Recruitment

Chapter 4

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 Meaning of recruitment
Recruitment is the development and maintenance of adequate
manpower resources.
Recruitment is the process of searching for prospective employees
and stimulating them to apply for jobs n the organization.
Recruitment is the process of discovering the potential applicants
for actual or anticipated organizational vacancies.
Function of recruitment:
1- To discover sources of manpower
2- To attract an adequate number of prospective manpower

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 Stages in recruitment
What is recruitment?
Recruitment is an important part of a business' human resource planning.
In all businesses, people are a vital resource - and they need to be managed
as such.
The overall aim of the recruitment and selection process is to obtain the
number and quality of employees that are required in order for the business to
achieve its objectives.

There are three main stages in recruitment:

(1) Identify and define the requirements. This involves the preparation of job
descriptions, job specifications and person specifications
(2) Attract potential employees - there are various methods for doing this -
which are described in a separate revision note
(3) Select and employ the appropriate people from the job applicants

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 Recruitment as ongoing process
It is important to appreciate that recruitment is a continuous process
because of:
Staff departures (e.g. retirements, sackings, resignations)
Changes in business requirements (e.g. new products, markets,
expanded operations)
Changes in business location (a relocation often triggers the need
for substantial recruitment)
- Promotions

Recruitment is becoming more and more important in business. In

particular, this reflects the increasing need for a well-motivated and
flexible workforce that requires less management supervision.

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 Sources of Recruitment
Internal Sources
External Sources

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What is internal recruitment?
This refers to the filling of job vacancies from
within the business - where existing employees
are selected rather than employing someone
from outside.
A business might decide that it already has the
right people with the right skills to do the job,
particularly if its training and development
program has been effective

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 How is it done?

Internal vacancies are usually advertised within the

business via a variety of media:
- Staff notice boards
- Intranets
- In-house magazines / newsletters (for example, Emap,
a major publishing business) have a weekly staff
magazine devoted solely to advertising jobs within the
organization!
- Staff meetings

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 Internal Sources
Internal resources include personnel already on the
payroll of the organization, whenever vacancies arises,
somebody from within the organization will be looked
into:
Promotion: means shifting of an employee to a higher
position carrying higher responsibility, status, facilities
and salaries.
Transfer: refers to change in job assignment. It may
involve promotion, demotion or no change in terms of
status or responsibilities.

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Advantages of Internal Recruitment
Familiarity: organization and its employees are familiar to each
other (knows each other). Employer should know more about the
internal candidate's abilities (= a reduced risk of selecting an
inappropriate candidate)

Better utilization of internal talent: enables the organization to

make the best use of its capabilities of its employees. May help to
retain staff who might otherwise leave
Economy: Usually quicker and less expensive than recruiting from
outside
Motivational value: is a source for encouragement and motivation
for employees. Gives existing employees greater opportunity to
advance their careers in the business
Requires a short induction training period

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 Limitation of Internal Recruitment
Restricted Choice: restricts the options and freedom for
the organization in choosing the most suitable candidate
for the vacancy.
In breeding: if the organization depends too much on
internal recruitment, it means that organization denies
itself (fresh talent) and (new blood) available outside.
Absence of competition: absence of competition from
qualified candidates outside the organization, employees
are likely to expect automotive promotion.
Conflict: chance of conflict among those who aspire for
promotion for available vacancy. Who are not promoted
will be unhappy and their efficiency will decline.
Business may become resistant to change; by recruiting
from outside, new perspectives and attitudes are brought
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What is external recruitment?

This refers to the filling of job vacancies

from outside the business (contrast with
internal recruitment). Most businesses
engage in external recruitment fairly
frequently, particularly those that are
growing strongly, or that operate in
industries with high staff turnover.

