Importance of Selection and Recruitment Process - Case Study Example

Human Resource Management Selection and Recruitment Process Every organization has various activities to be performed. To perform these activities; the organization needs to recruit employees who possess the required competencies. (Abu & Kamrul, 2000) The selection and recruitment process in HRM is a very crucial and an important aspect as the employees of the organization are considered as the most important factor of production. The success of any human resource cell would depend directly on the recruitment and selection process of employees and management of the company. If the HRM fails to recruit the right candidate for the right job, the company’s performance will be affected. The services rendered by the organization depend directly on the recruitment of employees. There are value and non value added activities that the HRM performs such as training; Learning and development; planning, performance appraisal; compensation and rewards & recognition. (Abu & Kamrul, 2000) (Abu & Kamrul, 2000) Selection Process and Techniques: For many organizations, the selection process consists of short listing the candidates and selecting the best. Different positions in the organization would require different kinds of selection criteria or technique. It is the duty of the HR to decide which technique needs to be used to recruit the best person and the selection technique will depend on number of criteria’s such as skills, characteristics, domain familiarity required for the position to be filled. (Choosing selection techniques, n.d) Selection of a candidate should not be just based on the selection method but should also involve 2 or more techniques to assess the skill set, communication, analytical knowledge and domain knowledge. There are some basic requirements that need to be considered for choosing the right selection techniques: Budget set for recruiting the candidate Resources availability Skills, position and knowledge of the interviewer Time availability for filling up the position (Choosing selection techniques, n.d) Types of interviews: Interviews can be done in different ways and this depends on the how the interviewer would want to acquire information. There are different selection techniques and the organization can use more than one selection technique to recruit the employees. Some of the methods are- 1. Informal Interviews: This is the most relaxed form of recruiting an employee, by having a friendly chat. This method can be exercised to observe candidates’ manners and activities in a less formal environment. This method is usually used as one part of the selection process and this helps the interviewer in assessing the ability and the suitability of the job and also to evaluate if the candidate would be adding value to the organization. (Types of Interview, n.d) 2. Structured Interviews: Some companies take a structured approach to interviews. The same sets of questions are asked to the candidates to assess how good they are against the other candidates .This method is very useful in case the interviewer wants to assess the presentation and communication skills of the candidate. This method involves assessing skills, attributes, behavioral patterns by giving the candidates some scenarios and gauges the candidate’s behavior to situations. 3. Telephone interviews: This interview method is very common in the sales sector and they are a widely used interview method as they are cost effective. This method is usually for overseas or other state candidates, this method is also used to conduct initial interviews with local candidates. This is beneficial for the company when there are a large number of candidates applying for a position, telephonic interview helps in short listing candidates. Telephone interviews works well when an employer decides to proceed further with the application process, this works out to be more favorable for the employer than the candidate. Although this interview method is used to screen out unsuitable candidates, there is a lack of face to face conversation which would normally help the interviewer to assess other elements such as the body language of the candidate. Also, this method should not be the only decision in recruiting a candidate. One of the main advantages of telephonic interviews is that interviews can be done for different people in different locations within a short span of time. (Types of Interview, n.d) 4. Direct interview: This is a one-on-one interview where in the interviewers will have a definite plan. This will also help the interviewers to assess the candidate’s body language, confidence and listening ability. (Patty, n.d) The main advantage of direct interviews is that the questions and the responses are clearly understood and repeated in doubt. Any kind of physical discomfort can be easily noted with body language which will not be possible through a telephonic interview. The facial expressions of the person can be easily read by the interviewer and it helps the interviewer to understand the candidate better. One of the main drawbacks in face to face interview is the geographical limitation. This interview method cannot be implemented for the candidates who are from out station and in that case the telephonic interview can be conducted to screen the candidates. (What are the advantages and disadvantages of Face-to- face Interviews, n.d) 5. Behavioral interviews: This interview type is specific to a job profile or specific job skills. The interview can be based on leadership, problem solving, initiatives, motivation or client handling. This helps in evaluating the candidate at all levels. This is used to evaluate and assess if the candidate can operate in a team and also determine the leadership skills. (Patty, n.d) 6. Panel Interviews: This interview type is very good for companies that would require teamwork. The candidate will be usually interviewed by management executives, HR, hiring managers, line managers, Clients, Stakeholder representatives and department heads to check if the candidate is good in all aspects. The candidates are interviewed by a group of panelist to assess the suitability. It is also a technique that helps the different interviewers assess the candidate at the same time from different perspectives. (Patty, n.d) Panel interviews can be intimidating for candidates and it can easily make them nervous. Different panelists have different goals for the interview and it becomes difficult to get the perfect candidate who can satisfy all the panelists. However, panel interviews save time as multiple separate interviews for the candidate will be minimized. These assessments are far more accurate and consistent as everybody in the panel makes the same decision. (HR Management, n.d) Advantages of Interviewing: Usually interviews will help