The Role of Recruitment and Selection Strategy - Research Paper Example

Contents Contents 1 Introduction 1 Recruitment strategies can also be categorised as per the following heads: 5 Objective theory: 5 Critical Contact theory: 5 Appraisal of the design of selection tools and selection criteria to support international selection. 6 Evaluation of the role recruitment and selection play in supporting employee retention and the goals of the organisation. 8 Evaluation of the way in which hard and soft approaches to HRM will change the recruitment and selection strategy of an organisation. 10 References 13 Introduction The world of business has undergone a sea change over the last century, and a present day business organisation is characterised by extremely high degree of innovation, nimbleness and flexibility. Unlike the 1st half of the Twentieth century, the critical factor that determines the success or failure of a business organisation is its Human capital. Money and Machinery has almost ceased to be the differentiating factor – it is man or human resources that create or diminish USPs of business organisations. Additionally, the way teams collaborate and work together towards a common target has changed drastically. With the advent of globalisation in its truest sense, companies are now working 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. More often than not, complex organisatinal deliverables require the inputs of multiple, geographically distributed teams consisting of team members coming from diverse back grounds with varied set of attributes and work cultures. Apart from these changes, the stakeholders of an organisation; customers, vendors, society and the government has become more demanding than ever. Given these changed scenarios, it is critical for a business organisation to have the right set of attributes and attitudes in its team members and only then it can survive and grow in this highly competitive and fast changing business scenario. These changes have made the selection and recruitment process all the more critical for a company. Recruitment is the process of identifying and assessing the right candidate. "Recruitment involves the utilization of organizational practices to influence the number and types of individuals who are willing to apply for job vacancies (Rynes, 1991; Rynes & Cable, 2003). Recruitment can focus on the internal labor market (i.e., pursuing staff already employed by the organization) or the external labor market (i.e., pursuing applicants from outside the organization). Internal candidates can be recruited through internal job postings, word-of-mouth, or internship programs” (Casper. W., n.d.) The entire recruitment process can be broadly segregated into three sections – Generation of applicants: As the name suggests, this component involves all activities that help a company reach out to prospective aspirants and generate interest among them. While advertisements in newspapers and industry specific journals have been the age old favourite one, the new age and also the more efficient ones are Internet based activities like viral campaigns, job portals and posting job advertisements in specific communities. Maintaining applicant interest in the organisation: This is done by educating the candidates about the job descriptions, future growth opportunities and the learning opportunities. Influencing job choice: Once the right candidate has been identified, s/he is offered the right remuneration and responsibilities so that s/he accepts the offer of employment with the company (Allen, D.G., Otondo, R.F., Mahto, R.V., 2006) An evaluation of recruitment strategy and issues of attracting talent in an international dimension A recruitment strategy, just like financial or marketing strategies, is very specific to a given company and has to be tailor-made by the decision makers of that company based on the requirements of the organisation. The recruiting strategy for entry level, high number job positions will be different from the recruitment strategy to be adopted to recruit a mid-level or a top-level. A recruitment strategy consists of four distinct and critical components. These components are: Budget: The budget allocated and the probable cost incurred is perhaps one of the most important factors that decide the strategy to be used to identify a prospective employee. While big budget recruitment strategies will involve multiple print/digital/audio media ads, followed by detailed pre-recruitment assessment processes, small budget recruitment strategies include extensive usage of the Internet and employee referrals. Target Audience: The required spread of catchment area of target audience determines the strategies that will be used to attract applications. While recruiting in large numbers for entry level positions requiring commonplace attributes, a HR manager may prefer to use advertisements in print/audio-visual media to gather applications for getting applicants. However, while recruiting for a specialized job opening, the recruitment manager will have to use more focused approaches like community specific online campaigns, headhunting and executive search firms and employee referrals. Degree of immediacy: The importance of this component in determining the recruitment strategy is quite evident. Most of the commonly used recruitment strategies are generally involve long drawn process and are not suitable if the opening is business critical and urgent. Similarly, job openings that have been forecasted well in advance allow decision makers implement a through and meticulous recruitment and selection procedure. Exemption levels: The level of exemption for the required job opening strongly influences the recruitment strategy that is adopted by the HR Manager. For entry level job openings, resume sources like job advertisement in classified section of local dailies, local level government agencies and high school guidance centers are most suitable ones. However for more specialized ones the HR manager has to opt for higher level resume sources like job fairs, campus recruitments and employee referrals (Arthur D., 2001). Recruitment strategies can also be categorised as per the following heads: Objective theory: This theory assumes that there is a perfect market where the job seekers have all the information about the opportunities available, and their decision making process is highly rational in nature. Hence, the prospective employee, if educated about the job responsibility and associated benefits, should be able to take the right decision. Subjective theory: