Employee Recruitment and Selection

Recruitment or Hiring is the process of searching and attracting the right candidates for hiring them for vacant jobs in an organization. There are two sources of recruitment, internal sources and external sources. Recruitment refers to the process of searching for potential employees and influencing them to work for their organization.

The purpose of the recruitment process is to find talented and qualified individuals for the growth and development of their organization. It is part of the human resource management(HRM) department.

Recruitment is the development and maintenance of adequate manpower resources. It involves the creation of a pool of available labor upon whom the organization can draw when it needs additional employees.’ The recruitment process leads to a collection of candidates for any vacancies an organization might have.

 

 

There are many sources of recruiting potential employees but all of them can be grouped into two categories, namely.

Internal Sources of Recruitment

Internal sources of recruitment consist of employees who are already on the payroll of a firm. It also includes former employees who have returned to work for the organization. Recruitment from internal sources is done to fill up vacancies through promotion, re-hiring and transferring employees within the company.

Advantages of Internal Sources of Recruitment

• Selecting and transferring existing employees is a simpler process.
• The managers are aware of the talents and abilities of already existing employees.
• Internal recruitment serves as a tool to boost the morale of employees as internal hiring creates job and promotion opportunities for existing employees.
• Internal hiring promotes a feeling of loyalty amongst the employees.
• Existing employees are already aware of the company’s working methods and don’t take a long time to adjust to new positions.

External Sources of Recruitment

External sources of recruitment refer to the sources that lie outside or exist external to the organization.

Sources of external recruitment include:

1. People joining an organization, specifically through recommendations.
2. Employment agencies( e.g. naukri.com) or employment exchanges.
3. Advertising
4. Institutes like colleges and vocational schools (e.g. campus selection)
5. Contractors
6. Hiring unskilled labor
7. List of applications
8. Temporary workers.

Encouraging existing employees to recommend suitable candidates can thus lead to the hiring of the right individuals for the right jobs. A higher level of teamwork and synchronization among employees would, therefore, be achieved.

However, it might also lead to employees picking their close friends and family members who are unfit for the jobs. Thus, talented individuals might lose out on good opportunities.

Whereas, external recruitment provides a wider collection of potential employees with the necessary skillset. It has proven to be a successful recruitment process when hiring for managerial and technical positions.

Characteristics of External Sources

• Long and time-consuming process.
• It is an expensive process.
• When external people are given opportunities over them, then existing workers lose morale
• Hiring new employees can lead to the introduction of new blood and thus the introduction of a new set of skills and ideas.

 

EMPLOYEE SELECTION

Employee Selection is the process of putting right men on right job. It is a procedure of matching organizational requirements with the skills and qualifications of people. Effective selection can be done only when there is effective matching. By selecting best candidate for the required job, the organization will get quality performance of employees. Moreover, organization will face less of absenteeism and employee turnover problems. By selecting right candidate for the required job, organization will also save time and money. Proper screening of candidates takes place during selection procedure. All the potential candidates who apply for the given job are tested.

But selection must be differentiated from recruitment, though these are two phases of employment process. Recruitment is considered to be a positive process as it motivates more of candidates to apply for the job. It creates a pool of applicants. It is just sourcing of data. While selection is a negative process as the inappropriate candidates are rejected here. Recruitment precedes selection in staffing process. Selection involves choosing the best candidate with best abilities, skills and knowledge for the required job.

EMPLOYEE SELECTION PROCESS

Employee selection Process takes place in following order-

Preliminary Interviews- It is used to eliminate those candidates who do not meet the minimum eligiblity criteria laid down by the organization. The skills, academic and family background, competencies and interests of the candidate are examined during preliminary interview. Preliminary interviews are less formalized and planned than the final interviews. The candidates are given a brief up about the company and the job profile; and it is also examined how much the candidate knows about the company. Preliminary interviews are also called screening interviews.

Application blanks- The candidates who clear the preliminary interview are required to fill application blank. It contains data record of the candidates such as details about age, qualifications, reason for leaving previous job, experience, etc.

Written Tests- Various written tests conducted during selection procedure are aptitude test, intelligence test, reasoning test, personality test, etc. These tests are used to objectively assess the potential candidate. They should not be biased.

Employment Interviews- It is a one to one interaction between the interviewer and the potential candidate. It is used to find whether the candidate is best suited for the required job or not. But such interviews consume time and money both. Moreover the competencies of the candidate cannot be judged. Such interviews may be biased at times. Such interviews should be conducted properly. No distractions should be there in room. There should be an honest communication between candidate and interviewer.

Medical examination- Medical tests are conducted to ensure physical fitness of the potential employee. It will decrease chances of employee absenteeism.

Appointment Letter- A reference check is made about the candidate selected and then finally he is appointed by giving a formal appointment letter.

IMPORTANCE OF SELECTION

Selection is an important process because hiring good resources can help increase the overall performance of the organization. In contrast, if there is bad hire with a bad selection process, then the work will be affected and the cost incurred for replacing that bad resource will be high.

The purpose of selection is to choose the most suitable candidate, who can meet the requirements of the jobs in an organization, who will be a successful applicant. For meeting the goals of the organization, it is important to evaluate various attributes of each candidate such as their qualifications, skills, experiences, overall attitude, etc. In this process, the most suitable candidate is picked after the elimination of the candidates, who are not suitable for the vacant job.

The organization has to follow a proper selection process or procedure, as a huge amount of money is spent for hiring a right candidate for a position. If a selection is wrong, then the cost incurred in induction and training the wrong candidate will be a huge loss to the employer in terms of money, effort, and also time. Hence, selection is very important and the process should be perfect for the betterment of the organization.