Recruitment

• Recruiting is the discovering of potential

applicants for actual or anticipated
organizational vacancies
• It is the process of searching for
prospective employees and stimulating and
encouraging them to apply for jobs in an
organization
 Factors affecting Recruitment
• Size of the organization
• Employment conditions in the community where
the organization is located
• Effects of past recruiting efforts which show the
org’s ability to locate and keep good performing
people
• Working conditions and salary and benefit
packages offered by the organization
 Meaning Of Recruitment
 
• According to Edwin B. Flippo,

“Recruitment is the process of searching the

candidates for employment and stimulating
them to apply for jobs in the organization”.

• Recruitment is the activity that links the

employers and the job seekers.
• A few definitions of recruitment are:· A
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
applications from which new employees are
selected.
• It is the process to discover sources of
manpower to meet the requirement of
staffing schedule and to employ effective
measures for attracting that manpower in
adequate numbers to facilitate effective
selection of an efficient working force
 Meaning Of Recruitment
• Recruitment of candidates is the function
preceding the selection, which helps create a
pool of prospective employees for the
organization 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.
 Meaning Of Recruitment
• Recruitment 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 requisition for a
specific vacancy or an anticipated vacancy.
 RECRUITMENT NEEDS
• PLANNED
i.e. the needs arising from changes in
organization and retirement policy.
• ANTICIPATED
Anticipated needs are those movements in
personnel, which an organization can predict
by studying trends in internal and external
environment.
• UNEXPECTED
Resignation, deaths, accidents, illness give
rise to unexpected needs.
 Purpose & Importance Of
Recruitment
• Attract and encourage more and more
candidates to apply in the organization.
• Create a talent pool of candidates to
enable the selection of best candidates
for the organization.
• Determine present and future
requirements of the organization in
conjunction with its personnel planning
and job analysis activities.
• Recruitment is the process which links
the employers with the employees.·
• Increase the pool of job candidates at
minimum cost.
• Help increase the success rate of
selection process by decreasing number
of visibly under qualified or
overqualified job applicants.

• Help reduce the probability that job

applicants once recruited and selected
will leave the organization only after a
short period of time.
• Meet the organizations legal and social
obligations regarding the composition of its
workforce.
• Begin identifying and preparing potential
job applicants who will be appropriate
candidates.
• Increase organization and individual
effectiveness of various recruiting
techniques and sources for all types of job
applicants
 Recruitment Process
• The recruitment and selection is the major function
of the human resource department and recruitment
process is the first step towards creating the
competitive strength and the strategic advantage
for the organizations. Recruitment process involves
a systematic procedure from sourcing the
candidates to arranging and conducting the
interviews and requires many resources and time.
A general recruitment process is as follows
 Recruitment Process
• Identifying the vacancy:
The recruitment process begins with the human resource department
receiving requisitions for recruitment from any department of the
company. These contain
• Posts to be filled
• Number of persons
• Duties to be performed
• Qualifications required
• Preparing the job description and person specification.
• Locating and developing the sources of required number and type of
employees (Advertising etc).
• Short-listing and identifying the prospective employee with required
characteristics.
• Arranging the interviews with the selected candidates.
• Conducting the interview and decision making
 Recruitment Process

Job To
HRP Selection
Analysis

Appli
Job Recruitment Search Screen Potential
cant ing
Hires
Vacancies Planning Media Pool

Applicant Evalua
Strategy
Population tion &
Dev
Ctrl
 Sources Of Recruitment
• Every organization has the option of choosing the
candidates for its recruitment processes from two
kinds of sources: internal and external sources.
• The sources within the organization itself (like
transfer of employees from one department to other,
promotions) to fill a position are known as the
internal sources of recruitment.
• Recruitment candidates from all the other sources
(like outsourcing agencies etc.) are known as the
external sources of recruitment
SOURCES OF RECRUITMENT
Internal Sources Of Recruitment
•  1. TRANSFERS
The employees are transferred from one department to another according to their
efficiency and experience.
2. PROMOTIONS
The employees are promoted from one department to another with more benefits
and greater responsibility based on efficiency and experience.
3. Others are Upgrading and Demotion of present employees according to their
performance.
4. Retired and Retrenched employees may also be recruited once again in case of
shortage of qualified personnel or increase in load of work. Recruitment such
people save time and costs of the organisations as the people are already aware of
the organisational culture and the policies and procedures.
5. The dependents and relatives of Deceased employees and Disabled employees
are also done by many companies so that the members of the family do not become
dependent on the mercy of others.
External Sources Of Recruitment