This theory states that the decision making process of a job aspirant is highly subjective in nature. The job seeker is influenced by a lot of other factors like psychological needs, job security and other growth options while deciding which option to opt for. Critical Contact theory: As opposed to the above given two theories, this theory states that the quality and degree of communication between the recruiter and the aspirant influences to a large extent the possibility of an aspirant accepting a job offer (Topic #3 - Recruitment And Selection, n.d.). Recruiting in this global market throws up lot of complexities and challenges. One of the most important challenges faced by MNCs and MNEs in their recruitment strategies is the balancing act between a standardized recruitment process offering a standard benchmark, and a localized recruitment process that is sensitive to local requirements. Companies, irrespective of their scale, are increasingly operating in a global scale, and hence require a global team consisting of team members from countries it is operating in. To develop a homogenous yet global team, it is imperative to adopt a selection process that is standardized. However, it is also important to be sensitive and flexible about localized differences. It is critical to ensure that there the perfect balance between globalisation and localization. One of the best ways of achieving this balance is to ensure that various geographical partners are considered as equal partners and suggestions from both the host country HR team and the HQ HR team should have equitable representation in the final decision making process (Sparrow P.R., 2006) Appraisal of the design of selection tools and selection criteria to support international selection. Identifying and selecting the right candidate is critical to the success and growth of any organisation. The Global business has become highly competitive, and companies need the best of the talent to innovate, face competition and grow. Identifying the perfect fit team member for a team is more of a science than serendipity. Companies need to ideate, fine-tune and implement proper selection strategies to ensure that it is able to pin point the right candidate among many aspirants. A wrong hire is disastrous for both the company as well as the recruited person. In case of a wrong hire, the company loses a significant amount of money paying wages to the team member. Also, repeating the recruitment process again to select the substitute will also entail expenditure for the company. If cost of opportunity is added, the overall cost goes up significantly. Sometimes companies tries to arrange of training to fill up the knowledge gap, but this also comes at a cost. Similarly, the recruited person is also demoralized as s/he is not able to contribute properly to the organisation. This may lead to the spread of general dissatisfaction among all team members, thereby greatly hurting the organisation. Quite a few factors should be considered/evaluated before designing the selection strategy. One of the most important factors that should be very critically weighed is the job description. A clear, concise and all encompassing job description is very important for the formulation of the right selection tool. The Job description and the KRAs (Key responsibility Areas) help the HR manager understand the attributes and skills sets that are required to deliver the responsibilities. Once the skill sets are identified, the selection tool designers can the design the right selection tool that will differentiate the right candidate from the not so perfect-fit. The selection process varies for companies to companies, but most of the selection processes contain the following steps: 1. Screening of resumes: Once resumes have been collected, these resumes have to screened based on various parameters. This is very important to ensure that only deserving and qualified candidates are evaluated through the actual assessment process. 2. Psychometric tests: Depending on the job profile, there may or may not be psychometric tests. Psychometric tests are one of the best tools available to assess the innate abilities of a person. These tests are a very integral component of selection process for jobs that require high degree of intellectual capital. 3. Group Discussion/Role Playing/Case study solutions: These tools are used primarily for mid level management positions. These tools are widely used to assess problem solving and logical reasoning abilities of the candidate. 4. Interview/Discussion: Interviews are the most widely used selection tools. Interviews can be of various kinds, and the structure of the interview depends on a lot of factors like the abilities/attributes required for the job, experience of the recruiter/interviewer, experience of the interview, pre-interview components of the selection process etc. Post interview, a decision is to be taken whether the candidate should be offered or not. Once it is decided that the candidate is to be offered employment with the organisation, there should be a round of reference/authentication checks before the offer document is actually dispatched to the candidate. Evaluation of the role recruitment and selection play in supporting employee retention and the goals of the organisation. Recruitment and selection plays an extremely critical role in supporting employee retention in an organisation. The factors that lead to job satisfaction has changed drastically over the last few decades, and these changes coincide with the rapid transformation of the world economy from a manufacturing based economy to a service driven knowledge based economy. Monetary benefits were perhaps one of the most important factors influencing employee retention, where higher paid jobs witnessed the least amount of employee attrition. However, knowledge based industries like the Information Technology industry has an entirely different set of factors that influence employee retention. In fact, a recent study has found that “Job satisfaction” and “Organisational commitment” are the two most important factors that influence employee retention, or employee attrition. Among these, Organisational is the single most important factor that contributes to employee retention (Hoonakker, P., Marian, A. & Carayon P., n.d). The core objective of a recruitment strategy is to generate interest among prospective job aspirants, assess the candidate pool for desired skill sets and value systems, and motivate the identified candidate to join the organisation. Different organisations require