Recruitment Methods - Essay Example

The Hiring Process and Managing a Diverse Workforce

Introduction

Recruitment methods entail the processes through which organizations reach out to potential employees in the labor market (Ployhart, 2006). In order to manage a diverse workforce, strategic human resource practices are designed to attract, recruit, hire and retain employees. In the context of a workforce, diversity may be defined through but not limited to aspects such s gender, race, ethnicity, social class, religion and disability. Equally importantly, talented and diverse potential workers as well as employees acknowledge that only those organizations that reflect the quality of their employees are worth working for. Hence, the less diverse organizations are, the more the effort they will require to attract diversity. This paper will develop recruitment methods and suggest ways that such methods help in the avoidance of discriminatory practices in the hiring of a regional sales manager. It will further outline an application process detailing methods of accepting applications, present employment tests and formulate a policy for making hiring and promotional decisions related to the post of a regional sales manager.

Recruitment Methods

The three key methods of recruitment include direct methods, indirect methods and third party method (Ployhart, 2006).

Direct Method Through the direct method, the organization will send its representatives to seek out potential applicants in training and educational institutions where they will establish contacts with them. Further, the representative will work collaboratively with placement cells in the training and educational institutions. Another aspect of the direct method will entail sending representatives to seminars and conventions where they will also establish contacts with potential candidates. One way that the direct method can help to avoid discriminatory practices is that recruiters will be able to request information about the potential applicants from their respective institutions that will help them select the most suitably qualified.

Indirect Method The indirect method will include advertisements placed in professional journals, newspapers and technical magazines and on radio and television (Ployhart, 2006). This method will be helpful when the company fails to get suitably qualified applicants to be promoted into the higher post or when there will be need to attract applicants from a wider territory. The indirect method will help in avoiding discriminatory practices because the recruiter will not have prior knowledge of the applicants unlike the direct method through which they establish direct contact with the applicants. It will also help in avoiding discriminatory practices through the way the job postings will be worded as well as where they will be posted

Third Party Method The third party method will essentially entail using management consultants, recruitment and employment agencies, trade unions, referrals, and data banks for the purpose of establishing contact with potential employees (Ployhart, 2006). This method will help the company’s recruiters to avoid discriminatory practices since the preliminary screening of resumes, checking references and assessing qualifications will be done by recruitment and employment agencies. Further, since the objective will be hiring diverse workers, the third party method will provide an advantage by avoiding the hiring of employees who satisfy the biases of the recruiter as seen in network hiring.

Application Process and Methods of Validating Applicants’ Attainment of Required Credentials

Presently, the company accepts all applications without bias although it also acknowledges that as job seekers get desperate in the viciously competitive labor market, fraud is also becoming rampant as applicants fake their credentials. Each application is read and reviewed for qualifications. More importantly, the human resource (HR) department collects transcripts and verifies all certifications from the certifying bodies. Further, the company also pays for professional background checks. The move helps in detecting fraudulent certificates, inaccurate information or outright lies regarding experience and filtering out unqualified applicants. However, upon detecting false certificates, the company simply informs the respective applicants but does not take further action such as reporting to the concerned bodies or those that the applicants claim to have received the certificates from. In the initial development of the job description for posting, the company will be as clear and wide as possible to avoid narrowing down the opportunity to a small group of candidates. Then, an inclusive interview team will be selected so as to bring a diverse outlook of a team that will respect the diverse characteristics and cultures of the candidates. The move will help in avoiding the premature labeling of a particular applicant as the most suitable before considering, reviewing and verifying all the applications (Lievens, Peeters & Schollaert, 2008). As one of the key functions of the HR department, the reviewing of resumes and verifying certifications will ensure all applicants are accorded equal and fair opportunities.