•  1. PRESS ADVERTISEMENTS

Advertisements of the vacancy in newspapers and journals are a widely used source
of recruitment. The main advantage of this method is that it has a wide reach.
2. EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTES
Various management institutes, engineering colleges, medical Colleges etc. are a
good source of recruiting well qualified executives, engineers, medical staff etc.
They provide facilities for campus interviews and placements. This source is known
as Campus Recruitment.
3. PLACEMENT AGENCIES
Several private consultancy firms perform recruitment functions on behalf of client
companies by charging a fee. These agencies are particularly suitable for recruitment
of executives and specialists. It is also known as RPO (Recruitment Process
Outsourcing)
• EMPLOYMENT EXCHANGES
Government establishes public employment exchanges throughout the country.
These exchanges provide job information to job seekers and help employers in
identifying suitable candidates.
 External Sources Of Recruitment

• LABOUR CONTRACTORS
Manual workers can be recruited through contractors who maintain close contacts with
the sources of such workers. This source is used to recruit labour for construction jobs.
• UNSOLICITED APPLICANTS
Many job seekers visit the office of well-known companies on their own. Such callers
are considered nuisance to the daily work routine of the enterprise. But can help in
creating the talent pool or the database of the probable candidates for the organisation.
• EMPLOYEE REFERRALS / RECOMMENDATIONS
Many organisations have structured system where the current employees of the
organisation can refer their friends and relatives for some position in their organisation.
Also, the office bearers of trade unions are often aware of the suitability of candidates.
Management can inquire these leaders for suitable jobs. In some organizations these are
formal agreements to give priority in recruitment to the candidates recommended by
the trade union.
• RECRUITMENT AT FACTORY GATE
Unskilled workers may be recruited at the factory gate these may be employed
whenever a permanent worker is absent. More efficient among these may be recruited
to fill permanent vacancies
 Factors Affecting Recruitment
• The recruitment function of the organisations is
affected and governed by a mix of various internal
and external forces.
• The internal forces or factors are the factors that can
be controlled by the organisation. And the external
factors are those factors which cannot be controlled
by the organisation.
• The internal and external forces affecting
recruitment function of an organisation are
Factors Affecting Recruitment
 Internal Factors Affecting
Recruitment
•  The internal forces i.e. the factors which can be controlled by the organisation
are:
1. RECRUITMENT POLICY
The recruitment policy of an organisation specifies the objectives of recruitment
and provides a framework for implementation of recruitment programme. It
may involve organizational system to be developed for implementing
recruitment programmes and procedures by filling up vacancies with best
qualified people.
FACTORS AFFECTING RECRUITMENT POLICY
• Organizational objectives
• Personnel policies of the organization and its competitors.• Government
policies on reservations.
• Preferred sources of recruitment.
• Need of the organization.
• Recruitment costs and financial implications.
 Internal Factors Affecting
Recruitment
• HUMAN RESOURCE PLANNING
Effective human resource planning helps in determining the gaps present
in the existing manpower of the organization. It also helps in determining
the number of employees to be recruited and what qualification they must
possess.
