitors. It is further revealed that though responsive methods were also widely used, most of the firms looked at former applications for recruitment if there was any vacancy. Moreover, open search recruitment methods like advertising in job centres and in the local newspaper were the most common techniques used for some category, however with mixed reactions of satisfaction from the firms. During the course of selection, a great deal of information is obtained about candidates and there should be clear measures of their competencies on the basis of the details provided by the applicants (Roberts, 1997). Recruitment and selection is a multi faceted affair with many players, all of whom have an interest in its conduct and outcomes (Billsberry, 2007). It is an exchange, a two way decision making process and not just the organization making the decision whether to make an offer of employment to the candidate but candidate is also making the decision whether to enter into an ongoing relationship with the organization which is a social process or social exchange model of assessment which is complete contrast to psychometric process (Storey, 2007). According to Billsberry (2007) recruitment and selection is an unusual discipline in one important sense: it is dominated by one paradigm that underpins the vast majority of recruitment and selection teaching and research. The paradigm governing recruitment and selection, the psychometric paradigm, is very dominant as it dictates the recruitment and selection curriculum. This approach to recruitment and selection assesses individuals against the knowledge, skills, abilities and other attributes (KSAOs) which is a rational decision making process operated by the employer (Billsberry, 2007). Psychometrics literally means mental measurement and psychometric tests or instruments are measurement devices which are used to gain understanding of an individual so as to be able to predict behavior and provide a basis for future action. The application of psychometrics benefits in maximizing an organizations performance by improving accuracy of selection; improving employee retention by better matching individuals to jobs; avoiding the financial and personal costs associated, on both sides, with poor recruitment decisions, optimizing the use of peoples capacities by helping individual development activity and achieving better career management by matching individual aspirations to their organizations opportunities (Edenborough, 2007). Though psychometric benefits the organization in many ways, interview is the most popular method adopted by small and medium enterprises to recruit graduates which is a social process of recruitment (Steward and Knowles, 2000). In social process, applicant is seen as an active decision maker, both parties have changing expectations and the assessment process enables them to exchange information to determine levels of personal fit or compatibility. There is an emphasis on ‘fit’ and ‘matching’ the job demands in the psychometric model whereas in social model, the match is not with job demands, but of expectations and needs with culture and values within a process of two way decision making and the provision of information (Storey, 2007). Various selection methods are available for the organizations at their disposal for the purpose of recruiting employees. Review of various literatures mentioned above clearly states that closed methods are the most common source of recruitment while responsive methods are followed later. Open sources like recruiting agencies are used by fewer firms due to high costs involved in the process. There needs to extensive study on the topic to identify the best method of selecting employees in today’s competitive business environment and to capture the best human resources who are well equipped with knowledge and skills which are need for the overall growth of the organization. Research Design Research design is used to structure the study showing how all the parts of the project are working together to address the central research questions (Social Research Methods, 2006). Though there various types of designs and methods that could be used for the purpose of addressing the questions of the present study, it is proposed to use quantitative and qualitative research design. According to Kothari (2008) quantitative research is based on the measurement of quantity or amount and this methodology will be used to address the research questions in numerical analysis. Qualitative research is concerned with the qualitative phenomenon i.e investigating the reasons for certain decisions (Kothari, 2008). This design will certainly help to derive answers for the questions which are part of the conceptual framework of the present study. The research will employ descriptive research tool which includes surveys, fact finding enquiries, questionnaires to collect data which will be further analyzed to give quantitative and qualitative analysis of the study. The already existing literature on the topic will be used and compiled to form secondary from the website, publications, articles, press reports, news articles and annual reports to study their recruitment policies and selection method. Primary data will be collected through a structured questionnaire from Ma Foi Consultancy, a recruiting agency which is involved in the business of placing people in various firms. The structured questionnaire will include a list of preplanned questions designed to collect answers from the people involved in recruitment process at Ma Foi (Phillips and Gully, 2010). The questionnaire will be administered personally by the researcher to avoid any delay. However, researcher will take precautionary measures by taking prior permission from the firm explaining the scope of the study and collecting the data in the form of questionnaires. Time Frame 1. Review of literature : 15 days 2. Preparing questionnaire, collecting information from the company: 10 days 3. Analyzing the collected data and preparing tables, graphs, charts – 5 days 4. Documentation of the Project : 25 days 5. Time before final submission for revision : 5 days References 1. A National Survey of Fortune 1000 Firms, North American Journal of Psychology, 2006, Vol. 8, No. 3,489-496 2. Billsberry J (2007) Experiencing Recruitment and Selection, US: John Wiley and Sons, 3. Carroll, M, Marchington M, Earnshaw J and Taylor S (1999) Recruitment in small firms: Processes, methods and problems, Employee Relations, Vol. 21 Iss: 3, pp.236 – 250 4. Edenborough R (2007) Assessment Methods in Recruitment, Selection and Performance: A Manager's Guide to Psychometric Testing, Interviews and Assessment Centres, London and Philadelphia: Kogan Page 5. Gupta, R (2007) Recruitment, Selection Process Methods And Steps, Role of Recruitment Consultant, Advertisement and Induction, Slide Share, Accessed at 6. Hariyani N (2008) Recruitment and Selection, Slide Share, Accessed at 7. Jim Stewart, Vanessa Knowles, (2000) "Graduate recruitment and selection practices in small businesses", Career Development International, Vol. 5 Iss: 1, pp.21 – 38 8. Kothari C.R (2008) Research methodology: methods and techniques, Ed, 2nd New Age International, New Delhi 9. Marchington M and Wilkinson A (2005) Human resource management at work: people management and development, Ed 3rd, CIPD Publishing, US 10. Nankervis A, Compton R and Morrissey B (2009) Effective Recruitement and Selection Practices 5th Ed, CCH Australia Limited, Australia 11. Phillips J M and Gully S.M. (2010) Strategic Staffing, Pearson Education India, New Delhi 12. Piotrowski C and Armstrong T (2006) Current Recruitment and Selection Practices: 13. Roberts G (1997) Recruitment and selection: a competency approach, CIPD Publishing, US 14. Storey J (2007) Human resource management: a critical text, Ed 3rd, Cengage Learning EMEA, US 15. Williams K (2005) Positive Recruitment & Retention CMIOLP, Ed 2nd., Elsevier Read More