the company evaluate the suitability of the potential employee. Interviews are excellent tools that, help in questioning the candidate in-depth and also realize the individual’s potential and understanding on the subject Adds human dimension and helps in improving inter personal skills Helps in understanding in detail the person’s opinion and knowledge Interviews helps in increasing the response rate from the candidate Discuss sensitive issues which candidates might feel uncomfortable discussing in large groups. Understand in depth the candidates process and domain knowledge Disadvantages of Interviewing: They are time consuming and expensive as it involves 2 people coming together, setting up the interview, analyzing the candidate and feedback provided to HR. This may be very expensive in cases of screening many candidates. Interview Process: There are different stages to an interview process that is carried out by different companies and the stages of the interview remain the same. Stage 1: Collection of the information that is required from the process on the kind of requirement and competency that is required for the available positions. Stage 2: Method of data collection and the type of interview that is required. The HR team can opt for different interview types such as face to face; telephonic interviews or even panel interviews. The candidates must be contacted and should be informed about the purpose of the interview, the role that are being interviewed on; location and duration should also be informed to them. The resumes are collected from different sources such as job fairs, referrals, recruitment agencies etc and the candidates are called for the interviews through email or phone calls. Stage 3: the interview schedules with different interviewers must be fixed. The questions need to be prepared in advance. HR needs to make sure the questions are easy to understand, straight forward and also ensure that the questions are applicable to all the candidates and relevant to the requirement. Test the interview questions with potential candidates and check if any changes need to be done to the questions. Stage 4: The HR department goes through the resumes of each candidate and check for the suitability. The potential candidates are screened either through telephone conversation or email to validate the skill set, age and work experience. After screening the candidates, the list of the potential employees are prepared for the next level of interview. Stage 5: Conduct the interviews with candidates. The candidates must be well informed about the ground rules and the purpose of the interview. There are different types of interviews that are used by different organization. Most of the times, the HR choose the traditional interview technique- Face to face interview with the candidates. Stage 6: Feedback should be provided by the interviewers to the HR department and also confirm if the candidate is suitable for the position. If the candidate is suitable for the opening, the HR performs the next level of the hiring process which is to issue offer letter. The unsuccessful candidates will be sent a letter of notice stating that the candidate has not met the requirements. (Interviews, n.d) Face to face or the direct interview method is a very good approach for any interview as it helps the interviewer to get more information about the interviewee and also carefully observe body language, voice, reaction and facial expressions of the candidate. This gives the interviewer an indication of the candidate’s confidence, attitude and also helps in good fair judgment. There is a good flow of thoughts and usually no delays between the question and the answer as the interviewee reacts to the questions spontaneously. Another advantage of face to face interview is that both the interviewer and the candidate will know when the interview is going to end as compared to other methods. Thanking the interviewee, turning off the tape recorder are some of the explicit indications that the interview is going to end. Another advantage of conducting direct interviews is that the organization can create good ambience for the interview, standardization of the questions and also bringing in all the candidates together at the same time and place will help in reducing time and money. This way it will help the organization recruit the suitable candidates with minimum costs. Recording the conversation between the interviewer and the candidate also provides accurate information. It helps in good assessment and also checks if all the questions have been answered correctly. (Raymond Opennakker, 2006) CONCULSION: The selection and recruitment team play a very important and pivotal role in the strategic plan of the organization as the quality of the employees depend upon how good the interview process is. There are different and new selection methods and technique that are used widely by many organizations. Each interview technique provides different benefits and choosing the best technique depends on the nature of information required by the HR. Social cues are extremely important if the interview is for a management position and in such cases direct face to face technique is best suited. Social cues are less important if the interview is with a domain expert and in such cases telephonic interview or informal interviews are preferred. In the end, it should be the right candidate for the right job, this can accomplished by a successful HRM. Literary References Abu Taher & Kamrul Arefin (2000) Recruitment and selection process in Human resource Management – A case study of Bangladesh Open University , Indian Journal of Open Learning [online] 9 (2) 179-190 available from http://cemca.org/disted/Taher_MdA__Arefin_K__0109.pdf Choosing selection techniques [online] available from http://www.evalued.bcu.ac.uk/tutorial/4c.htm [accessed 24th Nov 2010] HR Management [online] available from http://www.humanresources.hrvinet.com/panel-interview/ [accessed 24th Nov 2010] Interviews [online] available from http://www.evalued.bcu.ac.uk/tutorial/4c.htm [accessed 24th Nov 2010] Patty Inglish, The Top ten types of Job interviews [online] available from http://cemca.org/disted/Taher_MdA__Arefin_K__0109.pdf [ accessed 25th Nov 2010] Raymond Opennakker (2006) Advantages and Disadvantages of four Interview Techniques in Qualitative Research, Forum Qualitative Socialforshung( [online] 7(4) , Art 11[ online] available from http://www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs/article/viewArticle/175/391 [accessed 24th Nov 2010] Types of Interview [online] available from http://cemca.org/disted/Taher_MdA__Arefin_K__0109.pdf [accessed 25th Nov 2010] What are the advantages and disadvantages of Face-to- face Interviews [online] available from http://cemca.org/disted/Taher_MdA__Arefin_K__0109.pdf [accessed 24th Nov 2010] Read More