Human Resources - Recruitment and Selection Policy - Case Study Example

Executive Summary Here the concerned case study revolves around the conflict regarding the recruitment policy between the two founders of a newly established magazine that is to be launched in autumn of 2011. The Chief Investor Ms. Rosie suggests to, establish a talent pool management system that will nurture fresh talents for future responsible positions belonging to the organization. This will help in sustainable growth of the organization in near and distant future. On the other hand Mr. Oliver the proposed Editor wants to recruit experienced people for attracting more readers and accumulate high profits. He also wants to centralize and regulate all the powers that are concerned with editorial and administration of the organization. This may lead to chaos and interference with the main objective of the investors as well as may dissolve the organization. In this regard a more feasible outline is drawn in this report concerning the framing, the recruitment policy and selection procedures of the organization so that the ideology of both the founders can be taken into account. The report highlights that this recruitment policy and innovative selection procedure will enable to maintain a balance between the experienced employees and the fresh talent pool of the organization. It will also enable the Editor to recruit experienced employees at his discretion for the well being of the organization. Again he will also be able to express his opinions during the selection of fresh talents. Background Nowadays human resource (HR) is an area of concern for all the organizations. Here the situation revolves around the HR recruitment and selection policy of a newly established monthly magazine which is to be launched in autumn of 2011. Ms Rosie Stansgate the Chief Investor of the magazine namely ‘In Clover’ is investing $4 million of her personal funds, to position her magazine in an influential way so that it impact ethical living. The readers of the magazine are expected to be of high profile creamy layer of the society with a strong belief in ethical living. Extensive market survey regarding the potential of the magazine if launched deciphers good business prospect for the same. At this background Prof. Oliver who is the proposed Editor of the magazine and Ms. Rosie gets indulged in a contradiction regarding the recruitment and selection policy of the company. Conflict resolution of this human resource acquirement issue between Ms. Rosie and Mr. Oliver is the main concern that has been addressed in the report. HR policy recommendations and justifications On ethical ground Ms. Rosie insists her organization must treat its people with ethical values and the workforce of ‘In Clover’ must reflect a true blend of the demographic profile of Manchester. Existence of these types of human resource management (HRM) policies within the organization is quite admiring and will promote goodwill and public relation. However, different ethnic origin with cultural divergence makes the demography of Manchester quite diversified in nature. Hence it will be extremely tough to blend them under one single roof. This will inhibit the pace of work and cause much conflict in ideas between the employees due to their diversified ethnic backgrounds. Hence, Prof. Oliver’s performance oriented and team work view with already experienced workforce would be more conducive for the organization that might translate into higher profit and sales. In contrast Ms. Rosie opines the recruitment policy should be strong and systematic, which will enable many fresh talents to be absorbed within the organization in a transparent and unbiased way. Now the most important issue that comes in forefront of the organization is employee turnover. Minute analysis on life cycle of an organization reflects that growth phase requires experienced people to give direction to a company (till this point Prof. Oliver is justified). However, after the initial growth stage the organization starts aging and faces erosion of its talent pool for many different reasons. Now this crisis can only be addressed through the views of Ms. Rosie. She emphasizes on the creation of generations of well groomed talent pool, which will enable them to take charge of the vacant positions. This demonstrates that for sustainability of an organization, a talent pool is required that will work with zeal to achieve individual and organizational success. The dynamic nature of fresh talents and their incorporation into a corporation radiating new entrepreneurial ideas also help in value addition to the organization. Following this there is a strong need of training and generating awareness among these fresh talent pools at workshops or courses. This might eventually lead us to the broader aspects of corporate responsibility and equal employment opportunity for all. However, it should be optional for the senior and experienced people associated with the organization to prevent any productivity loss and deadline miss. Hence, considering the long term sustainability of the magazine, Prof. Oliver will sooner or later accept the talent pool management issue and here Ms. Rosie’s view is very much favorable in the perspective of organizational development. (Ployhart, Schneider, & Schmitt, 2006, p. 261) As discussed earlier the recruitment policy and selection criterion are the most important issues of the contradiction between Prof. Oliver and Ms. Rosie. So the whole system needs to be transparent and systematic as well to enable Prof. Oliver to express his opinion during this process. The recruitment policy of the organization should address some key features those are: to recruit the best candidates available, ensuring equal justice and opportunity to all employee and considering all the applicants without bias (Cowling & Mailer, 1998, p.23). This will help employees to reach and realize full working potential. The merit and job handling capability together with the responsibilities of