Recruitment and Selection Role for Company Competitive Strategy - Term Paper Example

THE RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION PROCESSES: ITS IMPORTANCE TO THE COMPETITIVE STRATEGY OF COMPANIES AND THE HIGH WORKING PERFORMANCE OF EMPLOYEES College/University Date Assessment One Abstract This paper has been devoted to the discussion of the importance of the recruitment and selection processes to various companies as an essential part of their total quality management systems. Basically, this research was structured in such a way that it would reflect the importance of both the recruitment and selection processes to the development of high performance working skills amongst the employees of the organizations given the changing nature of the business world today as well as the increasing turnover and decreasing retention rates. Hence, this study will highlight the same in order to highlight the importance of the topic at hand. Background According to Brand (2009), companies in the United Kingdom are wasting at least £ 12 billion because of recruitment and selection mistakes in addition to training the new employees. This easily amounts to an estimate of £ 1000 per employee, and therefore eats up the company’s resources. As a result, there is a need for the management teams and the human resources department to know and understand the most effective strategies that would help the recruitment and selection process, without having to incur unnecessary costs. During the recruitment and selection process, one of the most common mistakes that the human resource department and the management team of a company may do includes not providing complete details about the organization that is hiring new employees. Since the information being provided by the company itself makes up most of the information that the applicant has about the hiring organization, the lack of information can prove to be detrimental. It follows that once the applicant has been screened and finally accepted into the job after training, there is a possibility that any information not provided to the new employee would eventually be known. Job conditions, job requirements and the like can only be experienced by the new employee once he/she has worked in the company for a period of time. If he/she cannot come to terms with the new information learnt, then the option of resigning may manifest. Naturally, this means that the company has wasted its resources on an applicant who was not meant to be a member of the organization in the first place (Scroggins et al., 2008). According to Scholarios et al. (2003), the experience of work in the profession and of the recruitment and selection processes of the hiring company is directly related to the differences in career orientation which are significant for the development of realistic expectations. Failure to meet the expectations of the employee would not only result in a loss of resources for the hiring company, but it would also cause a number of other problems which would be detrimental to the development of the organization. This includes low job satisfaction and early turnover. It has also been mentioned that the exposure of the employer(s) to the applicants during the recruitment and selection processes appears to be one of the most crucial stages in influencing the development of appropriate expectations. In addition, through such exposure, there is an early development of the individuals’ psychological contract with the organization (Scholarios et al. 2003). In addition to providing the applicant with complete and detailed information about the company and the nature of the job to be applied for, one of the best ways to address the screening problem would be to utilize an Internet based prescreening tool and to conduct a series of interviews for the selected pool of applicants. This allows the human resource department and the management team of the company to reach the applicants who have met the minimal skills requirements so a considerable amount of training time that would be needed to review those skills would be unnecessary (Bielski, 2007). As this paper will later on, recruitment and selection processes is of vital importance to the success of the members of the retail industry due to the different challenges it faces due to changes in consumer spending. In the same manner, the recruitment and selection initiative of the members of the retail industry is also of paramount importance as this gives them a competitive advantage that would be difficult to replicate (Ramlall 2006; Pattanaik n.d.; Branine 2008). However, the benefits would only be guaranteed once these initiatives are properly aligned with the overall strategy of the company. This research shall then look into the benefits and disadvantages that the companies receive because of the said alignment or misalignment. It is in line with this then that this paper shall be entitled as: The Recruitment and Selection Processes: Its Importance to the Competitive Strategy of Companies and the High Working Performance of the Employees. To effectively brief the readers about this study, the briefing paper shall be divided into the following subsections: (1) Introduction; (2) Recruitment and Selection Processes: An Important Part