• SIZE OF THE FIRM
The size of the firm is an important factor in recruitment process. If the
organization is planning to increase its operations and expand its business,
it will think of hiring more personnel, which will handle its operations.
• COST
Recruitment incur cost to the employer, therefore, organizations try to
employ that source of recruitment which will bear a lower cost of
recruitment to the organization for each candidate.
• GROWTH AND EXPANSION
Organization will employ or think of employing more personnel if it is
expanding it’s operations.
 External Factors Affecting
Recruitment
•  The external forces are the forces which cannot be controlled by the organisation. The major
external forces are:
1. SUPPLY AND DEMAND
The availability of manpower both within and outside the organization is an important
determinant in the recruitment process. If the company has a demand for more professionals
and there is limited supply in the market for the professionals demanded by the company,
then the company will have to depend upon internal sources by providing them special
training and development programs.
2. LABOUR MARKET
Employment conditions in the community where the organization is located will influence
the recruiting efforts of the organization. If there is surplus of manpower at the time of
recruitment, even informal attempts at the time of recruiting like notice boards display of the
requisition or announcement in the meeting etc will attract more than enough applicants.
• IMAGE / GOODWILL
Image of the employer can work as a potential constraint for recruitment. An organization
with positive image and goodwill as an employer finds it easier to attract and retain
employees than an organization with negative image. Image of a company is based on what
organization does and affected by industry. For example finance was taken up by fresher
MBA’s when many finance companies were coming up.
 External Factors Affecting
Recruitment
• POLITICAL-SOCIAL- LEGAL ENVIRONMENT
Various government regulations prohibiting discrimination in hiring and employment
have direct impact on recruitment practices. For example, Government of India has
introduced legislation for reservation in employment for scheduled castes, scheduled
tribes, physically handicapped etc. Also, trade unions play important role in
recruitment. This restricts management freedom to select those individuals who it
believes would be the best performers. If the candidate can’t meet criteria stipulated
by the union but union regulations can restrict recruitment sources.
• UNEMPLOYMENT RATE
One of the factors that influence the availability of applicants is the growth of the
economy (whether economy is growing or not and its rate). When the company is not
creating new jobs, there is often oversupply of qualified labour which in turn leads to
unemployment.
• COMPETITORS
The recruitment policies of the competitors also effect the recruitment function of the
organisations. To face the competition, many a times the organisations have to
change their recruitment policies according to the policies being followed by the
competitors.
 Recruitment Policy Of a
Company
• In today’s rapidly changing business environment, a well defined
recruitment policy is necessary for organizations to respond to its
human resource requirements in time. Therefore, it is important to have
a clear and concise recruitment policy in place, which can be executed
effectively to recruit the best talent pool for the selection of the right
candidate at the right place quickly. Creating a suitable recruitment
policy is the first step in the efficient hiring process. A clear and
concise recruitment policy helps ensure a sound recruitment process.

