Online Recruitment and Selection Practices of Business Organization- Problems and Prospect: HRM & Its Function
Concepts of Human Resource Management:
Let us understand HRM by dividing the term into its subparts.
• Human – people, us
• Resource – assets/costs for organizations
• Management – co-ordination and control to achieve set goals but humans, unlike other resources in the context of work and management, cause problems.
HRM is a strategic approach to the acquisition, motivation, development and management of the organization’s human resources. It is a specialized field that attempts to developing an appropriate corporate culture, and introducing programmers which reflect and support the core values of the enterprise and ensure its success. HRM is proactive rather than reactive, i.e., always looking forward to what needs to be done and then doing it, rather than waiting to be told what to do about recruiting, paying or training people, or dealing with employee relations problems as they arise. The techniques for the application of HRM will include many familiar functions of personnel managers, such as manpower planning, selection, performance appraisal, salary administration, training and management development. These will be overlaid by special programmers designed to improve communication systems, involvement, commitment, and productivity.
Broadly, there are three meanings attached to the concept of HRM. In the first place, persons working in an organization are regarded as a valuable source, implying that there is a need to invest time and effort in their development. Secondly, they are human resources which mean that they have their own special characteristics and, therefore, cannot be treated like material resources. The approach focuses on the need to humanizes organizational life and introduce human values in the organization. And thirdly, human resources do not merely focus on employees as individuals, but also on other social realities, units and processes in the organization. These include the role or the job a person has in the organization, the dyadic unit, (consisting of the person and his superior), the various teams in which people work, inter-team processes, and the entity of the total organization.
Objectives of Human Resource Management:
Objectives are pre-determined ends or goals at which individual or group activity in an Organization is aimed. Objectives can be divided in to two parts:
Primary Objectives:
HRM main goal is the creation of a workforce with the ability and motivation to accomplish the basic organizational goals;
They relate to the satisfaction of the personal objectives of the members of an Organization through monetary and non monetary devices;
They relate to the satisfaction of community and social objectives, such as serving the customers honestly, promoting a higher standard of living in the community, bringing comfort and happiness to the society, protecting women and children and providing for aged personnel;
To utilize human resource effectively;
To establish and maintain a productive and self respecting relationship among all members of an Organization;
To establish and maintain an adequate organizational structure;
To bring about maximum individual development of the members of an Organization;
To maintain a high morale and better human relations inside an Organization by sustaining and improving the conditions which have been established so that employees may stick to their jobs for a longer period;
To assist employees in achieving their personal goals, at least insofar as these goals enhance the individual’s contribution to the organization. Personal objectives of employees must be met if workers are to be maintained, retained and motivated.
Secondary Objectives:
The secondary objectives aim at achieving the primary objectives economically, efficiently and effectively.
Function of Human Resource Management:
Human resource management is the part of the organization concerned with the “people” dimension. HRM can be viewed in one of two ways. First, HRM is a staff or support function in the organization. Its role is to provide assistance in HRM matters to line employees, or those directly involved in producing the organization’s goods and services. Second, HRM is a function of every manager’s job. Whether or not one works in a formal HRM department, the fact remains that to effectively manage employees all managers must handle the activities.
According to different authors HRM functions can be divided in to different categories. Some of the categories are as follows:
Ø General and Specific functions
Ø Personnel administration and Industrial relations functions
Ø Managerial and Operative functions
General Functions:
- To conduct personnel research.
- To assist in the programmers of personnel administration.
- To develop appraisal plans.
- To launch education and training programmers.
- To develop a competent work force.
- To establish and administer varied personnel services delegated to personnel department.
Specific Functions:
- Employment
- Safety
- Wage and salary
- Benefit Schemes
- Community relations and
- Advice and counseling the employees
Personnel Administration and Industrial Relations Functions:
Personnel Administration:
These functions relate to the function of managing people from the lower to the upper level of the Organization and embraces policy determination as well as implementation of policies by the personnel at the lower levels.
Industrial Relations Functions:
These functions relate to interactions between the management and the representatives of the unions. Such functions involve all activities of employer employee relationship, such as Organization of the union members, negotiations of contracts, collective bargaining, grievance handling, disciplinary actions, arbitration etc- the purpose of all these being to prevent conflict between two parties.
Managerial and Operative Functions:
Managerial Functions:
Management is Personnel administration. It is the development of the people and not the direction of the things. Managing people is the heart and essence of being a manager. Thus, a Human Resource Manager is a manager and as such he performs the basic functions of management.
(Managerial Functions)
Planning:
Is a predetermined course of action? Planning is a hard job, for it involves the ability to think, to predict, to analyze and to control the actions of its personnel and to cope with a complex, dynamic fluid environment. They bridge the gap from where we are to where we want to go. The two important features of planning are research and forecasting. The task of forecasting personnel needs in relation to changes in production or seasonal variations and the leveling out of differences in the production extremely important, both for employees and for management. Therefore, planning and decision making has to be undertaken much in advance of an action so that unforeseen or anticipated problems and events may be properly handled. This as also stressed by the saying: “Good managers make things happen”.
