HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT BBC 1109

4TH WEEK
LECTURE HANDOUTS
Topic Overview

 Allocation
 Main steps in recruitment
 External sources of Applicants
 Steps in the selection process
 Placement
 HR points to ponder: Recruitment
 Trending in HR: May the Best Applicant Win
 HR Forefront: Cultural Biases on the HR’s Role

A) Brief Description of the Topic

Recruitment is the process of actively seeking out, finding and hiring candidates for a
specific position or job. The recruitment definition includes the entire hiring process, from
inception to the individual recruit’s integration into the company.

(B) Learning Outcomes

 Distinguish the characteristics that a HR must posses

 Point out how the following trends have impacted HR
 Consider the external Resources of applicants.
 Develop and enhance the skills of the employees
 Introduce new employees to people they will work closely

(C) Related Video

Recruitment and Selection | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-VcHu-wZxE

(D) Sources of Lecture

 Articles, Related Videos, Presentations, and Research

(E) Number of Hours

 3 Hours - lecture delivery

Lecture Delivery

ALLOCATION
Resources are a must to implement a strategy. A given strategy; however, it is effective or sound,
has no meaning unless the organization has the required resources. It depends not only of having
those resources but the correct allocation and utilization of these resources.

Allocation of resources is both a one-time and a continuous process. The implementation of a

project would require the allocation of resources. An on-going business concern would also
require a continual infusion of resources. Strategy implementation deals with both types of
resource allocation.

The allocation of resources may take place at the corporate level i.e. by the Board of Directors
and /or the CEO. This is known as the top-down approach. In the bottom-up approach resources
are allocated after seeking recommendations from operating personnel/functional departments. A
third approach involves allocating resources through the budgeting process in which allocations
are drafted, modified and finalized jointly.

Resource allocation is defined as the allocation or division of resources that are used in the
implementation of strategy in an organization. According to Churchman, “In organizations, the
decision-making Junction is the responsibility of management.

Resource Allocation at Different Levels: Corporate Level and Business Level

1. Resource Allocation at Corporate Level:

Resource planning and allocation at the corporate level relates to the allocation of resources
among business functions, operating divisions, geographical areas or service departments and
how these parts contribute to the overall strategies. Portfolio analysis and the balance of an
organization’s resources are of support in this regard. In large multi-business corporations the
allocation process and issues of balance could comprise several stages of resource allocation.

2. Resource Allocation at the Business Level:

The value chain is a means of analyzing the way in which an organization’s strategic capability
can be understood. An organization must understand what particular value activities most
contribute to the success of the strategies. For example, cost advantages or differentiation from
competitors. The way in which linkages between the value activities is managed also determines
an organization’s strategic capability.

MAIN STEPS IN RECRUITMENT

The recruitment process is an important part of human resource management (HRM). It isn’t
done without proper strategic planning. Recruitment is defined as a process that provides the
organization with a pool of qualified job candidates from which to choose. Before companies
recruit, they must implement proper staffing plans and forecasting to determine how many
people they will need.

THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS

Stage 1 - Identify the

vacancy

Vacancies can become available in a business when someone leaves, when someone moves job
leaving their own role unfilled. These vacancies are for existing roles and are therefore easily
identified.

When a business grows or changes there may be more or completely new jobs need to be carried
out. It may be less clear what these vacancies are.
 Stage 2 - Carry out a job analysis

When a vacancy becomes available in an organisation it is important that the tasks and skills
required for the position are identified. This is known as a job analysis.

A job analysis is important as it can be used to identify whether a vacancy needs to be filled or
whether the tasks and duties can be redistributed to other staff. It is used to help write the job
description and person specification.

Stage 3 - Create a job description

A job description is a document that states the tasks and responsibilities of the job. It contains
information on:

 duties

 pay

 location

 hours

 conditions of work

This sets out clearly expectations for whoever applies to fill the vacancy.

Stage 4 - Create a person specification

A person specification is a document that states the skills and qualifications needed to do the job.
These skills and qualities can be listed as either essential or desirable. This will provide a series
of measures against which the organisation can judge people who might take on the vacancy.

Stage 5 - Advertise the job

A job can be advertised either internally or externally.

Definition Method of advertising

Internal When you promote or move a person Company intranet, noticeboard

recruitment who is already working for the
 Definition Method of advertising

company

National press, local press, recruitment

External When you employ a person from
agencies, job centers, online
recruitment outside the organisation
advertisement

Stage 6 - Send out application forms or request CVs

Application forms are sent out to candidates who wish to apply for the position. Or alternatively
a curriculum vitae (CV) will be requested.

