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Talent Acquisition Process in a Multinational Company: A Case Study

Article  in  SSRN Electronic Journal · January 2015

DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.2708086

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 TALENT ACQUISITION PROCESS IN A MULTINATIONAL
COMPANY : A CASE STUDY

Prof. Aloysius Sequeira*

Priyanka John Attupuram**
Sivakumar Gopalakrishnan***

ABSTRACT
The increased competitiveness in the recruitment market has led to
organizations spending more time, effort and resources on developing
their talent acquisition strategy. In order to attain company objectives, it is
essential to recruit people with requisite skills, qualification and
experience keeping the present and future requirements in mind.
Competition among business organizations for recruiting the best potential
has increased focus on innovation, and management decision making.
Selectors aim to recruit only the best candidates who would suit the
corporate culture, ethics and climate specific to the organization.
___________________________________________________________
*NITK, Surathkal
**II MBA Student NITK
***HR Executive

Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2708086

Talent is the success for any organization. Sourcing and engaging the right
talent is a big challenge even in India where unemployment is so high.
Given the importance of talent acquisition in the overall successful
operations and growth of any organization; this project is aimed at a study
on talent acquisition process at ABSTOM ( name changed)India Ltd.
ABSTOM, a fortune 500 company, is a world leader in transport
infrastructure, power generation and electrical grid. This study is aimed at
giving a solution to the problems involved in their talent acquisition
process. The study is conducted for a period of 15 weeks at the
Coimbatore Works of ABSTOM‘s India Operations which includes 120
employees.
The purpose of the project is to study the current talent acquisition
process in the organization and identify areas for improvement. Secondly,
the project studies the extent of adoption of best practices in the firm. The
study also aims to examine the implementation of new and innovative
methods in job analysis, recruitment, screening and selection processes in
the organization. Descriptive research approach is applied in the study.
Primary data is collected by means of direct interviews. Secondary data is
collected from available books, publications, research studies, articles and
websites. Judgmental sampling more commonly known as purposive
sampling is used, as subjects are chosen to be part of the sample with a
specific purpose in mind.
Keywords: job-analysis, recruitment, selection, best practices, innovation.

Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2708086

INTRODUCTION

1.0 Introduction

Talent acquisition is the process of planning, sourcing, assessing, hiring,

and on-boarding of qualified and talented individuals into appropriate
positions in the organization. The process applies to all types of
employment relationships including full and part time employees, contract
employees, contingent staff, or outsourced worker relationships. The
focus of the process is on attracting talented workers to the organization.
Acquiring and retaining the best talent acts as competitive advantage, but
it is equally important and difficult to find the right person for the right
job. The increased competitiveness in the recruitment market has led to
organizations spending more time, effort and resources on developing
their recruitment strategy. Talent acquisition is an important function
within HR, responsible for recruiting high quality people through various
sources for given job positions under stringent deadlines and cost
constraints.

Recruitment a subset of the talent acquisition process is almost central to

the human resource management process and failure in recruitment can
create difficulties for any company including an adverse effect on its
profitability and inappropriate levels of staffing or skills. Better
recruitment and selection strategies result in improved organizational
outcomes. Only a talent resourcing process that is well defined and well-
executed from start to finish yields consistent and compliant results which
will in turn yield a competitive advantage in the war for talent.

3
Given the importance of talent acquisition in the overall successful
operations and growth of any organization, this project is aimed at a study
on the talent acquisition process at ABSTOM India Ltd. The study also
aims at benchmarking this process with the best industry practices.

Benchmarking is the process of identifying, understanding, and adapting

outstanding practices from organizations anywhere in the world to help
your organization improve its performance." "Benchmarking is a highly
respected practice in the business world. It is an activity that looks
outward to find best practice and high performance and then measures
actual business operations against those goals.

The purpose of paper was to study the current talent acquisition process
i.e. analyze methods, sources of recruitment and selection procedure in
the organization and identify areas for improvement. The study examines
and assesses the organization‘s strategy for recruitment and selection. The
study also aims at understanding the extent of adoption of best practices,
implementation of new and innovative methods in recruitment and
selection and recommends improvements based on the information
gathered.

1.1 Research Questions

1. What is the current talent acquisition process at ABSTOM India

Ltd, Coimbatore?
2. What are the major areas of concern with the current talent
acquisition process?

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 3. What is the extent of adoption of best practices in talent acquisition
process-job analysis, recruitment strategies, selection technique,
branding?
4. Is there the usage of innovative recruitment and selection strategies
and proactive manpower planning?

1.2 Objectives of the study

1. To study the talent acquisition process at ABSTOM India Ltd. and

recommend areas for improvement in the current talent acquisition
process.
2. To reduce the process lead time from sourcing to on boarding.
3. To examine the extent to which the firm has adopted and
implemented best practices.
4. To study the extent to which they have adopted new and
sophisticated methods to recruitment and selection.

1.3 Limitations of the study

1. The survey is subjected to bias and prejudices of the respondents.

Hence 100% accuracy can‘t be assured. Secondly respondents may
not disclose confidential information.
2. Small sample size. (Only from the employees working at
Coimbatore branch.)
3. Respondents‘ reluctance to disclose proprietary information about
the organization.

5
1.4 Scope of study

The study covers the talent acquisition process at ABSTOM India for all
functions and for all bands/levels/roles in the organization. The study is
conducted at the Coimbatore operations of ABSTOM India which
includes 120 employees. The project covers two main areas of the
organization‘s strategy; recruitment strategies and selection techniques.

1.5 Significance of the Study

The main challenge at ABSTOM is to have a talent acquisition policy in

line with the business trends and changes. Their HR strategy is- ‗it‘s all
about people‘―Our people are our greatest asset: they shape our Group‘s
future‖. ABSTOM‘s statistics says that on an average 60 vacancies are
filled per month at both the entry and experienced levels across India.
Hence it is a big challenge for the HR to deliver the end product and meet
the business expectations while sharing the vision and values of the
company.
As Sourcing and hiring the right talent is vital for business success, this
study is aimed at giving a solution at mitigating the problems involved in
the process and to help increase the success rate of the selection process
by reducing the number of visibly under qualified or overqualified job
applicants and hiring people whose skills fit the company‘s values.

The supply side requirements and the technology imparted in the

transport infrastructure industry puts pressure on the company to attract
the best talent and ensure that employees join the company and choose to
stay in the organization rather than look for opportunities elsewhere. The

6
study evaluates the effectiveness of various recruiting techniques and
sources for all types of job applicants.

The study also identifies areas of strength and opportunities for

improvement of the process which will help in hiring and retention of top
talents.

1.6 Statement of the problem

One of the greatest challenges for the transportation infrastructure
industry especially doing specialized works such as metro rails, today is
the recruitment of suitable applicants. Increasing competition, shrinking
labor pools, and changes in the attitudes of young people all may be
factors in the recruitment problem. Innovative recruitment strategies must
be developed in order to attract qualified candidates. An organization
must aim at attracting good talents and completing the hiring process
within the optimum time to gain competitive advantage.

1.7 Basic assumptions

 Organizations need to get the right people in the right position to

succeed.
 Good coaching, training, mentoring, etc., is not enough to make up
for bad selection.
 Hiring the right talent will make managing them easy.

7
1.8 Operational definitions
1. Hiring Manager- The manager of the Team/Dept to which the new
hire is added.
2. Recruiting Manager- The manager from the HR Dept who is
responsible for hiring.
3. Lead time- The time spent from sourcing to on boarding.
4. H1/T1 interview –HR/Technical first level interview
5. H2/T2 interview- HR/Technical intense interview

2.0 Literature Review

The first section of this chapter presents the theoretical background on the
best practices in talent acquisition process and the next section is a brief
profile of the organization under study; ABSTOM India Ltd, Coimbatore.