Organizing:
An Organization is a means to an end. It is essential to carry out the determined course of action. Complex relationships exist between the specialized departments and the general departments as many top managers are seeking the advice of personnel manager. Thus, Organization establishes relationship among the employees so that they can collectively contribute to the attainment of company goals.
Directing:
Direction is an important managerial function in building sound industrial relations besides securing employee contributions. Coordination deals with the task of blending efforts in order to ensure successful attainment of an objective. The personnel manager has to coordinate various managers at different levels as far as personnel functions are concerned. Personnel management function should also be coordinated with other functions of management like management of money, machine, and material.
Controlling:
Controlling involves checking, verifying and comparing of the actualize with the standards, identification of deviations if any and correcting of identified deviations. Thus, action and operation are adjusted to predetermined plans and standards through control.
Fig. Functions of Personnel Office/ Personnel Management.
Operative Functions:
The operative functions of human Resource Management are related to specific activities of personnel management e.g. employment, development, compensation & Relations. All these functions are interacted by managerial functions.
These functions are concerned with the activities specifically dealing with procuring, developing, compensating and maintaining an efficient work force. These functions are also known as service functions.
Procurement Function
Development function
Compensating function
Integrating function
Maintenance function
Employment:
Employment is concerned with securing and employing the people possessing required kind and level of human resources necessary to achieve the organizational objectives. It covers the functions such as job analysis, human resource planning, recruitment, selection, placement, induction and internal mobility.
Human Resource Development:
It is the process of improving, molding and changing the skills, knowledge, creative ability, aptitude, attitude, values, commitment etc. based on present and future job and organizational requirements. This function includes Performance Appraisal, Training, Management Development, Career Planning and Development, Internal Mobility (Promotion, Demotion), Organizational Development.
Compensation:
It is the process of providing adequate, equitable and fair remuneration to the employees. It includes job evaluation, wage and salary administration, incentives, bonus, fringe benefits, social security measures etc.
Human Relations:
Practicing various human resource policies and
Programmers Loire employment, development and compensation and interaction among employees create a sense of relationship between the individual worker and management, among workers and trade unions and management. It is the process of interaction among human beings. Human relations are an area of management in integrating people in to work situation in a way that motivates them to work together productively, cooperatively and with economic, psychological and social satisfaction.
Recruitment & Selection
Concepts of Recruitment & Selection:
Concepts of Recruitment
Successful human resource planning should identify our human resource needs. Once we know these needs, we still want to do something about meeting them. The next step in the acquisition function, therefore, is recruitment. This activity makes it possible for us to acquire the number and types of people necessary to ensure the continued operation of the Organization.
Recruiting is the discovering of potential candidates for actual or anticipated organizational vacancies or from other perspective, it is a linking activity- bringing together those with jobs to fill and those seeking jobs.
“Recruitment 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”
Yoder & others
“It is a process of searching for prospective employees and stimulating and encouraging them to apply for jobs in an Organization. It is often termed positive in that it stimulates people to apply for jobs to increase the “hiring” ratio i.e. the no. Of applicants for a job.”
Flippo
Technically speaking, the function of recruitment precedes the selection function and it includes only finding, developing the sources of prospective employees and attracting them to apply for jobs in an organization, whereas the selection is the process of finding out the most suitable candidate to the job out of the candidates attracted (recruited).
Figure: Recruiting and other Human Resource Management activities
Concepts of Selection:
Selection procedure is concerned with securing relevant information about an applicant. The objective of the selection decision is to choose the individual who can most successfully perform the job from the pool of qualified candidates.
Selection- Analyzing the qualifications of applicants and deciding upon those who show the most potential.
Selection is the process of choosing from a group of applicants those individuals best suited for a particular position. Most managers recognize that employee selection is one of their most difficult, and most important, business decisions. This process involves making a judgment -not about the applicant, but about the fit between the applicant and the job by considering knowledge, skills and abilities and other characteristics required to perform the job Selection procedures are not carried out through standard pattern and steps in this. Process can vary from organization to organization some steps performed and considered important by one organization can be skipped by other organization.
Objectives of Recruitment & Selection:
Objectives of Recruitment:
- To attract people with multi-dimensional skills and experience that suits the present and future organizational strategies.
- To induct outsiders with a new perspective to lead the company.
- To infuse fresh blood at all levels of the organization.
- To develop an organizational culture that attracts competent people to the company.
- To search or head hunt/head pouch people whose skills fit the company’s values.
- To devise methodologies for assessing psychological traits
- To seek non-conventional development grounds for talent.