Procedure to Maintain All Applicant Records for Use in Case of Discriminatory Charge

It is imperative that the HR department files all applications and especially the unsuccessful ones because of possible litigation. It is appreciated that filing physical applications in the form of documents is both expensive and consumes space. However, technological advances make it possible to safely store such documents electronically (Lievens, Peeters & Schollaert, 2008). Hence, document management will be used to share, organize and store information. The first step will involve sorting successful and unsuccessful applications. The second step will involve scanning and digitizing the applications and archiving them in the two categories (successful and unsuccessful) in a database. This step will also involve the creation of PDFs of Web pages and documents that can easily be stored and accessed on the company’s computers. The third step will involve encouraging applicants to send electronic copies of their resumes that can be stored directly into the database without the manual process of scanning and archiving them. However, since the company will not immediately do away with physical documents, the fourth step will involve securing the filing cabinets by ensuring they are lockable and remain locked after working hours. The final step will involve backing up the documents on external storage devices and secure online databases. In that manner, it will be possible to access the documents anywhere internet connection is available. Although the amount of storage that the company can use for free is limited in many sites, the company will pay for additional space and be able to spread the documents among several programs.

Background Checks

Background checks will help the company avoid the negative impacts of job application and resume fraud (Lievens, Peeters & Schollaert, 2008). The most important strategies for verifying certifications will include contacting former employers, checking references and verifying professional memberships.

Contacting Former Employers The first background check will involve calling the last place the candidate was employed for the purpose of checking if the employment dates and experience claimed add up. In case of discrepancies, the candidate will be placed lower on the competitive list. The relevance of this check is that the candidate must possess a high level of experience to fill the vacancy. Further, while the resume lie may not immediately rule out the applicant, it will raise a red flag that will imply the candidate must be investigated further to justify their claims.

Checking References References will be requested from each applicant when the job opportunity is put forward. They will then be checked for determining where to go next in the screening process. The relevance of this check is to obtain additional informal information on the candidates from people they have worked for or with. Since the company works in an industry that involves many other players, it will make it its business to network with others as much as possible so that they acquire relevant employees with an understanding of their operations (Whetzel & McDaniel, 2009).

Verifying Professional Memberships Professional organizations serve the purpose of ensuring only suitably qualified and reputable professional can join them. The relevance of this check is that it will provide a quick and efficient means of confirming the professionalism of the candidates. More importantly, the threshold for joining such professional organizations ensures that the candidate has the required qualifications to work in the industry (Whetzel & McDaniel, 2009).

Employment Tests

Employment tests entail the practice of administering various forms of tests such as oral or written for the purpose of evaluating the suitability of the applicants (Lievens, Peeters & Schollaert, 2008). The three employment tests that will be administered will include cognitive ability tests, integrity tests and job-knowledge tests.

Cognitive Ability Tests Persons with higher cognitive levels record better job performances. These tests will use customized problems and questions to evaluate the candidates’ capacity to learn quickly, reading comprehension, reasoning and sense of logic. The relevance of the cognitive ability test is that it will evaluate the candidates’ aptitude to not only contextualize but also solve job-related problems. Essentially, it will provide information on their mental capacities such as mathematical and verbal perception and reasoning. Equally importantly, the test has demonstrated the ability to produce valid inferences and is not easily influenced by the interviewees’ attempts to fake responses (Ployhart, 2006).

Integrity Tests These tests will assess the integrity, trustworthiness, pro-social behavior, reliability and attitudes of the candidates by posing direct questions on past experiences related to integrity and ethics. The relevance is that the test will identify candidates who are most likely to engage in anti-social, inappropriate and dishonest behavior at work. Further, it will help in cutting operational costs by identifying candidates who are less likely to engage in counterproductive behavior such as chronic absenteeism, difficulty in dealing with supervision and inventory shrinkage (Lievens, Peeters & Schollaert, 2008).

Job-knowledge Tests These tests will be administered when the applicants already have a certain level of knowledge before they are selected. They will be used to evaluate knowledge and professional expertise necessary for the job opportunity. The relevance is that passing the test will be a reflection of the candidate’s competence in their field of professionalism. It is imperative to note that the test must relevantly reflect the field of marketing to avoid the risk of litigation against the company. Further, the test will also provide crucial feedback regarding the need for further training and development (Whetzel & McDaniel, 2009).

Hiring and Promotion Decisions

A major problem facing organization in their hiring and promotion decisions is that suitably qualified and diverse candidates are not considered for leadership roles, whether consciously or unconsciously (Lievens, Peeters & Schollaert, 2008). Therefore, the company will implement mechanisms to neutralize such biases rather than purging them in the selection of talent for the position. From the HR perspective, slates of potential successors for the position will be identified to ensure objectivity. The HR department will also assess the fit of the designated successor on the grounds of detailed profiles of the position and the talent profile of the candidate. A query for the alternative qualified successor will then be run basing on the profile of the position and candidates from both successor lists will be considered in the talent reviews.

