Internet Recruitment - Example

INTERNET RECRUITMENT Name Course Tutor University Department Introduction Recruitment refers to the activities that are carried out by a firm to identify potential employees (Breaugh & Starke 2000). It is considered to be a core function of human resource as it helps to draw human capital in the company. The success of a firm lies in human resource efforts through attraction and identification of highly skilled employees through the recruitment process. The internet has changed the way organizations handles various functions. One of the ways in which Internet technology is utilized is through recruiting and testing applicants' platform (Brooks 2000). The internet acts as a medium between the employers and the job seeker. This new method of recruitment selection has grown rapidly over the last decade, as well as the revolution of the online recruitment into the fastest growing recruitment technique. The popularity is now evident with some job advertisements online rather than traditional sources. The internet may be changing the way companies’ recruits’ people, as well as the way individuals hunt jobs. Today, it has evolved into a very high interactive method that can automate all aspects of recruiting process virtually. It has facilitated the selection of employees, particularly in cases where the geographical distance involved is large (Galanaki 2002). Such moves could massively cost of corporate recruiters who have been paying fees for newspaper advertisements. Corporations have also played a crucial role in promoting internet recruitment by integrating with its marketing strategies by including their email in various advertisements. This paper will describe the recruitment process, methods of internet recruiting, advantages and disadvantages of Internet recruiting, and a case study of L'Oreal internet recruitment. Recruitment Process Various scholars have defined recruitment in many ways Daft (2000) defined recruitment as a process describes the required characteristics of applicants for a particular job. It can also be described as activities that are carried out by a firm with the aim of identifying potential workforce. Recruitment is an initial step in the hiring process, executed by the employer or source. There are various steps involved in a recruitment process namely planning, recruitment, and evaluation. Recruitment planning The first step is the declaration of recruitment objectives such as applicant diversity, total numbers, skills, and cost of the filling jobs. Once the objectives are declared, the organization can thus identify who will be recruited, where to recruit, and the suitable source of recruitment. The recruiting process is normally done for either internal client such as executives from various functions or external through a shortlist of a candidate where the employer can choose from. If a firm opts to recruit through externally, they can use various sources such as agencies, college recruiting, and job posting. Recruitment In this step, a job vacancy is communicated to potential job seekers. This can be done through job posting, internal resources, and so on. Information about the job description is provided to ensure that relevant applicant gets the information. In this stage, the potential applicant is made aware of the vacancy and encouraged to send the application. The firm receives applicant resumes, from which an applicant pool is created that will now act as the basis of the recruitment process (Zusman & Landis 2000). The applicant pool consists of those candidates who meet the basic job requirements. Recruitment evaluation Evaluation helps the employer understand why a particular recruitment process yields certain outcomes. These factors are known as the process variable to demonstrate the link between recruitment activities and the results. The variables include applicant credibility, attention, and accuracy of their anticipations. Berry highlighted several organization variable that affect the recruitment outcomes such as the ability of the employer to make the vacancy more attractive, selection criteria, the timing of recruitment before the need, and the organization policy of recruitment. Lastly, a firm compares recruitment objectives with the actual outcomes. Internet Recruitment The rapid advancement in technology have changed the way business are conducted in today's business environment, and this increasing reliance on technology is demonstrated by the way many firms have adopted the use of Internet and electronic mail as a way of communication. Furthermore, the growing academic research on impacts of new technology development and implementation in business to improve efficiency, including human resource management (Smith & Rupp 2004). More importantly, the adoption of Web as a medium in companies has grown at a faster rate. In human resource management, the Internet has played a significant role in changing recruitment process allowing written communication to be transmitted instantly, and company websites to be accessed by a click of a mouse, and real-time conversation and conferences can be conducted instantly. This process uses the internet to recognize and hire prospective candidates. The company can also promote vacancies online, and well as the job description. The information is easily available, which makes the company get a higher opportunity to attract the best manpower because as it reaches many people. This process has reduced the cost of recruiters from paying fees to post their jobs on various traditional media such as the newspaper. Besides, it reduces the cost of employees screening because applicants details are maintained in the firm's database and are thus connected to the manager through a centralized system. Methods of Internet