What Is Beneficial about Online Recruitment of the Employees - Essay Example

Online recruitment Introduction: Forrester Research examined online recruitment and discovered that 100% of all Fortune 500 Companies recruit candidates online (www.bizjournals.com). During the 1994-5 period, several job sites were first set up, such as Monster established by Jeff Taylor in the U.S., Jobserve by Robbie Cowling and Jobsite in 1995 in the UK and Stepstone in Norway in 1996. However, in the short span of ten years, online recruitment has boomed as revealed in the fact that while only 6% of the adult population used the Internet for job searching in 1995, over 11 million adults in the UK had searched for a job over the Internet in the past twelve months, according to an E-recruitment survey conducted by Workthing in 2003 (www.enhancemedia.co.uk). In the month of August of 2002, according to the GoJobSite, about 82% of the applicants considered the Internet as the best source of job opportunities, while 84% felt it was the best way to apply and 55% discovered that it was the best way to be hired.(Paton, 2002). Taylor (2005:45-46) has highlighted some important changing trends in the labor market and one among these is the increasing preponderance of “Generation Y” employees or “nexters” – i.e, those born after 1980, who are quite comfortable with ongoing changes in the technological environment and are able to adapt easier to those changes. As a result, it appears that an ongoing growth and evolution of the online environment is likely, as the older generation that is not conversant with computer operations increasingly yields way to a techno-savvy generation that has been raised with the facility of operating within the electronic medium and enjoying its manifold conveniences and therefore is already attributed with a global rather than local perspective. Taylor (2005:46) also points out that the younger generation is less inclined to accept bureaucratically imposed controls, just as they are less inclined to be loyal to their employers and can be easily lured away with better pay and perks. This would lead to recruitment and retention problems as a result of which employers will be predisposed to favor those modes of recruitment which are cost and time saving, rather than those which involve the traditional painstaking processes. While the time and expense for such traditional methods of recruitment may have been justified in the interest of retaining employees for a longer period, the declining policy of corporate loyalty among the younger generation would lead employers to favor the fast and economical electronic medium for recruitment and retention of employees. On this basis therefore, it appears that future trends will be in favor of increased online recruitment. However, the question that arises in this context is – what are the advantages that online recruitment offers, which is resulting in such a rapid increase in its use by more and more firms? Advantages of online recruitment: One of the greatest advantages of online recruitment is the savings in costs that are possible when compared to traditional systems. According to David Brusehoff of Ernst and Young where 2000 people are hired each year against an employment enquiry figure of 300,000, the use of the Internet in the recruitment of candidates to fill vacant positions saves the Company a significant amount of time and resources (www.bizjournals.com). The use of special software enables the Company to simply extract data from a candidate’s submitted online resume rather than “having to key information in off of a piece of paper," according to Brusehoff, since this is the case with paper applications which have to be transferred into the Company’s database. According to the Vice President of Marketing of Monster India, “organizations have cut costs by almost 80 percent over traditional recruitment modes by moving over to the online recruitment process.”(www.expresscomputeronline.com). Some of the heavy costs associated with the manual recruitment process include the administrative costs, advertising costs, the time factor and delays in receipt of applications and the cost of hiring a recruitment agency and paying the necessary commissions (www.expresscomputeronline.com). According to Raghuveer Sakuru who is the Managign Director of Kenexa technologies, recruiting online is “more focussed, fast paced, effective and give higher RoI (Return on Investment) on the administrative expense.” As another executive puts it, “E-recruitment is fast and cost effective. Firms can pay 25% of a candidate’s salary to recruitment agencies, compared with the negligible costs of recruiting through the Company’s website.” (Coleman, 2006) High tech solutions associated with online recruitment make the entire process faster and more cost effective through the use of Digital Video interviews which provides candidates the opportunity for a face to face interaction which is not feasible through a paper resume that is submitted in the traditional way.(Coleman, 2006). Moreover, since the interviews can be recorded, they can also be accessed later by the Directors or hiring personnel at the various firms even if their time constraints do not allow them to coordinate an effective interview time with the applicant. Therefore, this process is helpful to both the hiring company and the candidates. The hiring company is able to interview several candidates in less time and with less expense involved in arranging costs for candidates to attend a face to face interview. Similarly, the candidates also get an opportunity to present themselves well in a face to face interaction using all the benefits of technology at a lower cost than traveling to the place of interview and coordinating the convenience of both the parties. Another significant advantage of online recruitment is the possibility of reaching a much wider pool of qualified candidates from the global arena rather than being restricted to a particular geographical area. If manual resources are to be employed in order to attain such a higher outreach, this would involve substantial investment of resources, however by using the facility of the Internet which is a much less expensive medium the outreach is provided without the added costs (www.expresscomputeronline.com). This also enhances the availability of qualified candidates and despite the skepticism that many employers such as the Metropolitan Police experience about using the Internet as a recruitment tool, they are pleasantly surprised at the level of quality and cadre of the applications received through the electronic medium.