of Total Quality Management; (3) the Recruitment Process; and lastly, (4) the Selection Processes. Findings This assignment, as earlier mentioned shall focus on the analysis of the importance of the recruitment and selection processes in helping out companies in the attaining competitive advantage. Nowadays, there is no doubt that the business world is constantly changing at a fast pace. In this manner, Morfeld (2003) stresses that what may be applicable now may no longer be appropriate a year from now. This is partly because of the increasing role that technology plays that is seen to constantly redefine the nature of work in all aspects of the business world. Because of this, the so-called strategic staffing has become of vital importance to ensure the success and survival of a company in a certain industry despite being in the midst of an intense competition. It is because of this then that this study shall zero in, once again, on the importance of the said processes to the recruitment and selection of the employees of the company in order for them to help the organization out in choosing the latter in helping out the former in the attainment of its goals. The following shall be the main arguments that this paper shall prove: 1. Recruitment and Selection Procedures are essential to companies who would want to attain a competitive advantage; 2. Recruitment and Selection Procedures bring about a number of positive benefits for organizations who adopt them; and finally, 3. Processes relating to recruitment and selection enable companies in choosing employees that would work hand in hand with them in attaining their goals. To prove the abovementioned, the following references shall then be used: 1. Beardwell, I., Holden, L. and Claydon, T. 2005. Human Resource Management, 4th Ed., Harlow: Prentice Hall. 2. Bielski, L. 2007. Getting to "yes" with the right candidates. American Bankers Association. ABA Banking Journal, 99(3), pp. 30-32,34,51 3. Brand, S. 2009. Youre not hired! Service Management, pp. 33-34 4. Branine, M. 2008. Graduate Recruitment and Selection in the UK: A Study of the Recent Changes in Methods and Expectations. Career Development International: 13 (6), pp. 497-513. 5. Carroll, M. 2006. Recruitment and Assessment Tools: Dawn of Axiometrics. Accountancy Ireland: 38 (3); pp. 69-71. 6. Compton, R.L. and Nankervis, A.R. 1991. Effective Recruitment and Selection Practices. Australia: CCH. 7. Cooper, D. and Robertson, I.T. 2003. Recruitment and Selection: A Framework for Success. UK: Cengage Learning. 8. Cornelius, N. 1999. Human Resource Management: A Managerial Perspective. Cornwall: Thomson Business Press. 9. Dale, M. 2003. A Manager’s Guide to Recruitment and Selection. UK: Kogan Page Publishers. 10. Edenborough, K. 2005. Assessment Methods in Recruitment Selection and Performance: A Manager’s Guide to Psychometric Testing, Interviews and Assessment Centres. UK: Kogan Page Publishers. 11. Kniveton, B.H. 2008. Recruitment/Selectors’ Perceptions of Male and Female Trainee Managers. Journal of European Industrial Training, 32 (6), pp. 404-417. 12. Kubr, M. n.d. Management Consulting: A Guide to the Profession. USA: International Labor Organization. 13. McMahon, K. 2008. Choosing the Right People is Key to Company’s Success. Belfast Telegraph, August 29, 2008 Issue. 14. Morfeld, C. 2003. Workforce Planning: The Strategy Behind “Strategic Staffing.” Accessed January 9, 2009 from http://accounting.smartpros.com/x37033.xml. 15. Peacock, L. 2008. Self-Selection Systems Aid Staff Retention. Personnel Today, p. 47. 16. Pratt, K.J. and Bennett, S.G. 1989. Elements of Personnel Management. UK: Taylor & Francis. 17. Ramlall, S.J. 2006. Strategic HR Management Creates Value at Target. Journal of Organizational Excellence, Spring 2006. 18. Roberts, G. 1997. Recruitment and Selection: A Competency Approach. US: CIPD Publishing. 19. Scroggins, W., Benson, P., Cross, C., & Gilbreath, B.. 2008. Reactions to Selection Methods: An International Comparison. International Journal of Management, 25(2), pp. 203-216. 20. Scholarios, D., Lockyer, C. and Johnson, H. 2003. Anticipatory Socialisation: The Effect of Recruitment and Selection Experiences on Career Expectations. Career Development International: 8 (4), pp. 182-197. 21. Stewart, J. and Knowles, V. 2000. Graduate Recruitment and Selection Practices in Small Businesses. Career Development International: 5 (1), pp. 21-38. 22. Vaughn, T. 2007. Recruiting the Right People. Caterer and Hotelkeeper, February 8- February 14 Issue, pp. 66-67. 