RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION

JUNE 2, 2021
 LEARNING OUTCOME

Explain the importance of recruitment as the first step in the Selection Process.
• Discuss recruitment as part of an organization's strategic plan.
• Understand the link between recruitment and selection.
• Appreciate how the characteristics of the job and organization are influential in attracting job
applicants.
• Explain the role that accurate expectations play in developing a fit between a person and an
organization
• Discuss why a realistic job preview may benefit both the job seeker and the organization.
 Recruitment: The First Step in the Selection Process

→ Recruitment is the first step in the selection process.

→ The goal of a job-related selection system is to bring people into the organization who will perform at above-average
levels and who will increase the productivity of the organization.

Recruitment

→ The generation of an applicant pool for a position or job in order to provide the required number of qualified
candidates for a subsequent selection or promotion process.

Applicant pool

→ The set of potential candidates who may be interested in, and who are likely to apply for, aspecific job.
Part I: Strategic
Recruitment

→ Recruitment takes place within a strategic HR management

context; that is, the interrelated practices, policies, and
philosophies that are linked to organizational or business
strategies.

→ The decision to recruit candidates for jobs in an organization is

based on (1) an assessment of the internal and external factors
affecting the organization, (2) an organization analysis based
on those factors, (3) a job analysis that identifies worker
behaviours and characteristics to aid in selecting candidates
who are qualified for the position, and (4) forecasts about the
supply of labour with the requirements to fill vacant positions.
 External Factors - Labour Markets and Recruiting

→ Organizations must develop a recruiting campaign that makes sense in the context of a specific labour market.
Labour markets and economic conditions impose different constraints. The overall nature of the economy may
influence an organization’s decision to hire or not to hire, but once a decision to hire is made, the nature of the
labour market determines how extensively the organization will have to search to fill the job with a qualified
candidate.

→ When qualified labour is scarce, the organization must broaden its recruiting beyond its normal target population.
This includes going beyond normal recruiting channels to attract applicants it might not seek in more favourable
times.

→ In a poor market, it may decide to use a variety of media to attract as many qualified applicants as possible.

→ Organizations must be prepared to alter their recruiting strategy to match labour market conditions. Internal demand
and external supply of job candidates may vary considerably, causing firms to change their recruiting strategies. As
 Part-Time Labour Markets and Recruiting

→ In response to today’s global economy, more and more companies are employing low-wage, entry-level workers on a
part-time basis.

→ Temporary or contingent jobs have shown tremendous growth over the last decade.

→ Recruiting and retaining the best part-time workers present unique problems to companies choosing to go this route.
Workers who receive lower pay and benefits are less likely to feel committed to their organization or to go out of
their way to get the job done.

→ Increasingly, temporary work is serving as a training ground for more permanent positions. On the other hand, ever-
greater numbers of skilled professionals and retired workers are taking jobs on a part-time or contract basis.

→ The contingent or part-time status of jobs should be clearly indicated in all recruiting materials.
 Outsourcing

→ Outsourcing is the practice of contracting with an outside agent to take over specified HR functions, specifically,
recruitment.

→ Companies that need workers on a temporary or short-term basis often turn to temporary help agencies to provide
them with contingent workers.

→ In these cases, the workers are employees of the temporary help firm, not of the organization in which they do their
work. The employee is actually “leased” from the outside firm. The individual is employed by the outside agency
but assigned to a position with the client organization.
 External Factors – Legal Environment

→ Any organizational recruitment program must comply with the legal and regulatory requirements that apply to its
operation.

→ The most important considerations are employment equity and pay equity legislation. Any recruitment campaign that
intentionally or unintentionally excludes members of groups that are protected under human rights legislation runs
the risk of being declared discriminatory, with the organization subject to penalties and fines.

→ The best defence against charges of systemic discrimination is to document that every attempt has been made to
attract members from the protected groups.
 Diversity Recruitment

→ In Canada, employment equity legislation seeks to eliminate discrimination in the workplace for women, visible
minorities, Aboriginal people, and people with disabilities.

→ Organizations may be required, particularly if they wish to do business with the federal government, to demonstrate
that they have actively sought to recruit members from these four groups.

→ Organizations perceived as hostile to workplace diversity will see the effectiveness of their recruitment efforts
significantly compromised, and the quality of their overall applicant pool adversely affected. Diversity advertising
focuses on how firms present diversity.

