Human Resources Recruitment

"Attracting top talent to an organization has never been more difficult", are the words of senior recruiter Hamish Davidson of Veredus Executive Resourcing chairman who has more than 18 years experience.

Well developed leadership skills, the ability to shift attitudes and behaviors, the capacity to exert effective influence and work through others, the talent for successful partnership working and, most importantly, having the potential to adapt quickly to internal and external change, and to get that change owned and embedded in an organization.

These are the core competencies sought by organizations the world over, regardless of sector, industry, specialism, background or level. Because there is a relatively small "pool" of talent with these competencies, recruiting the right person has never been harder. (Recruiting for success Journal, 2004)

DEFINITION

(Robbins: Coulter 2005) defines recruitment as the process of locating, identifying and attracting capable applicants for available positions.

Recruitment may also be defined as the process of attracting individuals on a timely basis, in sufficient numbers, and with appropriate qualifications, and encouraging them to apply for jobs with an organization. (personal.kent.edu)

WHY IS RECRUITMENT IMPORTANT?

Successful, efficient recruitment, benefits organisations in that it increases it chances of gaining and thus increasing the ever important economic theory of the human capital factor. (Mullins, 1999) The human capital theory suggests that education or training raises the productivity of workers by imparting useful knowledge and skills, hence raising workers' future income by increasing their lifetime earnings (Becker, 1964).

One of the many adverse consequences of poor recruitment is the possibility of a high level of staff turnover. Not only does this lead to increased direct costs, it also has a disruptive effect on the use of managerial time. In addition, a very important intangible cost is the effect of high staff turnover on the morale, motivation and job satisfaction of staff and on the level of organisational performance and customer satisfaction. (Mullins, 1999)

RECRUITMENT METHODS

When deciding what method of recruitment to use, it is suggested that an organisation thinks about where their employees currently come from/ prevailing market, type of position, and their budget. For example, "Does the prevailing market consist of colleges or universities, existing employees, referrals or volunteers" and "Is the position, managerial, academic, technical, research or specialist?" www.hru.uts.edu.au

Internal recruitment involves existing employees and volunteers who are given an opportunity to apply for a new job opening. The advantages of this method are that it serves as a reward to employees for past performance, gives an employee the opportunity for career development, retains the organisation's investment in the employee, reduces the amount of time necessary to orient a person to the new position and reduces the cost of recruitment, morale improves knowing that the company promotes from within and internal applicants already are socialized in the company's culture and way of conducting business. This can mean that training time can be reduced. (www.allbusiness.com) The main disadvantages of this method are that it provides a limited number of people to select from and it reduces the opportunity for increasing diversity within the organisation. www.hrcouncil.ca

Employee referral involves employees being asked to recommend a person for the job opening and is an informal method of internal recruitment. The advantages the organisation enjoys from this method are that the quality of employee referral is usually high because employees usually refer people that they are confident would be a good match for the position and the organisation as not to defame their status and people recruited by staff usually have some understanding of the organisation. The main disadvantages are that people tend to recommend others with similar backgrounds; therefore it is important to ensure that this practice does not lead to a decrease in diversity within your organisation. www.hrcouncil.ca

External recruitment involves staffing outside of the organisation. This search can take place in local, regional or international labour markets, depending on numbers, skills, competencies and experiences required, the potential financial costs involved and the perceived benefits involved to the organisation concerned. (Holden: Claydon 2004)

Print advertisements are the method where the job is posted in a newspaper or professional journal for public viewing. One condition that must be considered with print advertisements is that they will impact on a number of applicants so it should be presented in a general tone. Its advantage is that it can reach a large audience in a specific area and its disadvantage is that the ad may receive a significant number of applications from unqualified candidates. www.hrcouncil.ca

Also, to attract applications a company should attend career fairs and presentations. This caters mainly to soon to be graduates who are more likely to be unclear of their next step in the path of career choice and will be fresh off the press, thus easily moulded to fit the organisation. Presentation of a company, its aims and objectives are prepared to appeal to the interests of this group.

RECRUITMENT PROCESS

This is the actual procedure in which organisations embark on to recruit candidates. Departments may use different processes for recruitment depending upon the level and circumstances surrounding the need to fill the position. The recruitment process is carried out be human resource managers and line managers.

1. Identify vacancy

A vacancy arises. Sometimes this is due to the creation of a new job, on other occasions it may be because an existing member of staff has been promoted or is retiring.

Assess the Need For and Establish the Purpose of the Position

The institution's goals and mission statement should be clearly defined and understood prior to conducting a search for qualified individuals. It should also emphasize the people oriented nature of the organization.

Perform a Position Analysis

The department should identify the characteristics and requirements of the vacant position and the personality traits that would most benefit the individual who assumes the position.