RECRUITMENT PROCESS
LECTURE 4
Recruitment best practice
Realistic job previews
Recruitment sources
Recruiter behaviours
Employment inducements
Recruitment activities
Recruitment advertising
Organisational image, reputation and symbolic attributes
Creative, innovative and effective recruitment practices.
(cont.)
STEPS IN THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS
The first step in the recruitment process is to decide that
there is a vacancy to be filled. Increasingly a more strategic
and questioning approach may be taken.
If, for example, the vacancy arises because an employee has
left, managers may take the opportunity to review the work
itself and consider whether it could be undertaken in an
alternative way. For example, could the work be done on a
part-time, job-share or flexi-time basis? Alternatively, could
the job could be automated? The financial services sector in
the UK provides one example of where technological
developments have resulted in both significant job losses and
changed patterns of work since 1990.
Some issues
Realistic job preview
A method of conveying job information to an
applicant in an unbiased manner, including both
positive and negative factors.
Recruitment policy
EEO
Promotion from within
Promotion from outside.
COMPETENCY OR TRADITIONAL APPROACH
On the assumption that a post does need to be filled it will
be necessary to devise specifications. Whether a
competency-based approach or the more traditional method
of formal job descriptions and person specifications is
chosen, specifications need to reflect the duties and
requirements of the job along with the skills, aptitudes,
knowledge, experience, qualifications and personal qualities
that are necessary to perform the job effectively.
Consideration should also be given to how the recruiter
intends to measure and elicit information regarding those
skills. Are they essential to job performance or merely
desirable for attracting candidates and can they be
objectively measured?
Employment checklist
1. Is there a genuine need for this job to be filled?
2. Should the job be filled internally or externally?
3. What is the budget for filling the position?
4. What are the duties, responsibilities, reporting relationships,
qualifications, experience, skills and personal qualities?
5. What is the job size? What is the job title?
6. What pay and fringe benefits will the position attract?
7. How will candidates be recruited?
Employment checklist (cont.)
8. What advertisement copy/layout/style will be used?
Prepared in-house/by agency? Who will approve it? Who will
be responsible for placing the ad? Which media will be used
to relay the ad?
9. Who will be involved in the recruitment and selection
process?
10. Who will handle the induction?
11. Who will give the job instructions/arrange for special
training?
12. Who will review the new hire’s performance during
probation?
Recruitment activities
Determine and categorise the organisation’s long-range and
short-range HR needs.
Keep alert to changes in the labour market.
Develop appropriate recruitment advertisements and
literature and select method/s to be used.
Record the number and quality of applicants from each
recruiting source.
Follow-up on applicants and evaluate.
ATTRACTING CANDIDATES
The next stage in the recruitment cycle is the attraction of candidates,
as one important objective of a recruitment method is to produce an
appropriate number of suitable candidates within reasonable cost
constraints. Pilbeam and Corbridge (2006, p 151) note that ‘There is no
ideal number of applications and no intrinsic value in attracting a high
volume of candidates.’ Neither is there a single best way to recruit
applicants. Rather the chosen recruitment medium needs to ensure that
there are a sufficient number of suitably qualified candidates from which
to make a selection without being overwhelmed with large numbers of
unsuitable applications.
Using a recruitment agency to find a small number of suitable
candidates, particularly for senior or specialised posts, may prove a
significantly more cost-effective and efficient method than a major
advertising
SELF REFLECTION
Look at the recruitment section of your local newspaper.
What sort of vacancies are typically advertised here?
Compare and contrast these with the types of vacancies
advertised in broadsheet newspapers such as The Times or
Daily Telegraph. What indicators are there in the wording
of advertisements as to whether there is a surplus or
shortage of candidates?
Which method of recruitment should be adopted? There is
no single best way, and a contingency approach involving
an analysis of what might be effective in particular
circumstances is advocated: ie ‘it all depends
SELF REFLECTION
Some organisations, for example in the local government
sector, will always advertise all job vacancies to ensure
equality of opportunity whilst manufacturing organisations
tend to rely on recruitment agencies (CIPD, 2007c).
