Recruitment

RECRUITMENT

RECRUITMENT: Recruitment forms a step in the process which continues with selection and ceases with the placement of the candidate. It is the next step in the procurement function, the first being the manpower planning. Recruiting makes it possible to acquire the number and types of people necessary to ensure the continued operation of the organisation. Recruiting is the discovering of potential applicants for actual or anticipated organisational vacancies.

According to Edwin B. Flippo, ―Recruitment is the process of searching for prospective employees and stimulating them to apply for jobs in the organisation.‖

According to Lord, ―Recruitment is a form of competition. Just as corporations compete to develop, manufacture, and market the best product or service, so they must also compete to identify, attract and hire the most qualified people. Recruitment is a business, and it is a big business.‖

In the words of Dale Yoder, ―Recruiting is a process to discover the sources of manpower to meet the requirements of the staffing schedule and to employ effective measures for attracting that manpower in adequate numbers to facilitate effective selection of an efficient working force.

Recruitment to Human Resource Acquisition Process

According to Werther and Davis, ―Recruitment is the process of finding and attracting capable applicants for employment. The process begins when new recruits are sought and ends when their applications are submitted. The result is a pool of applicants form which new employees are selected.‖

Dales S. Beach writes, ―Recruitment is the development and maintenance of adequate manpower resources. It involves the creation of a pool of available labour upon whom the organisation can depend when it needs additional employees.‖

Thus, recruitment process is concerned with the identification of possible sources of human resource supply and tapping those sources. In the total process of acquiring and placing human resources in the organisation, recruitment falls in between different sub-processes as shown in Figure 4.2.

According to Scott, Clothier and Spriegel the need for recruitment arises out of the following situations:

Vacancies created due to expansion, diversification, and growth of business.

An increase in the competitive advantage of certain concerns, enabling them to get more of the available business than formerly.

An increase in business arising from an upswing during the recovery period of a business cycle. Vacancies created due to transfer, promotion, retirement, termination, permanent disability or death.

The normal population growth, which requires increased goods and services to meet the needs of the people.

A rising standard of living, which requires more of the same goods and services as well as the creation of new wants to be satisfied.

1Process of Recruitment

Recruitment process passes through the following stages:

Recruitment process begins when the personnel department receives requisitions for recruitment from any department of the company, The personnel requisitions contain details about the position to be filled, number of persons to be recruited, the duties to be performed, qualifications expected from the candidates, terms and conditions of employment and the time by which the persons should be available for appointment etc.

Locating and developing the sources of required number and type of employees. Identifying the prospective employees with required characteristics.

Developing the techniques to attract the desired candidates. The goodwill of an organisation in the market may be one technique. The publicity about the company being a good employer may also help in stimulating candidates to apply. There may be others of attractive salaries, proper facilities for development etc.

Evaluating the effectiveness of recruitment process.

According to Famularo, personnel recruitment process involves five elements, viz., a recruitment policy, a recruitment organisation, a forecast of manpower, the development of sources of recruitment, and different techniques used for utilising these sources, and a method of assessing the recruitment programme. The explanation of these is described below:

1. Recruitment Policy: It specifies the objectives of recruitment and provides a framework for the implementation of the recruitment programme. It also involves the employer‘scommitment to some principles as to find and employ the best qualified persons for each job, to retain the most promising of those hired, etc. It should be based on the goals, needs and environment of the organisation.

2.  Recruitment Organisation: The recruitment may be centralised like public sector banks or decentralised. Both practices have their own merits. The choice between the two will depend on the managerial philosophy and the particular needs of the organisation.

3. Sources of Recruitment: Various sources of recruitment may be classified as internal and external. These have their own merits and demerits.

4. Methods of Recruitment: Recruitment techniques are the means to make contact with potential candidates, to provide them necessary information and to encourage them to apply for jobs.

5. Evaluation of Recruitment Programme: The recruitment process must be evaluated periodically. The criteria for evaluation may consist of cost per applicant, the hiring ratio, performance appraisal, tenure of stay, etc. After evaluation, necessary improvements should be made in the recruitment programme.

2 Recruitment Policy

As Yoder et al observe recruitment policy spells out the objectives of the recruitment and provides a framework for implementations of the recruitment programme in the form of procedures. It may involve a commitment to broad principles such as filling vacancies with the best qualified individuals. The recruitment policy may embrace several issues such as the extent of promotion from within, attitudes of enterprise in recruiting old, handicapped, and minor individuals, minority group members, part-time employees and relatives of present employees. In addition, the recruitment policy may also involve the organisation system to be developed for implementing the recruitment programme and procedures to be employed. Explicitly, an organisational system is a function of the size of an enterprise. In smaller enterprises, there may be merely informal recruiting procedures and the line official may be responsible to handle this function along with their usual responsibilities. On the other hand, in larger organisations, there is usually a staff unit attached with personnel or an industrial relations department designated as employment or recruitment office. This specialisation of recruitment enables staff personnel to become highly skilled in recruitment techniques and their evaluation. However, recruitment remains the line responsibility as far as thepersonnel requisition forms are originated by the line personnel, who have also the final word in the acceptance or rejection of a particular applicant. Despite this, the staff personnel have adequate freedom in respect of sources of manpower to be tapped and the procedure to be followed for this purpose.

