1-1

Recruitment
1-2

Introduction
 Before an organization can fill a job vacancy, it must
find people who:
 Are qualified for the position
 Want the job

 Recruitment refers to:

 Organizational activities that influence the number
and types of applicants who apply for a job, and
 Whether the applicants accept jobs that are offered
1-3

Introduction
 Recruitment is often the first contact between the
organization and a prospective employee
 Create a positive first impression

 During the coming years, the importance of

recruitment will increase
 A tight labor market will plague organizations of
all sizes
 Many companies have developed retention strategies
1-4

Introduction
 Whether people respond to the recruiting effort
depends on the attitudes they have toward:
The tasks
The organization

 How difficult the recruiting job is depends on

such things as:
 Government and union restrictions
 The labor market
 The employer’s requirements
 Candidates’ preferences
1-5

Government and Union Restrictions

 To determine if an organization has violated the law,
government agencies review:
 Recruitment sources
 Recruiting advertising
 Estimates of the firm’s employment needs for the
coming year
 The number of applicants processed by demographic
and job category
 The evidence was used to verify the legal right to
work
1-6

Government and Union Restrictions

 Sound recruiting practices:
 Establish general guidelines for recruiters
 Make sure applicants complete, sign, and date an
employment application
 Use outcome-oriented job descriptions
 Use an offer letter than outlines the commitments
the organization is prepared to keep
 State that employment is “at-will”
 List salary, frequency of pay increases, and benefits
 State conditions to which employment may be subject
1-7

Government and Union Restrictions

 The Immigration Reform and Control Acting

(IRCA) of 1986 requires employers to:
 Screen applicants’ eligibility for employment
 Maintain records demonstrating employment
authorization
 The government plans to step up enforcement of
the IRCA
1-8

Government and Union Restrictions

 The features of the IRCA fall into four categories:
 Employer’s duties:
 Avoid recruiting, hiring, or continuing to employ
unauthorized aliens
 Verify the identity/work authorization of new
employees
 Avoid discrimination on the basis of citizenship
or national origin
 Amnesty rights: Certain illegal aliens are eligible
for temporary or permanent resident status
1-9

Labor Market Conditions

 Ifthere is a surplus of labor at recruiting time, even
informal attempts will attract sufficient applicants
 When full employment is nearly reached, skillful and
prolonged recruiting may be necessary
 The state of the economy also affects how many
applicants are available
 The current employment picture can be researched
through:
 The federal Department of Labor
 State divisions of employment security and labor
 Boards and journals
1-10

Composition of Labor Force & Location

 As legal requirements increase, it becomes more
important to analyze workforce composition
 Determine whether the firm’s employment practices
are discriminatory
 The number of minorities in the workforce also
depends on the number of minorities in the labor
market
 An aggressive diversity management program is
essential
 Diversity leads to enhanced competitiveness, higher
productivity, and increased customer satisfaction
1-11

Interaction of Recruits & the Organization

 There is a complex interaction between job applicants and the

organization trying to hire them
 The techniques used and sources of recruits vary
with the job
 An applicant’s abilities and past work experience affect how they
go about seeking a job
1-12

The Organization’s View of Recruiting

 Things that affect recruiting from the viewpoint of
the organization:
 The recruiting requirements set
 Organizational policies and procedures
 The organization’s image
1-13

Recruiting Requirements
 The process begins with a detailed job description
and job specification
 Without these, it is impossible for recruiters to
determine how well any applicant fits the job
 The recruiter must know which requirements are
essential and which are merely desirable
 This helps avoid unrealistic expectations
1-14

Organizational Policies and Practices

 HRM policies and practices can affect recruiting
 One of the most significant is hiring from within
 Many organizations recruit from outside only at the
initial hiring level
 Most employees favor this approach
 Some employers feel it helps protect trade secrets
 However, an organization may become so stable
that it is set in its ways
 Other factors include favoring the disabled, veterans,
or ex-convicts, and nepotism
1-15

Organizational Image

 Allelse being equal, it is easier for an organization

with a positive image to attract and retain employees
 Recruitment is also easier for organizations with a
strong community presence or positive name
recognition
1-16

