Human Resources Management and Recruitment Techniques - Term Paper Example

Human resources Management Recruitment Techniques Recruitment is the process whereby organizations search for the best employees to fill vacant positions. A vacancy in an organization can arise due to death, retrenchment, resigning or promotion of an employee. The organization needs to fill vacant positions with the best skilled manpower that can bring continuity in the organization. Recruitment methods can either be internal or external (Taylor, 2005: 5). Internal Applicants Internal recruitment techniques aim at finding suitable candidates to a particular vacant position through recruiting current employees in the organization. The advantage of using internal applicants in filling vacant positions is in regard to the motivation factor. Employees feel motivated when they are rewarded for good performance by being promoted to higher positions. Any organization that cannot be able to engage in employee advancement and promotion opportunities is likely to experience job dissatisfaction among the employees (Courtney, 1997: 126). Internal recruitment also provides the managers with the opportunity to use HR data that is available and maintained in the organization. An analysis of the employee performance is important in the recruitment process. This ensures that the organization is able to guess the competency of the employee (Schermerhorn, 2009: 78). Promotions within organizations lead to vacant positions that should be filled by other employees. The chain effect on promotion means that every time an employee is promoted, two or more positions will need to be filed. Internal promotions help to motivate employees since every promotion positively affects several employees within the organization (Schermerhorn, 2009: 78). Promotion of employees in the organization ensures that entry level vacancies are filled by external job applicants. The benefit of this approach is that no company is able to experiment unknown individuals in high risk employment positions. Further, employees have the chance to prove their ability in lower-level position first (Schermerhorn, 2009: 78). Methods of Recruitment Bidding and job posting are the most common used methods of recruiting employees internally. Bidding occurs when qualified employees have been notified of the vacancy. They are then notified to bid for the vacancy if they want to be considered for the post. In bidding, the employee with the most seniority gets the job (Walsh, 2012: 52). Job Posting Job posting involves the use of traditional bulletin boards, computer email based systems and telephone voicemail based systems. Computer email based systems and telephone voicemail based systems are more effective that the traditional bulletin boards. This is because that ensures that employers have easy access to all employees. In addition, they also ensure that there is immediate notification to all employees (Walsh, 2012: 52). Job posting is effective, however, it can lead to employee morale issues if it is not well managed by the organization’s managers. To ensure that job posting is effective in the organization, managers must ensure that the job posting procedure is clearly explained. If the application procedure varies according to the employee or to the job, employees may suspect that the employer is trying to be subjective on who should fill the vacancy (Walsh, 2012: 52). Job specifications should also include the number of years concerning experience, skill and training needs of employees. Job specifications are important because they fasten the decision making process is faster for the managers. In cases whereby a few job specifications are mentioned, the managers will have several applicants to review during the selection process (Walsh, 2012: 52). External Applicants External recruitment ensures that a greater number of applicants can be recruited. Inn addition, external applicants are capable of bringing in new ideas that can lead to enhanced employee productivity. External employees are also capable of having contacts that internal employees do not have. For instance, in sales and marketing, external contact with customers is important in achieving market base thus improving the sales of an organization (Catano, 2009: 16). Direct applications Direct applications involve the delivery of curriculum vitae by mail or individually to the organization. Direct applications provide the organization with the most inexpensive method of recruiting employees. The advantage of direct application depends on the image the organization has in the community. The qualities of the applicants that apply to vacant positions will depend on how the organization relates to the community (Catano, 2009: 16). Private Recruitment Agencies Private recruitment agencies have proved to be expensive to organizations. These private agencies offer to recruit employees to the organization at a fee. However, there are instances when recruitment agencies save the HR department time by screening out unqualified applicants and finding the suitable applicants to the job vacancy (Pieter & Warnich, 2005: 182). Private recruitment agencies are capable of sending several applicants to the organization that will keep the managers flooded with marginal applicants who can be located without the help of the agency. The organization should limit the number of applicants recruited by the agencies to four or five. This ensures that the screening process is effective and only those applicants who have the best chance of being hired are submitted to the HR department (Pieter & Warnich, 2005: 182). Advertising Advertising involves the placement of vacancy requirements in the dailies, television, radio, social media and billboards in order to attract the most qualified employees to the organization. Advertising as a form of recruitment can only be effective if it contains images that sell the organization first. The job specifics