- To search for talent globally and not just within the company.
- To design entry pay that competes on quality but not on quantum.
- To anticipate and find people for positions that does not exist yet.
Organizational and Individual Goals in Recruiting:
| Organizational Goals | Attract a pool of qualified applicants
Keep pool at manageable size Provide realistic job previews |
| Individual Goals | Meet work-related goals
Meet personal goals Address personal needs |
Objectives of Selection:
Various steps involved in a selection process depend on the type of personnel to be selected. For example, more information is required for the selection of managerial personnel as compared to subordinate workers.
Selection process depends on the sources of recruitment and the method that is adopted for making contact with prospective candidates. For example, in the case of advertisement, selection process is more comprehensive and time-consuming, where as in the case of campus recruitment; the process is shortened and may be completed in a day.
Selection process depends on the number of candidates that are available for selection. If the number is large enough, there is a need for creating various filtering points and reducing the number of applicants at each successive point. However, where the number of applicants is small, lesser number of filtering points are required.
Organization’s selection policy also determines the ways to be involved in selection process.
Methods of Recruitment & Selection:
Sources or methods for Recruiting:
Recruitment is more likely to achieve its objectives if recruiting sources reflect the type of position to be filled. Sources are those where prospective employees are available like employment exchanges while techniques are those, which stimulate the prospective employees to apply for jobs like nomination by employees, advertising, promotion etc. Certain recruiting sources are more effective than others for filling certain types of jobs are.
The sources of recruitment are broadly classified in to:
· Internal Recruiting
· External Recruiting
· Recruitment Alternative/ Search of Recruitment
Internal Recruiting:
Internal recruiting is the process of looking inside the organization for existing qualified employees who might be promoted to higher-level position. Internal recruiting are the sources within organizational pursuits. It includes (a) Present permanent employees; (b) present temporary/ casual employees; (c) retrenched or retired employees; (d) dependents or deceased, disabled, retired and present employees; (e) Promotions; (f) Transfers.
Present Permanent Employees:
Organizations consider the candidates from this source for higher-level jobs due to: (1) availability of most suitable candidates for jobs relatively or equally to the external source, (2) to meet the trade unions demands; (3) to the policy of the Organization to motivate the present employees.
Present temporary or casual employees:
Organizations find this source to fill the vacancies relatively at lower levels owing to the availability of suitable candidates or trade and pressures or in order to motivate them on the present job.
Retrenched or Retired employees:
Generally a particular Organization retrenches the employees due to lay-off. The Organization takes of the candidates for employment from the retrenched employees due to obligation, trade union pressure and the like. Sometimes the organizations prefer to re employ their retired employees as a token of their loyalty to the Organization or to postpone some inter personal conflicts for promotion etc.
Dependents of Deceased, Disabled, Retired and Present Employees: Some organizations with a view to developing the commitment and loyalty of build up image provide employment to the dependent(s) of deceased, disabled and present employees. Such organizations find this source as an effective source of recruitment.
Promotions:
Most of the internal candidates would be stimulated to take up higher responsibilities and express their willingness to be engaged in the higher level jobs if management gives them the assurance that they will be promoted to the next higher level.
Transfers:
Employees will be stimulated to work in the new sections or places if management wishes to transfer them to the places of their choice.
Why do organizations prefer Internal Source?
- Internal recruitment can be used as a technique of motivation.
- Morale of the employees can be improved.
- Suitability of the internal candidates can be judged better than the external candidates as “known devils are better than unknown angles”.
- Loyalty, commitment, a sense of belongings and security of the present employees can be enhanced.
- Employee’s psychological needs can be met by providing an opportunity for advancement.
- Employee’s economic needs for promotion, higher income can be satisfied.
- Cost of selection can be minimized.
- Cost of training, induction, orientation, period of adaptability to the Organization can be reduced.
- Social responsibility towards employees may be discharged.
- Stability of employment can be ensured.
Why organizations don’t prefer internal sources?
- It often leads to inbreeding and discouraging new blood from entering in an Organization;
- There are possibilities that internal source may “dry up”, and it may be difficult to find the requisite personnel from within an Organization;
- Since the learner does not know more than the lecturer does, no innovations worth the name can be made. Therefore, on jobs which require original thinking (such as advertising, style designing and basic research), this practice is not followed;
- As promotion is based on seniority, the danger is that really capable hands may not be chosen. The likes and dislikes of the management may also play an important role in the selection of personnel.
External Recruiting:
External recruiting is the process of looking to sources outside the organization for prospective employees. These sources include: (1) Campus Recruitment; (2) Private Employment Agencies/ Consultants; (3) Public Employment Exchanges; (4) Professional Associations; (5) Data Banks; (6) Casual Applications; (5) Similar Organizations; (6) Trade Unions; (7) Advertisements; (8) Employee Referrals.