23. Wirtz, J., Heracleous, L. and Pangarkar, N. 2008. Managing Human Resources for Service Excellence and Cost Effectiveness at Singapore Airlines. Managing Service Quality: 18 (1), pp. 4-19. Summary Once again, this research acknowledges the importance of the recruitment and selection processes that organizations must adopt in order to properly ensure their attainment of their goals as well as their competitive advantage. It is for this reason that this paper generally shall revolve around this topic by focusing on both the recruitment and selection processes by which high performance working models should be attained. Assessment Two Introduction Nowadays, there is no doubt that the business world is constantly changing at a fast pace. In this manner, Morfeld (2003) stresses that what may be applicable now may no longer be appropriate a year from now. This is partly because of the increasing role that technology plays that is seen to constantly redefine the nature of work in all aspects of the business world. Because of this, the so-called strategic staffing has become of vital importance to ensure the success and survival of a company in a certain industry despite being in the midst of an intense competition. Morfeld (2003) however, notes that despite the popularity of the aforementioned initiative, - strategic staffing- recruitment activities of human resource managers can be described as tactical at its best. The author notes that these strategies are in fact, reactive as managers usually scramble to fill in a vacant position upon the resignation of an employee. Although the abovementioned is at times, unavoidable, company recruiters or Human Resource generalists believe that there are effective ways to staff a certain company. This strategy usually entails the full support of the corporate leaders. In the same manner, effective staffing practices also call for changes within the processes and procedures of the company in order to become successful. Finally, it is also of vital importance to demand commitment and cooperation in all levels of management in order to ensure that a company is staffed effectively. Recruitment and Selection Procedures: An Essential Part of Total Quality Management Procedures related to recruitment and selection, according to Cooper and Robertson (2003) is an integral part of quality management. According to a research conducted by Michaels and his colleagues (as cited in Cooper and Robertson 2003), recruiting and keeping good people is a prime driver of a certain organization’s competitive advantage. The aforementioned research points out that compared to product innovations that only produce short-term advantages, recruiting and selecting the best people for the workplace of a certain organization positively affects the corporate image, thus influencing the experiences of the customers. Hence, Cooper and Robertson (2003) claims that the survival and growth of the organization heavily depends on attracting and recruiting the best people. At the same time, this may need to motivate them in applying their talents to positively affect the organization. However, the supply and demand of human resources are influenced by a lot of factors, not just the availability of the so-called suitably qualified employees. According to Cooper and Robertson (2003), the projected shortage of skills only show that the right people who possess the right skills in order to enter a certain industry is decreasing. As a result, organizations who wish to incorporate recruitment policies and selection procedures must ensure that they adapt to the changing nature of the workforce (Cooper and Robertson 2003). As earlier mentioned, the recruitment and selection procedures adopted by organizations are an essential part of their practices related to the total management of their quality. As a result, human resources managers are expected to play an important role with regard to the attainment of their organization’s quality goals. It is in line with this then that they must come up with selection procedures in order to obtain the best recruits that could satisfy the demands and requirements of their customers or clients. Thus, it is in doing the aforementioned that the quality of the applicants and recruits are not only reflected on the finished product or service being provided by the organization but the quality and efficiency of their selection processes as well (Cooper and Robertson 2003; Morfeld 2003). The alignment of selection and recruitment procedures with the aims of the organization to ensure their competitive advantage can make a significant difference between making a profit and sustaining a loss (Cooper and Robertson 2003). Aside from this however, the following are the benefits that an organization may receive from its adoption of effective strategies pertaining to recruitment and selection: (1) reduced absenteeism; (2) reduced employee turnover; (3) increased job satisfaction; and (4) increased organizational commitment. The aforementioned benefits, according to Cooper and Robertson (2003) are without a doubt, obtained only by selecting the right people for the job. Through the recruitment and selection of the right people for the job, Roberts (1997) believes that an organizational cultural could be improved. According to this particular author, business leaders are calling for the change in the culture of their organization in order to get their employees do what they should, in the manner they are expected of in order to ensure survival, success and growth during the era of intense competition. Because of the lack of such people, companies are spending too much on the development of programs that are geared towards the improvement in the behavior of the people as well as to solve their problems with regard to misplaced people who, in the first place should have never been selected (Roberts 1997). Aside from this, Roberts (1997) also notes that time, effort and money have been spent on unnecessary jobs that should have not been