It specifies the objectives of recruitment and provides a framework for

implementation of recruitment programme. It may involve
organizational system to be developed for
• implementing recruitment programmes and procedures by filling up
vacancies with best qualified people
 COMPONENTS OF THE
RECRUITMENT POLICY
• The general recruitment policies and terms of the
organisation
• Recruitment services of consultants
• Recruitment of temporary employees
• Unique recruitment situations
• The selection process
• The job descriptions
The terms and conditions of the employment
 COMPONENTS OF THE RECRUITMENT POLICY

• A recruitment policy of an organization should be such that:

• It should focus on recruiting the best potential people.
• To ensure that every applicant and employee is treated equally with
dignity and respect.
• Unbiased policy.
• To aid and encourage employees in realizing their full potential.
• Transparent, task oriented and merit based selection.
• Weightage during selection given to factors that suit organization needs.
• Optimization of manpower at the time of selection process.
• Defining the competent authority to approve each selection.
• Abides by relevant public policy and legislation on hiring and
employment relationship.
• Integrates employee needs with the organisational needs.
 FACTORS AFFECTING
RECRUITMENT POLICY
• Organizational objectives
• Personnel policies of the organization and its
competitors.
• Government policies on reservations.
• Preferred sources of recruitment.
• Need of the organization.
• Recruitment costs and financial implications.
 Recent Trends in Recruitment
• The following trends are being seen in recruitment:
• · OUTSOURCING
In India, the HR processes are being outsourced from
more than a decade now. A company may draw required
personnel from outsourcing firms. The outsourcing firms
help the organisation by the initial screening of the
candidates according to the needs of the organisation and
creating a suitable pool of talent for the final selection by
the organisation. Outsourcing firms develop their human
resource pool by employing people for them and make
available personnel to various companies as per their
needs. In turn, the outsourcing firms or the intermediaries
charge the organisations for their services.
 Recent Trends in Recruitment
• Advantages of outsourcing are:
• Company need not plan for human resources much in
advance.
• Value creation, operational flexibility and competitive
advantage
• turning the management's focus to strategic level processes
of HRM
• Company is free from salary negotiations, weeding the
unsuitable resumes/candidates.
• Company can save a lot of its resources and time
 POACHING/RAIDING
 “Buying talent” (rather than developing it) is the latest mantra
being followed by the organisations today. Poaching means
employing a competent and experienced person already
working with another reputed company in the same or
different industry; the organisation might be a competitor in
the industry. A company can attract talent from another firm
by offering attractive pay packages and other terms and
conditions, better than the current employer of the candidate.
But it is seen as an unethical practice and not openly talked
about. Indian software and the retail sector are the sectors
facing the most severe brunt of poaching today. It has
become a challenge for human resource managers to face and
tackle poaching, as it weakens the competitive strength of the
firm.
 E-RECRUITMENT
• Many big organizations use Internet as a source of recruitment. E-
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.

Advantages of recruitment are:

– Low cost.
– No intermediaries
– Reduction in time for recruitment.
– Recruitment of right type of people.
– Efficiency of recruitment process.
 Recruitment Vs Selection
•  Both recruitment and selection are the two phases of the employment
process. The differences between the two are:
1. 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.
2. 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 Vs Selection
• 3. Recruitment is a positive process i.e. encouraging more
and more employees to apply WHEREAS selection is a
negative process as it involves rejection of the unsuitable
candidates.
4. Recruitment is concerned with tapping the sources of
human resources WHEREAS selection is concerned with
selecting the most suitable candidate through various
interviews and tests.
5. There is no contract of recruitment established in
recruitment WHEREAS selection results in a contract of
service between the employer and the selected employee.
 Recruitment Strategies
• Recruitment is of the most crucial roles of the
human resource professionals. The level of
performance of and organisation depends on the
effectiveness of its recruitment function.
• Organisations have developed and follow
recruitment strategies to hire the best talent for their
organisation and to utilize their resources optimally.
• A successful recruitment strategy should be well
planned and practical to attract more and good
talent to apply in the organisation.
• For formulating an effective and successful
recruitment strategy, the strategy should cover the
following elements:
 Identifying and prioritizing
jobs
1.