Figure: process of Campus Recruitment
Campus Recruitment:
Different types of organizations like industries, business firms, and service organizations, social or religious organizations can get inexperienced candidates of different types from various educational institutions like colleges and universities imparting education in science, commerce, arts, engineering and technology, agriculture. Medicines from the training institutes. Most of the universities and institutes imparting technical education in various disciplines provide facilities for campus recruitment and selection.
Employment Agencies:
These agencies or consultants perform the recruitment function on the behalf of a client company by charging fee. Line mangers are relieved from recruitment functions so they can concentrate on their operational activities and recruitment functions are entrusted to a private agency or consultants. These agencies are also called Executive Search Companies.
Public Employment Agencies:
The govt. set up Public Employment exchanges in the country to provide information about vacancies to the candidates and to help the organizations in finding out suitable candidates. Public sector and private sector industries have to depend on public employment exchanges for the specified vacancies.
Professional Organizations:
Professional organizations maintain complete data of their members and provide the same to various organizations on requisition. They also act as an exchange between their members and recruiting firms in exchanging information, clarifying doubts etc.
Data Banks:
The management can collect the bio data of the candidate from different sources like employment exchanges, educational Training Institutes; candidates etc. and feed them in the computer. It will become another source and the company can get the particulars as and when they need.
Casual Applicant:
Depending upon the image of the Organization, its prompt response, participation of the Organization in the local activities, level of unemployment, candidates apply casually for the jobs through mail or hand over the applications in Personnel Department. This would be a suitable source for temporary and lower level jobs.
Trade Unions:
Generally, unemployed or underemployed persons or employees seeking change in employment put a word to the trade union leader with a view to getting suitable employment due to latter’s intimacy with management.
Similar Organizations:
Generally, experienced candidates are available in organizations producing similar products or are engaged in similar business. The management can get most suitable candidates from this source. This would be the most effective source for executive positions and for newly established organizations or diversifies or expanded organizations.
Advertising:
Advertising is widely accepted technique of recruitment, though it mostly provides one-way communication. It provides the candidates in different sources, the information about the job and company and stimulates them to apply for jobs. It includes advertising through different media like newspapers, magazines of all kinds, radios, television etc.
Employee referrals:
Friends and relatives of present employees are also a good source from which employees may be drawn. When the labor market is very tight, large employers frequently offer their employee’s bonuses or prizes for any referrals that are hired and stay with the company for a specific length of time.
Recruitment Alternative/ Search of Recruitment:
- Overtime:
Recruitment alternative are which current employees are asked to work extra hours.
- Temporary workers:
Join the organization to work a specific period of time, rather than with the expectation of permanent or continued employment.
- Employee leasing:
Where the organization pays a fee to a leasing company that provides a pool of employees to the firm.
- Part-time:
Workers are those who routinely expect to work less than forty hours a week.
Sources or methods for Selection:
There is no standard selection process that can be followed by all companies in all the areas. Companies may follow different selection techniques or methods depending upon the size of the company, nature of the business, kind and number of persons to be employed, govt. regulations to be followed etc.
Application Form:
It’s also known as application blank. This technique is widely accepted for securing information from the prospective candidates. It can also be used as a device to screen the candidates at the preliminary stage. Information is generally required on the following items in the application forms:
a) Personal background information
b) Educational attainments
c) Work experiences
d) Salary
e) Personal details
f) References
Written Examination:
The organizations have to conduct examination for the qualified candidates after they are screened on the basis of the application blanks so as to measures the candidate’s ability in arithmetical calculations, to know the candidates attitude towards the job, to measure the candidate’s aptitude, reasoning, knowledge in various disciplines, general knowledge and English language.
Preliminary Interview:
The Preliminary interview is to solicit necessary in formation from the prospective applicants and to assess the applicant’s suitability to the job. This step is useful as a process of eliminating the undesirable and unsuitable candidates.
Group Discussions:
The technique of group discussion is used in order to secure further information regarding the suitability of the candidates for the job. Group discussion is a method where groups of the successful applicants are brought around a conference table and are asked to discuss either a case study or a subject matter.
Tests:
The next stage in the selection process is conducting different tests. The objective of tests is to solicit further information to assess the employee suitability to the job. The important tests are:
Aptitude Tests:
These tests measure whether an individual has the capacity or latent ability to learn a given job if given adequate training. Aptitudes can be divided in to general and mental ability or intelligence or specific aptitudes such as mechanical, clerical, manipulative capacity etc. These are:
ü Intelligence Tests: These tests in general measure intelligence quotient of a candidate. In detail these tests measures capacity for comprehension, reasoning, word fluency, verbal comprehension, numbers, memory and space.
ü Mechanical Tests: These tests measure the capacities of spatial visualization, perceptual speed and knowledge of mechanical matter.