Recruitment Internet recruitment is a method of drawing job seekers to apply for a vacancy that heavily relies on the use of Internet. There are some different methods of Internet recruitment namely commercial job boards, company websites, e-recruitment, and relationship recruiting. Commercial job boards The commercial job board is one of the early approaches to internet based recruiting. Job boards look like a newspaper listing with classified ads like job vacancies with resumes of job seekers. They are global, thus can assess applicants all over the globe, and they are not expensive (Boehle 2000). One of its most significant advantages is that it has a large number of job applicants containing approximately 5 million different resumes. Moreover, a job board enables the employer to assess candidates globally, and they provide a mechanism that allows the recruiter to search a job seeker with the required skills and experience. Companies can also provide detailed information and links to its website for further information. Kuhn (2003) noted that the recruitment websites may have job listings, work wanted from the job seeker perspective, and also online recruiters who use other sites to connect the client with customers. However, the large number of resumes can also be a setback since there are other firms competing for candidates with particular skills and experiences. Even though a firm can view various resumes, the job seekers also have chance to apply to many organizations. Also, is a company get a large number of applications; this means that more applicants will be reviewed. The opportunity may also attract many unqualified applicants, thereby increasing administrative cost and time. A study by Maher and Siverman (2002) assess the effectiveness of job boards find out that relatively few jobs may be initiated with this method; they produce about 2 % of actual jobs for job seekers. Company websites Use of Corporation websites is considered to be the first method on internet recruiting. A company website contains useful information about the business, as well as, the process that can be employed during a job application. The websites can also be used to post jobs and search for resumes that match a particular job description. Some organizations has also extended internet recruitment websites by setting up an online application process. In iLogos Research study, it was found that since 1998, company recruitment sites have grown from 29% to about 88% in 2001. In fact, 93% of America Global 500 companies have an internet recruitment site on their websites. Today, it has become one of the most commonly used recruitment processes. In another study by Maher & Silverman (2002), nowadays a recruitment website is considered a requirement for medium and large sized companies, about 16% of applicants are originated at the recruitment site. Given these statistics and the low cost of this method, it would it is vital for a firm to have an Internet recruitment site. E-recruiting This internet recruitment method involves searching online for a suitable passive candidate for a particular job. The employer incorporates the use of chat rooms to select potential job candidates. In addition, the recruiter may add different techniques such as flipping, where they use search engines to search for resumes that are linked to a specific organization website. This technique helps to retrieve resumes, email addresses, as well as applicants’ information background information linked to that website. A recruiter can also use the peeling technique; an employer enters the organization website to locate lists of employees. Its benefits lie on the potential to find qualified passive candidates. Additionally, the recruiter has the freedom to choose whom to approach, thus reducing the number of unqualified candidates. However, the effectiveness of this technique may not last for a long period because various companies are employed other strategies to prevent people from access the employees lists from their websites (Harris & DeWar 2001). Moreover, some of these techniques may be considered to constitute some element of hacking, which is considered to be unethical and a violation of privacy. Relationship recruiting Relationship recruiting is regarded to be a potentially major innovation in internet recruitment. Its primary aim is to develop a long-term relationship with the passive candidate, to ensure that they turn to their firms when they enter the job market since they have already developed a long-term relationship with them (Cappelli 2001). This method relies on The Internet as a tool to track and learns more about web visitors’ skills and experience and they communicate with them regularly updating about careers through email. In case, a new vacancy arises, they will be notified regarding the opportunity through email. One of the major advantages is that passive candidate may be attracted to an opportunity that is appropriate. With time, a strong relationship is build up through a trust by the applicant who regularly return to the website when seeking new jobs, and thus creating a lasting relationship. However, this method may not produce adequate applicants in specific positions. Advantages of Internet Recruiting The use of online methods of job advertisement has numerous perceived benefits. A job seeker can easily access information on numerous job opportunities at any time. Thus individual does not see the need to job actively hunt and to reduce the visibility of job search. According to Farris and Dumas (1999) an average job hunter may spend approximately six hours weekly looking for a better posting than their current jobs, and internet is a vital tool for sourcing jobs. A research study has indicated that the use of keywords to search for a job