Recruitment Strategies

 

1. 
   1) INTRODUCTION  

    Acquiring and retaining high-quality talent is critical to an organization's success. As the job market becomes increasingly competitive and the available skills grow more diverse, recruiters need to be more selective in their choices, since poor recruiting decisions can produce long-term negative effects, among them high training and development costs to minimize the incidence of poor performance and high turnover which, in turn, impact staff morale, the production of high quality goods and services and the retention of organizational memory. At worst, the organization can fail to achieve its objectives thereby losing its competitive edge and its share of the market.  

    Traditionally, Public Service organizations have had little need to worry about market share and increasing competition since they operate in a monopolistic environment. But in recent time, the emphasis on New Public Management/ Public Sector Management approaches has forced public organizations to pay closer attention to their service delivery as consumers have begun to expect and demand more for their tax dollars. No longer are citizens content to grumble about poorly-produced goods and services and the under-qualified, untrained employees who provide them. As societies become more critical and litigious, public service organizations must seek all possible avenues for improving their output and providing the satisfaction their clients require and deserve. The provision of high-quality goods and services begins with the recruitment process. 

    Recruitment is described as “the set of activities and processes used to legally obtain a sufficient number of qualified people at the right place and time so that the people and the organization can select each other in their own best short and long term interests”.1 In other words, the recruitment process provides the o organization with a pool of potentially qualified job candidates from which judicious selection can be made to fill vacancies. Successful recruitment begins with proper employment planning and forecasting. In this phase of the staffing process, an organization ƒ for internal recruiting, control the internal job posting process, generate the notices, and then match internal applicant qualifications with job specifications; ƒ where jobs are not being posted, generate a list of qualified internal candidates. An organization needs to analyze the benefits and disadvantages of recruiting its personnel through internal or external sources and, where the latter is selected, whether formal or informal systems should be used. formulates plans to fill or eliminate future job openings based on an analysis of future needs, the talent available within and outside of the organization, and the current and anticipated resources that can be expended to attract and retain such talent. 

    Also related to the success of a recruitment process are the strategies an organisation is prepared to employ in order to identify and select the best candidates for its developing pool of human resources. Organizations seeking recruits for base-level entry positions often require minimum qualifications and experience. These applicants are usually recent high school or university/ technical college graduates many of whom have not yet made clear decisions about future careers or are contemplating engaging in advanced academic activity. At the middle levels, senior administrative, technical and junior executive positions are often filled internally. The push for scarce, high-quality talent, often recruited from external sources, has usually been at the senior executive levels. Most organizations utilize both mechanisms to effect recruitment to all levels. 

2) THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS 

 Successful recruitment involves the several processes of: 

1. development of a policy on recruitment and retention and the systems that give life to the policy; 

2. needs assessment to determine the current and future human resource requirements of the organization. If the activity is to be effective, the human resource requirements for each job category and functional division/unit of the organization must be assessed and a priority assigned;  

3. identification, within and outside the organization, of the potential human resource pool and the likely competition for the knowledge and skills resident within it;  

4. job analysis and job evaluation to identify the individual aspects of each job and calculate its relative worth;  

5. assessment of qualifications profiles, drawn from job descriptions that identify responsibilities and required skills, abilities, knowledge and experience;  

6. determination of the organization's ability to pay salaries and benefits within a defined period;  

7. identification and documentation of the actual process of recruitment and selection to ensure equity and adherence to equal opportunity and other laws.  

Documenting the organization's policy on recruitment, the criteria to be utilized, and all the steps in the recruiting process is as necessary in the seemingly informal setting of in- house selection as it is when selection is made from external sources. Documentation satisfies the requirement of procedural transparency and leaves a trail that can easily be followed for audit and other purposes. Of special importance is documentation that is in conformity with Freedom of Information legislation (where such legislation exists), such as 

• criteria and procedures for the initial screening of applicants;  
• criteria for generating long and short lists;  
• criteria and procedures for the selection of interview panels;  
• interview questions;  
• interview scores and panelists' comments;
• results of tests (where administered);  
• results of reference checks. 