ü Psycho meter Tests: These tests measure abilities like manual dexterity, motor ability and eye hand coordination of candidates.
ü Clerical Aptitude: Measure specific capacities involved in office work, items of this test include spelling, computation, comprehension, copying, word measuring etc.
Achievement Tests:
These tests are conducted when applicants claim to know something as these tests are concerned with what one has accomplished. These tests are more useful to measure the value of specific achievement when an Organization wishes to employ experienced candidates. These are:
ü Job Knowledge Test: Under this test a candidate is tested in the knowledge of a particular job.
ü Work Sample Test: Under this test a portion of the actual work is given to the candidate as a test and the candidate asked to do it.
Situational Test:
This test evaluates a candidate in a similar real life situation. In this test the candidate is asked either to cope with the situation or solve critical situation of the job.
ü Group Discussion: This test is administered through group discussion approach to solve a problem under which candidates are observed in the areas initiating, leading, proposing valuable ideas, conciliating skills, oral communicating skills, co-ordination and concluding skills.
ü In Basket Test: The candidate in this test is supplied with actual letters, telephone and telegraphic message, reports and requirements by various officers of the Organization, adequate information about the job and Organization. The candidate is asked to take decisions on various items based on the in basket information regarding requirements in the memoranda.
Interest Tests:
These tests are inventories of the likes and dislikes of candidates in relation to work, job, occupations, hobbies and recreational activities.
Personality Tests:
These tests prove deeply to discover clues to an individual’s value system, his emotional reactions, and maturity and characteristic mood.
ü Objective Test: most personality tests are objective tests as they are suitable for group testing and can be scored objectively.
ü Projective tests: Candidates are asked to project their own interpretation of certain standard situations basing on ambiguous pictures, figures etc., under these tests.
Final Interview:
Final Interview is usually followed by testing. This is the most essential step in the process of selection. In this step the interviewer matches the information abstained about the candidate through various means to the job requirements and to the information obtained through his own observation during interview.
Medical Examination:
Certain jobs require certain physical qualities like clear vision, perfect hearing, unusual stamina, tolerance of hard working conditions, clear tone etc. Medical examination reveals whether or not a candidate possesses these qualities.
Reference Checks:
After completion of the final interview and medical examination, the personnel department will engage in checking references. Candidates are required to give the names of reference in their application forms. In case the reference check is from the previous employer, information for the following areas may be obtained. They are: job title, job description, period of employment, pay and allowances, gross emoluments, benefits provided, rate of absence, willingness of the previous employer to employ the candidate again etc.
Final decision by the line manager concerned:
The line manager concerned has to make the final decision whether to select or reject the candidate after soliciting the required information through different techniques. A true understanding between the line managers and personnel mangers should be established to take proper decisions.
Employment:
Thus, after taking the final decision the Organization has to intimate the decision to the successful as well as unsuccessful candidates. The Organization sends the appointment orders to the successful candidates either immediately or after sometime depending upon the time schedule.
Costs of regarding Recruitment & Selection:
Cost Analysis of Recruitment:
Many aspects of recruitment, such as the effectiveness of recruiters, can be evaluated. Organizations assign goals to recruiting by types of employees. For example, a goal for a recruiter might be to hire 350 unskilled and semiskilled employees, or 100 technicians, or 100 machinists, or 100 managerial employees per year. Then the organization can decide who the best recruiters are. They may be those who meet or exceed quotas and those whose recruits stay with the organization and are evaluated well by their superiors.
Sources of recruits can also be evaluated. In college recruiting, the organization can divide the number of job acceptances by the number of campus interviews to compute the cost per hire at each college. Then it drops from the list those campuses that are not productive.
The methods of recruiting that are used by a company can be evaluated along various dimensions. In addition, the organization can calculate the cost of each method (such as advertising) and divide it by the benefits it yields (acceptances of offers). The organization can also examine how much accurate job information was provided during the recruitment process.
Another aspect of recruiting that can be evaluated is what is referred to as the quality of hire. This measure can provide management of the quality of new employees being recruited and hired. The quality-of-hire measure is calculated as follows:
QH = (PR+ HP + HR) N
Where,
QH = quality of recruits hired
PR = average job performance ratings (20 items on scale) of new hires
(e.g., 4 on a 5-point scale or 20 items × 4)
HP = percent of new hires promoted within one year (such as 35 percent)
HR = percent of hires retained after one year (e.g., 85 percent)
N = number of indicators used
Therefore,
QH = (80 + 35 + 85)/3
= 200/3
= 66.6%
The 66 percent quality-of-hire rate is a relative value. It will be up to management to determine whether this represents an excellent, good, fair, or poor level.