2.1 Literature Review of best practices in Talent Acquisition

Talent acquisition is defined as ―a strategic approach to identifying,

attracting and on boarding top talent to efficiently and effectively meet
dynamic business needs.‖ The term Talent Acquisition (TA) is often used
synonymously with Recruiting. However, Recruiting is a subset of TA,
and includes the activities of sourcing, screening, interviewing, assessing,
selecting and hiring. Talent acquisition includes recruiting, but it is
inclusive of other strategic elements as follows.
 Talent Acquisition Planning & Strategy – ensures business
alignment, examines workforce plans, requires an understanding of
the labor markets, and looks at global considerations.

8
  Workforce Segmentation – requires an understanding of the
different workforce segments and positions within these segments,
as well as the skills, competencies, and experiences necessary for
success.
 Employment Branding – includes activities that help to uncover,
articulate and define a company‘s image, organizational culture,
key differentiators, reputation, and products and services.
Employment branding can help advance the market position of
organizations, attract quality candidates and depict what it is truly
like to work for that organization.
 Candidate Relationship Management – includes building a
positive candidate experience, managing candidate communities,
and maintaining relationships for those candidates not selected.
 Metrics & Analytics – is the continuous tracking and use of key
metrics to drive continuous improvement and to make better
recruitment decisions, to ultimately improve the quality of hire.

2.1.1 Workforce Planning

The first critical strategy in employee acquisition is the existence of a

formal written human resources plan based on the strategic business plan
of the firm (Singh, 2003). Bernardin (2003) suggests that organizations
that integrate strategy with HR planning and recruitment have an HR
competitive advantage.

2.1.2 Recruitment and Selection

Recruitment is the process of identifying and attracting potential

candidates from within and outside an organization to begin evaluating

9
them for future employment. Selection includes collecting, measuring,
and evaluating information about candidates‘ qualifications for specified
positions. Organizations use these processes to increase the likelihood of
hiring individuals who possess the right skills and abilities to be
successful at their jobs. Recruitment performs the essential function of
drawing an important resource; human capital, into the organization
(Barber, 1998). A primary objective of recruitment is to identify and
attract future employees. While recruitment is aimed at attracting
individual into an organization, selection is aimed at identifying the most
qualified from among those individuals. Bratton and Gold (2003) defines
selection as ―the process by which managers and others use specific
instruments to choose from a pool of applicants a person or persons most
likely to succeed in the job(s), given management goals and legal
requirements‖. Rynes, Bretz and Gerhart (1991) suggest that applicants
can be wooed not only through improved job attributes, but also through
better-planned and more attentive recruitment procedures.
According to Torrington and Hall (1991), three components can be
distinguished in a hiring procedure. First is the job analysis which is
performed in order to gather all relevant information about the job
demands and to set the hiring standards. The second component concerns
the recruitment strategy, the strategy to spread all relevant information
among the possible set of candidates; and the third component is the
selection method, the purpose of which is to screen the applicants‘
abilities and traits in order to assess the degree of success and
compatibility of the individual in the organization.

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2.1.2.1 Job Analysis

The first step in the hiring process is to undertake a job and role analysis
to identify the tasks that new recruits are expected to undertake
(Marchington and Wilkinson, 2002) and to gather together all data about
each existing job, which activities are performed and what skills are
needed (Foot and Hook, 2005). Job analysis is viewed as the ‗backbone‘
or ‗cornerstone‘ of recruitment and selection activities, and the
importance of job analysis has been highlighted in literature as a strategic
HRM practice with potential contribution to organizational performance
(Cascio, 1998; Bowin and Harvey, 2001; Siddique, 2004). It has also
been suggested that organizations that actively pursue job analysis as an
HR planning strategy are likely to gain competitive advantage (Anthony
et al., 2002; Dessler, 2003 cf. Siddique, 2004) as it provides a clear
understanding of the jobs by both jobholders and the organization hence
improving the effectiveness of recruitment and selection and other HR
practices.

Conventional job-analysis approach form the basis for job descriptions

and person specifications (Siddique, 2004), which respectively describe
the tasks and responsibilities that make up the job and the profile of the
‗ideal‘ person to fill the job (Bratton and Gold, 2003). Basically, these
place emphasis on identifying employees whose knowledge, skills, and
abilities provide the greatest fit with clearly defined requirements of
specific jobs (Marchington and Wilkinson, 2002). Traditionally, these
have formed the bedrock of the selection processes and recruitment
advertisement by establishing the criteria against which applications will

11
be screened and selection decisions will be based (Anderson and
Shackleton, 1993; Beardwell et al., 2003).
However, in the current scenario it is argued that job descriptions and
person specifications can be inflexible and may fail to reflect potential
changes in the key tasks, duties and responsibilities of employees
(Beardwell et al. 2003). Further, in addition to technical competence,
personal characteristics, values and behaviors have become more central
i.e. a shift from recruiting on the basis of qualifications and experience to
one that focuses on attitudinal and behavioral skills (Morris et al, 2000 cf.
Marchington and Wilkinson, 2002), requiring that such skills and
qualities be more effectively identified, and more sophisticated
techniques introduced, to accurately predict job success in a shifting and
dynamic environment (Sachs, 1990; Iles, 2001).

Organizations are then required to use recruitment and selection in a pro-

active, strategic way by thinking beyond current job roles and selecting
employees on the basis of future as well as current requirements
(Robertson et al., 1996).

Thus, a new model of selection is emerging that is geared toward hiring a

"whole" person who will fit well into the specific organization's culture
rather than job-specific criteria (Bowen et. al, 1991). To achieve this,
many organizations have replaced conventional job analysis approaches
with competency-focused approaches which focus on the behaviors of
job applicants (Marchington and Wilkinson, 2002) such as motivation,
flexibility, teamwork orientation and other similar characteristics
considered essential for successful job performance (Siddique, 2004) and
to achieve the business strategy. The competency approach not only

12
removes some of the uncertainty from hiring decisions, but when it works
to get the best person-job match, will also reduce a company‘s turnover
costs and improve overall performance (Sachs, 1990).

2.1.2.2 Recruitment Process

Once a job has been defined and the qualities of the ideal applicant
specified, the next step is to attract applicants (Robertson and Smith,
2001). One aspect of recruitment believed to be particularly important is
the source used to attract new employees (Taylor and Schmidt, 1983).
Terpstra (1996) argues that recruitment sources are significantly linked to
differences in employee performance, turnover, satisfaction and
organizational commitment. A policy of internal recruiting is one
component of high-performance work systems and companies that
practice internal recruiting are more likely to be successful financially
than companies that rely on external recruiting for top talent. This is
because internal recruiting is cost effective compared to external
recruitment and is considered to enhance organizational commitment and
job satisfaction, which lead to lower employee turnover rates and higher
productivity (Bernardin, 2003). Among the external recruitment sources,
a study conducted by Lockwood and Ansari (1999) on recruiting scarce
talent, identified employee referral programs as the best source, followed
by job portals, advertisements, company web sites with employment
opportunities pages , college recruiting and job fairs.

Some sources yield greater proportions of high-performing employees

than others. A study conducted by Terpstra (1996) revealed that the three
top-ranked recruitment sources by HR executives in terms of their ability
to yield high-quality, high performing employees were – employee

13
referrals, college recruiting and executive search firms, as these sources
are thought to tap different labor market segments and applicant
populations and were more likely to yield motivated, multi-skilled
workers required for success in the new environment. College recruiting
is especially appropriate for the recruitment of younger workers
(Marchington and Wilkinson, 2002). Executive search firms are used
especially when firms lack in-house capabilities, when confidentiality is
crucial, and when speed of recruitment is a priority.

