Chapter 6

RECRUITMENT
What is recruitment?
The process of attracting, selecting people with the right attitude, qualified candidates (from
external to internal), for jobs (either permanent or temporary) within an organization. The recruitment
process includes analyze requirements, preparing and publishing the opening position, collecting and
analyzing applicants, shortlisting applicants, interviews and final selection.
Steps to attract job applicants
People are often attracted to meaningful work and describe the features of your organization,
which career path for this position, the opportunity to grow and develop new skills, culture and
atmosphere in the workplace, flexible hours and social events.
1. Organization should plan activities to promote company’s image and reputation. There are easy
ways to attract applicant through media, newspaper advertising, and sponsorship opportunities.
Get recognition for your company’s social responsibility and media interviews that get your
company name in circulation. The more people know about your company, the easier to attract
job applicants.
2. Inform that your company is committed to solid business principles and fair practices. Publish
your company’s philosophy, mission and values statement on your websites and includes pictures
and video clips from employees who are proud to be associated with the company.
3. Internet job postings, most candidates will search for positions electronically through your
website, or online job boards. Ensuring your job posting considered candidates to respond, pay
careful attention to the job title.
4. Make an advertisement, include out of the box benefits and best features of the job, wages, hour
and work environment. Delineate extraordinary pluses like medical benefits program, generous
vacation policy, flexible work schedules.
5. Impart your Corporate Culture and simplify your company’s hiring process. Exhibit company’s
personality and demonstrate what it would be like to work for you. A great corporate culture can
attract great applicants that share your company’s ideals and vision. Make hiring process easier
to apply for jobs via online application to give applicants a choice in how they feel they can best
present their qualifications.
Applicant expectations and how they are managed
These days we are experiencing complex demand hiring in the world, there are increasingly
competitive war of talent and skills in hiring. There are employers who will live through a lengthy
applicants and interview process and then knowingly offer candidate a salary lower than they’re
expected.
It can be helpful to consider the needs and expectations for the applicant, every applicant they
have different needs and want, like in the service oriented model, institutions, and or nonprofit
organization, as this can help to define and present the desired information.
Every applicants often expects realistic job preview, a job that offers challenge but with potential
for quick advancement, for professional and personal growth. An applicant will always find a job that is
related to their profession or educational attainment, and it can also be based on their personal decision.
It will also depend on what kind of job they will fit in or if professional relevance will be the determiner
their expectation. It will be easier for the applicant to get a job that is related to their profession so that
they can apply their skills and talents, others look for financial relevance wherein they have financial
grants as well as benefits.
Employers makes decision on how applicant feel that they are “worth” in relation to an opportunity
within their business, but if there is a difference between the salary expectation of the candidate and the
employer, skills and experience should be evaluated, it should be address as early as possible in the
hiring process to save time and to improve the chances of the securing the desired individual.
If the applicant will choose to walk away, it is the best that it happens earlier in the process. If the
candidate’s salary expectation is above the level of employer, they shouldn’t be entering the interview
process, unless it was made clear to them that they are asking for salary above the budget and would
need to lower their expectation. If the candidate is within the budget range but they are pricing
themselves by asking for a higher salary level above market rate and may just need their expectation
managed before reaching the end of the process.
What do people look for in a job? What do they expect or require from it? Here are some of the
list that have ranked over the years:
1. Type of work – the kind of work that makes the best use of one’s abilities and gives ones a
feeling of accomplishment.
2. Security – having a job that provides a steady employment.
 3. Company – working for accompany that has good reputation, that one can be proud of working
for.
4. Advancement – being able to progress in one’s job or career, having the chance to advance in
the economy.
5. Co-workers – having co-workers who are competent and pleasant.
6. Pay – being paid at least enough to meet one’s need, and being paid fairly in comparison to
others.
7. Supervision - having an immediate supervisor who is competent, considerate, and fair.
8. Hours – having working hours that allows enough time with family and/or time to pursue other
strong interests.
9. Benefits – having benefits that meets one’s needs and compare well with those of others.
10. Working conditions – having physical working conditions that are safe, not injurious to health,
and even comfortable.
Realistic job previews, expectation lowering methods, and decision – making training
Realistic Job Preview
A Realistic Job Preview (RJP) is a recruiting tool designed to reduce early turnover. A RJP
communicate to applicants the desirable and undesirable aspects of a job before they accept the job
offer. The purpose of the RJP is to encourage the uncertain applicants to self-select out of the process
without scaring off those who would develop into excellent, long term workers. It comes in many formats,
including oral presentation, pamphlets or brochures.
Realistic Job Preview are devices used in the early stage of personnel selection to provide
potential applicants with information on both positive and negative aspects of the job (Premack &
Wanous, 1985).