different skill sets and value systems. Additionally, different jobs in the same organisation may require totally different attributes and hence there cannot be one-size-fits-all approach to selection. An accurate selection process will help the company identify a candidate who is just perfect to deliver responsibilities of a given job position. An accurate selection process should be able to identify the candidate whose skill sets match perfectly with the organisational requirements. A perfect or a near perfect match of an individual’s skill sets with organisational requirements leads to high degree of organizational commitment as well as job satisfaction for the employee, thereby increasing employee retention (Hopp, J.W., Oyen, P.M., 2002). One of the best examples of this case is Toyota. Toyota has a through selection process, and a comprehensive training module. The selection and the training module is aimed at creating a flexible workforce that can be deployed anywhere and anytime. A meticulous implementation of such a strategy has helped Toyota have an employee attrition rate that is among the lowest in in the industry (Hopp, J.W., Oyen, P.M., 2002) . Evaluation of the way in which hard and soft approaches to HRM will change the recruitment and selection strategy of an organisation. There are two distinct approached to Human Resources management; the hard approach and the soft approach. The hard approach, as the name suggests, adopts a mechanical approach to managing human resources. This approach assumes that human resources are just one of the many units of production and treats it in a similar to other units of productions like capital, raw material and machinery. This approach totally ignores the human aspect. This approach is also known as Theory X that believes that employees will not contribute to their fullest until and unless strictly monitored. The hard approach to HRM, or the Theory X is characterised stringent set of rules defining model employee behavior, and considers employee-organisation relationship as a zero sum game. On the other side, the soft approach to human resource management believes that human resource is extremely critical to the organisation and treats it separately as compared to capital or machinery. This approach is also known as MacGregor’s Theory Y that believes that employees, if motivated properly, will be committed towards the organizational goal. Unlike the hard approach, the soft approach believes that the employee-organisation interaction is a win-win game, and the organisation can grow only if employee are happy and committed. While the hard approach uses a push strategy to increase employee productivity and efficiency, the soft approach primarily depends on the pull factor to increase organizational and employee efficiency. The hard approach uses negative rewards as the prime motivator, while the soft approach uses recognition as the prime motivator. While none of these approaches in itself is the right approach for any organisation, and all organisations use a mix of hard and soft approach towards managing employees and design the selection process. A hard approach to Human Resource management will call for a more standardised selection tool and will be least amenable to situation specific requirements. Typically, these selection processes consist of assessment tests consisting of standardized tests and have minimal one to one interaction between the recruiter and the candidate. Even if there is a scope of interaction between the interviewer and the candidate, this step will perhaps be the last step in the entire selection process. This approach will be entirely process driven, and will not have any subjective element in the entire selection process. A soft approach to HRM, on the other hand, will have a selection process that will primarily depend on subjective human interpretation to identify a suitable candidate. A recruitment and selection strategy that is influenced by the soft approach will have multiple face to face interactions between the candidate and the recruiter. A predominantly hard approach to recruitment and selection can be observed in emerging economies where there is a tremendous imbalance in demand and supply of talent. With supply far outstripping demand, there are far too many applicants for any given job opening. This leads to a scenario where the organisation uses a predominantly hard approach to selection. Similalry, recruitment and selection approaches for MNCs and MNEs will have a higher touch of hard approach than soft approach. Contrary to the above situation, the recruitment and selection process of a start up will almost always have predominantly softer approach. This is so because a start up requires its team members to be highly motivated and committed to the organisational goal. References Allen, D.G., Otondo, R.F., Mahto, R.V., (2006), Web-Based Recruitment: Effects of Information, Organizational Brand, and Attitudes toward a Web Site on Applicant Attraction, [Online], Available: http://www.buec.udel.edu/beckert/BUAD%20875%2009S/Pres%201%20article.pdf [12th May, 2009] Arthur D., (2001), The Employee Recruitment And Retention Handbook, AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn, ISBN 0814405525, 9780814405529. Casper. W., (No Date), Recruitment, Definition(s) of, Sloan Work and Family Research network, Boston College, [Online], Available: http://wfnetwork.bc.edu/glossary_entry.php?term=Recruitment,%20Definition(s)%20of&area=All [12th May, 2009] Hoonakker, P., Marian, A. & Carayon P., (no date), THE RELATION BETWEEN JOB CHARACTERISTICS AND QUALITY OF WORKING LIFE: THE ROLE OF TASK IDENTITY TO EXPLAIN GENDER AND JOB TYPE DIFFERENCES, University of Wisconsin-Madison, [Online], Available: http://cqpi.engr.wisc.edu/system/files/jobchar_qwl.pdf [12th May, 2009] Hopp, J.W., Oyen, P.M., (2002), Agile Workforce Evaluation:A Framework for Cross-training and Coordination, Loyola University of Chicago, [Online], Available: http://www.sba.luc.edu/research/wpapers/030623.pdf [12th May, 2009] Sparrow P.R., (2006), Globalisation Of Hr At Function Level: Exploring The Issues Through International Recruitment, Selection And Assessment Processes, Cornell university ILR School, [Online], Available: http://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1024&context=intlvf [12th May, 2009] Topic #3 - Recruitment and Selection, (No Date), EdAd 636 -- Lecture Notes, The College of Education at The University of Utah, [Online], Available: http://www.ed.utah.edu/ELP/faculty/Pounder/Recuit_Select.pdf [12th May, 2009] ] Read More