filled as well. In line with this, the adoption of effective recruitment and selection practices has been considered to be of vital importance in order to bring about improvements to the performance of the business (Compton and Nankervis 1991; Billsbery 2007; Kubr n.d.; Pratt and Bennett 1989). In Martins’ (2007) study of the role of first tier managers, she also reveals the importance of the development of an efficient system of recruitment and selection. She believes that once these managers have been hired properly based on an effective system of recruitment and selection, they will perform according to the needs of the business, thereby ensuring the competitive advantage of the entire organization (Martins 2007). The efficient system of recruitment and selection as a means by which the competitive advantage of a company is ensured is even more important to those belonging to the service industry (Wirtz, Heracleous and Pangarkar 2008; Morfeld 2003). According to Wirtz, Heracleous and Pangarkar (2008), service employees are very important in ensuring that service excellence and productivity are effectively delivered. Because they are at the front-line, they are expected to be fast and efficient in terms of performing operational tasks. Aside from this, they are also expected to deal with their customers, more specifically in a friendly and helpful manner. As a result, human resource managers of organizations in the said industry must be able to recruit and select their employees properly in order to ensure that the latter are working according to the goals of the company (Wirtz, Heracleous and Pangarkar 2008). In aligning the recruitment and selection procedures of a company with their overall strategy, McMahon (2008) proposes the use of the 7-S framework developed by McKinsey. This particular framework is said to be the reason behind the success of Japanese companies. The following are the so-called 7S as well as the areas that needed to be review under the said factor: (1) Shared Values – what the organization stands for and what they believe in; (2) Strategy – the manner by which the organization allocates its scarce resources in order to achieve their goals; (3) Structure – the changes incorporated into the structure of the organization in order to accommodate the strategies of the company; (4) systems – the processes and procedures that help managers in determining what the work should be done; (5) style- the manner by which managers behave in order to achieve their goals; (6) staff- the number of people in the workforce and the manner by which they could help in achieving the goals of the organizations; and (7) skills- the skills needed by the members of the organization in order to deliver the desired results. In summary, the importance of the recruitment and selection procedures is cited by McMahon (2008), he states: To recruit the best you must analyze what you are looking for and when you have reached these people you must adopt the best methods in which to select. Recruiting and selecting the right people is of paramount importance to the continued success of your organization and without it, the implementation of your new strategy will be ineffective. The key to unlocking an organisations potential, to achieve maximum performance and efficiency is its people. Effective recruitment and selection is the first vital step in building a winning team. Recruitment and Selection Policy sets out how to ensure, as far as possible, that the best people are recruited on merit and that the recruitment process is free from bias and discrimination. Without a doubt, selection and recruitment processes are very critical to an organization, Carroll (2008) discusses. As a result, these procedures must no longer be left to only guesswork alone. Rather, the use of tools has become of great importance. According to Carroll (2008), three kinds of assessments are commonly used by companies in order to aid their recruitment and selection processes. First, is an assessment test that asks the candidate to state how well they think they can perform (Carroll 2008). Second is the use of an assessment test that would ask other people to evaluate the performance of the candidate (Carroll 2008) Last, an assessment test is also used to observe the candidate directly. Through the use of these tools to aid the recruitment and selection procedures would help the company in ensuring that they “get it right the first time” thus, the hiring of the right people would eventually bring about positive benefits to the company (Edenborough 2005). The Recruitment Process Workforce planning, according to Roberts (1997) begins with attracting people for the job openings that an organization offers. One method closely associated with this is external advertising but this, of course, requires additional budget. As a result, it has been suggested that the activities developed by the human resources department that are aimed towards the recruitment of employees must be aligned with the over-all marketing strategy of the company. Through this, it can be assured that key messages are communicated effectively, through the media appropriate (Roberts 1997). Dale (2003) also asserts the importance of “marketing the job.” For her, a fresh view of the employment