RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION
Human Resource
Management (HRM) is the term used to describe formal systems devised for the
management of people within an organization. It is also the process of recruiting and selecting employees,
providing orientation and induction, training and development, performance
appraisal, providing compensation and benefits, motivating, maintaining proper
interpersonal relations with employees and with trade unions, maintaining
welfare, health and safety measures in compliance with labour legislation.
In short, the purpose
of HRM is to maximize the productivity of an organization by optimizing efficiency
and effectiveness at each and every level.
The recruitment and
selection processes add value to the human capital of an organization and
create a competitive advantage.
Recruitment is about the
ability of the organization to attract new employees for a job opening in a timely and cost-effective
manner and to improve the human resources of the company.
Selection is about hiring the best
talents from the job market.
Thus, the recruitment and selection
process is about designing and managing a whole gamut of job profiles and choosing
the right candidates after a series of interviews, tests and verifications.
Legal Framework related to recruitment and selection
The various bodies vested with powers to carry out
appointment/promotion in the public sector are:
(i) the Public Service Commission for offices in the
civil service;
(ii) the Disciplined Forces Service Commission for
offices in the disciplined forces;
(iii) the Judicial and Legal Service Commission for
judicial and legal offices;
(iv) the Local Government Service Commission for posts in
the Local Government Service; and
(v) Boards of Parastatal and other Statutory Bodies for
posts in parastatal organizations.
The objectives of the Commissions and Boards are to:
(i) identify and appoint qualified persons with the
drive, skills and attitude for efficient performance;
(ii) safeguard the impartiality and integrity of
appointments and promotions in the Civil Service and to ensure that these are
based on merit; and
(iii) take disciplinary action with a view to maintaining
ethical standards (what is right and wrong) and to safeguarding public confidence
in the public service.
Differences between Recruitment and Selection
Recruitment and
selection are the two phases of the employment process. The differences between
the two are:
I.
Recruitment is a process of searching out the potential
applicants and inspiring them to apply for the actual or anticipated vacancy.
On the other hand, selection is a process of hiring
employees among the shortlisted candidates and providing them a job in the
organization.
II.
The basic purpose of recruitment is to create a pool of qualified
candidates to enable the selection of best candidates for the organization, by
attracting more and more employees to apply in the organization whereas the basic
purpose of selection process is to choose the right candidate to fill the
various positions in the organization.
III.
Recruitment is concerned with tapping the avenues for
potential candidates whereas selection is concerned with choosing the most
suitable candidate through various interpersonal steps.
IV.
There is no contract with respect to recruitment whereas
selection results in a contract of service between the employer and the
selected employee.
Some other differences are shown in table below:
Basis
|
Recruitment
|
Selection
|
Meaning
|
It is an activity of establishing contact between employers and
applicants.
|
It is a process of picking up more competent and suitable
employees.
|
Objective
|
It encourages large number of candidates for a job.
|
It attempts at rejecting unsuitable candidates.
|
Process
|
It is a simple process.
|
It is a complicated process.
|
Hurdles
|
The candidates do not have to cross over many hurdles.
|
Many hurdles have to be crossed.
|
Approach
|
It is a positive approach.
|
It is a negative approach.
|
Sequence
|
It precedes selection.
|
It follows recruitment.
|
Economy
|
It is an economical method.
|
It is an expensive method.
|
Time Consuming
|
Less time is required.
|
More time is required.
|
The
steps of recruitment and selection
Recruitment involves the following
activities, namely,
Ø Analyzing job requirement, i.e,
conducting a job analysis
Ø Advertising the vacancy and attracting
candidates to apply for the job
Ø Scrutinizing the applications received
Ø Shortlisting candidates
Selection involves a set of activities,
namely,
Ø Screening
Ø Eliminating unsuitable candidates
Ø Conducting examination and such test as
aptitude test, intelligence test, performance test, personality test, etc.
Ø Interview
Ø Checking References
Ø Administrative clearance.
Recruitment as a process
The five steps involved in recruitment
process may be summarized as follows:
(i)
Recruitment
Planning
The first step involved in the
recruitment process is planning. Here, planning involves to draft a
comprehensive job specification for the vacant position, outlining its major
and minor responsibilities; the skills, experience and qualifications needed;
grade and level of pay; starting date; whether temporary or permanent; and
mention of special conditions, if any, attached to the job to be filled.
(ii)
Strategy
Development
Once it is known how many with what
qualifications of candidates are required, the next step involved in this
regard is to devise a suitable strategy for recruiting the candidates in the
organization.
The strategic considerations to be
considered may include issues like whether to prepare the required candidates
themselves or hire it from outside, what type of recruitment method to be used,
what geographical area be considered for searching the candidates, which source
of recruitment to be practiced, and what sequence of activities to be followed
in recruiting candidates in the organization.