The employee exchange or psychological contract between employer and employee is the heart
of this concept. Being hired after use of RJP, the employee enters into the contract with their eyes open,
aware of what organization will provide to them (pay, hours, schedule, flexibility, culture, etc.) and also
what will be expected from them (stress, customer, high urgency, degree of physical risk, etc.).
High turnover of new hires can occur when they unpleasantly surprise by an aspect of their job,
especially if that aspect is especially important to them. For example, if they take the job with
understanding that they won’t have to work weekends, and then are immediately scheduled for Saturday
night, it undermines trust and the psychological contact is breached. Better informed candidates who
continue the application process are more likely to be a good fit with the position, and the one who
choose not to continue save themselves time pursuing a job or company that wasn’t right for them. The
hiring organization saves time on testing and interviewing only those candidates with a strong chance of
success.
The RJP tool kit focuses on producing RJP’s in the video format; however you can use other
format testimonials or short test. Video is most effective medium for the RJP because it delivers a
consistent message, has a powerful impact, is easy to use, and can be purchased at a reasonable cost.
The Realistic Job Preview can reduce the incidence of high turnover among newly hired
employees. Company invest a huge effort and expense in recruiting and hiring the best applicant only to
find that many of them quit within the first year. The primary reason for early turnover is that job
applicants often know very little about the jobs for which they apply. The reason for employees quitting a
job within the first several months is that employee came into conclusion that he/she made a bad career
choice.
Providing applicants with a well – designed RJP at the right time the application process can
significantly reduce this type of early turnover. RJP have impact on post – employment job satisfaction.
Expectation Lowering Methods
Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to integrate research from the fields of economics, management and
customer satisfaction in an attempt to better understand the nature of expectations and the process of
their formation in realistic job preview and expectations lowering procedures methods of influencing the
development of realistic expectations about a position and an organization. The approach to the paper
development is to initially review the research regarding met expectations and expectation information,
while later to introduce Expectation Disconfirmation Theory and relate it both RJP and ELP. Borrowing
from the aforementioned diverse areas, a model is developed containing a contimum of expectations,
disconfirmation, satisfaction, and turnover intention that provides some insight, from a theoretical
perspective, why RJP and ELP frequently result in successful and positive organizational outcomes. We
fear things proportion to our ignorance of them.
Decision Making Training
 Decision making is the selection of choice of one best alternative. Everyone is required to make
decisions and solved problems in their business and personal lives. Many are handled quickly and
without much thought and sometimes over analyze the more important decision. Before making decision
all alternatives should be evaluated from which advantages and disadvantages are known.
When making a decision, facing between two or more job opportunities, there are three steps
advices to help you make a decision:
1. Brainstorm – first, sit down and brainstorm all the things that matter to you the most when it
comes to a job or your career. For examples, ability to be promoted, salary, commission structure,
type of company, culture, type of work, company stability, bonus eligibility, medical coverage,
hours of work per week, and anticipated amount of travel.
2. Prioritize – after brainstorming, go back through the list and choose the 5 – 10 items that are of
the most importance to you. Prioritize your list of items from number one being most important to
the last item as the least important of your priority list.
3. Analyze – make two columns next to your prioritized list, one for each job opportunity. Think of
the opportunity will provide for/satisfy each priority item.
Key factor that may be impacting the recruitment strategy
Recruitment Policy of an organization is affected by various factors. These factors may be divided
into dimensions- internal and external factors as follows:
Internal or within the organization
1. Size of the organization – recruitment process is affected by the size of the organization, like
corporation recruits more candidates than small one. Large Corporation find recruitment less
problematic than small organizations.
2. Image of the Organization – image or goodwill can also affect the recruitment process.
Organization having a good image can attract potential and competent candidates to a large
extent. Good public relation, rendering public services etc.
3. Recruiting Policy – the recruiting policy of the firm also affects the recruitment process. The
policy is concerned with candidates from outside the organization, whereas others want to
recruit from within the organization.
4. Image of the job – by hiving better remuneration, working condition, promotion, career
advancement opportunities can attract the potential and qualified candidates to a large extent.
External or outside the organization
1. Demographic factors – a Demography is the study of human population in terms of age, gender,
occupation, religion, and ethnicity.
2. Labor market – labor market constitutes the force of demand and supply labor of particular
importance. For instance, if demand for particular skill is high relative to its supply, the recruitment
process evolves more efforts. Conversely, if supply is more than demand, the recruitment process
will be easier.
3. Unemployment Situations – unemployment rate of particular area is yet another influencing factor
of recruitment process. If the unemployment rate is high, the recruitment process will be simpler
and vice versa.
4. Social and Political Environment – the forces of social and political also influence recruitment
policy. For instance, the change in government can have a direct impact upon recruitment policy
of the company due to change in government rule and regulations.
5. Legal Considerations – legal consideration with regard to employment provision for under castes
etc. will have a positive impact on recruitment policy of the organization.
