Recruitment and Selection Strategies Plan - Literature review Example

Recruitment and Selection Strategies Plan Affiliation One of the main objectives of a business is to increase its profit margins by increasing its customer base. This is achieved by implementing well-planned growth and expansion strategies to ensure that the organization considers the various variables that are crucial to the process without ignoring any of the factors. According to Dodd (2006), there are three competing objectives that organizations face. These competing objectives present a challenge to the organizations management team as they have to strike a balance in the implementation of the strategies. The three objectives are profitability versus growth, short term versus long term and the whole organization versus its parts. In line with this finding, recruitment and training of new employees due to the business expansion plans should be done with careful consideration of the associated costs. There is, therefore, important to draft and implement employee recruitment and selection strategies that link well with the organizations objectives. It is in the organization’s plans to increase the workforce in line with the planned expansion of the business. This is necessary due to the projected growth of the business. Close customer relations and convenient, efficient service delivery are the core values of the organization. To ensure these values are maintained even as the business expands, proper mechanisms should be put in place during the recruitment process. This will ensure only qualified individuals will join an already existing workforce to ensure the success of the business further. The management should focus on recruiting workers who are self-driven and whose objectives are in sync with those of the organization. According to Drucker (2005), knowledge management strategies (codification and personalization) should be adopted as they have been found to possess an impact on innovation and organizational performance, both in a direct and indirect way. These strategies are linked to more effective performance of the organization since the staff is equipped with adequate knowledge. Collins (1996), noted that good businesses create a culture where their staff know what is truly important; their values. The core ideology of values and culture needs to be instilled in the business to keep people aware of how to behave and how the company functions. But the vision is flexible and is a driver for motivation. There should be a split between the core ideology of values and core purpose, and this shall be coupled with a vision for more effective success. The branding of an organization represents the businesss mission, values and objectives. It is a mirror through which the business reflects itself to its target market group. It is what defines how the existing customers, as well as potential customers, look at the organization. The organization’s brand should, therefore, be relevant, flexible and dynamic so that it’s able to cope with the changing business demands and environment. New employees should be passionate about working for the organization and should strive to increase the strength of the brand in the eyes of the customers. If this is done effectively, it should translate to higher profit margins. Consistency in the quality of the human workforce leads to consistent output that in turn leads to strengthened customer loyalty. According to Covey (2006), human capital is very important in an organization and is composed of three components. These are the mind, the heart and the body. The recruiting and selecting strategies should be able to capture individuals who can be able to strike an optimal balance in the three components. Getting the right employees is what every organization looks forward to. This can be achieved through a series of activities. The process begins by the organization defining what type of employees it requires then goes ahead to the existing pool of manpower and selects an individual who possesses the qualities they require. There are different ways through which recruitment and selection can be done. Internal sourcing is one method through which this can be achieved. This is where the newly created position or one which has been rendered vacant is advertised to the existing employees within the organization. It recruits employees laterally. The method has the advantage of reducing expenses associated with advertising. It is also accredited with improving employee loyalty to the organization.  The second method of recruitment is through external sourcing. Under this method, the organization places advertisements in job boards and newspapers with the aim of attracting qualified personnel who are interested in the positions advertised for. Interested candidates then apply for the job vacancies by sending their resumes. The recruiting panel then employs a series of mechanisms in an effort to identify the most suitable candidates whom it then shortlists and invites for interviews. Only shortlisted applicants are interviewed. This method comes with a fair share of advantages. It attracts a large pool of potential employees with varying levels of experience and qualifications. Candidates from business lines indirectly connected to that of the organizations are also likely to apply. Such candidates may be favored since they are likely to bring fresh ideas into the organization. There is a growing need for businesses have employees with diverse backgrounds and experiences. When looking for a large number of employees as the organization in question needs, this method may be suitable for getting appropriate workers. The third method for recruiting is through the use of third party sourcing. This is where the organization that requires the employees delegates the work of