Requirements keep arising at various levels in

every organisation; it is almost a never-ending
process. It is impossible to fill all the positions
immediately. Therefore, there is a need to identify
the positions requiring immediate attention and
action. To maintain the quality of the recruitment
activities, it is useful to prioritize the vacancies
whether to focus on all vacancies equally or
focusing on key jobs first.
 Candidates to target
• The recruitment process can be effective only if the
organisation completely understands the requirements of
the type of candidates that are required and will be
beneficial for the organisation. This covers the following
parameters as well:
– Performance level required: Different strategies are required for
focusing on hiring high performers and average performers.
– Experience level required: the strategy should be clear as to
what is the experience level required by the organisation. The
candidate’s experience can range from being a fresher to
experienced senior professionals.
– Category of the candidate: the strategy should clearly define the
target candidate. He/she can be from the same industry, different
industry, unemployed, top performers of the industry etc.
 Sources of recruitment
1. The strategy should define various sources
(external and internal) of recruitment.
Which are the sources to be used and
focused for the recruitment purposes for
various positions. Employee referral is one
of the most effective sources of
recruitment.
 Trained recruiters
1. The recruitment professionals conducting
the interviews and the other recruitment
activities should be well-trained and
experienced to conduct the activities. They
should also be aware of the major
parameters and skills (e.g.: behavioural,
technical etc.) to focus while interviewing
and selecting a candidate.
 How to evaluate the candidates
• The various parameters and the ways to
judge them i.e. the entire recruitment process
should be planned in advance. Like the
rounds of technical interviews, HR
interviews, written tests, psychometric tests
etc.
 HR Challenges In Recruitment
The major challenges faced by the HR in recruitment are:
• Adaptability to globalization – The HR professionals are expected and
required to keep in tune with the changing times, i.e. the changes taking
place across the globe. HR should maintain the timeliness of the process
• Lack of motivation – Recruitment is considered to be a thankless job. Even
if the organisation is achieving results, HR department or professionals are
not thanked for recruiting the right employees and performers.
• Process analysis – The immediacy and speed of the recruitment process are
the main concerns of the HR in recruitment. The process should be flexible,
adaptive and responsive to the immediate requirements. The recruitment
process should also be cost effective.
• Strategic prioritization – The emerging new systems are both an
opportunity as well as a challenge for the HR professionals. Therefore,
reviewing staffing needs and prioritizing the tasks to meet the changes in
the market has become a challenge for the recruitment professionals.
 Recruiting Expatriates
The interviews of expatriates are designed in a manner to judge their:
• Adaptability to the new culture
• Intercultural interaction
• Flexibility
• Professional expertise
• Past international work experience
• Tolerance and open-mindedness
• Family situation
• Language ability
• Attitude and motivation
• Empathy towards local culture

• A few researches in this field also suggest that women are morel likely to be successful in
certain positions as expatriates as they are more sensitive towards new culture and people.
Recruitment of expatriates should be followed by cultural and sensitivity training, and
language training.
 Head Hunting
• Headhunting refers to the approach of
finding and attracting the best experienced
person with the required skill set.
Headhunting involves convincing the person
to join your organization.
 Forms Of Recruitment
• The organisations differ in terms of their size,
business, processes and practices. A few decisions
by the recruitment professionals can affect the
productivity and efficiency of the organisation.
Organisations adopt different forms of
recruitment practices according to the specific
needs of the organisation. The organisations can
choose from the centralized or decentralized
forms of recruitment.
 CENTRALIZED
RECRUITMENT

The recruitment practices of an organisation are centralized

when the HR / recruitment department at the head office
performs all functions of recruitment. Recruitment decisions
for all the business verticals and departments of an
organisation are carried out by the one central HR (or
recruitment) department. Centralized from of recruitment is
commonly seen in government organisations.
 Benefits of the centralized form of
recruitment are
• Reduces administration costs
• Better utilization of specialists
• Uniformity in recruitment
• Interchangeability of staff
• Reduces favoritism
• Every department sends requisitions for
recruitment to their central office
DECENTRALIZED RECRUITMENT
• Decentralized recruitment practices are most commonly seen
in the case of conglomerates operating in different and
diverse business areas. With diverse and geographically
spread business areas and offices, it becomes important to
understand the needs of each department and frame the
recruitment policies and procedures accordingly. Each
department carries out its own recruitment. Choice between
the two will depend upon management philosophy and needs
of particular organization. In some cases combination of both
is used. Lower level staffs as well as top level executives are
recruited in a decentralized manner.
 Equal Employment Opportunity

• Equal opportunity employment refers to the

approach of the employers to ensure the
practice of being fair and impartial in the
employment process
 Discrimination in employment
• Discrimination refers to the any kind of prejudice, biasness or favoritism on the
basis of
• disability
• race
• age
• sex
• sexuality
• pregnancy
• Marital status
• in employment. No person should be treated less favourably than any other on
the basis of the specified issues above. Many countries (like SA) have already
implemented Equal Opportunity Act, making it against the law to treat anybody
unfairly.
 Selection Process:
Reception of Application
Preliminary Interview
Application Blank
Psychological Tests
In depth Interview
Reference Checks
Final Selection by Interviewers
Physical Examination
Placement