Employee selection and development - Essay Example

This assignment will cover three areas of interests to the human resource manager. The first section will look at the ways in which a recruitment drive can be improved to ensure that there is a large pool of applicants for a position. The second section will show how the selection process should work based on the skills shown by the applicant in interviews, tests and evaluations and finally, the third section of the assignment will cover the process of further developing the human resources for retention and improvement.

In light of the warning given by Britain’s biggest companies, the above mentioned three functions of human resource management become even more important. Recruitment drive should be geared to find the best quality personnel which are available in the market. If that results in finding people who are less than the best possible quality then through the process of training and skills development, the personnel can be developed significantly (Cornelius, 2000). However, before we discuss training and development we have to take a look at the recruitment process in detail and see how it can be improved.

Recruitment for any position within an organisation will depend on several factors which influence how people can and should be brought in. For example, the army does not advertise for the position of a general while a bank may require hiring a person to function as their CEO or president. The first step for recruitment therefore depends on the sector and business of the organisation. An example from catering services is provided by Osborne (2005) who says that employee referrals can work wonders for short staffed managers.

In fact, employee referrals are only one way in which a company can carryout a recruitment drive. The culture of the industry and the values held by the organisation can point towards several different directions which can be taken by company for effective recruitment. Nottingham’s City