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 External Sources
Refers to prospective candidates outside the
organization. Such as:
1- Advertising: in newspaper and periodicals, especially
in recruitment for management and technical personnel.
Advantages: all the details about the job where it allows
self screening by the prospective candidates. It also
gives management a wider range of candidates.
Disadvantages: it brings a large number of applications
whose screening cost may be quite heavy.
2- Employment Agencies: (governmental and private),
3- Educational Institutions: Direct recruitment from
universities, colleges.
4- Employee Recommendations including employees

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 External Sources
6- Leasing: to adjust short-term fluctuations in personnel
needs, the possibilities of leasing personnel for some
specified period may be considered.
7- Waiting list: candidates who have gone through
recruitment process but not been employed.
8- Field Trips: an interviewing team makes trips to town
and cities which are known to contain all kinds of
employees required by the organization. Arrival dates
and the time and the venue are advertised in advance.
9- Un solicited applications: who send their requests
for appointment against a vacancy, if any. Employer save
not only selection and training cost, but also expenditure
in the form of pension, insurance and fringe benefits.
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10. Headhunters / Recruitment Consultancies
"Up market" recruitment agents who provide a more specialized
approach to the recruitment of key employees and/or senior
management. They tend to "approach" individuals with a good
reputation rather than rely on long lists of registered applicants.
11.Job centers
Government run agency - good for identifying local candidates for
relatively straightforward jobs. The job centre service is free to
employers and is most useful for advertising semi-skilled, clerical and
manual jobs.

12.Government Funded Training Schemes

There is a variety of government funded schemes that provide
potential recruits, including the New Deal and Modern Apprenticeships.
The advantage of these schemes is that government funding lowers the
cost of employment and the business can get to know the employee
before committing for the long-term. However, relatively few
employment requirements are covered by these schemes.

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 Advantages of External Sources.
1- Wide Options: large number of applicants.
2- Infusion of new blood: fresh and talented
candidates from outside.
3- Elements of competition: internal candidates
have to compete with outside for the vacancies.

Limitations of External Source:

1- Frustration among existing employees
2- High expense
3- Time consuming
4- Lack of certainty.
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 Job advertisements : The Objective of
Recruitment Advertising

The objectives of recruitment advertising

are to:
(1) Attract suitable candidates, and
(2) Deter unsuitable candidates

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 What makes a good job
advertisement?
Features are likely to be in an effective advertisement:
Accurate - describes the job and its requirements
accurately
Short - not too long-winded; covers just the important
ground
Honest - does not make claims about the job or the
business that will later prove false to applicants
Positive - gives the potential applicant a positive feel
about joining the business
Relevant - provides details that prospective applicants
need to know at the application stage (e.g. is shift-
working required; are there any qualifications required)

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 Content of a job advertisement
Most job adverts contain:
Details of the business/organization (name, brand, location, type of
business)
Outline details of the job (title, main duties)
Conditions (special factors affecting the job)
Experience / qualifications required e.g. minimum qualifications,
amount of experience)
Rewards (financial and non-financial; the financial rewards may be
grouped together under a total valued "package - e.g. total package
AED 50,000)
Application process (how should applicants apply, how to;
deadlines

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 Other factors to consider when
placing an ad.
Choice of medium
What kind of advertising medium should be chosen? The following
factors are relevant:
Type of job: senior management jobs merit adverts in the national
newspapers and/or specialist management magazines (e.g. the
Economist, Business Week). Many semi-skilled jobs need only be
advertised locally to attract sufficient good quality candidates
Cost of advertising: National newspapers and television cost
significantly more than local newspapers etc
Readership and circulation: how many relevant people does the
medium reach? How frequently (e.g. weekly, monthly, annually!. Is
the target audience actually only a small fraction of the total
readership or Viewer ship?
Frequency: how often does the business want to advertise the
post?
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 Recruitment - discrimination
Discrimination in recruitment and induction
Employers have to take care to avoid
discrimination in recruitment (when prospective
employees apply for a job) and induction (when
employees start work with a new employer)
processes. Not only is this fair and required by
law, but it also gives an employer the best
chance of getting the right person for the job.

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 Example
In the UK, employers should follow the
code of practice on Racial Equality in
Employment that became law in April
2006. This provides guidance on how
businesses can prevent unlawful racial
discrimination in their recruitment policies.

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 Other issues to address in
recruitment:
Addressing Disabilities
When interviewing people for a job there are
certain questions that an employer should not
ask, either directly or indirectly, including
whether a candidate is married, or having a
partner or plans to have children.
Religion

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 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cR1CC
1Fz5U8

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