Some caution must be exercised with the quality-of-hire measure when evaluating the recruitment strategy. Performance ratings and promotion rates are all beyond the control of a recruiter. A good new employee can be driven away by a lack of opportunities for promotion, inequitable performance ratings, or job market conditions that have nothing to do with the effectiveness of the recruiter. Nevertheless, the quality-of-hire measure can provide some insight into the recruiter’s ability to attract employees.
Cost Analysis of Selection:
An organization has made a commitment to investigate what types of selection devices it will use, it must attempt to evaluate whether its efforts will be worthwhile. Ultimately, a large part of the answer to this question involves the utility of the selection process. Utility refers to the degree to which using a selection system improves the quality of the individuals being selected by the organization.
Utility has two related components. Statistical utility is the extent to which a selection technique allows an organization to better predict who will be successful. Organizational utility, which is dependent, in part, on statistical utility, is a matter of costs and benefits. In other words, answering the question whether the selection system should be developed and used is ultimately an issue of whether it saves the organization more money than it costs.
Generally speaking, an analysis of the costs versus the benefits of selection requires estimates of the direct and indirect costs associated with the selection system. Direct costs include such things as the price of the tests, the salary paid to an interviewer, and the equipment used in a work sample test. Indirect costs include changes in public image associated with implementing procedures such as drug testing.
The organization must also estimate how much money it will save by hiring more qualified employees using the selection system. These savings can come from improved outcomes such as higher levels of quality or quantity of output, reduced absenteeism, lower accident rates, and less turnover.
Sometimes, when an organization’s managers see how costly systematic selection can be, they wonder whether it will ever have benefits. The answer to this basic question depends on many factors. But valid selection procedures can yield enormous benefits, especially in situations where the direct and indirect costs of hiring a poor performer are high. Imagine the costs associated with a single wrong hiring decision when airlines are selecting pilots. Pilot errors can cost the company millions of dollars in destroyed or damaged equipment, and no amount of money can offset the potential loss of human life that may be involved.
One final note about selection and a cost-benefit analysis of it-the way that an organization hires employees is directly tied to other human resource programs. Perhaps the most important linkage is with training. Many trade-off decisions must be made between selection and training. At the very least, organization should realize that putting more money into selection can significantly reduce the amount of money it must spend on training, especially if the increased commitment to selection allows the organization to hire a more capable workforce.
On line Recruitment & Selection
Concepts:
Organizations first started using computers as a recruiting tool by advertising jobs on a “bulletin board service” from which prospective applicants would contact the company. Then some companies began to take e-mail applications. Now some employers are not only posting jobs and accepting resumes and cover letters on-line but also are conducting employment interviews on-line. Advantages for such Internet recruiting by employers include:
- Reaching more applicants.
- Having lower costs and faster response time frames.
- Tapping an applicant pool conversant with the Net.
Employers often begin the Internet search process by establishing an organization website and listing jobs on it. Alternatively, companies with a web page that specializes in posting job listings (an Internet job service)—much like the electronic bulletin board of days gone by—can be used by job seekers. Finally, online employment agencies can be used to post jobs and find applicants on the Net. One advantage of Internet recruiting is that it may improve the chances of contacting “passive job seekers”—those people who are not actively seeking work. Listing at popular job-search Internet sites is a good way to attract such browsing high-tech workers.27 Indeed, recent surveys show that about 37% of companies now use the Net for recruiting, and the rate is increasing rapidly.
Alongside the long-term growth in both temporary and permanent recruitment, there has been an explosion in online advertising. A generation ago the print media’s dominance in advertising looked unchallengeable but the emergence of the internet, the rise of job sites, the low cost and speed of advertising online, and companies’ use of their own websites has challenged that position.
In 2006 recruitment advertising in print generated a total of £1.168 billion in revenues (down 13 per cent for the year) with online advertising worth £200.5 million (up 27 per cent).14 In a world in which 62 per cent of all UK adults are online, 50 per cent of internet users go online each day and there are 12 million online job seekers in UK, the web is an increasingly important way of connecting with potential employees.
As a result of this:
- 65 per cent of FTSE 100 companies use the internet to recruit candidates.
- 78 per cent of recruitment companies advertise job vacancies online.
- UK job sites currently receive around 40 million visits per month.
- Monster.co.uk alone has over two million CVs on its website.
- Developing country like Bangladesh, also use online recruitment. About 77 per cent multinational company use the online recruitment now.
- Bangladeshi website like job1, jobbd, and many other website is popular for jobseeker.
The internet is also blurring the old, neat divisions between advertisers and recruiters. Websites are taking on some traditional recruitment functions, particularly where employers are looking to fill low-skilled jobs at minimum cost, while both employers and recruitment companies are investing in their online capability as a way of connecting directly with potential applicants.
Necessity:
Many big organizations use Internet as a source of recruitment. Online recruitment is the use of technology to assist the recruitment process. They advertise job vacancies through worldwide web. The job seekers send their applications or curriculum vitae i.e. CV through e mail using the Internet. Alternatively job seekers place their CV’s in worldwide web, which can be drawn by prospective employees depending upon their requirements.
