Flexibility and Recruitment - Term Paper Example

Flexibility and Recruitment Flexibility in an organization refers to the provision of such principles and rules which provide its employees with an environment where they can easily balance their work and personal commitments like education, social activities, family relations, professional advancement and other leisure activities. The application of flexibility in the business depends on "securing lower labour costs, tighter manning levels, higher machine utilization, greater staff mobility and few interruptions and bottlenecks in production" (Blyton 1992, p.301 cited in Sheridan, Conway 2001 pp. 8). To understand the concept of flexibility Atkinson's model of flexibility is very useful and of paramount importance. He explains four kinds of flexibility, which firms may achieve, namely functional flexibility, numerical flexibility, pay flexibility and distancing flexibility. Functional flexibility is identified as a qualitative approach to work, and talks about management's ability to organize and reorganize particular segments of the labor force on a broad variety of tasks in reply to market demand when needed (Sparrow 1998 cited in Teicher & Holland 2006 p. 241-242). The workers are given proper training in a broad number of skills in order to make its achievement certain. The unpredictable nature of consumer demands of the products makes this type of flexibility to continue in the market. And similarly with the changes in consumer demands the technology used by the labor would also have to change making this type of flexibility to come handy for the employers (Mathews 1989 cited in Teicher & Holland 2006 p. 242). Numerical flexibility is identified as a quantitative approach to labor consumption. To achieve this type of flexibility the size of labor force is amended to the levels of economic activity at short notes (Atkinson 1984 cited in Teicher & Holland 2006 p. 242). Management has a choice to amend or reorganize its human resources according to the workload rise and fall. Casual, part-time service providers and sub-contractors usually offer this type of flexibility (Morehead et al. 1995; Burgess 1997 cited in Teicher & Holland 2006 p. 242). Distancing is graded as a secondary type of numerical flexibility, which involves the outsourcing of certain activities that may consist of core and non-core activities. The process of associating the non-core processes to the subcontractors is well instituted (for example, cleaning, food preparation and safety) and the improved outsourcing of usual core actions, principally in the human resources part (Herriot 1998; Fisher et al. 2002 cited in Teicher & Holland 2006 p. 242), helps the diminution of the core or permanent staff. Financial flexibility is a payment structure which is supposedly designed to make the progress of numerical and functional flexibility possible. It allows the market forces to state their pay rates for the external workforce and gives the opportunity of increasing the nature of skills which the core labor has (Teicher & Holland 2006, p. 242). With the increasing demand of flexible workers through out, the hiring process has proved to be very difficult for the Human Resource professionals. Different strategies are being sought by the professionals to overcome the difficulties during the process of recruitment. Temporary workers are hired through the process of either formal or informal recruitment. However nowadays it is being hard for the hr professionals to hire these temporary workers. Formal Recruitment is one form through which hiring is done by these professionals. In this kind of process the nature and the requirements of the jobs are posted over different forms of media inviting the individuals who are deeply interested in the job. Thus an intermediary is selected by the formal recruitment team and this role of intermediary can be played either by the media or an agency (Marsden and Campbell 1990). The date and the location are usually set up by the company who is recruiting and both these factors are kept specific. Similarly after the process applications are reviewed by the company's recruiting panel and qualified applicants are called upon. Furthermore, the recruitment takes place under the supervision of the Hr professionals. Formal Recruitment has its pros and cons. It is known that this technique of recruitment has proved to be positive for newly emerging companies or companies who are moving to a different location. Through this type of technique a large amount of applicants are called upon and thus the amount of variety increases. Similarly this will also help to invite the individual of the exact requirement that the company needs. For e.g. a larger amount of applicants would help the recruitment team to possibly select the best one i.e. has a greater experience and the right qualification (Campbell and Rosenfeld 1985; Fevre 1989; Haulman et al. 1987; Windolf 1986). However on the other hand formal recruitment also has its disadvantages. It is confirmed through different researches that a massive amount of investment is required to undergo the process of formal recruitment and the quality acquired from that investment is also not assured. The amount of applicants which is generated through