Recruitment and Selection Processes - Essay Example

RECRUITMENT & SELECTION PROCESSES (Degree for which this dissertation is being submitted) Submitted in part fulfillment of the Date of Submission 1. Introduction Human resource planning identifies employment needs, job analysis determines the qualifications needs and recruiting provides a pool of applicants for selection. Recruitment and selection is much more than just choosing the best candidate. It is an attempt to strike a happy balance between what the applicant can and wants to do and what the organization requires. Various recruitment and selection tools and techniques are used to find people with relevant qualifications who are willing to accept the job offers and give satisfactory service and performance in the long run. Recruitment is the process of locating and encouraging potential applicants to apply for existing or anticipated job openings (Rao, 2005, p-124) It is actually a linking function, joining together those with jobs to fill and seeking jobs. Recruitment logically aims at (i) attracting a large number of qualified applicants who are ready to take up the job if it is offered and (ii) offering enough information for unqualified persons to self select themselves out The size of the labor market, the image of a company, the place of posting, the nature of job, the compensation package and a host of other factors influence the manner in which job aspirants are likely to respond to the recruiting efforts of a company. Through the process of recruitment, a company tries to locate prospective employees and encourages them to apply for vacancies at various levels. Recruiting thus, provides a pool of applicants for selection. Selection is a process of picking individuals who have relevant qualifications to fill jobs in an organization (Rao, 2005, p-143). The basic purpose is to choose the individual who can most successfully perform the job, from the pool of qualified candidates. 2. Recruitment and Selection practices of Global Giants 2.1 PepsiCo India: Pepsi is a flat organization. There are a maximum of four reporting levels. Executive here emphasis achievement, motivation, the ability to deliver come what may. As the Personnel manager of Pepsi Foods remarked "We hire people who are capable of growing the business rather than just growing with the business". (Business Today, 2000, p.129) Recruiters must be capable of thinking outside the box, cutting the cake of conventional barriers whenever and wherever necessary. They must have a winner mindset and a passion for creating a dynamic change. They must have the ability to deal with ambiguity informality. Recruitment process includes PepsiCo has to tap external sources for various positions. Running enterprises have to recruit employees from outside for filling the positions whose specifications cannot be met by the present employees, and for meeting the additional requirements of manpower. The following external sources of recruitment are commonly used by PepsiCo. (i) Direct Recruitment. An important source of recruitment is recruitment by placing a notice on the notice board of the enterprise specifying the details of the jobs available. It is also known as recruit factory gate. (ii) Casual Callers or Unsolicited Applications. The organizations are regarded as good employers draw a steady stream of unsolicited applications in their offices. This serves as a valuable source of manpower. If adequate attention is paid to maintain pending application folders for jobs, the personnel department may find the unsolicited applications in filling the vacancies whenever they arise. The merit of this source of recruitment is that it avoids the costs of recruiting workforce from other sources. (iii) Outsourcing Under this arrangement, PepsiCo India draws the required personnel from the outsourcing firms or agencies on commission basis rather than offering them employment. This is also called leasing of human resources. The outsourcing firms develop their human resource pools by employing people for them and make available the personnel to various companies (called clients) as per their needs. The outsourcing firms get payment for their services to their clients and give salary directly to the personnel. The personnel deputed by the outsourcing agencies with the clients are not the employees of the clients. They continue to be on the payroll of their employees, i.e., the outsourcing agencies (Rao, 2005, p-137) (iv) Poaching or Raiding Poaching means employing a competent and experienced person already working with another reputed company which might be a rival in the industry Pepsi Co India Company attract talent from another firm by offering attractive pay packages and other terms and conditions. (v) Website or e-Recruitment PepsiCo also use internet as a source of recruitment. They advertise the job vacancies through the worldwide web (www). Process of Selection The basic purpose of the selection process is to choose right type of man various positions in the organization. In order to achieve this purpose, a well organized selection procedure involves many steps and at each steps, unsuitable candidates are rejected. In other words, the aim of selection process is to reject the unsuitable candidates (Campion ,1999, p-34). Thus, PepsiCo India designs a procedure that suits its requirements. The main steps or stages that are incorporated in the selection procedure are as under: 1. Preliminary interview. 