Human Resource Development and Management Critical Thinking Mod 3 - Essay Example

Introduction Recruitment and selection is very crucial in any organization as it can make or break it. Human resource planning to determine the requirements of personnel and ways of satisfying those requirements is therefore important. However, some companies delve into recruiting new employees without careful planning thus end up having overcapacity adding up to the company costs. If a company wishes to achieve sustained competitive advantage, it has to ensure it has the right people for right jobs with the knowledge, skills and abilities needed to perform tasks.

This can be achieved through a thorough job analysis to determine the job description and person specifications to guide in the recruitment and selection. Furthermore, the company has to ensure it follows the employment laws to avoid discrimination or adverse impact. This paper will look into the recruitment and selection procedures for Stars Hollow Hat Company by evaluating its recruitment sources, links between job description and selection assessments, adverse impact identification and finally, compliance with applicable laws.

There are many sources of recruiting individuals in an organization such as internal and external sources. Internal sources include promotions, transfers and employee referrals while external sources include agencies and advertisements (Marchington & Wilkinson, 2005). The advantage of internal recruitment is that the candidates are already conversant with the workings of the organization and its culture hence fit well in the company. Besides, their skills, abilities and aptitudes are well known by the supervisors hence no assumptions as to their performance.

On the other hand, they prevent creativity and innovation since they are accustomed to the culture (Mullins, 2010). External recruitment enables entry of new blood into the organization thus encouraging creativity although it may be difficult for such employees to adapt. Stars Hallow opted to recruit customer service representatives from referrals as well as advertisements in local newspapers and job board county work center. This was an additional cost since the company just needed 2-3 individuals and not very high qualifications were needed.

Besides, the advertisement was faulty as it advised potential candidates to go for interview and no date or time was indicated leading to a high number of applicants showing up at different times and dates. There was also no mention of the requirements for the position to avoid having unqualified people reporting for the interview. Employee referrals were appropriate but this could contribute to issues of discrimination based on ethnicity or race but it is cheaper than advertisement on a newspaper.

Moreover, only a few employees were required. The purpose of job analysis is to identify the tasks to be performed and the competencies required to perform the tasks effectively (Armstrong, 2010). It is thus used to develop job description and person specifications which determine which selection assessment tools are to be used in choosing the right candidates. However, at Stars Hallow there is no connection between the job description and selection assessment. The job description indicated that CSR were required to take incoming calls from customers, enter customer orders, and troubleshoot problems and upselling.

The knowledge, skills and abilities essential to perform these tasks include customer service, sales, good verbal written and interpersonal communication, organization, planning, presentation and problem solving skills. These needs to be assessed to determine if the person is suitable for the job using tools such as intelligence tests, interviews, personality tests, assessment centers and role-playing (Edenborough, 2007). However, what the supervisor at Stars was assessing was not linked to KSA obtained from the job description but was merely looking at physical attributes of the persons.

Though interviews were conducted, those who had similar characteristics with the interviewer were accorded high priority based on their work ethic and personal issues not related to the job. In fact when asked if the successful candidates possessed sales skills the response was that “some have natural ability to sell.” This ability was not tested using any assessment tools. The assessment was thus not guided by job description. Adverse impact according to the U.S uniform guidelines on employee selection procedures occurs when selection procedures result in fewer numbers of individuals in legally protected class being selected (Gatewood et al. 2010). The discrimination in this case is not intentional but results from the selection procedures of the company and the only way to justify such discrimination is to prove that it was “job-related, out of business necessity and that no alternative test is equally valid but does not result in adverse impact” (Cook 2009: 262).

To determine if the selection process resulted in adverse impact, the uniform guidelines suggest the ‘80%” or “4/5” rule to be used. As such, a selection rate for race, gender, sex, disability or ethnic group results in less than 80% of the rate for the group with highest selection rate, this amounts to adverse impact (p. 263). Stars Hollow is situated in a place where Mexicans comprise 23% of the population but the selection result showed that all selected were white/ Caucasian. This shows adverse impact upon the minority race of Mexicans.

Stars Hallow also violated the employment laws when recruiting and selecting CRS. The law prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, race, gender, national origin, disability or any other protected class (Gatewood et al. 2010). However, the supervisor indirectly discriminated a candidate based on race when he disqualified one referral from a Mexican CSR by assuming he had an accent just like his parent. The interviewer also preferred those similar to him and gave them ample time to express themselves.

Besides, the results show those selected were aged 19-45 hence discriminating against those aged 40+. Those selected were also from one race thus discriminating against minority races. The company should put in place proper recruitment and selection procedures to avoid all those unnecessary issues such as discrimination, adverse impact, and overcapacity. HR planning should be in place to determine where gaps exist and how they should be filled, that is, how many employees are needed and how they will be sourced (Mullin, 2010).

The job analysis resulting in job description and identification of KSAs should be used as the guideline for recruitment and selection to avoid unnecessary costs such as training costs. Selecting the right people is crucial for organization success in terms of reduced turnover, absenteeism, and productivity (Armstrong, 2010). The company should also follow employment guidelines while recruiting to avoid unlawful discrimination and associated litigations. Conclusion The design and implementation of recruitment and selection process is essential for organization effectiveness.

Proper HR planning should be conducted to ensure the business plan is in line with HR activities and that costs are minimized. Proper job analysis results in job description and identification of knowledge, skills and abilities required to perform tasks thus informing the process of recruitment and selection from sourcing candidates, recruiting, assessments and selection. This will avoid the problems being experienced by Star Hallow such as adverse impact, breach of employment laws, recruiting unnecessary staff and without the skills required performing tasks.

References Armstrong, M. (2010) Armstrong's Essential Human Resource Management Practice: A Guide to People Management. London: Kogan Page Cook, M. (2009) Personnel Selection: Adding Value Through People. 5th ed. USA: John Wiley & Sons. Edenborough, R. (2007) Assessment Methods in Recruitment, Selection, and Performance: A Manager’s Guide to Psychometric Testing, Interviews and Assessment Centres. London: Kogan Page. Gatewood, R.D, Feild, H.S and Barrick, M. (20100. Human Resource Selection. 7ed. USA: Cengage Marchington, M and Wilkinson, A. (2005). Human Resource Management at Work: People Management and Development.

London: CIPD. Mullins L. J. (2010). Management and Organizational Behaviour. 9th ed. FT/Prentice Hall