3) Recruitment strategies and processes

 

Recruitment may be conducted internally through the promotion and transfer of existing personnel or through referrals, by current staff members, of friends and family members. Where internal recruitment is the chosen method of filling vacancies, job openings can be advertised by job posting, that is, a strategy of placing notices on manual and electronic bulletin boards, in company newsletters and through office memoranda. Referrals are usually word-of-mouth advertisements that are a low-cost-per-hire way of recruiting.  

Internal recruitment does not always produce the number or quality of personnel needed; in such an instance, the organization needs to recruit from external sources, either by encouraging walk-in applicants; advertising vacancies in newspapers, magazines and journals, and the visual and/or audio media; using employment agencies to “head hunt”; advertising on-line via the Internet; or through job fairs and the use of college recruitment.

Public service agencies enjoy greater exposure to scrutiny than most private sector organizations; therefore, openness and transparency in recruitment and selection practices are crucial. The discussion that follows will identify some of the options available for attracting applicants to the public service job market and discuss strategies for managing the process. 

4) POSTING VACANCIES  

As indicated earlier, job posting refers to the practice of publicizing an open job to employees (often by literally posting it on bulletin boards) and listing its attributes, such as criteria of knowledge, qualification, skill and experience.2 The purpose of posting vacancies is to bring to the attention of all interested persons (inside or out of the organization) the jobs that are to be filled. 

Before posting a vacancy, management needs to decide whether:

• it intends to retain the job in its present form and with its present title, remuneration and status;  
• selected attributes of the job, for example, skill or experience, will change; 
• there are sufficient qualified, potential applicants serving in other positions within the organization who may be potential candidates for that job;  
• the existing organizational policy on recruitment is still applicable (for example, whether referrals, by staff members, of friends and family are still an acceptable way of filling vacancies); 
• the organization's stands to benefit more, in the long-term, from recruiting applicants from external sources. 
• Also necessary is the availability of a functional human resource information system that supports recruitment. An effective, [ideally] computerized system3 would:  
• flag imminent vacancies throughout the organization to ensure that the recruitment process is timely; 
• ensure that no candidates are lost but, instead, move through the process and are kept informed of their status;  
• ensure that good candidates whose applications are pending are kept in touch to maintain their interest in the organization;  
• assist in analyzing hiring, transfer and exit trends and provide other data that are helpful in planning, evaluating and auditing the recruitment process;  
• identify any adverse impacts of the recruitment process on vulnerable groups (for example minorities, especially where Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action legislation exists);4 
• for internal recruiting, control the internal job posting process, generate the notices, and then match internal applicant qualifications with job specifications;  
• where jobs are not being posted, generate a list of qualified internal candidates. An organization needs to analyze the benefits and disadvantages of recruiting its personnel through internal or external sources and, where the latter is selected, whether formal or informal systems should be used. 

5) Recruiting from internal sources

 

There are sound reasons for recruiting from sources within the organization:  

• The ability of the recruit is known so it is easy to assess potential for the next level. By contrast, assessments of external recruits are based on less reliable sources, such as references, and relatively brief encounters, such as interviews.  
• “Insiders” know the organization, its strengths and weaknesses, its culture and, most of all, its people.
• Promotions from within build motivation and a sense of commitment to the organization. Skilled and ambitious employees are more likely to become involved in developmental activities if they believe that these activities will lead to promotion. 
• Internal recruitment is cheaper and quicker than advertising in various media and interviewing “outsiders”. Time spent in training and socialization is also reduced.

At the same time, several disadvantages exist:  

Sometimes it is difficult to find the “right” candidate within and the organization may settle for an employee who possesses a less than ideal mix of competencies.  
If the vacancies are being caused by rapid expansion of the organization there may be an insufficient supply of qualified individuals above the entry level. This may result in people being promoted before they are ready, or not being allowed to stay in a position long enough to learn how to do the job well.  
Infighting, inbreeding, and a shortage of varied perspectives and interests may reduce organizational flexibility and growth, and resistance to change by those who have an interest in maintaining the status quo may present long term problems.  
In times of rapid growth and during transitions, the organization may promote from within into managerial positions, regardless of the qualifications of incumbents. Transition activities and rapid organizational growth often mask managerial deficiencies; it is not until the growth rate slows that the deficiencies become apparent and, then, the organization finds it difficult, if not impossible, to undo the damage. The resulting cost of remedial training can prove prohibitive. 