2. Receiving applications. 3. Screening of applications. 4. Employment test. 5. Employment interview. 6. Physical examination. 7. Checking references. 8. Final selection. STEP 1 STEP 2 STEP 3 STEP 4 STEP 5 STEP 6 STEP 7 STEP 8 (Source: Campion, 1999, p-35) To select professionals for global careers with it, the company uses a competency based interviewing technique that looks at the candidate's abilities in terms of strategizing, lateral thinking, problem solving, managing the environment. These apart, Pepsi insist that to succeed in a global posting, these individuals possess strong functional knowledge and come from a cosmopolitan background. 2.2 TATA Consultancy Services In TATA, there is a system to recruit employees for unskilled/ low skilled jobs, both technical and non technical natures, from the wards of the existing employees. Such a policy of recruitment in TATA Consultancy Services has been accepted in principle and TATA in their manufacturing units , maintain separate employment exchange records to enlist the names and other details of the employees ward to offer them employment as and when the vacancies arises. Burt such type of recruitment policy is not followed while hiring manpower for managerial jobs. In such cases, companies are looking for best available talents. Thus they go either for advertising the vacancies in leading newspapers of the country, even in good professional journals or they may go in for recruitment of such managerial manpower by effecting campus interview, and also going for retaining the services of recruitment consultants. Such recruitment consultants, having maintained a separate data bank for the prospective job seekers, can make available a list of prospective managerial manpower to such companies. In addition to the framing of the recruitment policy, each organization for making their recruitment a scientific process of selection carries out regular forecasting of manpower recruitments (Business Today, 2000, p.135) Recruitment and Selection Sources used in TATA Consultancy Services There are two important internal sources of recruitment in TATA Consultancy Services, namely transfers and promotions which are discussed below: (i) Transfer. It involves the shifting of an employee from one job to a one department to another or from one shift to another. Transfer is a good source of filling vacancies with employees from overstaffed departments or shifts. at the time of transfer, it should be ensured that the employee to be transferred to another .job is capable of performing it. In fact, transfer does not involve any drastic change in the responsibilities, pay and status of the employee. Transfers or job rotations are also used for training of employees in learning different jobs. (ii) Promotion. It leads to shifting an employee to a higher position, carrying higher responsibilities, facilities, status and pay. TATA Consultancy Services follow the practice of filling higher jobs by promoting employees who are considered fit for such positions. Filling vacancies in higher jobs from within the organization has the benefit of motivating the existing employees. It has a great psychological impact over the employees because a promotion at the higher level may lead to a chain of promotions at lower levels in the organization. (iii) Media Advertisement. Advertisement in newspapers or trade or professional journals is generally used when qualified and experienced personnel are not available from other sources. Most of the senior position in industry as well as commerce is filled by this method. The advantage of advertising is that more information about the organization, job description and job specifications can be given in advertisement to allow self-screening by the prospective candidates. Advertisement gives the TATA management a' range of candidates from which to -choose. (Dhawan, 1996, p-9). (iv) Employment Agencies. Employment ' exchanges run Government are regarded as a good source of: recruitment for unskilled, semi-skilled and skilled operative jobs. In some cases, compulsory notification of vacancies to the employment exchange is required. Thus, the employment exchanges bring the job givers in contact with the job seekers. However, in the technical and professional area, private agencies and professional bodies appear to be doing most of the work. Employment exchanges and selected private agencies provide a nation-wide service in attempting to match personnel demand and supply in TATA Consultancy Services. (v) Management Consultants or Head Hunters. Management consultancy firms help TATA Consultancy Services to recruit technical, professional managerial personnel. They specialize in middle level and top level executive placements. (vi) Educational institutions and campus recruitment TATA Consultancy Services maintain a close liaison with the universities, vocational institutes and Management institutes for