Moreover, informal sources i.e., employee referrals, direct applications,

and friends or relatives familiar with the organization may yield higher
performing and more stable employees than formal recruiting sources. In
addition to being cheaper, the quality of candidates is higher in case of
employee referrals, since most employees are unlikely to recommend
friends who would be unsuitable or would not fit-in with the culture of
the organization (Marchington and Wilkinson, 2002). However, one of
the best ways to select the most appropriate method for any given job is
to conduct a source analysis.

2.1.2.2.1 Source Analysis

Terpstra and Rozell (1993) suggest that the evaluation of recruitment

source effectiveness is related to a firm‘s overall performance; and
facilitates effective recruitment planning by assisting organizations in
establishing their own value ranking of the various sources that will
provide the right kinds of candidates at the lowest cost and in the shortest
possible time (Cascio, 1998). Hence, a critical component of effective
recruiting is to gather qualitative and quantitative data on the different
recruitment sources used by the organization (Terpstra, 1996).

14
Quantitative evaluations would include measures that reflect the quantity
of applicants, such as, number of applications received and percent
unfilled vacancies (Cascio, 1987; Rynes and Boudreau, 1986 cf. Rynes
and Barber, 1990). Cascio (1998) also advocates the importance of
assessing efficiency, in terms of both time and money by using measures
such as cost-per-hire, time-lapse from candidate identification to hire, and
source-yield i.e. number of candidates generated from a particular source
to hires from that source. Terpstra (1996) suggested that organizations
that conduct internal recruitment studies of the relative quality of recruits
yielded by different sources are significantly more profitable and may
have a competitive edge than those that do not conduct such studies.

2.1.2.3 Choice of screening and selection techniques

A number of factors affect the choice of the most effective screening and
selection techniques such as costs, accuracy, time involved, level of
vacancy and type of job, ability of the staff or economies of scale. The
increasing trend towards a more ‗holistic‘ appreciation of jobs and
individual potential, and the increasing emphasis placed on the attitudinal
and behavioral characteristics of employees, requires the use of more
reliable, valid and sophisticated screening and selection techniques (cf.
Scholarios and Lockyer, 1996) and there is a need to adopt ‗a multi-
method approach‘ to performance assessment using a range of selection
tools (Storey and Sisson, 1993) which are ‗rather more systematic than
the traditional interview‘, including the use of biodata, psychometric
aptitude, ability and personality tests, or a range of methods, as in
assessment centers (Scholarios and Lockyer, 1996).

15
2.1.2.4 Initial screening
Organizations can pre-screen potential applicants by using one or more
methods such as application forms, Curriculum Vitae, biographical
information blanks (BIBs) or biodata, reference checks, short tests of
personality, ability or integrity, realistic job previews (RJPs). One of the
most widely used screening procedures is the application form (Cascio,
1998). Traditional application forms are designed to collect ‗standard
information‘ about the applicant by structuring data collection, and thus it
possesses advantages over the non uniformity of CV‘s (Anderson and
Shackleton, 1993). However, assigning weights to the information on the
application form improves the validity of the whole process (Bernardin,
2003). This is known as the weighted application form (WAF) and
weights are assigned in accordance with the predictive power of each
item, so that a total score can be derived for each individual. A cut-off
score is then established which will eliminate the maximum number of
potentially unsuccessful candidates. This is useful as a rapid screening
device and may also be used in combination with other data to improve
selection and placement decisions (Cascio, 1998).

RJP‘s are found to be an accurate and reliable method for pre-screening

candidates and by providing them with a realistic preview of the job
vacancy in sufficient detail, candidates are able to self-select in or out of
the process by determining their own suitability for the job role in
question (Anderson and Shackleton, 1993). Thus the use of weighted
application forms (WAF), Biodata and RJP‘s as screening tools (as
against traditional application forms, CV‘s and others) can be considered
as best practices in screening due to higher levels of effectiveness.

16
2.1.2.5 Selection Techniques

The traditional approach to selection has been to use the ‗classic trio‘ of
application form, references and interview for most vacancies i.e. the
advertisement attracts applicants, who return an application form and
applicants with satisfactory references are short listed and invited for
interview (Cook and Cripps, 2005). However, the predictive accuracy of
these methods is not very convincing and best practice in assessment
would refer to adopting a ‗multi-method approach‘ and more
sophisticated, reliable and valid selection methods such as Biodata,
cognitive ability tests, personality questionnaires, structured interviews
and assessment centers, as they have all been shown to have reasonably
good validity and are considered to increase the effectiveness of selection
decisions (Robertson and Smith, 2001).

a) Interviews: Newell and Tansley (2001) indicate that interviews are by

far the most widely used personnel selection procedure. Interviews can
range from an unstructured, non-directive approach to a defined,
structured approach (Reilly and Chao, 1982). Highly structured and
job-related interviews could be measuring cognitive factors such as
cognitive ability, tacit knowledge or job knowledge, while
unstructured interviews maybe measuring social skills and aspects of
personality (cf. Robertson and Smith, 2001).
There are two types of structured interviews based on two specific
questioning techniques: situational interviewing and behavior
description interviewing. The former relies on the use of critical
incident job analysis to generate a series of situational questions asked
at interview and candidates replies are rated by interviewers on

17
 preformatted five-point scales (Anderson, 1992) whereas, the latter
focuses on past behavior and candidates are required to justify
decisions made concerning major life events, which are then rated as
predictive of future behaviors. Campion et al. (1994) found that
behavioral questions had slightly higher validity (0.51) than the
situational questions (0.39) (Barclay, 2001).

b) Cognitive ability and personality tests: Tests of cognitive ability

have the status of the most valid predictor of performance across jobs
and people (Terpstra, 1994; Callinan and Robertson, 2000). Meta-
analytic studies have shown significant correlations between
personality constructs and overall job performance (Barrick et al.,
2001). These tests can also be used as a screening tool for sifting out
traits in job candidates that an employer wants to avoid.
c) References, Assessment centers: The principal value of references
lies in checking the factual employment claims of the applicant and
following up any issues of concern outstanding from interview
(Anderson and Shackleton, 1993. Work sample tests reflect aspects of
the actual job; they function as a realistic job preview for candidates,
as well as a selection tool (Callinan and Robertson, 2000). Assessment
centers make use of interviews, work-sample tests, group discussions
and psychometric tests (Robertson et al., 1996) and are frequently
aimed at predicting future potential to perform at a certain level (i.e.
managerial) rather than performance on a specific job (Callinan and
Robertson, 2000).

In summary, organizations that use the classic trio of application forms,

references and traditional unstructured interviews to select potential

18
employees may need to adopt more sophisticated selection techniques in
response to the changing job demands and organizational requirements.
Schmidt and Hunter (1998) also suggest that organizations could create a
competitive advantage by adopting more valid hiring procedures.

2.1.2.5.1 Validation of selection techniques

A validation process is used to assess the extent to which the selection

methods used predict future employee performance, or other criterion
variables such as absenteeism or turnover (Terpstra, 1994; Robertson and
Smith, 2001). The information yielded by validation studies lets HR
managers choose and use the more predictive selection devices; this in
turn results in more accurate selection decisions and higher-performing
employees. A number of validation strategies exist – predictive,
concurrent, content, synthetic and validity generalization. Some of these
strategies are rather expensive (such as predictive validation) but the
long-term impact on performance and productivity is very substantial and
may easily outweigh the initial expense. Therefore best practices in
screening and selection would include adopting a ‗multi-method
approach‘ to selection, deploying more sophisticated, reliable and valid
screening and selection techniques, and then validating the techniques
used.