Organizational Image
 The job specifications preferred by an organization
may have to be adjusted to meet the realities of:
 The labor market
 Government or union restrictions
 Its policies and procedures
 Its image

 Iftoo few high-quality people apply for a job:

 The job may have to be adjusted to fit the best
applicant, or
 Recruiting efforts will have to be increased
1-17

Potential Employee’s View of Recruiting

 The applicant’s abilities, attitudes, and preferences
are based on:
 Past work experiences
 The influence of parents, teachers, and others

 Thesefactors affect recruits in two ways:

 How they set their job preferences
 How they go about seeking a job
1-18

Preferences of Recruits
 Recruits often have a set of job preferences:
 Education and skill levels
 Geographic location
 Salary levels
 Advancement opportunities
 Such a recruit may not find the “ideal” job
 The number of college-level job openings between
now and 2008 will nearly equal the number of
college-educated entrants to the labor force
 However, approximately 6 million college graduates
will still be unemployed or under-employed
1-19

Preferences of Recruits
 Other barriers to finding the ideal job:
 Economic conditions
 Government and union restrictions
 Organizational policies and practices

 From the individual’s point of view, choosing an

organization involves:
 Choosing an occupation
 Choosing an organization to work for within the
broader occupation
1-20

Preferences of Recruits
 Occupational choice is most heavily influenced by
parents, followed by:
 Teachers
 Career counselors
 Friends
 Relatives

 Organizational choice is influenced by:

 Corporate image
 Corporate size

Satisfaction with the communication during recruitment is critical

1-21

Job Search: The Recruit

 People who successfully find the “right job” tend to
follow similar job search processes:
 Self-assessment
 Information gathering
 Networking
 Targeting specific jobs
 Successful self-presentation
1-22

Job Search: The Recruit

 The purpose of self-assessments is to recognize your:
 Career goals
 Strengths and weaknesses
 Interests and values
 Preferred lifestyles

 Information gathering and networking are ways to

generate lists of potential employers and jobs
 Information sources include newspapers, trade
publications, college recruitment offices,
organizational “insiders,” and the Internet
1-23

Job Search: The Recruit

 When the job seeker has decided where to send a
resume, self-presentation becomes critical
 Recruiters want resumes and cover letters that are
tailored to the position and are truthful
 The cover letter and resume should include:
 The position you seek
 Your specific job objectives
 Your career objectives
 The reason you seek employment
 Indication that you know something about the
organization
1-24

Job Search: The Recruit

 Not all job seekers provide a truthful resume:
 Up to 95 percent of college students are willing to be
less than truthful when searching for a job
 In the long run, little can be gained; falsification of an
application is typically grounds for dismissal
 Successful job seekers prepare carefully for
interviews
 Learn as much about the company as possible
 Use “impression management” tactics
1-25

Methods of Recruiting
 Most organizations must use both
internal and external sources to
generate sufficient applicants
 When there is an inadequate supply
within the organization, it must seek
external candidates
 The choice of a recruiting method can
make all the difference in the success
of the recruiting effort
1-26

Internal Recruiting
 Job Posting
 Skills inventories can be used to identify internal
applicants for job vacancies
 It is hard to identify everyone who might be interested
in the opening, so firms use job posting and bidding
 Today, postings are computerized and easily
accessible to employees via the company’s intranet
 Software allows employees to match an available
job with their skills and experience
 It may also highlight where gaps exist
1-27

Internal Recruiting
 Inside Moonlighting and Employees’ Friends
 Inside moonlighting may be used when there is:
 A short-term shortage
 No great amount of additional work
 Workers can be enticed to take a “second” job with
bonuses
 Moonlighting is so common at some organizations
that HR departments issue moonlighting policies
1-28

Internal Recruiting
 Inside Moonlighting and Employees’ Friends
 Before going outside to recruit, many organizations
ask employees to encourage friends and relatives to
apply
 Some offer “finders fees” for successful referrals
 Employee referrals should be used cautiously,
especially if the workforce is already racially or
culturally imbalanced
1-29