recruitment to various jobs. Recruitment from educational institutions is a well-established practice of thousands of business and other organizations. It is also known as campus recruitment. (vii) Recommendations or Referrals. Applicants introduced by friends Wows may prove to be a good source of recruitment in TATA Consultancy Services. In fact, TATA prefers to take such persons because something about their background is known. When a present employee or a business friend recommends some one for a job, a type of preliminary screening is done and the person is placed on a job. (viii) Labor Contractors. Labor contractors are an important source of recruitment in TATA Consultancy Services. Workers are recruited through labor contractors, who are themselves employees of the organization. (ix) Telecasting. The practice of telecasting of vacant posts over TV is also used in TATA Consultancy Services. 3. Employment Interview According to Jucius Michael , "An interview is a face to face, oral, observational and personal appraisal method. Usually, it is more than a means of getting information. (i) It involves giving information that will help the applicant make up his mind about the company, and(ii) giving advice that may serve to change the mental or emotional attitude of the interviewee" Since talking with others is such a familiar experience, perhaps the interview is apparently a simple, but essentially a very difficult and intricate part of the selection procedure. 3.1 Interview as a selection technique Interviewing is an n art. It demands a positive frame of mind on the part of the interviewers. HR exerts have identified certain steps to be followed while conducting interviews. Stages in a typical employment interview Eva- luation Termination Information Exchange Reception Preparation (Business Today, 2000, p.132) i. Preparation Effective interviews are planned. This involves (i) Establishing the objectives of the interview and determining the areas and specific questions to be covered (ii) Reviewing the candidate's application and resume , noting areas that are vague or that may show candidate's strength and weakness on which questions can be asked (iii) Selecting the interview method to be followed (iv) Identifying a comfortable, private room preferably away from noise and interruptions where the interview could be held ii. Reception: the candidate should be properly received and led into the interview room. Greet the candidate with a warm, friendly greeting smile. Names are important. Ask the applicant about hobbies, activities or some other topic so as to break the ice. As a rule, treat all candidates even unsolicited drop-ins at your office - courteously, not on humanitarian grounds but because your company's reputation is at stake. Start the interview on time. iii. Information exchange: The information exchange between the interviewer and the interviewee helps minimize surprises for the new recruit, enhancing the comfort level and decreasing ambiguity and uncertainty in the early stages of work. (i) Focus on the applicant's education training, work experience etc. Find unexplained gaps in applicant's past work or college record nd elicit facts that are not mentioned in the resume. Avid questions that are not job related (ii) Listen to the applicant's answers attentively and patiently. And pay attention to non verbal cues (applicant's facial expressions, gestures body languages, etc.). To increase reliability and avoid discrimination, ask the same questions af all applicants for a particular job. Keep careful notes and record facts. iv. Termination: End the interview as happily as it began without creating any awkward situation for the interviewee. Regardless of the interview performance of the candidate and interviewer's personal opinion, the applicant should not be given any indication of his prospects at his stage at this stage. v. Evaluation: After the interview is over, summarize and record your observations carefully, constructing the report based on responses given by applicant, his behavior , your own observations and the opinions of other experts present during the interview better to use a standardized evaluation form for this purpose. 3.2 Types of interviews Several types of interviews are commonly used depending on the nature and importance of the position to be filled within an organization (i) The non directive interview: In a non directive interview the recruiter asks questions as they come to mind. There is no specific format to be followed. The questions can take any direction. The interviewer asks broad, open ended questions such as 'tell me more about what you did on your last job'- and allows the applicant to talk freely with a minimum of interruption. Difficulties with a non-directive interview include keeping it job related and obtaining comparable data on various applicants (ii) The directive or structured interview: In the directive interview, the recruiter uses a predetermined set of questions that are clearly job related. Since every applicant is asked the same basic questions, comparison among applicants can be made more easily. Structures questions improve the reliability of the interview