opportunity is considered to be faster compared to newspaper, and more simple than the use of hard copy. Job seekers also recognize the internet to be a useful source of information about various companies and available jobs. Moreover, it can use a variable when searching for a job such as location, type, remuneration, and so on. Internet recruitment also offers a firm an opportunity to advertise vacancies to a global market, showing flexibility to target a specific job market or allowing a large number of job applicants. Also, employment of Internet recruitment in human resource management indicates that the company can perform recruitment activities on the internet simultaneously, as opposed to the traditional recruitment process. In other words, a firm can source and process application over the short period compared to the traditional hiring cycle period. The internet also helps a company to post a job vacancy also instantaneously, and thus generating a large number of resumes in a short duration, maybe hours (Dileep & Ramesh 2009). Its capacity is considered a breakthrough as opposed to other advertisement techniques such as newspaper where a firm was required to follow strict advertisement procedures. Internet recruitment also provides a platform where the employer can give further information about the job through other links. However, the success of internet recruiting relies on the quality and relevance of information given to the applicant. Also, internet recruitment is inexpensive compared to the traditional print advertisement such as newspaper where the size of the post determines the cost of the advertisement. The cost of posting a job advertisement on the internet is insignificant compared to the number of people reached (Jayne & Rauschenberger 2000). Literature also indicates that the internet is the only medium where the employer can target specific employee niche market. Internet recruiting also has the perceived ability to attract high-quality passive candidates who may not be currently searching for jobs. It is argued that the internet acts as a database of company information, including information about potential candidates; thus this information can be very useful. This concept is also linked with the aspects of online social networking where a job seeker to subscribe to receive notification about job openings and pass the message to their friends or relatives (Thompson, Braddy & Wuensch 2008). In today's world, the internet is readily accessible to both organization and individual at any time of the day, and can reach people at local and international levels. Hence, given the widespread of technology, as well as globalization, internet recruitment might expand a company's access to a more geographically diverse applicant pools. Disadvantages of Internet Recruitment One of the major concerns of Internet recruitment is that it generates a large number of resume. However, this outcome is associated with its ability to reach a large geographical area, which also has several perceived disadvantages. It is assumed that the number of application accumulated in the company's database will increase. Consequently, a large pool of applicant will result in increased administration costs during recruitment and selection process. Furthermore, a large pool of applicants places a burden on the firms administrative system such that candidate may be overlooked. A study by Epstein & Singh (2003) to assess the quality of applicants through the internet and other traditional method found out that those recruited had a lower turnover of 55% compared to those 60% of those recruited through the newspaper. Therefore, firms should analyze the best source to reach targeted applicants. Some applicants have also expressed dissatisfaction and frustrations, particularly when they are supposed to choose a job from specific categories, which may not match their skills and experiences. Bartram (2001) study also indicated applicant's dissatisfaction when they encountered the failure during an online job application. The Internet recruiting is also associated with lack of personal touch between the applicants and the employer (Verhoeven & Williams 2008). Although, searching for potential candidates' through the internet is considered to be easy, there is no personal touch. Some people may consider actual conversation and personal meetings better than email and chats. Lastly, the ever increasing volumes of job boards make it harder for applicants to locate a vacancy that match their requirements. In addition, there is an ongoing concern about the potential of information advertised not to be of high quality. Studies have shown that too much information that is available online may confuse potential candidates and lose interest in the job position or the company (Gale, 2001). A Case Study of L'Oreal social media recruiting The L'Oreal Group is the largest beauty and cosmetic company globally. Its headquarter is in Paris, France, and has undertaken various activities in the area of cosmetics. Currently, it has a presence in 130 countries with approximately 69,000 employees. It offers a wide range of products including hair products, perfumes, skin care, and make-ups. The company is known for its wide applications in social recruitment in various countries such as U.K, U.S.A, India, and Philippines. L'Oreal group use a uniform website in all countries they operate. The website contains a job section to show available positions in that particular country. The corporate website receives attention from the staffs who handle conceptual design, as well as the content update (Henderson & Johnson 2012). The websites also contain some links relevant to social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn for its branding activities and job