How might organizations improve the way in which

they recruit and select employees?

Nitin Rawat (109152408)

11/15/2010

Word count: 3453

Abstract

The paper will discuss about the recruitment and selection process of an employee in

organizations; what is the difference between recruitment and selection process is;

how these processes are important for organizations. The literature will further

discuss about the procedure followed for recruitment and selection process by the

organizations and what are the limitations or the reasons of failure of these

processes in organizations. The paper then proposes various methods so that these

organizations might improve the way in which they recruit and select employees and

then discusses how these suggestions will help organizations and in what way.

Introduction

These days each flourishing organization has defined processes of recruitment and selection

of employees to ensure that minimum cost is spent on training and induction as well as the

management gets the right person at right place and at right time (Armstrong, 2003), so as

to gain success and to compete with others in the market. They recognize that to stay

competitive, they need relevant, timely information of their business requirement that can

trigger recruitment and selection process to drive the correct decisions. They go hand in

hand with each other to get the best candidate at right time for right requirement and at

minimum cost by organizations. To understand both these processes better, firstly we have

to know about these processes individually.

Recruitment is a process of attracting applicants for the job and creating a pool of applicants

among whom right employees will be selected (Werther ‘et al’, 1993). According to Flippo in

1984, “it is the process of searching prospective applicants and then stimulating them to

apply for the vacancies in the organization”. Recruitment is a two-way process in which

organization seeks prospective and vice-versa. Recruitment is the activity that links the

employers and the job seekers. Recruitment of candidates is the function preceding the

selection, which helps create a pool of prospective employees for the organisation so that

the management can select the right candidate for the right job from this pool. The main

objective of the recruitment process is to expedite the selection process. It is a continuous

process whereby the firm attempts to develop a pool of qualified applicants for the future

human resources needs even though specific vacancies do not exist. Usually, the

recruitment process starts when a manger initiates an employee requirement for a specific

vacancy or an anticipated vacancy. Recruitment varies according to the needs (Ghosh, 2007)

like:-

1. Planned – This type of recruitment basically arises when there are any changes in the

organization and retirement policy.

2. Anticipated – This need is the movement in personnel, which an organization can

predict by forecasting the trends of internal and external environment.

3. Unexpected – This type of need is very common now days which is like resignation,

deaths, accidents or illness.

While recruitment refers to process of identifying & encouraging prospective employees,

Selection is a process of picking individuals (out of the pool of job applicants) with requisite

qualifications & competence to fill jobs in organisation (Gautam, 2008). “It is a process of

between applicants in order to identify (and hire) those with a greater likelihood of success

in a job” as stated by Stone in 1997. It is a process of many hurdles of success and failure.

Applicants are screened by the employer and then the short-listed or qualified applicants go

on to the next hurdle, while unqualified ones are being eliminated (Yoder, 1997). Basically, it

is a long process which begins with the interview of applicants and ends with employment

contract. In practice Selection process differs among organizations and between two

different jobs in same organization. Selection procedure for senior manager can be a long-

drawn and rigorous but it is simple and short while hiring shop-floor workers. Selection

process is the successor of recruitment process mostly in each and every organization. Both

recruitment and selection are the two phases of the employment process.

Recruitment v/s Selection

In spite of the fact that both these processes go hand in hand still there are significant

differences in recruitment and selection process. Here are few of the common differences

(Giri, 2008) mentioned:-

The recruitment is the process of searching the candidates for employment and

stimulating them to apply for jobs in the organisation whereas selection involves the

series of steps by which the candidates are screened for choosing the most suitable

persons for vacant posts.

The basic purpose of recruitments is to create a talent pool of candidates to enable

the selection of best candidates for the organisation, by attracting more and more

employees to apply in the organisation whereas the basic purpose of selection

process is to choose the right candidate to fill the various positions in the

organisation.

Recruitment is a positive process which means it encourages more and more

employees to apply whereas selection is a negative process as it involves rejection of

the unsuitable or unmatched candidates with the job profile or job requirement.

Recruitment is concerned with tapping the sources of human resources whereas

selection is concerned with selecting the most suitable or qualified candidate

through various selection methods like interviews and tests.