Human resources professionals should carefully consider
and review which methods have been most effective in
the past and which or methods would be most appropriate
for the current vacancy. They should also, critically, keep
new methods under review, including, for example, the
growing trend towards Internet-based recruitment.
selection
The competency approach vs the traditional approach
Traditional Approach
Decisions on selecting a potential worker are made primarily with a view
to taking on the most appropriate person to do a particular job in terms
of their current or, more commonly, potential competencies. This
approach involves first compiling a wide-ranging job description for the
post in question, followed by the use of a person specification, which in
effect forms a checklist along which candidates can be evaluated on
criteria such as knowledge, skills and personal qualities. This traditional
approach, in essence, involves matching characteristics of an ‘ideal’
person to fill a defined job.
Traditional Approach
However, judgements of an individual’s personality may be
subjective and open to error. Furthermore, these personal
characteristics may be suited to present rather than
changing circumstances.
Farnham and Stevens (2000) found that managers in the
public sector increasingly viewed traditional job descriptions
and person specifications as archaic, rigid and rarely an
accurate reflection of the requirements of the job
The competency approach vs the traditional approach
Competency-based models are becoming increasingly popular in
graduate recruitment where organisations are making decisions
on future potential. This approach concept searches for
workers who are ‘flexible’ and able to contribute to additional
and/or changing job roles. It seeks to identify abilities needed
to perform a job well rather than focusing on personal
characteristics such as politeness or assertiveness. Torrington
et al (2008, p 170) identify some potentially important
advantages of referring to competencies in this area noting
that: ‘they can be used in an integrated way for selection,
development, appraisal and reward activities; and also that
from them behavioral indicators can be derived against which
assessment can take place.’
CIPD report (2007c) found that 86 per cent of
organizations surveyed were now using competency-based
interviews in some way; and in another survey, over half
of employers polled had started using them in the past
year (William, 2008). It is suggested that the competency-
based model may be a more meaningful way of
underpinning recruitment and selection in the current
fast-moving world of work and can accordingly contribute
more effectively to securing high performance.
Some internal recruitment methods
Computerised record systems:
Skills inventories
Replacement charts.
Job posting:
Bulletin boards
Newsletters
Personal letters
Computerised posting programs.
Some external recruitment methods
International recruitment
Advertising
Employment agencies
Management recruitment consultants
Executive leasing
University recruiting
Employer referrals
Unsolicited applications
Professional associations
Trade unions.
Innovative recruiting programs
TheBoston Consulting Group (BCG) runs a strategy
competition, which involves more than 50 teams from
Australian/New Zealand.
ANZ operates an employee referral program
At
[Link], companies apply to hire
workers instead of advertising.
PricewaterhouseCoopers provides structured fixed-
term internships to university students. In 2008, it
made job offers to more than 90% of its interns.
How to create advertisements that enhance the
image of the organisation
AIDA technique:
Attention (eye-catching, descriptive title)
Interest (some of the critical points of interest: job
detail, reporting relationships, qualifications)
Desire(offering incentives; apart from salary, appeal will
be emotive)
Action (call for action – ask/invite communication).
Electronic recruiting
A significant and emerging issue.
Electronic recruiting
Involves recruiting via the internet (external) and intranet
(internal). It is sometimes called cybercruiting.
Provides significant potential benefits to organisations and
applicants, but also downsides and risks.
What could be some of the benefits/risks?
Checklist for job seekers online
EEO and recruitment
Recruitment of women
A significant barrier is stereotyped thinking.
Glass ceiling
Glasswalls
Women in trades and non-traditional occupations
Women in sales.
Recruitment of people with disabilities
Recruitment of older workers
Grey ceiling
Recruitment of minorities
Recruitment of Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders
Recruitment of gay and lesbian workers.
Evaluation of recruitment
Itis important to consider short and long-term
outcomes, including:
Productivity
Quality
Costs
Time
Soft data.
Alternative approaches to recruiting full
time employees
Social Networking Websites
Outsourcing & Subcontracting
Temporary Contracts/ Part time
Using consultancies/ Agencies
Summary
Recruitment is a form of business
competition.
The job needs to be clearly identified and
defined and the type of candidate required
must be specified.
Organisations that are regarded as good
employers have the least trouble attracting
high-quality candidates.
Evaluation of recruitment is essential and
must be ongoing.
