Chapter 1

An Introduction to Recruitment and

Selection
Chapter Learning Outcomes
 After reading this chapter you should:
◦ Appreciate the importance and relevance of
recruitment and selection to Canadian
organizations

◦ Know where recruitment and selection fit into the

organization as a whole and the human resources
management system in particular

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Chapter Learning Outcomes
(continued)
◦ Understand how changes in technology, global
competition, changing labour force
demographics, and increasing government
regulation and social pressures for conformity to
ethical, environmental, and human rights
standards have an impact on recruitment and
selection

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Chapter Learning Outcomes
(continued)
◦ Be aware of which professional associations and
groups in Canada have a stake in recruitment and
selection

◦ Become familiar with basic ethical and

professional issues in recruitment and selection

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Why Recruitment and Selection
Matter
 Best practices:
◦ Involve the ethical treatment of job applicants
throughout the recruiting and hiring process
◦ Result from HR professionals following the
accepted standards and principles of professional
associations
◦ Are legally defensible (e.g., Human Rights
legislation)
◦ Reduce employee turnover and increase
productivity

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Why Recruitment and Selection
Matter (continued)
◦ Are responsible for a firm’s relative profit
◦ Correlate with an organization’s long-term
profitability and production ratios
◦ Help to establish employee trust
◦ Improve the Knowledge, Skills, Abilities, and
Other Attributes (KSAO’s) of current and future
employees, increase motivation, and retain high
quality workers

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Class Activity
1. What is your preferred career track in
Human Resources?

2. What professional associations would you

join and what activities would you engage
in?

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Recruitment and Selection
 Recruitment: the generation of an applicant
pool for a position or job in order to provide
the required number of candidates for a
subsequent selection or promotion program

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Recruitment and Selection
(continued)
 Selection: the choice of job candidates from
a previously generated applicant pool in a
way that will meet management goals and
objectives as well as current legal
requirements

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Social/Economic Factors Affecting
Recruitment and Selection
 Global Competition
 Rapid Advances in Technology and Internet
 Changing Work-Force Demographics
 Economic Context
 Type of Organization
 Organizational Restructuring
 Redefining Jobs
 Best Practices

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Social/Economic Factors Affecting
Recruitment and Selection (continued)
 Global competition: Increasing globalization
has changed the level of competition

 Rapid advances in technology and the

Internet: employers expect new hires to be
computer literate
◦ Hiring through e-recruiting

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Social/Economic Factors Affecting
Recruitment and Selection (continued)
 Changing work-force demographics:
abolition of mandatory retirement at age 65
creates less room for new entry-level
employees

 Economic context: supply and demand of

jobs and people (e.g., economic booms,
recessions)

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Social/Economic Factors Affecting
Recruitment and Selection (continued)
 Types of organizations:
◦ Public sector: both federal- and provincial-
formalized recruitment and selection systems
◦ Private sector: may vary depending on the type
and size of the business/industry

 Organizational restructuring: workforce that

is approaching retirement, flattening of
organizations

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Social/Economic Factors Affecting
Recruitment and Selection (continued)
 Redefining jobs: workers need a wide range
of skills in order to do their job

 Best practices: employers must have in

place HR strategies for recruiting,
identifying, and selecting employees who
will contribute to the overall effectiveness of
the organization

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A Systems View of HR
 Two basic principles underlie the model
presented in Figure 1.1 (p. 6)
◦ Principle 1: HRM must carefully coordinate its
activities with the other organizational units and
people if the larger system is to function properly
◦ Principle 2: HR managers must think in systems
terms and have the welfare of the whole
organization in mind

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Recruitment and Selection Today
1.2
 Professional Associations Involved in
Recruitment and Selection:
◦ Canadian Council of Human Resources
Associations (CCHRA):
◦ Canadian Psychological Association (including the
Canadian Society for Industrial and
Organizational Psychology): http://www.cpa.ca

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Recruitment and Selection and the
HR Profession
 HR functions:
◦ Must keep abreast of developments in their field
through continuous learning
◦ Responsible for knowing the latest legal and
scientific information related to R & S
◦ Responsible for implementing policies and
procedures in accordance with accepted
professional standards