6) Recruiting from external sources

        External recruiting methods can be grouped into two classes: informal and formal. Informal recruiting methods tap a smaller market than formal methods. These methods may include rehiring former employees and choosing from among those “walk-in” applicants whose unsolicited résumés had been retained on file. The use of referrals also constitutes an informal hiring method. Because they are relatively inexpensive to use and can be implemented quickly, informal recruiting methods are commonly used for hiring clerical and other base-level recruits who are more likely than other groups to have submitted unsolicited applications. Former students who participated in internship programmers may also be easily and cheaply accessed. 

        Formal methods of external recruiting entail searching the labor market more widely for candidates with no previous connection to the organization. These methods have traditionally included newspaper/magazine/journal advertising, the use of employment agencies and executive search firms, and college recruitment. More often, now, job/career fairs and e-Recruiting are reaching the job seeker market. 

         Posting vacancies externally through the various arms of the media5 or via employment agencies reaches a wider audience and may turn up a greater number of potential candidates from which the organization can choose. At the same time, this method is relatively expensive and time-consuming as the organization works through initial advertisements, short-listing, interviewing and the other processes that precede selection. Even then, there is no guarantee that the results will be satisfactory to the organization, since the cost of advertising often limits the frequency and duration of the job posting, as well as the amount of information made available, thus making it difficult for a job seeker to accurately judge the worth of the position being offered. In addition, the organization may hire a candidate who fails to live up to the high potential displayed during the selection process. 

7) ON-LINE APPLICATIONS/RECRUITING ON THE INTERNET

 

Using the Internet is faster and cheaper than many traditional methods of recruiting. Jobs can be posted on Internet sites for a modest amount (less than in the print media), remain there for periods of thirty or sixty days or more - at no additional cost - and are available twenty-four hours a day. Candidates can view detailed information about the job and the organization and then respond electronically. 

Most homes and workplaces are now using computerized equipment for communication; the Internet is rapidly becoming the method of choice for accessing and sharing information. First-time job seekers are now more likely to search websites for job postings than to peruse newspapers, magazines and journals. The prevalence of readvertising has made it easier. The Internet speeds up the hiring process in three basis stages:

Faster Posting of jobs :- The wait for a suitable date and a prominent place in the print media is eliminated. The time lag that exists between the submission of information to the media house and its appearance in print disappears. On the internet, the advertisement appears immediately and can be kept alive for as long as the recruiter requires it. 

Faster applicant response:- Jobs posted on the Internet and requiring responses via the same day.

Faster processing of résumés:- An applicant sending a résumé electronically can immediately have the application processed, receive an acknowledgement, be screened electronically, and have details of the application and résumé dispatched to several managers at the same time.5  

On-line recruiting also provides access to passive job seekers, that is, individuals who already have a job but would apply for what appears a better one that is advertised on the Internet. These job seekers may be of a better quality since they are not desperate for a job change as are the active job seekers who may be frustrated, disgruntled workers looking for a new position. 

Companies that are likely to advertise on-line usually have a website that allows potential candidates to learn about the company before deciding whether to apply, thus lowering the incidence time-wasting through the submission of unsuitable applications. The website can be used as a tool to encourage potential job seekers to build an interest in joining the organization. 

Job websites offer unlimited space which can be used, by management, to sell the organization. The site can then be used, not only to post vacancies, but also to publicize the organization. That will allow candidates to become more familiar with the company, know what skills the company is looking for and get to know about its culture. Most importantly, the system will provide a proper path to securing quick responses to job openings. On-line recruiting facilitates the decentralization of the hiring function by making it possible for other groups in the organization to take responsibility for part of the function.