(Paton, 2002). Therefore, online recruitment may help in brining real business benefits to a Company, both in terms of quality, cost and savings in time. Another attractive option that employers have, which is available only through the online recruitment mode, is the facility of maintaining an ongoing interaction with candidates that they are interested in (Paton, 2002). Since most corporations have their own websites where qualified applicants can post their resumes, this allows the company the facility of maintaining a database where candidate information is carefully sorted and retained, so that even when a suitable vacancy may not exist at a particular time, they are in a position to continue to interact with the candidate via email and offer a position when a suitable vacancy arises. Some Companies have found online recruitment such an attractive prospect that they do not allow any other form of recruitment. For example, the Container Store which has branches spanning the entire United States, relies substantially upon online recruitment to fill positions, while paper applications are just a formality (www.bizjournals.com). Their online system used a specialized application form wherein it is also possible for the Company to find matches among potential candidates for the company’s culture and business rather than merely filling up a specific position. In this way, the quality of candidates that are recruited shoots up and the Company is able to amass a team of committed employees who are in tune with the Company’s culture and policies and are therefore able to perform better as a part of the team. Disadvantages of online recruitment: One of the most significant disadvantages of online recruitment is the sheer bulk and volume of resumes received by online recruiters or job boards. This works to the disadvantage of both the job seekers as well as the hiring Companies. In the case of job seekers, they may find it an exercise in frustration to get their resumes noticed and picked up for the positions they desire because there is no mechanism to filter out and pick out the best and authentic resumes (ww.expresscomputeronline.com). Since such online recruitment firms work on behalf of the recruiter, they are unlikely to take into consideration any resumes that specifically do not meet the desired requirements (www. professional-resumes.com). Moreover, since many of these companies also offer additional services such as resume writing and professional counseling, they may charge the job seeker fees without actually guaranteeing a placement. Professional online recruitment firms may also pose disadvantages to hiring firms in terms of costs. This is because they are obliged to pay the recruiter 20 to 30 percent of the first year salary of the person that is hired.(www.professional-resumes.com) This fee may need to be paid each year irrespective of whether a qualified candidate is actually hired or not and this could prove to be a costly exercise for hiring companies, especially where qualified candidates may be relatively easy to find on a direct recruitment basis through the firm’s websites, for example. Starcke (1996) sets out a list of disadvantages that are associated with online recruitment, as follows: (a) limits the pools of employees who are accessible by employers because not all qualified candidates may have access to the Internet or wish to search for a job online, preferring traditional modes of recruitment (b) produce a mass of resumes that may sometimes be unsuited for the requirement when the job specifications have not been strictly listed out (c) cause discrimination by limiting access to certain candidates, such as handicapped candidates. This could also be a problem when a candidate is short listed and then later rejected due to the disability, which cannot be perceived through an online resume (d) cause the recruitment process to become impersonal or turn off qualified candidates if the recruitment process if not capably managed (e) limit the scope for providing individual corporate recruitment guidelines, such as for example when they are not written in a web friendly style A significant disadvantage of online recruitment is that it does not provide the safeguards and facilities for filtering the authenticity of the resumes that are received in response, the major problem areas identified in online recruiting are the difficulties in screening and checking out of all the numerous resumes which are received. As pointed out by John Winchester of Impetus Technologies, “In the traditional methods of recruitment, consultants did the authenticity check initially and saved time and effort. Sometimes applicants who post their resumes online are not active job seekers. In such a scenario, companies fail to keep a track of them and their contact details.” Therefore, despite the speed of receipt of applications, the process of selection of the right candidates becomes a tiresome and long drawn out process as far as checking the authenticity of the resumes is concerned. Moreover, Francis Wilson of the Institute of Perosnnel development points out that jobs involving a significant amount of face to face interaction with the public requires a more careful evaluation of candidates than what is possible through the online medium, even through the use of advanced technology.(Coleman 2006). The online recruitment process may not always produce the right kind of people who suit the job or the right blend of candidates, as stated by John Ainley, the Director at Norwich Union, “Our experience is that it has been particularly good at attracting graduates but not particularly good at attracting anybody else.” This highlights another disadvantage with online recruitment and that is the limited availability of older, more qualified candidates who are not computer savvy and still prefer to work through traditional methods of recruitment. As Paton (2002) has explained, the number of computer literate older workers is on the increase, however there is a distinct possibility of discrimination against older candidates if a totally online process if adopted by a Company in its recruitment policy, since it may restrict the pool of older applicants. Moreover, it is also impossible to determine whether or not a prospective employee who is applying over the Net is disabled, and this can pose a problem to a Company that may have a particular policy about disabled employees in its firm. While traditional recruitment methods allow for a careful filtering and checking of the resumes, this facility is not afforded by the Internet and as a result, it could pose legal issues and problems of alleged discrimination that could arise against the Company, either from older or disabled employees. As Maureen