On the other hand, subjective criteria do not clearly specify the means and standards of assessment and typically vary among decision-makers (Whetzel & McDaniel, 2009). The issue then becomes that the decision-makers’ subjective judgement cannot defeat a prima facie case of unequal treatment. In assessing soft skills, subjective criteria will lock out potential suitably qualified candidates basing on the decision-makers’ biases. It is, therefore, recommended that the company establishes and implements procedures for hiring and promotions as well as publicizes them in order to facilitate and encourage applications from all employees with interest. Essentially, all artificial barriers founded on organizational or attitudinal biases that hinder qualified candidates from upward mobility will be eliminated.

Accommodating Disabled Applicants and those with Special Religious Considerations

As an employer, the company is required by law to provide reasonable accommodation that entails appropriate, modifications or changes to enable disabled applicants and those with special religious considerations to be considered for the job opportunity (Whetzel & McDaniel, 2009). Legally, employers cannot refuse to consider applicants because of their requirements of reasonable accommodation to perform or compete for a job. For disabled applicants, the company should ensure recruitment and interviews are conducted in accessible locations. The company should also provide sign language interpreters and or readers for candidates with hearing challenges. For those with special religious considerations, the company should provide, for example, a praying area for Muslims who should also be allowed time to practice their faith that requires them to pray five times a day. The company should also avail religious literature for applicants that will require their use.

However, the can legally fail to provide such reasonable accommodations citing undue hardships such as financial challenges. For example, installing an elevator to accommodate physically disables candidates will be an undue hardship due to the costs involved. Further, sparing a prayer room will also be an undue hardship because the room could be used for other activities directly related to the profitability of the company.

Affirmative Action Violations and Managing Harassment Issues

In the Phillips v. Martin Marietta Corp case, the Supreme Court ruled that the implication of the prohibitions of Title VII is that the employer cannot discriminate on grounds of gender and factors such as candidates having school-going children (Whetzel & McDaniel, 2009). In Elster v. Fishman, a legal secretary was sexually harassed by an attorney but when she complained to the manager, no action was taken against the attorney (Whetzel & McDaniel, 2009). However, a California appellate court found the attorney guilty of inflicting emotional distress and the company guilty of failing to investigate her claims and take action against the attorney. To prevent violations against affirmative action, the company will strictly base its selection criteria objectively on qualifications and not gender or other factors that are not related to performance. To avoid litigation for failing to address harassment claims, the company will promote an organizational culture that strongly forbids harassment. All appointment letters for new employees will explicitly point out that harassment is forbidden and punishable by law.

Resolving Work-Life Conflicts

Work-life conflict defines a situation where family and work demands are mutually incompatible to n extent that satisfying the demands of one domain renders it difficult to satisfy the demands of the other (Wei, Yili & Tian, 2013). Three work-life conflicts that the HR director should consider include inflexible, extensive or irregular working hours, extensive travel and unsupportive supervisors.

Inflexible, Extensive or Irregular Working Hours The shift manager must ensure that employees are not unreasonably held at work beyond their legally stipulated working hours as per the provisions of the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act. The Act was amended in 1950 to reduce the maximum working hours from 44 to 40 per week (Wei, Yili & Tian, 2013). For the company, employees who work longer hours and are denied adequate time with their families will be fairly compensated.

Extensive Travel Employees will not be denied family time due to excessive travel. Hence, the company will rotate traveling opportunities to avoid a situation in which only certain individuals or groups travel excessively. According to the provisions of the Fourteenth Amendment, the rights of equal protection and due process will not be denied (Wei, Yili & Tian, 2013). Hence, employees will adequately be protected against being forced to travel excessively at the expense of family time.

Unsupportive Supervisors Supervisors who harass or emotionally stress employees such that they work under distress to an extent that their social performance is injured will not be tolerated. Again in according with the provisions of the Fourteenth Amendment, employees will be equally protected against unsupportive supervisors and accorded their right of due process (Wei, Yili & Tian, 2013).