Internet recruiting is not all positive, though; there are drawbacks for unwary users:  

•  Some applicants still place great value on face-to-face interactions in the hiring process. Such applicants are likely to ignore jobs posted, impersonally, on-line.  
• Companies are overwhelmed by the volume of résumés posted on the Internet. This can, in fact, lengthen the short-listing process. If the screening process is not well done, the quantity of applications/résumés logged-on may be more of a hindrance to the process that an aid to selection.  
• Job seekers who demand confidentiality in the recruitment process may be reluctant to use the Internet as a job search mechanism.6

For effectiveness in the use of the strategy of e-Recruiting, companies are advised to: 

• thoroughly assess the service level provided by Job Sites to ensure that they maintain the level they claim to provide;  
• enhance the Corporate Web Site as a tool to encourage potential job seekers to become interested in joining the company;  
• take advantage of the fact that Internet job advertisements have no space limitations so recruiters can use longer job descriptions to fully describe the company, job requirements and working conditions offered;  
• use valid Search Engines that will sort candidates effectively, but will not discriminate against any persons or groups;  
• create attention-grabbing newspaper advertisements that prompt people to visit the company’s website. They will then see all vacancies that are advertised;  
• encourage employees to e-mail job advertisements to friends; ƒ design and implement a successful e-Recruitment strategy.7
• 
  

• 
  

• 8) Job fairs  

  

  
  The concept of a job fair is to bring those interested in finding a job into those companies who are searching for applicants.16 Job fairs are open fora at which employers can exhibit the best their companies have to offer so that job seekers can make informed choices. They are considered one of the most effective ways for job seekers to land jobs. At the job fair, employers have a large pool of candidates on which to draw, while job seekers have the opportunity to shop around for dozens – sometimes hundreds – of employers, all in one place.8  

  Notwithstanding the fact that the atmosphere at the fair is more relaxed than at an interview, employers are still on the look out for qualified, potential employees who have interest, dedication and initiative. 

  9) Maintaining fairness/equity in the recruitment process  

  

  
  It is often difficult to ensure and maintain fairness/equity in the recruitment process although, in every jurisdiction, there are laws that protect individuals and vulnerable groups from the negative impact of discriminatory practices. Where necessary, systems, detailed procedures and processes exist or must be established to minimize discrimination. 

  Each country designates/identifies a group or groups for special notice; women, visible minorities and the disabled are usual targets. The Government of Canada, in articulating its “Employment Equity Act and Regulations”, identified four designated groups as employment equity targets: women, Aboriginal people, members of visible minority groups, persons with disabilities. In the legislation, managers’ responsibilities for employment equity are stated as:  

  • Ensuring effective overall performance and continuous progress of the employment equity goals within the operation;  

  • Achieving, fostering and maintaining a representative workforce;  

  • Showing leadership in employment equity and demonstrating commitment to it by ensuring that discrimination and stereotyping are not tolerated; and  

  • Informing and educating employees in the organization about employment equity and diversity.9 

• 10) Conculation  

• In all Public Service jurisdictions, new approaches to recruitment are being used. In many territories, the strategies are manual but, as automated methods become more pervasive, those mechanisms that support its use will assume greater popularity. Whatever the strategies selected for use, the objective is to recruit the most qualified, committed individuals into the organizations and ensure that the provision of government services to the public is timely and effective, that the goods are of consistent high quality and that the organization's achieve the objectives for which they have been established. 

• 11) References 

  1. Schuler, Randall S.: Personnel and Human Resource Management, Third Edition. 1987. 

  2. Dessler, Gary: Human Resource Management, Eighth Edition. New Jersey, USA, 2000. 

  3. In a small organization, a manual information system would provide most of the benefits that the organization needs for an effective recruitment process. However, in a medium-sized or large organization, where speed is critical for decision-making, the speedy processing that determines the effectiveness of the HR Department can only be found in a computerized system. 

  4. Fisher, Cynthia D.; Schoenfeldt, Lyle F.; Shaw, James B.: Human Resource Management, Second Edition. Boston, MA, USA, 1993 

  5. Internet Recruiting Power: Opportunities and Effectiveness. CareerJournal.com. Taken from website: http://www.edu/research. This study was the result of a survey conducted in Europe by IRCO-IESE Business School on E-Recruitment.) 

  6. (Ibid.) 

  7. (Ibid.) 

  8. (Job Fair Strategies: http://jobsearchtech.about.com/library/weekly/aa120197-2.htm) 

  9. (Adapted from the Public Service Commission of Canada Manager’s Handbook: Chapter Five: Employment Equity. In http://www.psc-cfp.gcca/staf_dot/mgr-gestion/guide/chap5_e.html)