advertising. The company jobs website has an attractive way of linking to social media platforms. The uniform branding of their websites are very professional, however, linking to social networks enable the job seeker to locate what they require easily. The most frequently used social media platform is the L'Oreal Talent Recruitment Facebook page for the corporate careers and jobs, (facebook.com/LOrealTalentRecruitment) . It has about 30,000-page likes, an indication that the job links are performing well in attracting applicants. The company also has two other Facebook page in the USA and internships and graduate jobs (facebook.com/LorealGradJobsUKI). This pages regularly posts photos, new job vacancies, and links. The page has approximately 1000likes, and it's very active as people comment, like or share various job postings. USA careers page (facebook.com/LOrealUSACareers), which is more popular with about 7,000 likes. Unlike the UK Facebook page, it does not post any content. Rather, it has a jobs tab that list available vacancies and other tabs describing the corporate mission in the country. Furthermore, L'Oreal recruits through their one LinkedIn company page that consist a careers tab. The tab contains the introduction to the applicants aspiring to work with the company, YouTube, employees' testimonies, and link to social platform and related websites. The careers tab is regularly updated with new vacancies. Analysis of Social Media Recruitment L'Oreal uses their talent recruitment page that contain a Work4Labs tab. The company posted an internship post via Facebook page, which allowed their followers and staffs to share the post. As a result, the internship's ads campaign obtained more than 4,000 clicks, with a click rate of about 0.07%, which is higher than average 0.02 % of Facebook ads. As a result, the company received 153 job applications, and most of them had met the pre-qualification because the ads had specific target options. Once the job was posted online, the company started to receive resumes immediately. In about 12 hours, the company had already received 17 qualified job application resumes, which can be considered to be a success compared to the traditional methods of recruitment. This shows that Facebook recruitment is a success for L'Oreal. L'Oreal has also used other social platform, LinkedIn to solve various challenges in the recruitment process. The firm recruits 6,000 new staffs, including internships annually. However, the company used LinkedIn to reach passive candidates, strengthen their online reputation, and source qualified candidates. The company used a strategy where first was to refine their recruiter profiles on the company's website careers tab. Since the company already has a large network of about 15,000 staffs on the same site, to reach passive candidates, the employees were advised to refer the best candidates. As a result, its Australia branch saved about 20,000 Australian dollars that could have been used for the recruitment process for a single selection. Also, a sub-section of L'Oreal, Body Shop UK also saved 20,000 pounds as the license fee. The company headquarters managed to source about 90 to skills candidate in a five month period using LinkedIn. This shows that LinkedIn can be used for recruiting, as well as to cut the cost of recruitment. The two cases show that use of internet recruitment has led to some outcomes, which are positive. The company noted reduced advertisement costs, eases communication with applicants, exposure to a large number of job seekers, and improved recruitment lead times. The corporate websites is also an effective way of branding, thus gaining a good reputation. Conclusion Various scholars have argued that recruitment is not only hiring the best from applicant pool but also the right candidate in the firm human capital. The concept of internet recruitment is considered significant in human resource management. Today, it is considered to be a significant component of recruitment process because it tracks and manage job applications. Various methods of internet recruitment were identified; however the most common are company websites and job boards. However, research on internet recruitment is still in its early stages due to the relatively recent emergence of phenomena. Technology is evolving quickly, and so does the internet. Therefore it is likely that Internet recruitment methods may change in future, those they should continuously evolve to remain competitive for the recruitment process. The Internet recruiting is associated with numerous benefits such as cost reduction in administrative and recruitment process, time saving, effective recruitment process as internet reaching a broader audience, and detailed information about job candidates. The case study on L'Oreal shows how the company is actively using a social platform such as Facebook and LinkedIn for recruitment, and it has been a success. However, these benefits may vary from one organization to the other since they use different strategies and varying recruitment objectives. Despite it numerous benefits, internet recruitment has several perceived disadvantage such as a large pool of applicant may result in increased administration costs during recruitment and selection process, applicants dissatisfaction when they encountered the failure during online application, lower turnover of applicants, and lack of personal touch. Thus, firms should assess their internet recruitment methods to increase recruitment performance. In other words, research is necessary to determine how and why specific internet recruitment process increases performance. References List Bartram, D. 2001. Internet recruitment and selection: Kissing frogs to find princes. 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