There is no contract of recruitment established in recruitment whereas selection

results in a contract of service or employment between the employer and the

selected employee.

Importance of Recruitment and Selection process

Recruitment and selection process is a very important process of Human Resource

Management (Geet ‘et al’, 2008). It is a very important tool that is used by many businesses

or corporations. This is a form of business competition. This tool helps organizations get

closer to achieving their overall corporation goal. This is why recruitment and selection

process demands serious attention from upper management because it is said that any

business strategy will falter without the talent to execute that tie of business (Kaila, 2006). It

is the process which links the employers with the employees. It also increases the pool of

qualified candidates required for the particular job profile at minimum cost and also

increases the success rate of selection process by minimizing the count of under qualified or

over qualified job candidates or job applicants (Harris ‘et al’, 2003). This process not only

helps organizations getting right candidate but also minimizes the probability of that the job

applicant once recruited and selected will leave the organization only after a short period of

time. Through recruitment and selection process organizations can meet social and legal

obligations regarding the composition of their workforce (Taylor ‘et al’, 2008). It also helps

in identifying and preparing potential job applicants who will be appropriate candidates.

Recruitment and selection process supports for increase organization and individual

effectiveness of various recruiting techniques and sources for all types of job applicants.

Limitations of Recruitment and Selection process

In spite of following the procedures of recruitment and selection process there are some

reasons where selection and recruitment get stuck most of the time. These are the reasons

for not following the process properly and hence the recruitment and selection processes

are flawed. Some of the common flaws while practising the process is given by Parrot in

1998 are:-

Poorly defined job specification or undeclared, hidden agendas – due to poor

defined job specification or without doing any analysis on the person specification

there is improper recruitment and selection of the candidate.

Selection criteria that are unduly conservative, too rigid, incomplete, unfocused or

not able to be tested – criteria which are not relevant or focussed with the job

description and person specification or which are not enough to test the ability and

personality of the candidate can lead to improper selection of the applicant.

Selection criteria which are not connected with the job profile or which are not

followed anymore in the organization are set during the selection process.

Poorly chosen advertising strategies or deficiencies in the advertisement – poor

advertisement of relevant information of the organization and at improper timing

leads to waste of time and money of the organization.

An inflexible selection strategy, like using the same methodology on all occasions –

according to the requirement, the strategy of selection and selection criteria has to

be change. When there is a fixed process of assessment of candidates for every role

then there will not be proper selection process followed.

Lack of thought in response handling like the contact person is not contactable –

when there is a lag of time and lack of thought process while responding back to the

candidate then the problem arises in the process.

Concentrating the short-listing process in too few hands – short-listing of the

candidates has to be very critical part of recruitment process. When this is done by

few people then there are chances that the short-listing of candidates is not done

properly and it becomes a flaw in the recruitment and selection process.

Not utilising referees or using them too late in the process – many candidates not

use references or often use them very late when the decision has been taken which

results in rejection of some potential candidates.

Not asking core questions of each applicant, asking 'double-barrelled' questions,

asking questions about hypothetical situations outside the applicant's experience –

there are situations when an interviewer asks questions based on his or her

experience but may be which are not related to the job profile or person

specification, which again can lead to the rejection of capable applicant.

Absence of testing for competence in essential job skills – at many situations the

assessor forget to take the test of skills, ability and knowledge maybe because the

candidate is assessor’s relative or applicant’s referee is assessor’s colleague which

can wrongly assess the candidate for the required job profile.

Making the selection decision fit the process after the event.

Failure to provide feedback.

Sloppy notification processes in respect of applicants.

Procedures of Recruitment and Selection process and their importance

The purpose of recruitment and selection process is to match people to work (Roberts,

1997). It is the most important element in any organization’s management of people or

simply a major function of the human resource department because it is not possible to

optimise the effectiveness of human resources, by any method. The recruitment process is

the first step towards creating the competitive strength and the recruitment strategic

advantage for the organisations. Any organization cannot achieve its best until it has a right

combination or basic match of people and work (Greenberg ‘et al’, 2003). Recruitment and

selection process involves a systematic procedure from sourcing the candidates to arranging

and conducting the interviews and requires many resources and time. Overall flow of

recruitment and selection process has been shown in Figure 1 and these processes are as

follows:

Prepare job description and person specification – Recruitment and selection is a process

of searching needle in a haystack. Good techniques may remove the hay effectively, but

being able to clearly recognise the needle is essential. It is very important for selection to

get proper specification of the profile of the role and the person to fill that role. Since

selection is about matching people to work (roles), it is important to balance both the sides

of the specification.