The necessities of online recruitment are:
- Low cost.
- No intermediaries.
- Reduction in time for recruitment.
- Recruitment of right type of people.
- Efficiency of recruitment process.
The main focus of the efficiency plan is better use of resources rather than expense reductions alone. The introduction of online recruitment may be an opportunity to use the saved recruitment resources to create a higher impact.
Efficiency gains for the hr dept:
ü Drastic reduction in overall cycle time for recruitment from inviting applications to recruitment. Reduction in the time for data entry and processing the raw data. Reduction in time from the traditional manual communication modes to the web based automation.
ü Economies of scale in advertising spend Reduced advertising spend from fewer and smaller adverts. Reduced need for advertising in the local dailies.
ü Saving in storage space for receiving applications and scrutiny.
ü Reduced spending on temporary manpower for manual sorting /scrutiny.
ü HR staff carrying out higher value activities, for example workforce planning. Less HR staff time spent on basic recruitment tasks.
ü Completely transparent and fool proof system with minimal manual intervention Easy handling of huge volume of data & maintenance of confidentiality.
ü Final master database handed over along with an archival of the images for future reference.
ü This may surprise you but technology in online recruitment is not expensive. By saving on time, design and print costs and targeting precisely the best sites for the best candidates, online recruitment is a very cost-effective option. Not only that, but the hours saved through automating the pre-selection process represent a considerable cost cut in terms of HR time needed to get candidates to the interview stage. Suddenly, HR staff has time to do more productive things.
ü Advertising online opens up a much wider candidate pool than advertising in print. This gives you a much better chance of finding the right candidate for the job. Note, however, this is only a benefit if sifting, sorting and grading tools are applied to the applications coming in. Otherwise you’ll have hundreds to go through manually which becomes a liability. As we said, the advertising is only part of the effective online recruitment.
ü The pre-selection process can be tailored to individual companies’ needs. This way, you can sift and sort candidates who meet your exact needs. Not only does this save time (and cost) it also results in a better quality of candidate reaching the interview stage having already established they meet certain key criteria. Automating the application process also gives a level playing field to all candidates – whether they come directly to your company’s site, via a recruitment consultant or in response to a print advertisement. For many larger organizations, achieving consistency of handling candidates across many branches or regional offices can be a problem: online recruitment solves it.
ü Improved ability to target specific audience.
ü Huge saving in printing and postage costs.
ü Not presently using the Internet.
ü Cost of placing the job postings.
ü Easier reach through the web.
ü Distribution of postings.
ü Absence of middleman.
ü Resume management.
ü Quality of candidates.
ü Quality of service.
ü Less paperwork.
ü Convenience.
ü Speed.
Benefits to the applicant:
- 24/7 access via the Internet with support available through local libraries at no cost to the applicant
- Online status update in the website. Online redress of queries No need to contact departments in person/phone.
- Application packs and job details are available online and job applications can be submitted online, thereby enabling a process that is not dependent on postal systems.
Purpose:
The buzzword and the latest trends in recruitment is the “E Recruitment”. Also known as “Online recruitment”, it is the use of technology or the web based tools to assist the recruitment process. The tool can be a job website like naukri.com, joba1.com the organization’s corporate web site or its own intranet. Many big and small organizations are using Internet as a source of recruitment. They advertise job vacancies through worldwide web. The job seekers send their applications or curriculum vitae (CV) through an e-mail using the Internet. Alternatively job seekers place their CV’s in worldwide web, which can be drawn by prospective employees depending upon their requirements.
Purpose of Online recruitment and selection:
- Process of bringing the prospective employee & employer to stimulate / encourage the employee to apply for the job.
- Determine the present and future online requirements of organization in conjunction with its personal- planning and job analysis activities.
- Increase organizational & individual effectiveness.
- Increases the pool of job candidates at minimum cost.
- To search for talents globally & not within the organization.
Functions regarding online Recruitment & Selection:
It is extremely important that HR managers find employees quickly to fill vacancies because otherwise the companies that they represent risk losing a lot of money. So what should HR managers do to find employees quickly and effectively? The answer to this question is easy for the companies that have embraced Internet job sites.
Job ads can be posted on the Internet literally within 5 – 10 minutes:
The Internet has increased the speed by which job ads can be posted for job seekers. It is now possible to post a job ad which can be displayed to thousands of job seekers within minutes. Looking through ads is facilitated by key word searches that enable job seekers to find the job ads that are of interest to them, rather than having to wade through pages of job ads in the newspaper. Traditional methods have required for a job ad to be carefully prepared and formatted, keeping in mind that it should be short and to the point because of cost considerations. This has required for companies to prepare job descriptions that are described in brief. The result of short job descriptions can be catastrophic for HR Managers, because such ads often attract the wrong type of candidates. An inappropriate job ad can result either in a flood of resumes from unqualified candidates or in a complete lack of CV’s. Either outcome requires additional work from the HR Manager.