Application forms consist of pre-prepared questions set by the organization. This allows an
organization to easily compare potential candidates. It also ensures the organizations get all the
information they require from the candidate.

Curriculum vitae (CVs) are prepared by the candidate and are a summary of the person’s
education, qualifications and previous employment history.

THE SELECTION PROCESS

Stage 7 - Collect application forms

Application forms and CVs both contain

personal information on a candidate. They can
be used to compare the candidates’ skills and
qualities against those listed in the person
specification. This will make it easier to
shortlist candidates based on those whose
skills best match those that are required to do
the job.
 Stage 8 - Create a shortlist

It would be too costly and time consuming to interview every candidate that applied for a
position so a shortlist is made to reduce the number of candidates who will be interviewed.

The application forms or CVs are compared to the person specification and job description. This
is used to draw up a shortlist of the most suitable candidates. These candidates will be invited to
interview.

Stage 9 - Hold interviews/testing

An interview allows the organization to ask potential candidates a series of questions. This
means each candidate can be compared and the organization can assess the candidates’
appearance and personality.

Interviews can be:

 one-to-one– one person interviews the candidate

 panel– more than one person interviews a candidate

 telephone– the interview is not conducted in person but over the phone

Testing

Testing can provide extra information on a candidate’s suitability through practical assessments.
There are many methods that can be used to test a candidate’s ability.

Method

 Aptitude tests
 Intelligence tests
 Psychometric tests
 Personality tests
 Medical and physical ability
References

A reference is usually written by a past employer and provide information on the candidates’
attendance, attitude and time-keeping. It will often include information on whether the referee
thinks the candidate is suitable for the position applied for.

References allow the organization to confirm that the information supplied in the application
form or CV is correct.

Stage 10 – Inform successful candidate

Once the selection process has been completed the successful candidate will be informed.
Internal candidates may be told in person but it is more usual for candidates to be informed by
telephone, email or letter.

EXTERNAL SOURCES OF RECRUITMENT

The External Sources of Recruitment mean hiring people from outside the organization. In
other words, seeking applicants from those who are external to the organization.
 There are several methods for external recruiting. The firm must carefully analyze the vacant
positions and then use the method which best fulfills the requirement. Following are the different
types of external sources of recruitment:

1. Media Advertisement: The advertisement is the most common and preferred source of external
recruiting. The ads in newspapers, professional journals, give a comprehensive detail about the
organization, type, and nature of job position, skills required, qualification and experience
expected, etc. This helps an individual to self-evaluate himself against the job requirements and
apply for the jobs which best suits him.

2. Employment Exchange: The employment exchange is the office run by the government
wherein the details about the job seekers such as name, qualification, experience, etc. is stored
and is given to the employers who are searching for men for their organizations.

For certain job vacancies, it is mandatory for every organization to provide details about it to the
employment exchange. It is the most common source of external recruitment that offers jobs to
unskilled, semi-skilled and skilled workers.

3. Direct Recruitment: The direct recruitment also called as factory gate recruitment is an
important source of hiring, especially the unskilled workers or badly workers who are paid on a
daily-wage basis. Here, the company puts up a notice on a notice board or on the factory gate
regarding the jobs available, such that the applicant sees it and apply for the job directly.

4. Casual Callers: The casual callers, also called as unsolicited applications are the job seekers
who come to the well-renowned organizations casually and either mail or drop in their job
applications seeking the job opportunity.

This could be considered as an important source of external recruitment as the personnel

department maintains the folder of unsolicited applications and call those who fulfill the job
requirements, whenever the vacancy arises.

5. Educational Institutions or Campus Placement: Creating a close liaison with the educational
institutes for the recruitment of students with technical and professional qualifications has
become a common practice of external recruitment. Here, the companies, visit the technical,
 management and professional colleges to recruit the students directly for the job positions. The
recruitment from educational institutions is also termed as campus recruitment.

6. Labor Contractors: This is the most common form of external recruitment wherein the labor
contractors who are either employed with the firm or have an agreement to supply workers to the
firm for the completion of a specific type of a task. This method is again used for hiring the
unskilled and semi-skilled workers. The contractor keeps in touch with the workers and sends
them to the places where their need arises. In doing so, the contractors get the commission for
each worker supplied.

7. Walk-Ins: This is again a direct form of recruitment wherein the prospective candidates are
invited through an advertisement to come and apply for the job vacancy. Here, the specified date,
venue, and time are mentioned, and the candidates are requested to come and give interviews
directly without submitting their applications in advance.