McNamara of the Law Society puts it, as far as online applications from disabled people are concerned, “We are trying to be incredibly careful about it, as I am sure are lots of other organizations, to ensure that everyone is treated exactly the same.” (Paton 2002) As pointed out by Coleman (2006), online recruitment is not for everyone. Although the large well known corporations receive plenty of hits from job seekers, this may not be the case with smaller companies who may need to use other, more aggressive methods to reach out and find the kind of candidates that they seek to fill vacant positions, such as using other means in order to drive potential candidate traffic to their websites. As stated by Francis Wilson, the HR adviser at the Institute of Personnel and Development. “it does save time and money, but you can’t always assume it will work.” (Coleman, 2005). Moreover the sheer volume of jobs and applications on the Internet may itself serve as a factor that limits the efficacy of this medium. Moreover, since most job applications may require the employees to remain online while they are filling out the applications rather than downloading them and filling them out later, this could put off employees. Similarly, employers are swamped by the sheer volume of applications that they receive and this may be a factor that puts them off this mode of recruitment. Conclusions: On the basis of the above, it may be noted that online recruitment may not suit everyone and there are some disadvantages that have been identified in the process, as above. Moreover, in some cases where a qualified applicant may be interviewed and offered a job through the sue of the online recruitment process, there will be higher costs involve din the long term, in arranging for the candidate’s relocation expenses, while local candidates can be recruited inexpensively through traditional methods which also allows employers to carefully screen candidates and find the truly best-fit applicant. But online recruitment is gaining in popularity largely because of the ease and speed in operation and the flexibility that it affords both to the employer and the employee. There are some significant advantages offered through online recruitment, especially to big corporations, which may offset these negative effects. For instance in a global economy where most companies need to be fiercely competitive and where optimum utilization of time is crucial to business success and profitability, the cost advantage is a big plus. The savings in time and money that results from eschewing the long drawn out, tedious administrative processes involved in traditional methods of recruitment result in excellent savings potential for businesses and the Company’s resources can be trained elsewhere. By reeling in resumes through online job sites, or through their own corporate websites, employers are able to also provide an overview of the Company’s culture to potential employees and interview qualified candidates in an interactive format which is as good as face to face interaction.(www.onrec.com) Global recruitment and the need to introduce flexibility and control into the recruitment process in the future offer strong reasons for the proliferation of online recruitment (www.onrec.com/newsstories). As stated by Patrice Berbadette, the founder of JobPartners, “Companies which aren’t thinking global and which don’t have an online recruitment process in place to encourage applications from outside of the UK, risk losing out on hot talent and the opportunity to create a more diverse workplace.” (www.onrec.com/newsstories). The fact that online recruitment is easy to use and provides fast access to a wide pool of candidates in a cost effective manner has proved to be an attractive inducement for employers. The facility to be able to easily and quickly interact with several applicants, receive feedback from a wide variety of candidates and the facility to interview some of them online in an interactive video format have reduced much of the costs and tedious administrative processes that are involved with traditional recruitment methods. Moreover, most of the attraction to online recruitment has to do with the ease and options offered by technological advances. Employers are able to maintain contact with employees they may be interested in at a future date. They are also able to provide information about their company culture and policies in one standard format which can be accessed by numerous prospective employees over a long time, which is far more cost effective than the high costs involved in placing an advertisement for recruitment which is visible to potential employees for only a few days, and where employers are obliged to go over the same information about their Company repeatedly to different applicants. The technological medium also affords the option of maintaining databases, selecting material from online resumes and eliminates much of the time involved in the manual transmission of employee data into the computer. Therefore, there are tremendous cost savings to the Company and savings in time to the top level management and HR personnel of companies, which works in favor of online employment. Moreover, with the spread of technology, the emerging pool of employees is increasingly techno-savvy and less willing to be loyal to one Company, thereby making the investments in the long drawn out process of traditional recruitment an uneconomical proposition. References * Coleman, Alison, 2006. “Does e-recruitment work?” Director, July 2006 at pp 27 * Newsletter, 2004. “Online recruitment will be ten years old in 2005!” Accessed 3/12/2007 from: http://www.enhancemedia.co.uk/newsletter/newsletters_2004_oct.html * “Recruitment and HR software in 2007” Accessed 3/7/2007 from http://www.onrec.com/newsstories/15785.asp * Paton, Nic, 2002. “E-recruitment: does it work?” Personnel Today, September 3, 2002. * Starke, Alice, 1996. “Internet recruiting shows rapid growth” HR Magazine, August 1996. Accessed 3/12/2007 from: http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3495/is_n8_v41/ai_18660377 * “The Disadvantages of using a recruitment firm.” Accessed 3/07/2007 from http://www.professional-resumes.com/the-disadvantages-of-using-a-recruitment-firm.html * “Totally digital UK brings podcasting to online recruitment.” March 9, 2007. Accessed 3/8/2007 from: http://www.onrec.com/newsstories/15743.asp * Taylor, Stephen, 2005. “People resourcing” Published by CIPD * accessed 3/08/2007 from: http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2004/11/08/focus2.html * accessed 3/08/2007 from: http://www.expresscomputeronline.com/20050418/technologylife01.shtml Read More