Competencies – One of the key factors of determining the role and the person specifications

is the use of competencies. The term ‘competencies’ is used to describe all the work-related

personal attributes, knowledge, experience, skills and values that a person draws on to

perform their work well. Mainly, the focus is on those competencies which differentiate

between effective and superior performance.

Advertisement - The advertisement reflects the most important criteria of the person

specification, which must be justifiable and objective as an advertisement can be challenged

on discrimination grounds. The advertisement should deliver the maximum amount of

information in the minimum number of words that enables people to decide whether or not

to apply. It helps in attracting candidates of more relevant profile and also can give an idea

to the candidates regarding the basic requirement of that particular job profile. There are

various means by which an organization can advertise their vacancy like newspapers,

magazines, pamphlets, websites, fairs and recruitment consultants.

Attracting candidates – The process of attracting people to apply for the role requires

achievement of balance. There has to be sufficient candidates to afford an opportunity to

choose and also the quality of the candidates has to be good enough to make these

decisions meaningful or effective. There has to be a proper way of attracting candidates as

even processing of unsuitable candidates also cost considerably when the number of

applicants are huge. This process helps in getting enough applicants so that management

can select right employee without making any compromises.

Response – The response process is mainly base on application forms or curricula vitae. The

use of application forms adds an additional stage to the overall recruitment and selection

process because the initial contact from the candidate has to be followed with a response in

sending out the forms. This step is basically helping the organizations in screening of

candidates which are less suitable or not at all matching the job description and profile as

required.

Screening – This is a process which is widely used by the organizations in their recruitment

and selection process. Screening process significantly improves the quality and consistency

of the selection process. There are many variations in the screening process depending

upon the types of the services like some of the organization’s screening process is done

through telephone in which the candidates are questioned by the screening person using a

defined set of questions. Due to the standardised questionnaire being asked to each and

every candidate the screening process is very helpful in assessing the behaviour, skills and

knowledge of a candidate.

Interviewing – Interviewing is most frequently used selection technique. But the interviews

can be structured and unstructured. The unstructured interview generally takes the form of

free-ranging discussion in which the interviewer uses his or her judgement about the overall

performance of the candidate in deciding whether he or she matches the role. It is the most

commonly-used interview and is used by the interviewers who are very much confident

about their assessment or judgement. The structured interview is focussed on a set number

of clearly defined criteria, usually competencies. In this type interview, the questions are

carefully and logically structured to obtain the information about the criteria.

Testing – Testing is also a technique to assess an employee’s personality or ability. Ability

test can measure specific aptitudes, such as vocabulary, numeracy, spatial awareness,

typing speed and accuracy. These types of tests are more accurate in predicting potential

than personality of the candidate. But there are personality tests which measure the range

of personal characteristics, values and attitudes which shape an individual’s beliefs and

behaviours. Ability test actually delivers the actual result which is required in terms of the

skills and knowledge as per the role.

Assessment Centres – Assessment centres involve the application of a number of

techniques over a prolonged period to build a comprehensive picture of the applicant. It

usually comprise some visits and presentations of information of the organization, one or

more structured interviews and work simulations and exercises. Here, assessors are brought

together for debriefing and provide their evaluation of applicant elements. They are most

often used in graduate recruitment as the investment of the organization is high in case of

the selection of graduate recruitment and also experienced candidates will find this

assessment process a bit time taking and will not be able to commit their time in it.

Checks and Offer – This is the process of checking the information provided by the

candidate for authenticity. This may include checking of documents on qualifications,

licenses, statutory checks on work eligibility, specialist checks on health and credit or

criminal records, and taking up references. References are generally more useful when the

request is framed around specific questions.