8. E-recruiting: The e-recruiting means searching and screening the prospective candidates
electronically. There are several online job portals that enable the job seekers to upload their
resume online which are then forwarded to the potential hirers. Such as naukri.com,
monster.com, shine.com, etc. are some of the well renowned online job portals.

9. Management Consultants: There are several private management firms that act as a middleman
between the recruiter and the recruit. These firms help the organization to hire professional,
technical and managerial personnel, and they specialize in recruiting middle level and top level
executives.

These firms maintain data of all the job seekers, such as education, qualification, experience, etc.
and give their details to the companies who are looking for men. Nowadays, the engineers,
accountants, lawyers help their counterparts to get suitable jobs in industrial organizations.

PLACEMENT

According to Pigors and Myers, “Placement may be defined as the determination of the job to
which a selected candidate is to be assigned, and his assignment to the job.” It is matching of
what the supervisor has reason to think he can do, with the job requirements (job demands); it is
matching of what he imposes (in strain, working conditions) and what he offers in the form of
payroll, with other promotional possibilities etc.
Significance/Importance of Placement:
It is important for both the organisation as well as staff that each employee should be placed on a
suitable job. While doing so, the factor to be considered is not only the suitability of the job to
the individual. But, initial placement is always a problem because there is little knowledge about
the new employee.

Right placement of workers can have the following advantages:

1. Reduced labor turnover rate.
2. Reduced absenteeism rate.
3. Increased safety of workers and lower accidents.
4. Increased morale of workers.
5. Better human relations in the organizations.

Placement is not an easy process. It is very difficult to adjust for a new employee who is quite
unknown to the job and the environment. For this reason, the employee is generally put on a
probation period ranging from one year to two years.

Placement of New Employees:

Placement decisions are generally taken by line executives. It is the supervisor who in
consultation with higher levels decides the placement of each employee. The personnel
department’s role is to advise the line managers about the human resource policies of the
company and to provide counselling to the employees.

While taking the placement decision, the following consideration or principles must be kept in
mind:
1. Job Requirements
2. Suitable Qualifications

3. Adequate Information to the Job Incumbent

4. Commitment and Loyalty

5. Flexibility

RECRUITMENT

Recruitment refers to the overall process of identifying, sourcing, screening, shortlisting, and
interviewing candidates for jobs (either permanent or temporary) within an organization.
Recruitment can also refer to the processes involved in choosing individuals for unpaid roles.

2 types of Recruitment

1. Internal Recruitment - is a recruitment which takes place within the concern or

organization. Internal sources of recruitment are readily available to an organization.
Internal sources are primarily three - Transfers, promotions and Re-employment of ex-
employees.

Internal recruitment may lead to increase in employee’s productivity as their motivation

level increases. It also saves time, money and efforts. But a drawback of internal
recruitment is that it refrains the organization from new blood. Also, not all the
manpower requirements can be met through internal recruitment. Hiring from outside has
to be done.

Internal sources are primarily 3

a. Transfers
b. Promotions (through Internal Job Postings) and
c. Re-employment of ex-employees - Re-employment of ex-employees is one of
the internal sources of recruitment in which employees can be invited and
appointed to fill vacancies in the concern. There are situations when ex-
employees provide unsolicited applications also.
2. External Recruitment - External sources of recruitment have to be solicited from
outside the organization. External sources are external to a concern. But it involves lot of
time and money. The external sources of recruitment include - Employment at factory
gate, advertisements, employment exchanges, employment agencies, educational
institutes, labor contractors, recommendations etc.
 a. Employment at Factory Level - This a source of external recruitment in which
the applications for vacancies are presented on bulletin boards outside the Factory
or at the Gate.
b. Advertisement - It is an external source which has got an important place in
recruitment procedure. The biggest advantage of advertisement is that it covers a
wide area of market and scattered applicants can get information from
advertisements. Medium used is Newspapers and Television.
c. Employment Exchanges - There are certain Employment exchanges which are
run by government. Most of the government undertakings and concerns employ
people through such exchanges. Now-a-days recruitment in government agencies
has become compulsory through employment exchange.
d. Employment Agencies - There are certain professional organizations which look
towards recruitment and employment of people, i.e. these private agencies run by
private individuals supply required manpower to needy concerns.
e. Educational Institutions - There are certain professional Institutions which
serves as an external source for recruiting fresh graduates from these institutes.
This kind of recruitment done through such educational institutions, is called as
Campus Recruitment. They have special recruitment cells which helps in
providing jobs to fresh candidates.
f. Recommendations - There are certain people who have experience in a particular
area. They enjoy goodwill and a stand in the company. There are certain
vacancies which are filled by recommendations of such people. The biggest
drawback of this source is that the company has to rely totally on such people
which can later on prove to be inefficient.
g. Labor Contractors - These are the specialist people who supply manpower to the
Factory or Manufacturing plants. Through these contractors, workers are
appointed on contract basis, i.e. for a particular time period. Under conditions
when these contractors leave the organization, such people who are appointed
have to also leave the concern.