2.1.2.6 Innovative Recruitment and Selection Strategies

In a highly competitive and sophisticated marketplace where firms are

increasingly engaged in a ‗war for talent‘ with their competitors for the

19
recruitment of the best and brightest new hires, traditional sources are no
longer adequate to compete for talented employees (White, 1998 cf.
Taylor and Collins, 2000). Firms in India which currently operate in a
tight and competitive labor market may be able to yield a high return on
investment by adopting innovative recruitment and selection strategies in
order to attract and hire high-quality resources. Some of the new methods
and sources of recruitment identified in recruitment literature include
capitalizing on technology by using previously unknown recruitment
sources such as the company‘s webpage and internet based job search
services; focusing on enhancing their desirability as places to work;
casting a wider net to target a broader range of potential applicants; and
payment of financial incentives to new employees themselves, current
employees who refer them or to third parties who help make contact with
desirable applicants (Taylor and Collins, 2000).Of these, the use of web-
based recruiting and the application of a marketing approach i.e.
employer branding, are reportedly effective recruitment practices (Taylor
and Collins, 2000) and are discussed in greater detail in the following
sections.

2.1.3 Use of technology in recruitment

The rapid growth of the internet and its increasing accessibility has
resulted in organizations recruiting and selecting applicants for jobs
online. In addition, job seekers are increasingly expecting to find work
through the internet rather than more traditional means (Bartram, 2000).
Cappelli (2001) and Buckley et al. (2004) claim that, in an environment
with fierce competition for talent, companies that master the art and
science of on-line recruiting i.e. the ability to attract and quickly make job

20
offers to qualified applicants will provide them with a competitive
advantage. Several internet-based recruitment applications have been
developed which provide applicants with the opportunity to apply online
for a specific job. This can be either unstructured or structured.
Unstructured systems ask applicants to send their resumes through email.
Here, organizations typically receive large numbers of resumes (in
different formats), causing inevitable pre-screening problems. The
payoffs of internet recruiting can be enormous in terms of cost and time
savings. Estimates show that the web can reduce costs over those of
traditional recruitment sources and can narrow hiring cycle time by
approximately 25% (Dineen et al., 2002). A study by Recruitsoft / iLogos
research of 50 Fortune 500 companies revealed that the average company
cut about six days off its hiring cycle of 43 days by posting jobs on-line
instead of in newspapers, another four days by taking on-line applications
instead of paper ones, and more than a week by screening and processing
applications electronically. Other advantages of internet recruitment
according to employers are that it gives access to a much wider pool of
candidates; it is easy-to-update and provides global coverage 24/7.
Additionally, it is regarded as a much more important source of
applications in the future as well as a very effective marketing tool in
attracting applicants (IRS, 2001).

2.1.4 Use of technology in screening and selection

Internet-based assessment can enable organizations to conduct speedy

screening and selection and make job offers to qualified applicants very
quickly. By applying technology in the screening process, applicants can
apply and be screened seamlessly through the company‘s website, so that

21
recruiters and hiring managers can spend more time with a larger group
of qualified applicants (cf. Bauer et. al, 2004). It also provides a
paperless, standardized and objective screening process, which can be
implemented on demand at numerous and highly decentralized locations.
Job related screening questions and inquiries into applicants‘ work and
educational experiences facilitate screening out of job applicants who do
not meet the minimal criteria for employment, as well as those who
demonstrate a proneness to counterproductive behavior.

2.1.5 Employer Branding

Evidence suggests that an organization‘s reputation has a direct effect on

attraction to the organization, and is an important influence on applicant
assessments of fit with firms (Rynes et al., 1991; Turban et al., 1998).
Along these lines, Schneider‘s (1987) ―attraction-selection-attrition‖
model emphasizes that people are attracted to different types of
organizations, depending on their interests, needs, norms and personality.
Therefore, it is no surprise that labor market shortages and the ―war for
talent‖ across several countries has resulted in a greater emphasis and
concern for organizational image and on applying marketing principles to
attract top potential applicants to choose an organization‘s offer of
employment above that of a competitor (Lievens et al., 2002). Given
ABSTOM in India is involved in a talent war in a competitive labor
market, this strategy may play an important role in helping organizations
to attract quality talent. Moreover, Rynes (1991) cf. Gatewood et al.
(1993) suggest that given the small amount of information applicants
have early in the job choice process, initial application decisions are
heavily based on general impressions of ―organizational attractiveness

22
and image‖. Integrating recruiting efforts with overall marketing
campaigns is an important strategy companies can pursue to ensure their
success in today‘s competitive labor market (Cappelli, 2001). Cable and
Turban (2000) found that applicants remembered more information from
the advertisement of a company with a good image and that people were
also willing to earn a little less in such a prestigious company (cf. Lievens
et al., 2002).

2.1.6 Benchmarking
Overman (1993) defines benchmarking as measuring the practices of
one's own company against the best practices of the competition.
Similarly, Camp (1989) proposes that the process of benchmarking
requires establishing operating targets based on the industry best
practices. Benchmarking contributes to an organization‘s ability to attain
a competitive position by monitoring industry best practices and
determining measures of productivity (Camp, 1989; Fitz-enz, 1993). A
further benefit is that the self-analysis required by benchmarking
encourages the identification of more efficient ways of operating.
Benchmarking, by monitoring how other organizations function, offers
alternatives to an organization‘s current business practices and, thus, can
assist the performance of the organization (Fitz-enz, 1993).
However, benchmarking may only reveal industry practices that have
been widely adopted by organizations, but not necessarily identify those
that make for competitive advantage.

2.1.7 Best practice in Recruitment and Selection

Best practice is generally accepted to involve the processes of best-in-
class firms, industries, or competitors as benchmarks towards which other

23
organizations may align their own practices in a bid to become more
competitive and close the performance gap (Camp, 1989; Mohrman et al,
1995). The typical components of best practice include the adoption of
quality programs such as total quality management; the implementation
of team work based organization, a continuous improvement philosophy,
the adoption of just-in-time systems and the development and
implementation of close supplier customer relationships (Dertouzos et al,
1989; Oliver and Wilkinson, 1992).
2.1.8 Metrics in Talent Acquisition
Metrics used in Talent Acquisition Process is shown in figure 2.1

Figure 2.1: Talent Acquisition benchmarking metrics

2.2 COMPANY PROFILE

2.2.1 About ABSTOM

ABSTOM present in 100 countries is a large

French multinational conglomerate. ABSTOM is a world leader in
Transport Infrastructure, Power Generation and Electrical Grid.
In the field of Power generation, ABSTOM offers a comprehensive range
of power generation solutions - for all energy sources (coal, gas, nuclear,

24
fuel-oil, hydropower, wind) and is a leader in innovative technologies for
the protection of the environment.

In the field Transport, ABSTOM supplies rolling stock, transport

infrastructure and signaling, maintenance equipment and global rail
systems. ABSTOM‘s technological advances allowed the company to
achieve the world rail speed record at a speed of 574.8 km/h from 3 April
2007, with a market share of 18% and sales of above 5.3 billion Euros.

The Grid sector offers products, power electronics, automation and

turnkey solutions, alongside a full range of services, to its customers
across high, extra high and ultra-high voltages (66 kV to 765 kV/1200
kV).

2.2.2 ABSTOM in India

ABSTOM has been instrumental in charting the growth trajectory of
India for a century and has a long-standing reputation for providing
highly innovative and sustainable solutions for meeting the country‘s
energy and transport requirements. Since its inception, the company has
been at the forefront of leading-edge technology at every level, serving
the three infrastructure markets mentioned above, essential to economic,
social and environmental development of India.