Internet job ads do not have the space limitations of print job ads. The benefit for HR Managers is that they can now use longer job description that fully describe the company, company location, the job requirements and the working conditions offered. Some Internet job sites can even prepare company presentations in order for job seekers to get a better taste for the company and its culture. This has changed the traditional approach of HR Managers in preparing job ads. In effect HR Managers pass on some of the prescreening to the candidates themselves who are better able to decide whether they meet the job requirements and equally important, candidates can better decide whether they wish to work for the company in question as described in the company presentation. The result is a higher response rate to Internet job offers in comparison to candidates who respond to print advertisements by candidates who fully meet job requirements. This is a win situation for the HR Manager and the job seeker.
The Internet enables HR Managers to instantly locate the employees that it seeks:
Many Internet job sites also have candidate databases that companies can use to fill vacancies instantly. These databases can usually be searched through by key word searches and sorted by industry, location and other criteria. Such searches are facilitated by the fact that most candidates publish their minimal salary expectations which is very helpful for employers in determining candidate suitability for an opening. There are even some firms that enable employers to use their database free of charge, charging employers a percentage of each hire’s salary.
Potential candidates can submit their job details to the CV database instantly using online forms that they fill out and send to the web site’s database. Internet job sites ensure that their database is current by deleting submissions older than three months. Candidates that want their job details to be posted for longer periods must update their CV periodically.
Job seekers all over the world have the same instant access to all data:
The Internet enables for job advertisements to be accessed instantly by job seekers all over the world. This information is accessible to all job seekers regardless whether they live in Chicago or Jakarta. This has revolutionized recruitment, because for the first time it is possible to find candidates anywhere in the world without paying any extra charges. The only possible additional charge for companies is for relocation for hired candidates who live in other locations. Filling certain positions increasingly requires for HR Managers to search outside the company location. The revolutionary transformations taking place due to changing technology requires for companies to hire employees with knowledge of technology that did not even exist several years ago. Finding the ideal candidate for such difficult positions to fill makes it more than worth it to pay for relocation charges. The savings accrued through the use of Internet job sites will more than make up for additional costs such as moving expenses. In addition, attracting skilled and experienced employees from outside the firm will allow the employer to save considerable sums that would otherwise have been required for training. Moreover, the company would not be wasting these training funds on potentially unproductive employees, because they would have already been weeded out by the former employer.
The advent of Internet jobs sites has made recruitment an increasingly faster, more effective and efficient process. These new digital corporations make it possible for traditionally expensive newspaper advertisements to be replaced by digital ads that are many times less expensive than their printed counterparts. The popularity of this medium is on the rise, because access to this information is free of charge to job seekers who can efficiently and conveniently browse through job ads any time of day they desire. Employers are no longer limited by space considerations and can include much more about the job offered in their ads than could be done in the newspaper model. All this can be done instantly with just a click of the mouse.
How It Works:
Online recruitment and selection, e-recruitment and selection, or web based recruitment and selection is the use of online technology to attract candidates and aid the recruitment process. What this usually means is the use of a company’s own website, a third-party job site or job board, a CV database or search engine marketing to fill vacancies.
Careers websites or Company’s own website:
Research suggests that the careers area of a company website is the second most visited area after the home page. People are always looking for careers opportunities so the use of a company’s own website as an online recruitment resource is now common practice for many.
Indeed, some companies integrate their careers sites to manage the entire recruitment process. Candidates not only apply for jobs via the website but these job applications are pushed through an online HR back-end where HR can monitor, rate and track applications, conduct psychometric tests, screen out unsuitable candidates and, in some cases, even set up interviews.
Job sites and job boards:
Most employers who have invested in any form of online recruitment will, at some time or another, use third-party job sites and job boards as part of their online recruitment strategy. Job sites and job boards are websites that advertise large numbers of job vacancies from many different recruitment agencies and employers.
‘Specialist’ or ‘niche’ job sites usually focus on particular job type, industry sector or location:
For job seekers, job sites make searching for jobs much easier. Rather than having to trawl hundreds of employer websites, job seekers can find lots of vacancies in one place. Often job sites and job boards will provide daily emails of new jobs, up-to-the-minute RSS feeds, or SMS’s of new vacancies. Many job sites and job boards allow job seekers to create online profiles and/or upload their CVs for recruitment agencies and employers to view. Job sites may also provide other services to job seekers such as careers advice, web forums, salary surveys etc.
CV Databases:
A CV database is another important product in online recruitment. Candidates can upload their CVs to the CV database and these CVs are then released to recruitment agencies and employers