a candidate towards work should also be considered. It should prioritize the organizational need during recruitment of candidates and a competent authority should be framed for approval of the selection. The recruitment policies should also be transparent in eyes of the law and public policy. Specially Race Relation Act 1976, Sex Discrimination Act 1975 (1986), Disability Discrimination Act 1995 etc. should be taken into consideration (Rees, Lindsay & Rice, 2008, p.218; Kitchen, 1980, p.183; Hauritz, 1998, p. 55) while framing the recruitment policies. Integration of employees needs with organizational needs should be made for mutual benefit. An informal union between the employees should also be encouraged to motivate teambuilding effort and enhance social capital (i.e. faith, trust etc.) within the organization. So, from legislative point of view regarding the provision of opportunities and discriminations, Ms. Rosie framed the best policies for the organization. But Prof. Oliver certainly should have some authority during selection of candidates. (Randhwa, 2007, pp. 68-69) These recruitment policies discussed earlier will enable the HR department to perform in a transparent and systemic recruitment. However there is much more need of framing a good procedure for recruitment and selection to incorporate quality in human resource. These procedures to select candidates must be framed with utmost care to attain a perfect blend of experienced as well as fresh talented people within the organization. To solve this problem at first HR department should make a job list together with the core responsibilities of each enlisted job. This will enable the board to decide which position will need experienced people and where to incorporate fresh talents. The experienced employee selection should be under sole authority of Prof. Oliver, where as recruiting fresh talent should stress in external recruitment process. External recruitment is a must to incorporate fresh ideas and energies within an organization. This process will enable cheaper and easier means to introduce new skills in the company. Advertisement in newspapers with job description should be made to reach the vast talent pool. It is better not to mention gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, age and disability in such advertisement. This reciprocates into equal opportunity to all the applicants. As there are two types of staff namely editorial staff and non-editorial staff the selection procedure for each should be different. To keep the recruitment process simple and easier for absorbing talents the HR department will have to frame an innovative procedure. The interview procedure will involve two steps an initial HR selection rounds and a final round which will be different for non-editorial and editorial staffs. The initial phase of the recruitment for fresh talented candidates will involve a submission of resume to the HR Department of the company (by email or other convenient way). If it suits with the job profile a telephonic interview should be conducted and an appointment for HR interview should be allotted. During the initial phase of HR selection rounds priority is given to ability to perform his role, willingness to do the job, problem solving abilities, professionalism and team work. Then a group discussion should be conducted to know the personality of the candidate in which drive to excel, communication skill, dynamic nature, confidence, grit and team chemistry will emerge from within and should get priority for candidate selection. The candidates passing through these two rounds will appear for a final round with the respective division heads according to the job profile. The final interview of the non-editorial staffs should stress on the professional aspects of the candidate. It would give priority to the aspects like reliability to perform the responsibility given, dedication for completion of the project, analytical and listening skills. But in case of fresh talented editorial staffs without any experience a time should be allotted to them to submit a write up on an issue and the quality of this work might ensure the final interview of them with the editorial board. Then the successful candidates will be informed about their results and written offer would be provided accordingly. In this way fresh talented people will also get a chance to work for this magazine and Prof. Oliver will also retain some discretionary power in recruitment of new staffs within the editorial work domain. This employee mix would also ensure an exchange of ideas that in any sense will impart value within the organization. However, the compensation plans and performance evaluation of the staffs should be drawn out by the HR department in accordance with the experience and fresher with impressive work performance. (International Labour Organization n.d.; University of Pennsylvania, n.d., Clarke, n.d, pp. 1-14) This way a culmination of ideas between Ms. Rosei and Prof. Oliver is possible and that surely will guide the magazine to the zenith of success through an ideal blend of experience and talent regarding its employee base. References 1. Clarke, J. (n.d.) The Staff Recruitment Process, Combat Poverty Agency. 2. Cowling, A. & C. Mailer (1998), Managing human Resources, Butterworth-Heinemann. 3. International Labour Organization (n.d.), Retrieved on 15 June, 2011 from: http://www.ilofip.org/GPGs/Recruitment%20Procedures.pdf 4. Hauritz, M. (1998). Justice for People with disabilities. Federation Press. 5. Ployhart, R. Schneider, B. & N. Schmitt (2006), Staffing organizations: contemporary practice and theory, Third Edition, London: Routledge. 6. Randhwa, G. (2007) Human Resource Management, Atlantic Publishers & Dist 7. Rees, N. Lindsay, K. & S Rice, (2008) Australian Anti-Discrimination Law: Text, Cases and Materials, Federation Press. 8. University of Pennsylvania (n.d.) ‘The Hiring Process’, Retrieved on 15 June, 2011 from: http://www.hr.upenn.edu/recruitment/hiringofficer/flowchart.pdf Read More