In the power segment, ABSTOM has been instrumental in building the

biggest hydro projects in the country including Tehri PSP (4x250 MW),
Subansiri (8x250 MW). In thermal projects, ABSTOM has two strategic
contracts for the execution of turnkey station control and instrumentation
(C&I) for NTPC‘s 660 MW supercritical projects for Solapur and Mouda
II located in the state of Maharashtra. In Transport, ABSTOM is an active

25
participator in the future projects of the Indian Railways – the fourth
largest network in the world. Chennai Metro Rail Limited has signed with
ABSTOM Transport a €243 million contract to supply 168 cars and 16
additional metro cars for the metro of Chennai in India. As a multi-
specialist rail transport solutions supplier, ABSTOM has provided train
control and signaling systems for the metro of Delhi and is installing
them in the metro of Bangalore and supply of track circuit for zonal
railways and Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation Ltd (MRVC), Indian
Railways.

ABSTOM in India has made strategic partnerships with strong local

players like BHEL, Bharat Forge Ltd, Infosys, and NTPC to bring in
frontline technologies.

2.2.2.4 Corporate Social Responsibility

Under the aegis of ABSTOM FOUNDATION, the firm supports a wide
range of initiatives such as:
a) Green Orphanage for Disadvantaged Children in Karnataka
b) The Kumaun Spring Recharge Initiative
c) Restoring farming in Gujarat, India
d) Windmills for salt farmers
e) Education Initiatives

2.2.3 ABSTOM INDIA LIMITED, COIMBATORE

ABSTOM in India has a state of the art manufacturing facility at

Coimbatore for Transport infrastructure. This facility is specialized in the
design, manufacturing & testing of signaling and Traction control
equipment viz. Point Machines; Digital Track circuits (DTC) and

26
Traction equipment. The Coimbatore manufacturing activities were
established in 1999 to manufacture a range of traction and signaling
equipment to supply the Indian market. The factory is ISO 2000 and
14001 certified and is located in an industrial area with access to
component suppliers.
ABSTOM today is the leading supplier of train control and signaling
system for metros in India. It has worked diligently to equip the first two
lines of Delhi metro and is currently working on the first two lines of
Bangalore metro.

2.2.4 Achievements

• ABSTOM‘s first metro rolling stock factory in India for Chennai Metro
(CMRL)
• Ballast-less track for Chennai Metro
• ABSTOM design LHB coaches used on India‘s fastest trains - Shatabdi
and Rajdhani
• ABSTOM Signaling and Train control systems on Delhi and Bangalore
(operational) metro network
• Associated with the Delhi and Bangalore Metro networks, covering
more than 100 kms and 96 stations.

3.0 Research Methodology

To define any research problem and give a suitable solution for any
research, a sound research plan is inevitable. This chapter includes an
overall research design, the sampling procedure, the data collection

27
method, and analysis procedure. Out of the total universe of 120
employees, 30 respondents have been taken.

3.1 Research Approach

Descriptive research approach is used in the study with the aim to achieve
an in-depth understanding of the talent acquisition in the firm under
study.

Qualitative research strategy is used for the study. The major purpose of
qualitative strategy is that it provides in-depth understanding of models,
definitions, meanings etc. Research methods used in this category
include:
Interviews: Here face-to-face interview with the managerial staff of the
organization is used.
Reviews: Combing through scholarly literature and other published
writings to determine attitudes towards a subject.

3.2 Sources of data collection

Both primary and the secondary data are used in the data collection
required for the study. Primary data is collected by means of direct
interviews. Secondary data is collected from available books,
publications, research studies, articles and websites.
For primary data collection the following methods are used:
 Interview with HR Manager
 Interviews with HR executives
 Other managerial staff
 Interview with the placement agency

28
For Secondary data collection the following methods are used:
 Websites
 Published articles
 Other Sources: Appropriate journals, magazines such as Human
Capital, relevant newspaper articles, company brochures and
articles on web sites are also used to substantiate the identified
objectives.

3.3 Sampling Design

Non probability sampling is used here. Judgmental sampling more

commonly known as purposive sampling is used, as subjects are chosen to
be part of the sample with a specific purpose in mind. The major source
used is from the organization‘s HR manager. I decided to pick
representatives from all Departments to cover as many people for the
research ensuring that the results therefore achieved would be appropriate
and accurate. Sampling for qualitative research seeks to provide
explanations of attitudes and behavior rather than quantify their extent in
the population. According to the Cooper and Schindler (2010), it is neither
necessary nor desirable for qualitative samples to be as large as survey
samples or to be statistically representative. Rather, it is essential that
qualitative samples are selected purposively to encompass the range and
diversity present in the target population.

 Sample Frame: 120 employees

 Sample Size: 30
 Sample Method: Judgmental Sampling.
 Sample Place : ABSTOM India Ltd, Coimbatore

29
 Target Group : Managerial staff and executives who can
project the accurate picture of the organization.

3.4 Data collection tool

The first step in data collection was to contact the Human Resources
Department of the firm. Next a meeting was arranged with the HR
manager. At this meeting, the HR manager provided me with background
information regarding the organization. Then managers and senior
executives of HR and other departments were chosen to be interviewed
based on judgmental sampling. Face to face interview method was used in
the research to gather information about the organization‘s strategy for
recruitment and selection. Interviews were conducted with the HR team
with the goal to collect more in-depth information about the organization
and its processes for talent acquisition. Several issues were identified that
the organization needs to address in the recruitment and selection process.
Both structured and unstructured questions were used for the same. Prior
to the interview, the list of questions was sent to the interviewees by e-
mail to allow the interviewee time to reflect upon the questions, hence
eliminating any element of surprise.

3.5 Data Analysis

Based on the findings from the interviews conducted with the employees
at ABSTOM; a process flow diagram of the talent acquisition process is
made. The process is studied in depth and recommendations are made for
improvement like reducing the process lead time. Also the study aims at
benchmarking the process with the best practices in the industry.

30
4.0 Data Analysis

This chapter discusses and analyses the findings from the interviews
conducted with the HR executives and other managerial staff of
ABSTOM. The chapter assesses and evaluates the organization‘s talent
acquisition process and makes constructive recommendations for
improvement. Further an attempt is made to benchmark the talent
acquisition process at ABSTOM with industry best practices.

4.1 Talent Acquisition at ABSTOM: Process Description

The information gathered from the interviews conducted with the HR

Manager and executives are compiled and the process flow diagram for
different stages in talent acquisition process (requisitioning and approval,
recruitment phase and selection phase) . The HR department` of
ABSTOM is involved in the entire process and ensures the authenticity of
the opening before processing the request.
Process Owner
 The respective Hiring Manager is accountable for Talent
Acquisition for their respective business/function.
 The Recruitment Managers / HR will be facilitating and supporting
the entire processes of Talent Acquisition.
4.1.1 Talent acquisition Planning and Strategy:

Benchmark practice:

It is found that great organizations plan the Talent Requirements as an

integral part of the Organization‘s Strategic business Plans at the
beginning of the year. Strategic thinking and relationship building are
precisely the competencies required in workforce planning initiatives as

31
talent acquisition becomes more integrated into the business agenda and
more data- and analysis-oriented. Organizations that are not yet bringing
workforce planning to the business table may face significant talent gaps.

ABSTOM practice:
HR plays an important role in leading the development, implementation,
and evaluation of strategic human resource plans to meet both current and
future human resource needs required to achieve the organization‘s
business goals. An ideal employee at ABSTOM must display appropriate
technical skills, values and attitude. On an average ABSTOM adds about
60 people every month at both the entry and experienced levels across
India.
Preferred method of finding new employees (for entry-level recruitment)
is The Young Engineering Graduate Program (YEGP), through an
agreement between educational institutions (both government and
private). Employee referrals and job portals are the other key source of
talent for lateral placements.