a mass campaign of advertising is massive and is difficult to screen. Thus defects are observed when screening different applicants. Similarly it also gets expensive for the company to screen the massive amount of applicants' together (Marsden and Campbell 1990; Wanous 1980). Furthermore the process of formal recruitment is known to be quite lengthy and time consuming. It costs the company more and takes more time to cover the applicants. Informal recruitment is a process, through which the employers hire workers through valuable sources such as old employees, associates or any other social network. This type of recruitment has proved to be favorable to many companies. Word of mouth is commonly taken as a recommendation in the process of informal recruitment. In this a personal recommendation is passed to the employer through valuable sources as given above. These recommendations are given importance by the employer and therefore mostly the suggested employee is hired. Similarly social and family networks of the employer play an important role in recommending the suitable candidates for the designation. Informal recruitment has many advantages when seeking the right applicant. It is shown through extensive research that this method of recruitment is usually preferred by firms due to its cost efficient nature in relation to the other formal methods (Corcoran et al. 1980; Granovetter 1995; Maim 1974; Marsden and Campbell 1990; Pissarides 1984; Rees 1966; Rees and Schultz 1970). Informal recruitment is a type of process in which the employer does not have to bear the cost of any intermediary and thus this helps to reduce the overall financial costs involved. And as only reliable sources are involved the vacancies are usually filled up in a matter of days. The process is known to be very speedy in nature as the right candidate is chosen immediately. The process of recommending is known to be very important in informal recruitment as it helps to determine the right candidate hurriedly. Similarly the sources who recommend about a certain employee inform the candidate about the work procedures and other details of the work. This would help the recruits to have a better understanding of the nature of the job and the candidate who can settle in the environment will accept the opportunity. This will also help to ensure that the quality of the work is not affected. (Wanous 1980; Williams et al. 1993). Private Labor Market (PLM) is a market of labor which only develops because of the use of informal recruitment methods by the employers. The private laborers have to make direct contacts with the employers through their social contacts to increase their image in front of the employers. The PLM moves the responsibility of selecting or marking the right candidates for the job from the HR manager to the worker. The main responsibility in this type of recruitment is of the seeker of the job himself as he has to develop the relationship with the employer and improve his image so that he is contacted directly the employer. This helps both the employer and the employee to have a trust worthy relationship which will last longer. The deals sought out by both the employers and employee is of such a nature that both are satisfied. However on the contrary with all the benefits of informal recruitment unfortunately also come the disadvantages. In this type of recruitment not all the individuals are given proper chances and thus the criterion of selection is biased in nature. The individuals are not selected in accordance to their suitability but are selected with a subjective nature thus making the whole process against the fairness selection. This process of recruitment prefers individualist dimensions as not all the deserving individuals get the chance to apply hence the collectivists suffer. Similarly the biased nature of the informal recruitment has raised debates over the recent years. Recruitment is done according to the recommendation policy of the informal recruitment and this leaves behind a lot of people who are liable for that particular job. The person who makes a better image in front of his employer may get the job and thus all the participants do not get a better chance to prove themselves. Informal recruitment promotes the use of unethical means to get recruited and therefore ignores the legal selection criteria applied by the states. As workers are drawn from the PLM external labor does not get a chance to prove themselves to the employer and thus again they are deprived of their rights. All these factors give rise to a biased nature of recruitment by the employers (Jewson & Mason 1986). Nowadays with the increasing rate of flexible work practices the challenges undergone by managers have also increased. They have to keep a check on the flexibility given to the labors and have to remain unbiased in nature. This is due to the difference in treatment of different employees because of their nature and work. It is also known that at times the flexibility of programs leads to hectic situations for the managers. As quoted by Martha H. in Management Review (1994) "Far too often, flex is embraced for its 'family-friendly' aspects long before the corporate support needed to manage it takes root. In these companies, flex policies are