Recruitment policy covers the following areas:

To prescribe the degree of emphasis. Inside the organisation or outside the organisation.

To provide the weightage that would be given to certain categories of people such as local population, physically-handicapped personnel, personnel from scheduled castes/tribes and other backward classes.

To prescribe whether the recruitment would be centralised or decentralised at unit levels.

To specify the degree of flexibility with regard to age, qualifications, compensation structure and other service conditions.

To prescribe the personnel who would be involved in recruitment process and the role of human resource department in this regard.

To specify the budget for meeting the expenditures incurred in completing the recruitment process.

According to Yoder, ―the recruitment policy is concerned with quantity and qualifications of manpower.‖ It establishes broad guidelines for the staffing process. Generally, the following factors are involved in a recruitment policy:

To provide each employee with an open road and encouragement in the continuing development of his talents and skills;

To provide individual employees with the maximum of employment security, avoiding, frequent lay-off or lost time;

To avoid cliques which may develop when several members of the same household or community are employed in the organisation;

To carefully observe the letter and spirit of the relevant public policy on hiring and, on the whole, employment relationship;

To assure each employee of the organisation interest in his personal goals and employment objective;

To assure employees of fairness in all employment relationships, including promotions and transfers;

To provide employment in jobs which are engineered to meet the qualifications of handicapped workers and minority sections; and

To encourage one or more strong, effective, responsible trade unions among the employees.

Prerequisites of a Good Recruitment Policy: The recruitment policy of an organisation must satisfy the following conditions:

It should be in conformity with its general personnel policies;

It should be flexible enough to meet the changing needs of an organisation;

It should be so designed as to ensure employment opportunities for its employees on a long-term basis so that the goals of the organisation should be achievable; and it should develop the potentialities of employees;

It should match the qualities of employees with the requirements of the work for which they are employed; and

It should highlight the necessity of establishing job analysis.

3Factor Affecting Recruitment

The factors affecting recruitment can be classified as internal and external factors.

The internal factors are:

Wage and salary policies;

The age composition of existing working force; Promotion and retirement policies;

Turnover rates;

The nature of operations involved the kind of personnel required; The level and seasonality of operations in question;

Future expansion and reduction programmes; Recruiting policy of the organisation;

Human resource planning strategy of the company;

Size of the organisation and the number of employees employed;

Cost involved in recruiting employees, and finally;

Growth and expansion plans of the organisation.

The external factors are:

Supply and demand of specific skills in the labour market;

Company‘simage perception of the job seekers about the company.

External cultural factors: Obviously, the culture may exert considerable check on recruitment. For example, women may not be recruited in certain jobs in industry.

Economic factors: such as a tight or loose labour market, the reputation of the enterprise in the community as a good pay master or otherwise and such allied issues which determine the quality and quantity of manpower submitting itself for recruitment.

Political and legal factors also exert restraints in respect of nature and hours of work for women and children, and allied employment practices in the enterprise, reservation of Job for SC, ST and so on.

4.Methods of Recruitment

Methods of recruitment are different from the sources of recruitment. Sources are the locations where prospective employees are available. On the other hand, methods are way of establishing links with the prospective employees. Various methods employed for recruiting employees may be classified into the following categories:

1. Direct Methods:

These include sending recruiters to educational and professional institutions, employees, contacts with public, and manned exhibits. One of the widely used direct methods is that of sending of recruiters to colleges and technical schools. Most college recruiting is done in co-operation with the placement office of a college. The placement office usuallyprovides help in attracting students, arranging interviews, furnishing space, and providing student resumes.

For managerial, professional and sales personnel campus recruiting is an extensive operation. Persons reading for MBA or other technical diplomas are picked up in this manner. For this purpose, carefully prepared brochures, describing the organisation and the jobs it offers, are distributed among students, before the interviewer arrives. Sometimes, firms directly solicit information from the concerned professors about students with an outstanding record. Many companies have found employees contact with the public a very effective method. Other direct methods include sending recruiters to conventions and seminars, setting up exhibits at fairs, and using mobile offices to go to the desired centre.

Based on personnel to be recruited

Managerial/technical personnel

Advertisement

Internet

Walk-ins

Campus recruitments

Job fairs

Consultancy firms

Personnel contacts

Poaching and raiding

Based on the movement of the organisation

Direct methods

Advertisement

Internet recruiting

Campus recruitment

Job fairs

Personnel contacts

Gate hiring

2. Indirect Methods:

The most frequently used indirect method of recruitment is advertisement in newspapers, journals, and on the radio and television. Advertisement enables candidates to assess their suitability. It is appropriate when the organisation wants to reach out to a large target group scattered nationwide. When a firm wants to conceal its identity, it can give blind advertisement in which only box number is given. Considerable details about jobs and qualifications can be given in the advertisements. Another method of advertising is a notice-board placed at the gate of the company.

3. Third-Party Methods:

The most frequently used third-party methods are public and private employment agencies. Public employment exchanges have been largely concerned with factory workers and clerical jobs. They also provide help in recruiting professional employees. Private agencies provide consultancy services and charge a fee. They are usually specialised for different categories of operatives, office workers, salesmen, supervisory and management personnel. Other third-party methods include the use of trade unions. Labour-management committees have usually demonstrated the effectiveness of trade unions as methods of recruitment.