ABSTOM’s Retention strategy:

Selecting and retaining top talent is vital for business success. The
average number of years employees work in the company is more than
seven to eight years. HIPOs (High Potentials) who continue to develop
skills and increase their value are ABSTOM‘s most important resource.
ABSTOM builds their retention strategy on all facets of employee
engagement. For example, there is specific focus on value alignment,
especially on young hires. The foundation of the YEGP is based on
ABSTOM‘s priorities of values, ethics and compliance, corporate social
responsibility, quality and employee health and safety. The pedagogy

32
used during this program is through active experimentation, feedback and
reinforcement of learning. The retention at ABSTOM, Coimbatore is 2%.

Gap analysis:

ABSTOM‘s recruitment plans are aligned with their organization‘s

medium term (3yr) strategy and goals i.e. manpower planning is done
based on the medium term business plans of the firm.
Hence it was seen that the firm follows one of the best practices
identified in literature i.e. aligning their resourcing strategy with the
broader business and organizational goals.

4.1.2 Job Analysis defines the roles, responsibility and activities of

those involved in the process.

Best practice:

The best practices in job analysis identified in literature are as follows:

 Job analysis is a strategic HRM practice.

 Proactive job analysis as a company-wide practice leads to higher

performance.

 Use of competency based approach in job analysis.

ABSTOM practice:
The different steps in job analysis followed in ABSTOM are given below.

33
1. Identifying the vacancy- The recruitment process begins with the
human resource department receiving requisitions for recruitment
from various departments of the company. These contain:
• Posts to be filled
• Number of persons
• Duties to be performed
• Qualifications required

2. Creating a job description- Before the recruitment process begins; a

job description is created indicating various aspects which are
important to the position being advertised.
For every new position, the Hiring Manager raising the Talent
Acquisition Request shall need to do the following:
 Review the organization chart and determine the role and
positioning within the overall hierarchy.
 Create a position description or role document for the new position.
He may do this with the support of the HR Head.
 Answer the following questions for a clearer picture of the job
design.
a. What will be the reporting relationships for this role and will
there be sensitivities that need to be handled?
b. Which Band and Level will he/she be placed?
c. What are the specifications for this role and who will be the
best fit for this role?
3. Manpower requisition is raised in ABSTOM E-Recruitment
service ("Service")

34
The entire requests for new / replacement resources should be made to the
Recruitment Team in the approved Talent Requisition Form in the e-
talent. Requisition here is to be approved by the respective M+1 manager
in order for its further processing. For any talent requirement, the position
description has to be enclosed. On validating the requirement, the
recruitment team will start with the sourcing process.

Gap analysis:
It was seen that job analysis is done by HR together with the hiring
managers and is renewed every year. ABSTOM has a Job Role Template
in order to analyze the job roles and decide on the job requirements. Job
descriptions and specifications are generated for all positions recruited.
This is done by the concerned department with the help of a job
description questionnaire.

It was found that job analysis was an integral part of the recruitment and
selection practices of the firm under study. This reveals that the firm
considers job descriptions and person specifications as helpful and
necessary for recruiting purposes.
However, ABSTOM must use the competency-focused approach to job
analysis in order to define a set of competencies required of potential
employees. The firm relies solely on conventional approaches and not
using competency frameworks for recruiting. However they
acknowledged the importance of attitudes and behaviors when hiring
candidates and said that they take these into consideration in their final
selection stages. The adoption of competence frameworks by the firm is
recommended to increase the emphasis on hiring on the basis of attitudes
along with skills and on achieving an organizational fit.

35
4.1.3 RECRUITMENT PROCESS

Best practice:
The best practices for recruitment identified in literature are as follows:
 Conducting formal recruitment source analysis to determine the
most appropriate recruitment method for each of the openings.
 Following a policy of internal recruiting; internal sourcing is
said to enhance organizational commitment and lead to lower
employee turnover rates (Bernardin, 2003).
 Encouraging employee referrals and other informal recruiting
sources to enhance the quality of applicants.
 Highlights of the referral program of Accenture (winner of Best
Employee Referral Program 2012, awarded by ERE) are as
follows:

1. Increasing the number of quality referrals, through LinkedIn‘s

Referral Engine.

2. Creating an ―employee referral concierge service for senior

executives‖ — including a dedicated team that looks after senior
executive referrals and provides extra service.

3. Creating a dedicated global team to pull daily ―pipeline reports‖

and monitor referrals. Local recruitment leads receive weekly
updates about the referral candidates in their pipeline.

4. Improving the referral experience; for example, employees receive

a thank-you email from senior leaders for their referral contribution
in a case like Accenture.
36
It received more than 200,000 referrals in 2011 and hired around 20,000
through this program.

ABSTOM practice:
 Criteria that determine the choice of recruitment at ABSTOM are:
(i) Recruitment based on source analysis.
(ii) Recruitment based on past experience and what has worked
best.
(iii) Recruitment based on the position and the skills required.

4.1.3.1 Profile sourcing

 Profile sourcing is purely based on the requirement. However,
Recruiter will consult the Talent Acquisition Manager to better
understand the JDs.
 Profiles will be pooled through internal sources in parallel with
external sources.
i. Campus Recruitments
 Fresh graduates, Diploma holders will be hired through campus
recruitments.
 University Relations: The Company had signed Memorandum of
Understanding with Pune Engineering College, Punjab Engineering
College, NIT Surathkal and M. S. University Baroda. During the
current year the GET Hiring was started and the company visited
19 Colleges for GET/DET Recruitment. The company also
launched a Structured Internship program ―Anubhav‖ for hiring
fresh Graduates/Undergraduates on internship.

37
  Business Heads & HR jointly decide the number of fresher‘s to
be hired in different domains and the target dates based on
which campus Talent Acquisition plan is made.

ii. Internal Transfer

ABSTOM gives preference to recruiting for all positions from within
the organization before recruiting externally from outside. The
respondents felt that internal recruiting was better than external
recruiting in terms of quality and skill-sets as the candidates have been
working on similar projects. Hiring Managers can identify and refer
potential internal employees for the open positions across the
organization.
ABSTOM maintains a talent database of existing employees and
whenever requirements come up, the database is checked to match
current skill sets with the requirements. ABSTOM maintains a
managed growth pool which is a database of all associates who are not
part of a project at a given point of time.
iii. Lateral recruits
 Lateral employees refer to those with prior work experience and
recruited directly from the open market.
iv. Advertisements in the Media
After the required approval, job vacancies are posted on online portals
like jobs online. Advertisement is kept open for 2-4 weeks allowing
candidates reasonable time period to respond. Advertisements are done
internally & externally as follows:
Internal: Notice boards in the factory; verbally communicated through
meetings, e-talent.

38
External: Local newspapers and other media like monster, linked in and
facebook)
 Job portals were used by the firm for sourcing candidates, the most
popular ones being monster.com, naukri.com and jobs.com.

 Job portals were identified as the first recruitment choice especially

for recruiting junior and middle management, and the advantages
highlighted by the respondents were: convenience, shorter cycle
time, wider reach, good quantity and quality of applicants, less time
consuming, lower costs of recruiting, and easier screening of
candidates. Moreover, recruitment through job portals was not
restricted to technical positions only and was used for non-technical
positions as well.

 Advertisements and referrals were identified as the second most

popular sources for recruiting at all levels. Employee referrals were
identified as an important source of candidates owing to the social
networks of current employees in similar fields. All respondents said
that they had employee referral programs in place and some of the
merits of referrals which were highlighted by the respondents were:
high hit rates, high quality of candidates, longer tenure and hence
lower attrition rates. Referrals are an important brand building tool.
ABSTOM‘s employee referral policy is - ―Our people are our brand
ambassadors and since they are selecting their colleagues, they send
us the best‖.