contract is of vital importance in the same manner that this is done as a marketing strategy. This is because, she believes that employment, nowadays are no longer a binding and life-long agreement between the employer and the employee wherein the former holds all the cards (Dale 2003). Generally, when skills and qualities of a certain employee is in demand by another employer, the latter faces a risk of losing their staff to their competitors, most especially if the former feels exploited and undervalued (Dale 2003; Silvester, Anderson, Haddleton, Cunningham-Snell and Gibb 2000). Dale (2003) also gives paramount importance to the use of a competency framework in order to attract the right people for the job. This is one of the two approaches in the recruitment selection (Fellows 1999; Roberts 1997). The first approach gives more importance to the person, thereby given the name “person approach” while the second one, as mentioned prioritizes the competency of the candidates (Fellows 1999). For Dale (2003) this approach can serve as a profile by which the target audience may refer to. As a result, this particular framework must include the following: (1) descriptions of the required attainment; (2) achievements; and lastly, (3) the abilities and aptitudes. Moreover, Dale (2003) also recommends the inclusion of the following questions in order to aid the recruitment processes: (1) what will the person appointed need to know to do the work satisfactorily?; (2) what skills will be used?; (3) how will that knowledge and those skills have been gained?; (4) what type of experiences will the successful applicant have had?; (5) could these have been gained in ways other than paid employment?; (6) what sort of work would the applicants need to prefer?; (7) what sort of working arrangements would then prefer?; (8) what would they expect from a job; (9) what sort of organization would they want to work for; and finally, (10) where are they and what are they doing now? Aside from the abovementioned, Dale (2003) also stresses on the importance of marketing the entire organization as the image of the company is essential in the recruitment campaign. Another method related to this is the so-called self-selection method, a very important recruitment program (Peacock 2008). According to her, self-selection is the process where a job-seeker is given information about the negative aspects of a vacancy and employer as well as the good points, to better enable them to make an informed decision about whether to apply for a job. Simply put, self-selection involves the provision of realistic job previews as it includes information about the negative issues that employers highlight to the different applicants aspiring for the position (Peacock 2008; Silvester, Anderson, Haddleton, Cunningham-Snell and Gibb 2000). The process of attracting people is by itself, a complicated stage (Roberts 1997). This is because of the fact that they must ensure that at this stage, they have a sufficient number of candidates to choose from. In the same manner, the human resources manager must also ensure that these candidates are good enough in order for them to make meaningful decisions (Roberts 1997). Scholarios, Lockyer and Johnson (2003) on the other hand give importance to the said process because it is a way by which a certain organization could also choose the best people for the different jobs that they offer. In fact, Branine (2008) believes that the measure of the effectiveness of a recruitment program depends so much on its ability to attract a large number of applicants for a job opening. This is because, as previously stated, this allows employers to choose from a larger number of applicants (Branine 2008; Silvester, Anderson, Haddleton, Cunningham-Snell and Gibb 2000; Morfeld 2003). In order to make the recruitment process more effective, Roberts (1997) suggests the publication of the information of the organization and the role of the position being offered to the applicants. He also suggests the use of job previews, temporary postings and job information questionnaires in order to help the candidates determine whether or not they are right for the job. Stewart and Knowles (1999) also cited the importance of the recruitment process amongst graduate students who are looking for jobs. They argue that through the providing the students with greater awareness of their employment opportunities and equipping them with the ability to be proactive in approaching their potential employers, this will lead them to more effective career self-management and selection processes. The study of Branine (2008) also revealed the most preferred methods of recruitment according to a survey conducted amongst one hundred and fifty recruiters in the 1990s. The methods were the following, in order of preference: (1) milk round; (2) recruitment brochures; (3) recruitment fairs; (4) direct directories; (5) advertising in newspapers and magazines; (6) sponsorship; and lastly, (7) recruitment agencies. According to Branine (2008), the term milk round refers to the annual recruitment programs sponsored by companies from different sectors in cooperation with different universities and colleges. Through these programs, presentations are done in order to offer the students