should come second. The advertisement should also be able to recognize high tech individuals as people, not just as techno individuals. In addition, the advertisement should be able to have strong visuals that win the attention of the audience (Arthur, 2012: 274). Advertisements can prove to be ineffective if there are statements that discriminate. Discrimination can result when statements concerning age, sex, gender, religion and race are used are requirements for the vacancy to be filled. Decimation affects the organization’s image in the society; customers can stop buying an organization’s products because of discriminatory statements (Arthur, 2012: 274). Further, advertisement can enhance the image of an organization in respect to potential candidates. Image concerns are shown in the size of the advert and where it is placed. The information contained in the advert also enhances the reputation of the organization.. Effective advertisements are capable of grabbing the attention of readers (Arthur, 2012: 274). Advertisements ensure that the organization reach as many applicants as possible. Organizations should aim at advertising in media channels that can reach the whole country, region or continent they want their applicant to come from. Advertisements that are placed on media channels that can only reach a limited number of applicants limit the opportunity of having a wide variety of applicants to chose from. Advertisements placed in the internet and in the social media sites have the ability to reach several applicants as possible. Advertising in the social media and in the internet provides the most inexpensive way to recruit employees to the organization (Walsh, 2012: 48). Selection Process Caruth, Caruth and Pane (2008 P.159) describe selection as the process of choosing among a group of applicants the person perceived to be best qualified for a particular job opening. They note that the success of an organization in its recruitment process significantly affects the effectiveness and efficiency of selection. A large pool of applicants accords organizations greater latitude in selecting employees. In this regard, it is argued that insufficient pool reduces the amount of latitude, which may lead to the employment of marginally qualified candidates according to Caruth, Caruth and Pane (2008 P.159). Caruth, Caruth and Pane (2008 P.159) argue that selection, at its best, a difficult process since it involves making informed judgments about people. Therefore, three vital questions must be answered in case the most qualified candidate is to be chosen: “what is the applicant’s will do ability?” “what is the applicant’s can do ability?’ and “how well will the candidate fit into the organization?”will do ability in this case pertains to the motivation level, the candidate will exert in doing the work,; can do ability entails the education and experience needed to perform a given task; fit on the other hand refers to how well the candidate will conform to the culture and sociopsychological environment of the organization (Caruth, Handlogtden, 1997 P.35-46). Determining these requirements needs skills, time and effort to be able to make rational decision. It is worth noting that any mistake made during the selection is detrimental to an organization, as it can prove costly. Caruth, Caruth and Pane (2008 P.159) note that hiring candidates who are not capable or will not do their work leads to quality and output problems as well as the employee turnover. They argue that hiring candidates who do not fit into the organization leads to the similar problems, which may adversely affect other employee’s morale. Moreover, Hunt (2007 P.16-22) argues that selection must be carefully done to minimize any potential negative impacts, financial and n the organization. Below are some of the selection techniques used by contemporary organizations in hiring employees: Work Experience Most contemporary organization considers work experience possessed by applicants (Gartenstein 2012). The main reason for adopting this technique according to its proponents is to be able to choose a job applicant who has worked in the same field before and as such is familiar with the type of job on offer. This selection is vey objective since it minimizes induction of training time that would otherwise be used if someone with no experience is chosen (Hunt 2007 P. 42-56). Its objectivity is also seen from the fact that, the candidate hired will be able to fit in the organization immediately since he or she if familiar with most of the work requirements. Despite the many benefits associated with this selection method, it has the potential of putting the organization at risk of eliminating a candidate with the potential of doing that work better merely because he or she has no experience (Caruth and Handlogtden 1997 P.15-31). This technique also unfair and discriminatory especially to college students who in most cases have complained that they miss the opportunity of getting jobs of their dreams just because they lack the requisite experience that most employers look for. For instance, most employers sometimes ask for a four-year experience in their job adverts. The question that most college students are asking now is, “where do we get the four year experience from when we are just from college.” Profiling Profiling is another technique used by some contemporary organizations in selecting candidates for a job (Gartenstein 2012). This involve choosing candidates based on sex, race or age. However, despite this selection technique being illegal, its objective is sometimes understandable. For example where the organization wants to meet the gender or race, requirements in an organization where it may be forced to hire only candidates say of a given sex. Nevertheless, this method is so discriminatory and unfair as it locks out many candidates with the ability to do the job better (Caruth and Handlogtden 1997 P.15-31). Interviewing