Various ways that HR can source potential job candidates
Before sourcing candidates, make sure you have a clear, well – defined job description. There are
a wide variety of sources available for business owners to use in finding qualified applicants to fill job
openings. Some of the common sources includes:
1. Current employees/internal recruitment. Promoting someone from within the company helps
keep employee’s morale high, owners should take this approach only if the person meets the job
specifications. In order to facilitate hiring from within, many companies maintain a skills bank on
current employees, volunteers the opportunity to apply for the job opening and post notices that
encourage employees to apply, and accepting apprenticeship programs into employee training. It
is linked to succession planning and career development. Furthermore Pinsker noted that it is
good idea for companies to fill at least 20 percent of job opening from outside, because outsiders
tend to bring new ideas.
Potential benefits of this approach
 Management already have an idea of the employee’s capabilities
 Rewards the employee for the past performance
 Gives the employees career development
 Reduces time necessary to orient the person to the new position.
  Reduces the time and costs of recruitment
 Supports positive morale and retention
2. Internet recruiting. The internet can be a valuable recruiting tool, particularly in terms of locating
potential candidates. One study has shown that 96% of people looking for jobs use the internet.
Potential benefits of this approach
 Internet recruiting is cost effective – some sites offer free postings
 Internet job postings are available to potential candidates 24 hours a day
 Greater flexibility to post, amend and remove the ad at your convenience
 You can minimize the number of unqualified candidates
3. Unsolicited applications. All applicants should be treated courteously, but the materials
submitted by qualified candidates should be kept on file for future reference.
Potential benefit of this approach
 Can help to reduce time to hire when suitable positions become available
4. Job fairs. At a job fair, provide an opportunity to connect informally with interested applicants,
companies usually pay a booth fee and send representatives to collect resumes and pre – screen
candidates.
5. Recruitment Agencies. Private companies will find and screen potential candidates for a fee,
typically a percentage of the annual salary. It is important when using these services to clearly
define the position and your expectations of the services to be provided by the agency.

Potential benefits for this approach

 Reduce time as the firm will do most of the preparation for the posting and the preliminary
screening.
 Can reach a wide range of candidates including full – time ad temporary

6. Temporary employment. Hiring temporary employees can be a valuable method for company’s
method for companies to screen people before hiring them on a permanent basis.
7. Employee referrals. Recruitment through referrals encourages employees to recommend
potential candidates from their network. Treat all referrals with respect and follow – up in a timely
manner, to ensure employees are willing to recommend their contact for positions at your
organization.
8. Newspapers. This are traditional method of searching for employment and are still relevant for
certain jobs.
9. Internship. Wherein students are working in the organization, it was sent by their school to work.
Potential benefits of this approach
 Opportunity to evaluate future employee
 Reduced orientation times for returning co – ops
 Possible to absorbed by the current employer
10. Former employees. In case employees have been laid off or have left the company of their own,
they may be taken back if they are interested in joining the concern provided their record is good.
Evaluating the effectiveness of recruitment efforts
People are the most important resource within the organization, that is why organizational
recruiter, internal and external search, recruitment professional, and the recruitment process itself are all
very important elements of ensuring an organization has recruit “ the right people in the right place at the
right time doing the right things”. Therefore, organization are effective and both recruitment process and
the skills of the recruiters needed to be assessed on an annual basis and to establish meaningful
metrics.
There are several metrics that can assist in the assessment of the recruitment process and
function. Some of this includes:
 Value of recruitment strategy – this may provide you with guidance as to which strategies
to use specific jobs and or for all of your jobs. It will create opportunity to better target
candidates and will result in a more cost effective approach. Quantity does not always
equate to quality.
 Time to fill the position – recruitment cost triple salary for a position. Overtime and lack of
service are most frequent causes of the cost of increase and therefore examining the
length of the time it takes to fill the position is needed to examine.
 Vacancy rates – an examination of vacancy rates helps you to identify which departments
are experiencing the most difficulty and can assist you to adjust your recruitment
strategies. Conducting an examination of your overall vacancy rates will provide you good
information.
 Retention rates – assess the retention rates of new hires. How long does a candidate stay
in the position? What happened to them are they promoted or do they leave? If they leave,
it’s time to re – analyze the job to ensure the skills required are accurate, and experience
job satisfaction for a longer period of time.
 Quality of hire – is the successful candidate fully qualified or the organization will invest in
order to increase their skills.
 Turnover rates – this is the candidate assessment tools may also need revision. It is also
to assess the cost of turnover.
 Selection ratios – a selection ratio is simply the number of people hired divided by the
number of applicants. This calculation can help you analyze many things. A very small
number may mean that you did not attract the right applicants, resulting in an unproductive
hiring process.
 Recruitment cost ratio – this provides an organization with the total sum of money spent
on recruiting for each new employee. This assessment will assist recruiters to justify cost
or seek opportunities to cut costs.