39
vii. Placement consultants
ABSTOM has a list of empanelled consultants to work with for filling up
vacancies. ABSTOM will periodically review the performances of the
placement consultants to ensure better service.
Placement consultants were found to be used by the firm for recruiting for
senior management positions owing to the high level of difficulty of
finding candidates, and the advantage of wider reach and network of
consultants. Campus recruiting was also done by the firm for entry level
posts and middle management trainees.
Gap analysis:
ABSTOM practices internal recruiting and encourage employees career
planning and growth, which was identified as one of the best practices in
recruiting literature.
YEGP is found to be a primary source for recruitment. Employee
referrals and job portals are the other key sources of talent for lateral
placements.
In a nut-shell, internal sourcing is most preferred. For external sourcing
job portals were found to be the most popular source overall, especially
for junior and mid-management levels; placement consultants for senior
and critical to fill positions; campus recruitment for entry level positions;
and referrals and advertisements for all the levels.
ABSTOM follows best practices in ‗recruitment‘ i.e. (1) follow a policy
of internal recruiting, (2) use employee referrals in addition to college
recruiting and executive search firms, to obtain high quality and high
performing employees (as was supported by Terpstra, 1996), and (3)
conduct formal recruitment source analysis.

40
4.1.4 Screening of candidates

Best practice:
 Use of weighted application forms and biographical information
blanks which have been found to be high on reliability and validity.
 Bauer et al. (2004), suggested that internet-based screening
allows applicants to apply online at any time and is a potentially
valuable way for organizations to efficiently and quickly sort
through a large influx of applications (Leonard, 2000 cf. Dineen et
al. (2004)
 Wroe (2000) found that companies who provide an online
application on the internet are viewed as more interactive,
accessible and cutting-edge than companies who don‘t offer these
services and that candidates were either positive or very positive
about the process (cf. Bartram, 2000).

ABSTOM practice:
Initial screening methods used by ABSTOM are Application form,
weighted application form, resume, curriculum vitae, Biographical info
blanks, reference checks and online screening tests.
Applicants who apply online through the company website are screened
using the online pre-screening questionnaire which they need to
mandatorily fill out as part of the application process.
Pre-screening by HR
Profiles obtained from all the sources undergo a preliminary screening by
the Recruiter to confirm the suitability to the position at a basic level.
Besides checking the role specific competencies and behavioral attributes
required to perform a job, few basic eligibility criteria such as experience
41
level, academic track record, and salary expectations of the candidate are
assessed. The shortlisted profiles are sent to Hiring Managers for further
screening.

Screening by Hiring Managers (short-listing for interview)

Screening happens with reference to specific domain and role
competency requirements. The short listed profiles are sent back to
recruiters to organize for personal interview.

Gap analysis:
This reveals that ABSTOM considered online pre-screening
questionnaires effective as a screening tool. It is evident that CV‘s or
resumes are the most popular screening tool in the organization.
Interviewees considered these as a very effective and time saving way of
screening applicants. Job portals also assist in screening i.e. ―job portals
more-or-less screen out relevant candidates and then send their profiles‖.
This is supported by Cappelli (2001) who cites that some simple sorting
is done automatically by most job boards. On the whole it can be said that
the firm have adopted most of the best practices in ‗screening‘ identified
in the literature.
4.1.5 SELECTION PROCESS
Best practices:

 Adoption of a ‗multi-method approach’ and using more

sophisticated, reliable and valid selection methods such as
cognitive ability tests, personality questionnaires, structured

42
 interviews and assessment centers is considered to be a best
practice.
 Validation of the selection techniques for providing a feedback of
the system is required to assess the reliability and validity of the
process.
 Interviews and tests:
Barclay (2001) suggested that behavioral questioning is more
flexible than situational questioning as it allows candidates to
explain their skills in real events from their own experience rather
than having to imagine hypothetical situations which maybe
outside their experience and probing questions can be used as
appropriate to each candidate.
ABSTOM practice:
Internal candidates: Directly called for interview after screening. At
ABSTOM preference is given to internal candidates as:
1. It is time saving, economical, and reliable.
2. Assignments at ABSTOM are project based. Internal candidates
have prior experience and need no induction training because the
candidate already knows everything about the organization, the
work, the employee, the rules and regulations, etc.
3. It motivates the employees to work hard in order to get higher jobs
in the same organization.
External candidates: For external candidates approval is required from
the M+1 manager. Suitable candidates are then called for interview.
Technical interview (T1/T2)

43
  Technical interviews must have a minimum of 3 most suitable
resumes for each position. Candidate should be called for the
personal interview with the required documents.
 The first and second round of technical interviews are either
clubbed or held consecutively on the same day.
 Interview panel consists of Hiring Managers and a H1 level
interviewer.
 On being short-listed at this panel interview, the candidate
progresses towards the next level in the selection process.

HR Interview (H1/H2)
 HR interview is conducted after completion of technical interviews.
The interviewer assesses the candidate‘s behavioral attributes,
culture fitness to the organization. Candidate‘s salary details
including expectations in terms of compensation, job, and career
growth are captured accurately and addressed at this stage itself.
Document verification
 Photocopies of academic certificates and experience certificate of
previous companies are verified with the originals and initialed on
the photocopies by the concerned Recruiter. Also, all relevant
forms are filled by the candidates and collected back by the
Recruiter on the same day.
Decision to hire
 Once the candidate has been assessed as technically/ functionally
sound and clears all the above mentioned rounds of selection, the
HR department approves of the candidate‘s employment at
ABSTOM.

44
  If not, candidates who have not cleared the selection process at any
stage of the selection process will be informed through the source of
hire and restricted from applying for a job in ABSTOM for a period
of six months.
Lead Time for Recruitment & Selection process
 The lead time to complete the recruitment and selection process will
be an average of 82 working days to complete.

Gap analysis:
It was observed that the firm used a combination of structured and
unstructured interviewing techniques and found this effective, since they
felt that unstructured interviews were more flexible and allowed for
probing candidate‘s responses further and evaluating their personality
attributes such as soft skills and energy levels. This was found to be in
line with Blackman (2002).
Some respondents stated that structured interviews were particularly
useful for evaluating lower levels and unstructured interviews became
important as the level increased, especially in the case of middle and
senior managers. For senior managers their interviews were unstructured
so as to allow for strategic level discussions. The firm used informal
feedback from line managers regarding the selection decisions and the
quality of new hires which is a best practice.
4.1.6 Innovative recruitment and selection strategies
This section presents and discusses the findings for research question; the
extent of usage of new and innovative methods to recruitment and
selection by the firm.

45
Best practice:
 Mobile-Enabled Assessments

Customized prescreening protocols to measure and predict

competencies, job fit, and cultural alignment, with the convenience
of mobile accessibility to enhance candidate experience and speed
up hiring process.
 Digital Interview Platform
On-demand, recorded, and face-to-face interviews without
geographic limitation, offering convenience, cost efficiency, and
more positive experiences for hiring managers and candidates.
 Recruitment Management Tool
A proprietary tool that tracks every aspect of the recruitment
process in real time, offering total transparency to hiring managers
through instant, dashboard views of all activities.
 Recruiter Toolkit
it is a unique document repository and on-demand learning
platform that integrates training, process, compliance, and
governance in a single online tool.
 KPMG (winner of Best Corporate Careers Site, 2008 awarded by
ERE)
Some highlights of its new approach include:
 Employee Career Architecture allows visitors to explore career
options with an interactive "build your own career path" mapping
tool. (Interactivity and personalization are critical factors in careers
website development.)

46
  A quick poll with live results features a periodic question about
candidate-job Expectations. Visitors who participate can see the
results immediately.
 Its Career Journey video series profiles real KPMG employees
ranging in roles from interns to partners.
ABSTOM practice:
 Adopted pro-active ways of obtaining candidates with specific
skill-sets needed by them i.e. by either identifying or developing
the very best people and then recruiting them.
 Introduced common interview panels (subject matter experts) for
organization-wide hiring.
Gap analysis:
In general it was observed that ABSTOM had introduced some or the
other innovative strategies to support their recruitment and selection
processes.