Offers of the candidate can be conditional or unconditional. Conditional offers are

sometimes based on pre-conditions such as receipt of satisfactory references or

achievement of an academic qualification. Some offers are post-conditional like they may be

subject to satisfactory completion of probationary period. Offers need to be clear and

explicit and along with the complete terms and conditions of the employment.

Follow-up – Recruitment and selection process is often viewed as the process up to the

decision on the applicant. The complete information of the candidate gained is then kept in

the recruitment file and retained in case of any discrimination claims or any complaints.

Each and every selection process is not completely successful to get what the organization

want. It is often the case the case that the final selection is a compromise as no candidate

perfectly matches the specification, and that the offer is made to the person who most

closely matches the requirements. Therefore, it is important to plan the induction process

to meet the needs of that person or candidate.

Figure 1:

Analyse Role

Develop competencies/person

specification

Identify labour market

Attract candidates

Screen application

s

Short-list RejectAssess

(interview, tests,

assessment centres

etc )

Decision

Take/check references

Choice Reject

Offer

Induction

monitor/review

Recr

uitm

ent p

roce

ssSe

lecti

on p

roce

ss

Recruitment and Selection Process

Methods to improve Recruitment and Selection process

Organizations should tailor their recruitment strategies to the specific position(s) they are

seeking to fill. These strategies can be different depending upon the level of the position.

Through the inference drawn, this paper has proposed some suggestions to improve the

recruitment and selection process of an employee in the organization such as:-

Use of behaviour –based interviews: Interviews are already a part of recruitment and

selection process in the organization but as discussed earlier there are different types of

interviews that are structured and unstructured. To select appropriate candidate for the job

description and profile, ability, skills and knowledge are not sufficient. Behaviour of an

applicant is also a key element to determine the right person for role as the behaviour can

actually guide the performance of the employee at different situations. Behaviour-based

interviews enhance the effectiveness of the selection process by:

Focussing on job-related behaviours.

Obtaining accurate behavioural data.

Using past behaviour to predict the future behaviour.

Motivational Fit Inventories: During the selection process, most of the organizations mainly

focus only on assessing the skills of a candidate necessary to perform the job. However, skill

is only one factor related to job performance. Job motivation and organizational fit also

must be taken into consideration (Byham, 1989). A candidate might have all the skills

necessary to perform the job tasks, but not be motivated by the factors associated with the

particular job or by the company’s values and way of doing things. Thus, assessment of

these motivations can help identify candidates who not only have the “can do” aspect of the

job, but also have the “will do.”

Computerized Resume Screening: Computerized resume screening greatly reduces the time

HR professionals must spend sifting through non-standardized resumes. Now, HR can gather

resume data in a standard, computerized format or use special software to scan and process

resumes. Large banks of applicant data ensure that when new jobs arise, the database can

be easily searched for potential matches.

Training/Experience (T&E) Evaluations: Most of the organizations assess job-relevant

abilities, skills, and motivations in an applicant for their job profile. It is assumed that

individuals who have successfully performed job relevant tasks requiring these skills and

abilities in the past will also be successful in performing similar tasks in the future. T&E

evaluations can be used as a screening device for positions in which previous experience

and training are necessary for job performance. Organizations can use a well developed T&E

evaluations to set minimum qualifications for essential job tasks and skills that are

predictive of job performance.

Also, all the processes of recruitment and selection procedure as mentioned before incur

cost which needs to monitored and reviewed each time so that these processes can be

optimised and cost effective. In addition to information on the cost and effectiveness of the

processes, there needs to be monitoring of the standards. These include both quality and

legal aspects. Quality will be reflected in speed of response like whether all applications

were acknowledged, service response from clients (including internal) and candidates

(whether these are successful or unsuccessful). Legal aspects will include monitoring of

response rates and success rates for business ethics like minorities, male v female and

disabled.

Outcomes of Improved Recruitment and Selection process

Organizations with effective selection systems can better identify and hire employees with

the right skills and motivations to succeed in the positions, as well as in the organization.

When employees are successful in their jobs, the organization benefits through increased

productivity and higher quality products and services. Thus, effective selection of right

employee in initial retains the employee for longer duration and finally reducing internal as

well as external cost which ultimately leads to critical business outcomes.

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