Trending in HR: May the Best Applicant Win

Hiring the wrong person can be frustrating and ultimately very costly for the company. Instead,
you want to attract employees who respect and will uphold your business values. This simple
principle is essential to your business success.

Here are 8 ways you can improve your recruitment process and hire the best candidate every
time.

1. Look for a career-oriented person

2. Assess for practical experience

3. Test your candidates

4. Determine strengths needed for the position

5. Consider culture fit

6. Keep improving your hiring process

7. Consider bringing on an intern

8. Run social checks

Cultural Biases on the HR’s Role

What Is Cultural Bias?

Cultural bias is the interpretation of situations, actions, or data based on the standards of one's
own culture. Cultural biases are grounded in the assumptions one might have due to the culture
in which they are raised. Some examples of cultural influences that may lead to bias include:

 Linguistic interpretation
 Ethical concepts of right and wrong
 Understanding of facts or evidence-based proof
 Intentional or unintentional ethnic or racial bias
 Religious beliefs or understanding
 Sexual attraction and mating

Social scientists, like psychologists, economists, anthropologists, and sociologists, seek to

identify cultural differences in their research in order to better inform their interpretation of
data. For example, an economist might seek to explain disparities in life expectancy between
different cultural groups or communities through the lens of the cultural biases in the
healthcare system.

3 Examples of Cultural Bias

Cultural bias is pervasive in our everyday lives. Here are a few examples of cultural bias:

1. At the workplace. Cultural biases in the hiring process may lead to less racial or cultural
diversity in the workplace. Hiring managers seek to eliminate cultural biases in a number of
ways, including hiding names or pictures from resumes (making them anonymous) and using
diverse interview panels.
2. In public. Some cultures perceive certain hand gestures or prolonged eye contact as a sign of
disrespect, whereas other cultures may assume that those who do not shake hands or look into
someone’s eyes are being rude or evasive. The assumption that one set of norms is correct may
lead to cultural bias when interacting with people from a different culture.
3. At school. In the United States specifically, cultural bias in schooling might lead educators to
assume that all students have had the same education, and thus can be judged by the same
educational standards (like with standardized testing). This type of bias does not take into
account other factors like poverty, accessibility, or language ability.

REFERENCES:
https://www.businessmanagementideas.com/human-resources-management/resource-allocation/
resource-allocation/21478
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/z3s9fcw/revision/1
https://businessjargons.com/external-sources-recruitment.html
https://www.businessmanagementideas.com/human-resource-management-2/placement-and-
induction/20422
https://www.managementstudyguide.com/types-of-recruitment.htm
https://www.zippia.com/employer/8-ways-to-ensure-you-hire-the-right-candidate/
https://www.masterclass.com/articles/understanding-cultural-bias#3-examples-of-cultural-bias

Learning Activities
  Activities related to HRM functions
 Power Point Presentation
 Group interpretation of the diagram about training process
Assessment
 Quiz (objective and essay type)
ESSAY TYPE
- Search for a company in the Philippines, and explain their recruitment process; what are
the advantages and disadvantages of having this kind of recruitment process; and
compare and contrast their recruitment to other company in the Philippines.

QUIZ (5 items; 2 pts each)

1. This refers to recruitment which takes place within the concern or organization.

A. Internal Recruitment
B. External Recruitment
C. Transfer
D. Promotions

2. This refers to a document that states the tasks and responsibilities of the job.

A. Job Document
B. Job Specification
C. Job Description
D. Job Qualifications

3. This refers to a document usually written by a past employer and provide information on
the candidates’ attendance, attitude and time-keeping.

A. Job Description
B. Job Application
C. Job Specification
D. Reference

4. This refers to recruitment that are solicited from outside the organization.

A. Internal Recruitment
B. External Recruitment
C. Transfer
D. Promotions
 5. This refers to the allocation or division of resources that are used in the implementation
of strategy in an organization.
A. Resource Allocation
B. Budget Allocation
C. Human Allocation
D. Logistic Allocation

PowerPoint Presentation File Name: HRM – 4TH WEEK - PPT