jobs at their organizations. In the same manner, they also conduct interviews in order to accommodate interested students. Without a doubt, these only show that there are many ways by which organizations and/or companies can recruit future applicants. They can choose from a wide range of methods such as the milk round, advertisements, recruitment fairs, etc (Beardwell, Holden and Claydon 2004). Cornelius (1999) also gives importance to ensure that diversity practices are applied in the recruitment procedures. According to this author, it is through the successful management of diversity that a competitive edge is promoted as the best people are recruited for the job irregardless of their ethnicity, age, gender age or other characteristics. This could also beneficial to organizations in terms of having a diverse pool of talent to choose from for promotion purposes (Cornelius 1999). The Selection Process After the First World War, many psychological studies have been conducted and many methods were devised in order to measure human attributes in order to predict the future job performance of the employees. Basically, these measures were seen to be appropriate as it calls on for the assessment of the abilities and aptitudes of an applicant rather than simply relying on their educational qualifications and information with regard to their work experiences (Cooper and Robertson 2003). Because of this, the use of selection tools such as psychological tests, interviews, etc. have gained tremendous popularity as it helps employers in determining the successful job performance of a certain applicant. In the same manner, the abovementioned were also seen to be necessary in addressing two important issues (Cooper and Robertson 2003). One of which is the assurance that the candidates chosen will perform better than the rejected applicants and the second, the manner by which successful job performance can be measured so that judgments can be efficiently made with regard to the accuracy of selection decisions (Cooper and Robertson 2003). Other selection tools, however, are said to have negative effects upon applicants, most especially on their psychological well-being. Apparently, selection procedures that are not linked with the job are usually perceived as unfair. In the same manner, to ensure the success of these procedures, this must be directly relevant to the dynamic nature of the workforce (Cooper and Robertson 2003). Likewise, these must also be fair enough to transcend grounds of gender, race, etc. Thus, effective selection methods, according to D’Netto and Sohal (1999) and Kniveton (2008) must be able to effectively integrate diversity management principles in managing human resources. As a result, organizations must be able to shift away from their stereotypical views of people, Kniveton (2008) adds. However, it must be noted that people differ in size, intelligence, ability, personality as well as their relative strengths and weaknesses. Likewise, jobs also differ with regard to the demands they place on people in terms of their physical and mental qualifications (Cooper and Robertson 2003). Because of these differences, selection decisions are made in the face of uncertainty. Likewise, one must remember that selection methods vary from one employer to another, depending on the needs of the organization (Branine 2008). Cooper and Robertson (2003) then proposes the development of a framework that is aimed towards the systematic selection of employees, specifying the need to accomplish the following: (1) to ensure that the selectors understand how people differ in various situations; (2) to identify the needs and expectation of the customers through job analyses; (3) to set standards that would meet the requirements of the customers; (4) to establish evaluative standards that could help in assessing the method(s) of selection used; (5) to identify the most appropriate selection method(s) for the job(s) in question; (6) to set decision-making standards; and lastly, (7) to develop further ideas to ensure continuous improvement. Through the selection method, Vaughn (2007) states that employers are able to determine the characteristics of the applicants, transcending those that had been stipulated in their curriculum vitae. According to Roberts (1997), the selection process, in order to be effective must be developed on a clear specification upon which the activity is based. In simple terms, Robert (1997) says that through this, selectors choose more carefully than just shooting in the dark. Without a doubt, the aforementioned must be properly observed in order to ensure that the best people are recruited into the company. Usually, however, human resource managers tend to drop the specification required of an employee once a candidate has been admitted into the company. Furthermore, Roberts (1997) believes that companies must be able to adopt activities related to selection processes that are consistent in the identification and measurement of the applicants’ qualities. Lastly, Roberts (1997) also gives paramount importance to a competency-based approach to selection. This means that candidates are selected based on the fact that their skills and qualities complement the job being offered by an organization. Read More