finding potential candidates to a third party which deals exclusively in recruiting of employees. The organization gives the recruiting agency guidelines of the kind of employees it needs. The agency in turn uses its own techniques and finds the required number of potential candidates who meet the required level of skills. After the organization has received various job applications from potential employees, it then proceeds to the next stage of selecting the most suited individuals. This is done through after the process of screening of the candidates has been completed. The screening process is crucial it has been found that some candidates provide false information in their resumes. There are cases where potential candidates have been found to have falsified their academic papers. Proper screening and background checking mitigates the risks that would be brought about by the hiring of persons who would jeopardize the organizations efforts to meet its set objectives. It is, therefore, prudent for an organization to invest in multiple tools in their recruiting and selection strategies. Hiring of persons with fake credentials might have a negative organizational effect thus its important for the recruiting panel to be vigilant. The recruiting panel should, therefore, not expect a lot from what they find in the resumes. The true picture is got from conducting of personal interviews with the candidates and background checking to identify the suitability of the candidate before making a final decision. The screening process includes several stages of interviewing and testing procedures. In the first interview better known as phone screening, the recruiting and selection panel should come up with a list of open-ended questions that are directly linked to the job. The answers the candidate provides should be able to give the panel some baseline knowledge of the expertise and capability of the candidate. Those who do not meet the threshold of what is expected are eliminated and the rest invited for another interview. This gives the panel time to run background checks on the candidates who will attend the second interview. In this interview, an in-depth analysis is conducted with the candidates. Here, those who satisfy the recruiting and selecting panel that they fit the job description are finally employed by the organization. The objective of recruiting and selecting is to find suitable candidates for the job. The new employees are expected to bring positivity into the organization. It has been found that asking of behavior-based questions in interviews may help the recruiting panel identify the candidate’s attitude. The aim of this is to identify individuals who are more likely to possess more positivity. The rationale behind this is that it’s better for an organization to employ an employee who exhibits better attitude towards the job, and the organization at large and lacks the skills to be ready for the job than another who has the necessary skills but shows less attitude. While it is important to appreciate the fact that it is nearly impossible to find perfect candidates, one who has a better attitude is preferred since skills can be taught and acquired, while it’s difficult to change a person’s attitude. Candidates who show initiative and the ability to think outside the box are also preferred. These are the individuals who will bring freshness in the labor force and enhance dynamism of the organization. Proper salaries and improved benefits packages are also a consideration that the organization that seeks to employ should consider. Improved remuneration is likely to attract qualified and serious candidates who are more likely to perform better. Before the recruitment and selection process begins, the panel should be familiar with the existing employment laws and legal issues. The posting of job positions as well as the interview questions should be done in accordance to the existing laws. It is against the law to publish job advertisements that purport to give preference to persons of a certain race, religion, sex, marital status, sexual orientation, political inclination or physical ability. When conducting interviews, the questions should also be designed in a way that shows any kind of discrimination. The interviewing panel should also approach matters involving the health of a candidate in a way that does not infringe on their rights. When presenting the benefits package offers, the recruiting panel should not discriminate against a candidate of one sex by offering them a rate that is below that of another candidate of the opposite sex. The law requires all candidates be offered a fair chance to compete for the job. Failure to adhere to this would make the organization vulnerable to being sued for discriminatory hiring practices. This would also go against proper ethical business practices that business entities are expected to adhere to. The effects of such law tussles on the organization would be detrimental to its image and brand thus providing its competitors an advantage. The process of hiring employees is one that requires careful planning and implementation of proper recruiting and selecting strategies, to ensure the organization’s objectives are met by hiring qualified personnel whose input will spur the business to greater heights. References Covey, S.R., (2006). ‘Leading in the knowledge worker age’, The leader of the future, Vol. 2, pp. 215-226. Collins, J. C., & Porras, J. I., (1996). ‘Building your companys vision’, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 74, Issue. 5, pp. 65. Dodd, D., & Favaro, K., (2006). ‘Managing the right tension, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 84, No. 12, pp. 62. Drucker, P. F., (2005). ‘Managing yourself’, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 83, Issue. 1, pp. 100- 109. Read More