Human Resource Management

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Human Resource Management


Human Resource Management

• RECRUIT, TRAIN and USE the workers in the most productive manner to meet the organisations objectives.


Icons key: For more detailed instructions, see the Getting Started presentation

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Recruitment and Selection

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Learning objectives

What steps are involved in the recruitment and selection process?How does a business identify a vacancy and then make people aware of it?How is the right person selected for a position?What legal and ethical rules affect the recruitment and selection process?


Seven stages: recruitment and selection


1. Identifying the vacancy

The first step in the recruitment process is for the vacancy to be formally agreed between Human Resources and the department needing the employee.

Recruiting staff costs money, so a business must only hire people it needs. Each department pays for its own employees from its budget, set by the Finance & Accounts function.


Planning?


Human Resources Planning?


Recruitment and selection


2. Writing a job description

Larger businesses usually write a job description to specify what a role entails, for example:

Innocent LtdJob title: Cow van mechanic

Department: Operations Hours of work:40 hours per week Salary: £12,000 – £16,000 Duties & responsibilities: 1. Fix mechanical problems with the ‘cow’ vans.2. Service, maintain and clean the vans regularly.3. Keep records logging all problems and fixes to the vans.


3. Writing a person specification

Larger businesses will often write a person specification for a vacancy to identify what they are looking for in applicants.

qualifications (necessary and desirable)

experience (what jobs they should have done before)

skills (teamwork, good organization, typing, etc.)

attributes (personal qualities and characteristics).

How would a person specification help the applicants apply for the job?

A person specification can help a business to compare applicants by using it as a set of criteria. It will usually include:


Person specification activity


4. Advertising the vacancy

The business needs to make the vacancy known to potential applicants. This can be done by paying a recruitment agency to find applicants, or through an advertisement, e.g.:

in the local or national press

on a recruitment website

in a Jobcentre

by a recruitment agency


What is included in a job advert?

A job advert usually summarizes the details included in the job description:

the name of the business or organization

job title and (often) salary

a job description

how to apply.

The type of job available and the business’s recruitment budget determines where the vacancy is advertised, and the language and style used within the advert.


Types of job adverts

Find three job adverts from various sources and evaluate how effective they are.


5. Shortlisting the applicants

Once the closing date has passed, the selection process begins. At this stage, an employee must look through the applications to select the best ones.

The shortlist is drawn up by using the criteria in the person specification: qualifications, experience, skills and attributes – necessary, then desirable.

The shortlisted candidates will be contacted by HR and asked to attend interviews.

A shortlist of possible candidates will be compiled, and they will be invited to attend interviews.


6. Interviewing the candidates

The interview is an opportunity for the employer to meet potential employees. It allows both parties to find out more about each other.

The interviewers are usually trained employees, either from the HR department or the department with the vacancy.

It can be stressful for the applicants as they must impress the interviewers and compete with each other.


In the interview

The interview will usually involve a face-to-face meeting. For senior positions, the interviews can take place with more than one interviewer; these are called panel interviews.

Typically, the interviewer will ask the candidate open questions – ones that cannot be answered with a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’ – to help determine whether the candidate is suitable.

Applicants may also have to complete relevant tests, such as in English, maths, or typing, to check that they are capable of doing the job.


Interview questions


7. Selecting and appointing the candidate

After the interviews, each candidate is reviewed and the business selects and appoints the most suitable person.

Once the decision has been made, all of the applicants will be informed as to whether they have got the job or not.

Some businesses use a score sheet to rank how well the candidates have performed against a set of criteria – the one with the highest score is then selected; others take different factors into account, such as personality.


Internal and external recruitment

Sometimes a business will fill a vacancy through internal recruitment – by inviting existing employees to apply. Or it may fill it by external recruitment – by recruiting strangers.

Advantages Disadvantages

What are the advantages and disadvantages of internal recruitment? Use the table below to record your ideas.


The seven stages


Recruitment laws

A business must treat all of the applicants for a job fairly to provide equal opportunities.

Sex Discrimination Act 1975

Race Relations Act 1976

Disability Discrimination Act 1995

Age Discrimination Act 2006.

These laws are designed to prevent discrimination in the workplace:

It is illegal for a business to discriminate against people because of their sex, race, a disability or their age.


Ethical recruitment

A business must not discriminate against any applicant because it is unethical and illegal.

not let initial appearance affect the way they interview applicants

not show favouritism towards applicants they know

treat the applicants in the same way by asking them the same questions.

Many businesses want to be ethical towards applicants by training interviewers to:


Illegal or unethical?

Now write down which law or policy should prevent each scenario from occurring.

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Recruitment policy

Larger businesses often post their recruitment policies on their intranets and keep paper copies to make sure that the data is easily accessible.

To reduce the possibility of applicants or candidates being treated unfairly, a business will write a recruitment policy. It will contain clear rules describing what must happen when staff are recruited.

Employees who participate in the recruitment and selection process are trained to act legally and ethically.


Case study: Thorpe Park


Who wants to be an A* student?


• Discuss the importance to a growing business of human resource planning. (12) P1 S2006

Documents

Human Resource Management