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An Introduction to Professional
Issues and Ethical Standards
 Ethics: the determination of right and
wrong; the standards of appropriate
conduct or behaviour for members of a
profession; what those members may or
may not do

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An Introduction to Professional Issues
and Ethical Standards (continued)
 Professional standards: provide guidance on
how HR professionals should behave in
certain situations including the use of
employment tests

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Ethical Dilemmas
 Applicant testing: ethical dilemmas
frequently occur during the testing of job
applicants with various selection tools

 Employment interview: subject to the same

set of regulations as any other employment
test and must meet professional standards
when used in making high-stakes decisions

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Ethical Dilemmas to Consider
 You are an HR manager who is considering
the use of a selection system. You know
that it will do a good job at selecting the
best workers, but it also screens out
members of visible minorities at a rate
much greater than that for the white
majority.

 (Continued on the next slide.)

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Ethical Dilemmas to Consider
(continued)
1. Should you use this system or try to find
another that does not screen out so many
members of visible-minority groups?

2. What if the new system does not do as

good a job at selecting the best workers?

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Useful HR Websites
 Human Resources–Related Organizations
◦ Academy of Management
http://www.aomonline.org
◦ Administrative Sciences Association of Canada
http://www.asac.ca
◦ American Psychological Association
http://www.apa.org
◦ BC Human Resources Management Association
http://www.bchrma.org
◦ Canadian Psychological Association
http://www.cpa.ca
◦ Canadian Society for Industrial and
Organizational Psychology
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Useful HR Websites
◦ Canadian Council of Human Resources
Associations http://www.cchra.ca
◦ Human Resources Association of New Brunswick
http://www.hranb.org
◦ Human Resources Association of Nova Scotia
http://www.hrans.org
◦ Human Resources and Skills Development Canada
http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca
◦ Human Resources Institute of Alberta
http://www.hria.ca
◦ Human Resources Management Association of
Manitoba http://www.hrmam.org
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Useful HR Websites
◦ Human Resources Professionals Association
(Ontario +) http://www.hrpa.ca
◦ International Personnel Assessment Council
http://www.ipmaac.org
◦ International Public Management Association for
Human Resources http://www.ipma-hr.org
◦ Ordre des conseillers en ressources humaines
agréés http://www.rhri.org
◦ Saskatchewan Association of Human Resource
Professionals http://www.sahrp.ca

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Useful HR Websites
◦ Society for Human Resource Management
http://www.shrm.org
◦ Society for Industrial and Organizational
Psychology http://www.siop.org
 Human Resources Information Sources
◦ Canadian Business
http://www.canadianbusiness.com
◦ Canadian HR Reporter http://www.hrreporter.com
◦ Globe and Mail Report on Business
http://www.reportonbusiness.com

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Useful HR Websites
◦ HR Focus http://www.hrfocus.co.za
◦ HR-Guide.com http://www.hr-guide.com
◦ HR Magazine http://www.shrm.org/hrmagazine
◦ HRN Management Group
http://www.hronline.com
◦ Occupational Outlook Quarterly Online
http://www.bls.gov/opub/ooq/ooqhome.htm
◦ People Management
http://www.peoplemanagement.co.uk
◦ Statistics Canada http://www.statcan.gc.ca
◦ Workforce Management
http://www.workforce.com
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Summary
 Effective recruitment and selection are
important because they contribute to
organizational productivity and worker
growth

 Recruitment and selection play an essential

role in contemporary organizations

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Summary (continued)
 It must be carried out within the context of
an organizational system, as well as that of
the external environment

 Professional associations and groups exist

to help HR professionals and their clients
through ethical codes/standards of practice

 Codes of ethics are important to HR as it

continues to develop as a profession

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Discussion Questions
1. How can HR professionals demonstrate
that they add value to a company’s
bottom line?

2. What are possible consequences of using

poor or outdated recruitment and
selection practices?

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Discussion Questions (continued)
3. What are the advantages of obtaining a
professional designation such as CHRP?

4. Discuss the impact that current

socioeconomic conditions are having on
recruitment and selection practices.

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