5.2.7 Employer Branding

Best practice:

Best practices in employer branding identified in literature and that of

recruiting excellence award winners are given below:

a) Cappelli (2001) suggests that integrating recruiting efforts with overall

marketing campaigns is an important strategy companies can pursue to
ensure their success in today‘s competitive labor market.
b) Gatewood et al. (1993) finds that perceptions of both overall corporate
image and recruitment image were significantly correlated with job
applicants‘ intentions to pursue further contact with a firm.

47
c) Social Consideration
Today, job seekers can readily validate the claims made by employers.
For example, a claim by an employer to have a team-oriented culture
can be undermined by a series of Glassdoor reviews indicating that the
culture is too autonomous, or that management through fear is a
common practice. In fact, 70 percent of job seekers as per a study
reported using Glassdoor, Yelp, or another ratings site to learn more
about an employer before applying to a job.
d) Visibility and First Impression
While updating their resume and engaging their professional network,
job seekers also begin conducting initial research to learn about
potential employers. To do this, they use job boards and search
engines. As a talent acquisition leader, this process creates two critical
requirements: visibility and first impression.
e) Ernst & Young (winner of Best Employer Brand 2008 awarded by
ERE):
Highlights of its approach to employment branding include:
a. Its brand is based on three pillars: inclusiveness, flexibility, and
continuous learning /development.
b. Its extensive facebook profile, group, and messaging allow
students to dialogue with one another and current E&Y
employees about careers in professional services.
c. There is extensive leveraging of the business press and PR to
position E&Y as a progressive employer capable of launching a
phenomenal career.

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ABSTOM practice:

• ABSTOM considers their website an important branding

tool since most applicants would visit their corporate website before or
during making job applications and this would influence their
perception of the company.
• Campus brand building by means of sponsoring and
participating in numerous on-campus activities, such as career fairs,
information sessions, events with student organizations, meetings with
faculty and campus officials and on campus interviews.
• ABSTOM recruiters play an important part in branding.
ABSTOM has seen a boost to its brand among potential employees.
Gap analysis:
ABSTOM is a fortune 500 company. Respondents considered their
recruitment process as an important brand building tool. Irrespective of
whether candidates are selected or not, the hiring team makes sure that
the candidate‘s experience is pleasant when they come for an interview so
that they spread a favorable word of mouth about the company.
In short, ABSTOM does branding by advertising, participating in
online and physical job fairs, campus brand building, positive word of
mouth through enhancing candidate recruitment experience and creating
brand awareness throughout the country via seminars and community
services. ABSTOM believe that talent acquisition leaders must think of
themselves as brand managers, building media strategies that fully
consider the behavior of today‘s job seekers and think in terms of long-
term relationship building.

49
4.1.6 Metrics in Talent Acquisition:
Best practice:
The highlights of the metrics used by WIPRO (winner of Most Effective
Use of Staffing Metrics, 2008 awarded by ERE) and the hiring process
metrics as per Recruiting Benchmarks Survey Report 2012, National
Association of Colleges and Employers is given below.

a) Wipro
• Leveraged in-house quality analysts proficient in Six Sigma, LEAN,
and TRIZ to continuously monitor and establish business
performance-oriented metrics.
• Implemented a performance-management model that evaluates
staffing function performance both pre- and post-hire.

b) The hiring process metrics (Recruiting Benchmarks Survey Report

2012, National Association of Colleges and Employers):
a. Average number of days from interview to offer: 24.2
b. Average number of days allowed from offer to acceptance:
14.1
c. 39.8% of interviews received offers.
d. 74.8% of offers were accepted

ABSTOM practice:
• There are no concrete metrics that capture ABSTOM‘s success.
• Return on Investment (ROI) and Key Performance Indicators
(KPIs) metrics were difficult to ascertain.
• Started to measure the activities through the tools, called
dashboard.

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 • Global Field Service Network, Documented interviews with
successful community managers were initially posted on the
corporate intranet; now the team conducts and posts video
testimonials.

Gap analysis:
ABSTOM must conduct quantity, efficiency and quality analyses i.e.
source-yield, time lapse and cost-per-hire analysis to evaluate their
recruitment sources.

4.1.7 Key Issues in current process:

1. Lead time-Average of 82 working days to complete which can be
reduced.
2. Not able to measure always as to, how effective the processes are.
3. More consistency needs to be ensured in all processes.
4. The candidate background verification process needs to improve.

5.0 Conclusions And Recommendations

This study was designed to answer four research questions and this
section will summarize the key findings of the study in relation research
questions in order to formulate the conclusions. These research question
are studied under the headings planning, job analysis, recruitment,
screening, selection, employer branding and metrics.

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5.1.1 Key Findings

1. Planning

Recruitment plans are aligned with the organization‘s medium term

strategy and goals which is identified as a best practice.

2. Job Analysis
Conventional Job analysis approach is being used at ABSTOM. However
literature highlights the advantages of competence frameworks and hence
it is recommended the firm may use the same.

3. Recruitment Strategies
Best practices identified in the literature on recruitment were following a
policy of internal recruiting; encouraging employee referrals to enhance
the quality of applicants attracted; and conducting formal recruitment
source analysis to determine the most appropriate recruitment methods
which are being practiced at ABSTOM.

4. Initial screening
ABSTOM uses screening methods such as application forms, paper-based
technical tests, online technical, ability, aptitude, telephonic screening,
weighted application forms (WAF), biographical info blanks (BIB).
These practices have been found to be high on reliability and validity.

5. Selection
Best practices in selection identified in literature were adopting a ‗multi-
method approach‘ and using more sophisticated, reliable and valid

52
selection methods such as cognitive ability tests, personality
questionnaires, structured interviews and assessment centers. Most of
these techniques were followed by ABSTOM. However the use of
competency based frameworks needs to be adopted in order to understand
personality of the candidates and their fit with the organization. It was
also noted that background check was not stringent and was mostly
outsourced to the recruiting agency.

Overall, it was concluded that the existing talent acquisition process of

company is good but it has some areas for improvement which is
mentioned in the recommendations section. ABSTOM has taken pro-
active steps to implement innovative recruitment and selection strategies

5.2 RECOMMENDATIONS

This section presents the recommendations to improve the current process.

1. Recommendations for reducing the lead time for Recruitment &
Selection process
2. Lead time to be reduced to 45 days from the current average of 82
days. To achieve this, the recommended process accountability matrix
with timelines can be drawn.
3. More effective metrics need to be deployed.

5.3 Scope for Further Research

Upon completion of this study, it was found certain areas in which
future research can be undertaken. The following recommendations are
given for further research keeping in mind the limitations of the present
study:

53
1) This study was undertaken purely from an organization‘s perspective
of the most effective practices in recruitment and selection. However,
future research could be undertaken from the perspective of job
applicants and their views of which practices are likely to have a
positive impact on applicant attraction to the firm.

2) The research was focused solely on best practices in recruitment and

selection procedures. However, given the competitive labor market
conditions, job and organizational attributes, such as compensation,
work environment, internal career paths and the type of work etc. can
have a major effect on applicant attraction to firms. Hence future
research could focus on studying the attributes crucial in attracting the
best talent in the industry.

3) Finally, another interesting area for future research would be to study

the impact of adopting best practices in recruitment and selection on the
organization‘s financial performance.
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Web Pages
1. Sullivan, (2013). ―Talent Management Thought Leadership.‖,
http://drjohnsullivan.com (Apr. 15, 2013)
2. http://www.ABSTOM.com
3. Aon Hewitt, (2012),‖Innovations -Creating Competitive
Advantage for Clients.‖, http://www.aonhewittrpo.com (May
28,2013)

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