→ Organizations must think very carefully about the messages they convey to job applicants when they seek to increase
workplace diversity.
 Internal Factors - Business Strategy

→ A company’s business strategy or plan has a major impact on its recruitment strategy.

→ To be effective, the recruitment strategy must be linked to the business plan.

→ A company’s business plan is its action plan for managing the company. The business plan or strategy includes a
statement of its mission and philosophy, recognition of its strengths and weaknesses, and a statement of its strategic
goals and objectives for competing in its economic environment.

→ A business plan addresses those aspects of the external environment that affect how the company does business and
influences the company’s recruiting process.
 Internal Factors - Job Level and Type

→ Both the type of occupation and the nature of the industry in which it is involved may influence an organization’s
recruiting strategy.

→ In some industries or occupations, people are recruited in a particular way not so much because that method is very
effective, but because it is the norm. It is how recruiting is done for that type of work, and how it is expected to be
done.

→ For certain executive-level positions, vacancies are never advertised but are instead given to a consulting company
to carry out an executive search.
 Organization Analysis

→ An important step in the recruitment and selection process in which human resources specialists consider the design
and structure, functions and processes, and strategies and missions of organizations to highlight areas of strength and
weakness useful to human resources planning.

→ Although there are many ways to conduct an organization analysis, most methods share the common goals of
describing and understanding the design and structure, functions and processes, and strategies and missions of
organizations.

→ An organization analysis highlights areas of strength and weakness useful to human resources planning.

→ In developing recruiting strategies, one must decide whether to concentrate recruiting efforts on internal or external
candidates. Organization analysis reveals the likelihood of finding suitable internal candidates, and the extent to which
qualified internal candidates can fill the job openings, by providing an inventory of skills and abilities that exist within
the company as well as indicating the potential for advancement among current employees.
 Job Analysis

→ One of the most important pieces of information that both a recruiter and job candidates rely on throughout the
recruiting process is a description of the job and worker requirements.

→ The recruiter needs to know what type of applicant to seek out and applicants need to have a clear idea of the duties
and tasks that they will perform on the job and the resources that they will need to bring to the job.

→ It is very difficult to recruit job applicants without knowing the essential characteristics of the position or the worker
requirements.

→ Job descriptions that are up to date and based on a job analysis lead to accurate expectations on the part of the job
candidate. Both applicants and recruiters should have a clear idea of the qualifications needed by people in the position.
 Human Resources Planning

→ Human resources planning is the process of anticipating and providing for the movement of employees into, within, and out of an organization.

→ It is an effort to forecast the net requirement for personnel by determining the demand for and supply of human resources now and in the
future.

→ HR planning must also evaluate the potential supply of job applicants with the desired attributes. You need to consider the demographics of
the work force that is available, including likely educational attainment, mobility, and unemployment rates. As well, consideration must be
given to any relevant laws such as equity that will have an impact on recruitment.

→ The final step in the planning process is to determine how to balance your demand for employees with the supply of people with the attributes
you are seeking.

→ This final evaluation should determine the type of people you are recruiting, the number you want to hire, if there is an adequate supply, and
whether you will hire full- or part-time employees.

→ Human resources planning develops an action plan based on this analysis.

 Locating and Targeting the Applicant Pool

→ In an ideal world, an organization could search as broadly as possible until it found the most suitable applicant.

→ A more effective plan is to target recruiting efforts on a specific pool of job applicants who have the appropriate
knowledge, skills, abilities, competencies, and other talents needed to perform the job. This applicant pool may be
concentrated in one geographic area or spread widely throughout the country. The HR team must know where to find
the appropriate applicant pool.

→ Targeting a specific applicant pool allows the organization to tailor its message to that group, to understand where
that applicant pool is likely to be located, and to attract applications from that pool.

→ In limiting its recruiting to a target applicant pool, however, an organization must be careful not to systematically
exclude members of protected groups. In fact, organizations may target members of minority groups to increase
organizational diversity and to comply with legal mandates.
Attracting the Tar get Applicant Pool’s Attention

→ Simply posting a job ad may not be sufficient to attract the right people
for the job.

→ The job advertisement may be key to getting the position noticed by the
target audience and unlocking a flow of applicants.
THANK YOU