process, eliminate biases and errors and may even enhance the ability of a company to withstand legal challenge. On the negative side, the whole process is somewhat mechanical, restricts the freedom of interviewers and may even convey disinterest to applicants who are used to more flexible interviews. Also, designing a structured interview may take a good amount of time and energy. (iii) The situational interview: One variation of the structured interviews is known as the situational interview. In this approach, the application is confronted with a hypothetical incident and asked how he or she would respond to it. The applicant's response is then evaluated relative to pre-established benchmark standards. (iv) The behavioral interview: the behavioral interview focuses on actual work incidents (as against hypothetical situations in the situational interview) in the applicant's past. The applicant is supposed to reveal what he or she did in a given situation, for example, how he disciplined an employee who was smoking inside the factory premises. (v) Stress interview: In stress interviews, the interviewer attempts to find how applicants would respond to aggressive, embarrassing, rude and insulting questions. The whole exerciser is meant to see whether the applicant can cope with highly stress producing, anxious and demanding situations while at work, in a calm and composed manner. Such an approach may backfire also, because the typical applicant is already somewhat anxious in any interview. So, the applicant that the firm wants to hire might even turn down the job offer under such trying conditions (vi) Panel interview: In a typical panel interview, the applicant meets with three to five interviewers who take turns asking questions. After the interview, the interviewers pool their observations to arrive at a consensus about the suitability of the applicant. The panel members can ask new incisive questions based on their expertise and elicit deeper and more meaningful responses from candidates. Such an interview could also limit the impact of personal biases of any individual interviewer. On the negative side, as an applicant, a panel interview may make you feel more stressed than usual. 3.3 Group discussion Group discussion is primarily used to know social framework, personality, behavior interests and various social traits of some candidates simultaneously. In situations where leadership ability is an important factor, group interviews are conducted. At times, from an application blank, it is not possible to uncover the instances where the candidate held positions and responsibilities of leadership. It might be because of the circumstances that the applicant had little or no opportunity to participate in situations wherein the role of leader is called for. It is thus, difficult for the interviewer to draw conclusions concerning the leadership ability of the applicant on the basis of inadequate evidence. In group interview and situation test, judgment can be made on the basis of actual behavioral of each individual in a group. It has also an advantage that the personality can be more accurately judged since the individual's traits are manifested in a broad social situation. But there are certain disadvantages of group as discussed below. (i) The time for observation usually is no longer than that available for the ordinary interview (ii) The interaction among the candidates is involved and there is possibility of the situation placing some applicants in more commanding positions than others. But on the whole, group interview appraisal is realistic and scientific in eliciting behavior of a kind actually important on the job. The behavior appraised by the group interview is a valid predictor of subsequent job success, but here have been lot of variations in findings of different interviewers. (iii) The group interview is more difficult to administer than a systematic interview or a standardized test. 4. Conclusion Organizations have to recruit people with requisite skills, qualifications and experience, if they have to survive and flourish in a highly competitive environment. Increased automation, modernization and computerization have changed the way the traditional jobs are handled. In such a scenario unless employees update their knowledge and skills constantly, they cannot survive and grow .Recruitment, selection, induction and placement are important tools for hiring manpower from external and internal sources. Human resource planning by companies helps to identify the manpower requirements, keeping pace with corporate objectives and strategies. References Braver A, (1998), "Recruiting employees", Thousand oaks: Sage, p-12-19 Business Today,(2000) April 7-21, p.129-135 Campion M A, (1999), "A Review of structure in the selection interview", Personnel Psychology, Reston Publishing p-35-39 Dhawan R, (1996), "How to recruit on campus" Business Today, Jan p-7-21 Jucius Michael,(1971), personnel Management, Richard D Irwin, Homewood, p161 Rao V S, (2005) Recruitment and selection: Human resource management, Excel Books, New Delhi, p-123-166 Schreyer R & Mc Carter J,(2003), "10+steps to effective internet recruiting" , HR focus, p 75 Read More