outlined in the employee manual but implementation is left up to individual managers. Then, when managers try to implement these programs, they discover that to be fair, flex requires them to treat different employees differently" (Management Review 2004). This shows that at times flexible arrangements do not prove to be beneficial as the employees are unwilling to work by the new standards and this certainly makes the task of handling more difficult. Similarly the HR department finds it difficult to manage the new schedule imposed on them and is at times not able to cope with it. As work flexibility comes into play different statuses are building up in the company which gives way to more discrimination amongst the workers themselves and this causes further conflicts in managing the staff. Similarly the core workers are of immense importance to the company and thus the management has to give adequate time to their needs. The age levels of these employees should be set up according to the demand of the work as these employees are more likely to get offers from other companies. The amount of training provided to these core workers should be limited so as to their work schedule does not get hectic. This would help to ensure that these core workers are satisfied with their job (Jewson & Mason 1986). A firm which promotes flexibility in its work should maintain its policy from the management to the recruitment department. Recruitment and selection have an important role to play in a flexible firm as they are the one who determine the required employee according to the flexible conditions. And with these flexible conditions comes a tight schedule for the recruitment department because of the increasing demand of employees. Thus with a lot of burden over them the HR managers are to select the right individual for the right kind of work. These managers are also to make external sources to get recommendations. These recommendations can help to fill up vacant positions hurriedly. However this can result in the forming of a PLM which would further involve informal recruitment methods to be adopted by the firm. And while this informal method has its benefits it brings with it the problem of discrimination amongst the workers and the management. The amount of training given to the temporary and core workers should be sought out by the management so as to any hectic schedule is avoided. A flexible work environment should be maintained by a collective process of management and the recruitment department should employ using proper techniques so as to avoid any future conflicts. Bibliography Marsden, Peter V. and Karen C. Campbell. 1990. "Recruitment and Selection Processes: The Organizational Side of Job Searches," in Social Mobility and Social Structure, R. Breiger, ed., Cambridge, MA: Cambridge Press, pp. 59-79. Campbell, Karen E. and Rachel Rosenfeld. 1985. "Job Search and Job Mobility: Sex and Race Differences," in Research in the Sociology of Work, Richard L. Simpson and Ida Harper Simpson, eds. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press, pp. 147-74. Fevre, Ralph. 1989. "Informal Practices, Flexible Finns, and Private Labour Markets." Sociology 23: 91-109. Haulman, Clyde A., Frederick A. Raffa, and Brian Rungeling. 1987. "Assessing the Labor Market Intermediary Role of the Job Service." Growth and Change 16: 66-71. Wanous, John P. 1980. Organizational Entry.. Recruitment, Selection and Socialization of Newcomers. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley. Windolf, Paul. 1986. "Recruitment, Selection, and Internal Labour Markets in Britain and Germany." Organizational Studies, 7:235-54. Corcoran, Mary, Linda Datcher and Greg J. Duncan. 1980. "Information Networks in Labor Markets," in Five Thousand American Families: Patterns of Economic Progress. Vol VIII, Greg J. Duncan and James N. Morgan, eds. Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, pp. 1-37. Granovetter, Mark S. 1985. "Economic Action and Social Structure: The Problem of Embeddedness." American Journal of Sociology 91: 481-510. Malm, F. Theodore. 1974. "Recruiting Patterns and the Functioning of Labor Markets," in Management of Human Resources, Paul Rigors, Charles A. Myers, and F. T. Maim, eds. McGraw-Hill: New York, pp. 383-400. Pissarides, Christopher A. 1984. "Search Intensity, Job Advertising, and Efficiency." Journal of Labor Economics 2: 128-43. Rees, Albert. 1966. "Information Networks in Labor Markets." American Economic Review 56: 559-66. Rees, Albert and George P. Schultz. 1970. Workers and Wages in the Urban Labor Market. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Williams, Charles R., Chalmer E. Labig, Jr. and Thomas H. Stone. 1993. "Recruitment Sources and Posthire Outcomes for Job Applicants and New Hires." Journal of Applied Psychology 78: 163-72. Sheridan, A. and Conway, L. (2001), Workplace flexibility: reconciling the needs of employers and employees, Women in Management Review, vol.16, no.1, pp. 5-11. Teicher, J., Holland, P., and Gough,R. (2006) Employee relations management : Australia in A Global Context, 2nd edn, Pearson Education, Australia Nick Jewson and David Mason Modes of Discrimination in the Recruitment Process: Formalisation, Fairness and Efficiency Sociology, Feb 1986; 20: 43 - 63. Read More