Interviewing is the most widely used technique for selecting candidates for a particular job in most contemporary organizations. The technique places the employer face-to-face with all the applicants for the sake of conversation. This method has many advantages to the employer since it offers them the opportunity to see how the candidate behave under pressure, and posing nuanced questions to be able top enumerate the strengths and weaknesses of the candidates. This gives the employer the opportunity to make a cogent decision with regard to selection of the candidate. It is also worth noting that the objective of job interview is to not only select candidates who are considered best for the job, but also accords the employer opportunity to weight their decisions in favor of the candidate who does well under pressure or show merit during the interview (Hunt 2007 P.59-88). Despite the numerous advantages associated with interview as a selection technique, it is not capable of bringing out some of the attributes of a candidate. This has the potential of making employers hire people who are not fit for the job. Caruth, Caruth and Pane (2008 P.169-188) notes that some candidates do well in a job interview and get hired for the job but later fail to deliver the results expected. Consequently, some candidates fail to perform well and fail to be hired for a job that they are best fit for due to factors such as pressure during job interview (Thomas and Scroggins 2006 P. 88-112). This shows how unfair the interview process can be in selection of applicants for a particular job. Instinct Most employers tend to rely on gut feeling or instinct as an employee selection method. Even though this may seem whimsical, gut feelings and instincts are not just frivolous emotions, but a reaction to stimuli not usually deemed at a conscious level. The use of gut feeling or instinct is selecting candidates is advantageous since it responds to the cues through other selection techniques (Gartenstein 2012). However, this technique is not infallible since it may provide some deceptive information leading to unfair selection. Employment Agencies Employment agencies usually play an intermediary function between the employer and job seekers (Jones 2012). These agencies match the applicant’s abilities and skills to the job position. The objective of the agency is also to look at the candidate’s aptitude, background, experience and other factors. This method is merited on the ground that it gives the employer a better chance of getting the best candidate for the job. However, the technique is costly to the organization according to Gatewood, Field and Barrick (2010). This technique is fair since it eliminates hiring based on nepotism, tribalism, race, color, disabilities among others. Internal Hiring Many contemporary organizations tend to hire some of the employees internally (Jones 2012). In this case, when a vacancy falls within the organization, the first priority is given to the employees of the organization in question who posses the requisite qualifications. This method has the advantage in that the employer knows what the candidate is capable of bringing to the organization such as skills, work ethics, abilities and personality. Just like in the case with experience, internal selection technique has the advantage that the candidate is already familiar with the organization and is familiar with all the operations and functions of the departments. They are also aware of what improvements are required of them to make. Despite its merits, the method is unfair as it denies able job seekers from outside the organization the opportunity of getting the job. Furthermore, the selection can be manipulated based on loyalty and politics within the organization that denying other able candidates the opportunity of getting the job (Berry 2002 p.34-46). Conclusion The type of recruitment and selection technique that an organization chooses to adopt has got influence to both internal employees and external employees. Good recruitment and selection techniques that aim at promoting promotion of internal employees are capable of motivating employees. External recruitment methods should also be able to bring in talented employees that can improve productivity in the organization. Recruitment and selection techniques fail when the required individuals are put on vacant positions. Based on the benefits and shortcomings of the selection techniques described above, it is imperative for an employer to use several employee selection methods. This will enable the employer choose a candidate who satisfies a range of job criteria. References Arthur, D (2012), Recruiting, Interviewing, Selecting & Orienting New Employees, Washington DC: AMACOM Div American Management Association. Berry, L.M. (2002). Employee selection with infotrac. London: Thomson/Wadsworth. Caruth, D.L., & Handlogtden, G.D. (1997). Staffing the Contemporary Organization: A Guide to Planning, Recruiting, and Selecting for Human Resource Professionals. New Jersey: Greenwood Publishing Group. Caruth, D.L., Caruth, G.d., & Pane, S.S. (2008). Staffing the contemporary organization: A guide to planning, recruiting and selecting for human resource professionals. New York: ABC-CLIO. Catano, V (2009), Recruitment and Selection In Canada, New York: Cengage Learning. Courtney, P (1997), Group Practice Personnel Policies Manual, Washington DC: Medical Group Management Association. Gartenstein, D. (2012) Advantages and disadvantages of employee selection techniques. Retrieved from: http://www.ehow.com/list_6588929_different-employee-selection-methods.html Gatewood, R., Field, H.S., & Barrick, M. (2010). Human Recourse selection. New York: Cengage Learning. Hunt, S. (2007). Hiring success: The art and science of staffing assessment and employee selection. San Francisco: John Wiley & Sons. Jones, K. (2012). Different employee selection methods. 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