(iii)
Searching
This step involves attracting job
seekers to the organisation. There are broadly two sources used to attract
candidates, namely, internal and external sources.
Internal
sources:
Examples of internal sources of
recruitment are:
Ø Job posting and bidding
Ø Promotion and transfers
Ø Employee referrals
Ø Recruiting former employees and
applicants
Ø Internal recruiting databases
Advantages of internal recruitment
sources:
Ø Morale of person being promoted
Ø Better assessment of abilities
Ø Lower cost for some jobs
Ø Motivator for good performance
Ø Causes a succession of promotions
Disadvantages of internal
recruitment sources:
Ø Possible morale problems of those
who have not been promoted
Ø “Political” infighting for
promotions
Ø Need for management-development
program
External
Sources:
Examples of external sources of
recruitment are:
Ø Schools, colleges and universities
Ø Labor unions
Ø Media sources
Ø Employment agencies
Advantages of external recruitment
sources:
Ø New “blood” brings new perspectives
Ø Cheaper and faster than training
Ø Professionals
Ø No group of political supporters in
company
Ø May bring new industry insights
Disadvantages of external
recruitment sources:
Ø May not select someone who will
“fit” the job or in the organization
Ø May cause morale problems for
internal employees
Ø Longer “adjustment” or orientation
time
(iv)
Screening
Though some view screening as the
starting point of selection, here it has been considered as an integral part of
recruitment. The reason being the selection process starts only after the
applications have been screened and shortlisted.
Job specification is invaluable in
screening. Applications are screened against the qualification, knowledge,
skills, abilities, interest and experience mentioned in the job specification.
Those who do not qualify are straightway eliminated from the selection process.
The techniques used for screening
candidates vary depending on the source of supply and method used for
recruiting. Preliminary applications, de-selection tests and screening
interviews are common techniques used for screening the candidates.
(v)
Evaluation and Control
(vi)
Given
the considerable cost involved in the recruitment process, its evaluation and
control is, therefore, imperative.
Methods
of selection
There are different methods of
selection which a company can use for selecting the right candidate.
(a)Selection based on the letters and C.V.
The first step in the process of selection
is a screening of someone’s C.V. ‘First
screening’ explains how organizations execute this first selection based on the
C.V. of an applicant.
(b)Interviewing
Interviewing is the most used method of
selection. Actually there are different ways to form an interview. It is
possible to keep apart structured- and unstructured interviews. Besides that,
there are two types of questions which can be used during an interview, open-
and closed questions. Organizations use a lot of open questions which gives applicants
the opportunity to give an extensive explanation.
The following questions give an
example:
- What kind of experience do you have
by doing this job?
- Can you tell me more about your
personal interests in this job?
Closed-questions can be used to check
the necessary facts. Applicants will answer these type of questions by saying
‘yes’ or ‘no’.
The following question gives an
example:
- So you have worked on the financial
department before?
Organizations ask a lot of questions
which are related to the ability and motivation of an applicant.
The following questions give an example
of these type of questions:
- Can you tell us something about
yourself?
- What do you know about our company?
- Why do you want work for us?
- What can you offer us that others
can’t?
- What do you think is the most
important thing in your job?
- How long are you planning to work for
us?
- What are the skills you have to
improve?
When organizations deal with
international assignments it is important to ask applicants questions about
their personal situation. This type of questions includes subjects like
international moving, family matters, contract issues and extra benefits.
(Kluytmans & Ardts, 2005)
(c) Reference
It is common to do a reference check
for any job position. Some writers mention a reference check as a method of
selection.
(d)Psychological tests
The two most used psychological tests
are the general intelligence test and the personality test. The intelligence
test is used to measure the ability to think abstract and to reason. These
tests are focused on the verbal- and non-verbal quality of a person. The
personality test gives an indication of the character traits of an applicant.
Characteristics which can be tested are for example ‘emotional stability’,
‘social extraversion’ and ‘assertiveness’.
(e)Assessments
When organizations decide to include an
assessment in their recruitment- and selection procedure, they can choose to
set-up an assessment by themselves or they can hire an external company which
is specialized in this process. These ‘assessment centers’ have special trained
observers who are focused on the behavior of the applicants. The assessment can
be used to test a particular ‘skill’ or to see if someone agrees with the norms
and values of the company.
(f) Work-sample-tests
Work-sample-tests are used to represent
a specific task which is linked to a particular function. In this case the
employer can precisely see how a candidate is working. An example of a
work-sample test is a management assistant who gets the assignment to type a
letter without any mistakes. Actually it is more difficult to do a
work-sample-test when the function includes multiple tasks.
(g)Situational tests
A situational test is similar to the
work-sample-test. The main difference is that this test is used for situations
where it is difficult to test specific function requirements, for example the
mental ability of a person. A famous example is the ‘in-basket-test’ in which a
candidate has to deal with the mail of a colleague who becomes ill.
No comments:
Post a Comment