External Recruiting
 Walk-ins are an important source of applicants
 As labor shortages increase, however, organizations
must become more proactive in their recruiting efforts
 External recruiting can be done through:
 Media advertising
 E-recruiting
Some job seekers
 Employment agencies reverse the process:
they advertise for a
 Executive search firms situation wanted
 Special-events recruiting
 Internships
1-30

Media Advertising
 Media include:
 Newspapers
 Trade/professional publications
 Billboards
 Subway and bus cards
 Radio
 Telephone
 Television
1-31

Media Advertising
 When developing a recruitment advertisement, begin
with the corporate image
 Effective recruiting is consistent with overall
corporate image
 Recorded want ads are an innovative way to attract
applicants
 Help-wanted ads must be carefully prepared
 Media must be chosen, coded for study, and analyzed
for impact afterward
 Including diversity in ads helps attract applicants
from diverse populations
1-32

E-Recruiting
 The Internet has revolutionized organizational
recruitment practices
 30,000 websites are devoted to job posting activities
 However, 71 percent of all job listings are on a
handful of the “big boards”
 Monster.com, CareerBuilder.com, HotJobs.com,
Jobsearch.org
 These websites saw huge increases in resumes posted
and visitors in the first month of 2005
 Over 96 percent of all U.S. companies now use the
Internet for recruitment activities
1-33

E-Recruiting
 The Internet is a popular recruitment tool because:
 It is relatively inexpensive
 It provides immediate access to thousands of
prospective applicants
 It allows searches over broad geographic and
company postings
 Some online services, like CareerPath.com, catalog
traditional newspaper recruiting ads
 Specialized sites focus on particular fields or areas
 Having a human resources Web page is an effective
addition to an overall recruitment strategy
1-34

Employment Agencies/Executive Search

 Executive search firms:
 Focus on higher-level managerial Organizations pay
positions with salaries of $50,000+ the higher fees
because executive
 Are on retainer search firms
 Charge higher fees guarantee
confidentiality
 Employment agencies:
 Deal primarily with middle-level
management and below
 Are paid only when they have
provided a new hire
1-35

Special Events Recruiting

 Organizations attract applicants
with special events:
 Open houses
 Scheduled visits to headquarters
 Informative literature
 Hospitality suites
 Speeches
 Job fairs
1-36

Special Events Recruiting

 Job fairs:
 Can reduce recruiting costs by up to 80 percent
 May be scheduled on holidays or weekends to reach
college students and the currently employed
 Are especially useful for smaller, less well known
employers
 Appeal to job seekers who wish to locate in a
particular area and those wanting to minimize travel
and interview time
1-37

Summer Internships

 Organizations hire students as interns during the

summer or part time during the school year
 The use of interns is dramatically increasing
 Nearly 1 in 3 students at four-year universities will
intern before graduating
1-38

Summer Internships
 Internship programs have a number of purposes:
 Allows organizations to get specific projects done
 Exposes organizations to talented, potential
employees who may become “recruiters” at school
 Provides trial-run employment
 Can attract the best people where there are labor
shortages
 Can improve diversity
1-39

Summer Internships
 From the student’s point of view:
 An internship means a job with pay
 It provides real work experience
 There is the potential of a future job
 It offers a chance to use one’s talents in a realistic
environment
 It may offer course credit hours
1-40

Summer Internships
 There are costs to internships:
 Interns take up a lot of supervisory time
 Their work is not always the best

 Some students expect everything to be perfect

 When it is not, they become disillusioned
 Disillusioned students become reverse recruiters
1-41

College Recruiting
 College recruiting can be difficult, time consuming,
and expensive
 The typical recruiting sequence:
 Students register at the college placement office
 During the recruiting season, candidates are told of
scheduled visits
 At the placement service, they reserve interviews
and pick up brochures/literature about the firms
 The preliminary interviews are held
 Before leaving campus, the recruiter invites chosen
candidates to make a site visit
1-42

College Recruiting
 Students who are invited to the site:
 Are given more job information
 Meet potential supervisors and other executives
 Are entertained
 May be tested

 Ifthe visit goes well:

 The student is given an offer
 Bargaining may take place on salary and benefits
 The candidate accepts or rejects the offer
1-43

The Effective College Recruiter

 People who influence the applicant’s job choices:
 Peers
 Family
 Spouse
 Friends
 Professors
 Recruiters

 Therecruiter is the filter and the matcher, and is an

extension of the organization
1-44

The Effective College Recruiter

A good recruiter:
 Is outgoing, self-motivated, and a good salesperson
 Has well-developed interpersonal skills
 Is familiar with the company they represent
 Characteristics students prefer in a recruiter:
 Work experience in their specialties
 Personal knowledge of the university
 Friendliness and knowledge
 Personal interest in the applicant
 Truthfulness
 Enthusiastic communicator
1-45

The Effective College Recruiter

 Major flaws that students find in recruiters:
 Lack of interest in the applicant
 Lack of enthusiasm
 Interviews that are stressful or too personal
 Insufficient time allocation

 Recruiters can and do make a difference

 However, applicant’s decisions are affected more by
the characteristics of the job and the organization
1-46

Realistic Job Previews

 When recruiters provide realistic expectations about
the job, turnover of new employees is lower
 Most recruiters, however, give glowing descriptions
of the company
 Recruitment is more effective when realistic job
previews (RJPs) are used
 Pertinent information about the job is given, without
distortion or exaggeration
 Most jobs have unattractive features; the RJP presents
the full picture
1-47

Realistic Job Previews

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↓ ↓
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t h o u g h ts o f q u itt in g . t h o u g h ts o f q u itt in g .

F ig 7 - 3
1-48

Realistic Job Previews

 Studies indicate that:
 Newly hired employees who received RJPs have a
higher rate of job survival
 Employees hired after RJPs have higher satisfaction
 RJPs can set the job expectations at realistic levels
 RJPs do not reduce the flow of capable applicants

 RJPs have beneficial effects

 However, there is uncertainty as to why they have the
effects they do and in what contexts they are most
effective
1-49

Alternatives to Recruitment
 Overtime
 Organizations avoid the cost of recruiting and having
additional employees
 Employees earn additional income
 Potential problems include fatigue, higher accident
rates, and increased absenteeism
 Continuous overtime often results in higher labor
costs and reduced productivity
1-50

Alternatives to Recruitment
 Outsourcing
 Sometimes called “staff sourcing”
 Involves paying a fee to a leasing company or
professional employer organization (PEO) that
handles payroll, benefits, and routine HRM functions
 Especially attractive to small and midsize firms that
can’t afford a full-service HR department
 Can save 15 to 30 percent of benefit costs
 Exercise care when choosing a leasing company;
many are financially unstable
1-51

Alternatives to Recruitment
 Temporary Employment
 One of the most noticeable effects of the downsizing
epidemic and labor shortages of the past two decades
 “Just-in-time” employees staff all types of jobs
(professional, technical, and executive positions)
 Nearly 7,000 temporary employment agencies in the
U.S. have been in business for more than one year
1-52

Alternatives to Recruitment
 Major advantages of using temporary workers:
 Relatively low labor costs
 Easily accessible source of experience labor
 Flexibility

 The cost advantage stems from the fact that

temporary workers do not receive:
 Fringe benefits
 Training
 A compensation and career plan

Temp workers do not know the culture or work flow of the

firm
1-53

Cost-Benefit Analysis of Recruiting

 Many aspects of recruitment can be evaluated
 Recruiters can be assigned goals by type of employee
 Sources of recruits can be evaluated by dividing the
number of job acceptances by the number of campus
interviews
 Methods of recruiting can be evaluated along various
dimensions, such as the cost of the method divided by
the number of job offer acceptances
1-54

Cost-Benefit Analysis of Recruiting

 Thequality of a new hire can be evaluated using the
formula QH = (PR + HP + HR)/N
QH = quality of recruits hired
PR = average job performance ratings
HP = percent of new hires promoted within one year
HR = percent of hires retained after one year
N = number of indicators used
 Use caution when using the quality-of-hire measure
to evaluate the recruitment strategy
 Good employees can be lost for reasons that have
nothing to do with recruiter effectiveness