The purpose of this literature review is to discuss on recruitment, which is a major HRM activity in the business world. When we consider human resource management it can be defined as a process of managing people within the employer- employee relationship and also it involves the productive use of people in achieving the organization's strategic business objectives and the satisfaction of individual employee needs (Stone 2008) In the form of employer - employee relationship recruitment is a vital factor in an organization as well as in the human resource management. Recruitment is the process of seeking and attracting a pool of applications from which qualified candidate for a job vacancies within an organization can be selected. A job vacancy may be filled from within or outside the organization. Some of the different methods used to recruit employees including job posting, advertising and executive search (Stone 2008).
It is the intention of the paragraph to critically evaluate the selection and diversity and equal opportunity imperatives of the organization "Human resource management (HRM) expertise is compulsory now, more than ever, to spearhead internal marketing strategies in order to gain customer lock-on. The primary area of focus of strategy is the manner in which the HR department in general aligns activities, policies and procedures with the recruitment and selection and diversity and equal opportunity imperatives of the organization" (Steven et al 2007).
In such industries with a major customer focuses are very careful of who are they are going to recruit to different positions as the person on the job reflects the brand name of the organization and it is vital for the organizations to select the correct face to meet the achieving the organization's strategic business objectives as it depends on the skills and knowledge of different individuals and their abilities. As per (Steven et al 2007) " HRM expertise in general and recruitment and selection as well as diversity and equal opportunity in particular are required now, more than ever, to spearhead the strategic development of a customer-centric, learning-oriented workforce that is capable of adapting quickly to the strategic goals and change imperatives facing the airline industry". The equal opportunity is somewhat challenging for an organization to be strictly to be followed as per my understanding as the skills might depend on the social and ethnic background of a person and customers may find easy to deal with specific ethical / social background people.
Human Resource Management is about managing the human resources requirement of an organization in line with the organization's overall business strategy. There should be good "fit" between human resource practice and business strategy challenge should be avoided. HRM conceptualizes the various elements of the organization's approach to managing people as set of incorporated activities. Mainly HRM involves the acquisition, development, reward and motivation, maintains and departure of an organization's human resources (Stone 2008). Today Human Resource Management is defined by people in the field as a modern view of workplace management than the traditional HRM. It is the technique for the managers to express organization goals and future planning to the employees and to supply the resources needed for them to accomplish those goals.
Recruitment
Modern recruitments has been complicated than they used to be. Instead of solely depend on 30 minute discussion with interviewee and glance at a resume as the basis for assessing interviewee, Firms are using advance techniques, including psychological testing, well thought-out interviews and assessment centres. Putting the applicant for proper assessment is often used. Expose applicant to a real situation and interviewer plays a part of customer and team member. According to Eriksson (2004) DDI consulting services manager Mr. Peter Goldrick said the number of assessments done by the company over five years had risen from zero to 3000 a month, and was continuing to grow. After candidates attempt is videotaped, it sends to HRM department for further investigation. According to Gill (1997) the candidate reviving processes kind of time consuming and highly expensive, but effective. After doing the exercise applicant freely admits that they were able to pretend for a time, but then the test prove too much. In this case both writers maintain that modern change of recruitment helps to select best person for the vacancy if it is only done by professional manner. In Eriksson (2004) prove "A behavioral test followed by an interview could be just as effective and was certainly cheaper. In fact, assessment centers should only be used in conjunction with tests and interviews, and the centres themselves had to be designed and run professionally.
Recruitment advertising vital role in the recruitment process. The vacancies for candidates and requirement of people do not stay the same. The change of economical and social changes can mean certain skills and attributes are no longer value. As the shortage for specific skill employees and excess of different skill or knowledge tells the demand for particular skills less attractive than it used to be. According to Redman & Brian (1995) Over time one might expect a recruitment advertisement to mirror developments in both the job market overall and the sophistication of the hirer. For example reflecting the decreasing importance of industrial relations element of personnel management, the demand for personnel managers with negotiation skills has declined, while competence in interpersonal areas has become much more sought after over the last decade. With rapidly developing demands on the recruitment advertisement it is very important to call on experts of skills and knowledge. No matter it is a large organization or a small one highly expertise skill and knowledge essential for development.
The major factor for the recruiter is the effectiveness of the advertisement. One way of reducing the pool of good applicants is to provide inappropriate means of applying. The other is to provide inappropriate information (Ghebregiorgis & Carstan 2006). Either can be used to portray an image of a low status, unprofessional organization where, using a recent real example, "bags of oomph" was seen as more important than professional knowledge (Ghebregiorgis & Carstan 2006). The recruitment advertising would be the best way to attract expertise skill or knowledge people from job market and hassle free system to filter them. According to Redman & Brian (1995) newspapers and internet recruitment is the most common methods of recruitment and internet advertisement is the costly.
Psychometric testing is widely used in current recruitment process in an exertion to stop unqualified, wasteful people coming to organization. The selecting process should be done 100% accurate in professional manner, otherwise it might cost to the company. According to Gibb (2000) Neil Jones, a director of recruitment consultancy Morgan & Banks, says that six years ago his company might have conducted 10 to 15 such tests each week on behalf of clients. Now the figure is nearer 40 or 50 a week, and growing by 20 percent a year. According to the writer recruitment, selection and placement are key activities in managing people strategically. Getting the right person in the right jobs in the organization is a fundamental basis for getting valve added performance from people and a key mechanism for aligning the management of people with organization vision and mission and hence ensuring that strategic goals are achieved. In here Gibb (2000) outline in addition to the challenge of getting the right blend of people to facilitate the achievement of organizational mission, organizations today also face numerous external challenges in the area of of staffing. The main issues with staffing like kill shortage in specific areas, the difficulty of dismissing staff who do not perform and the need to conform to stringent standards in terms of non-discriminatory selection procedures are obvious areas of concern. In Thite (2004) the overseas employment had been developed due to skill and labor shortage around the world. In here both writers convey selecting suitable person for vacancy is costly and should be done professional manner.
Managing diversity is about achieving a workforce with a variety of talents, views and valves which can broaden and enrich decision making in an organization and improve the quality of life. The quality and efficiency of employee selection decisions depend on whether the organization hires applicant who can perform his/her role well. When Organization recruitment process selects the best person in the market, organization productivity will benefit. In the recruitment process different kind of people has to be assessed. There will be real diversity in recruitment process. Increasing diversity in recruiting is a one of the popular topic in the market place. According to Cerdin & Peretti (2001) the introduction of The Employment Equality Regulations 2003 has made it illegal to discriminate or harass in the workplace on the grounds of sexual orientation, religion and beliefs. Cerdin & Peretti (2001) states that one of the key area for promoting diversity is in the area of recruiting and retention of staff. When there is diversity every employee engaged to work cheerfully. The work life matching with employee's life style. In Cerdin & Peretti (2001) writer convey above obsession, NRMA conducted staff surveys and exit interviews and found that those leaving would generally have liked to stay. But NRMA was not flexible enough to cope with the varying circustoms employee found themselves in at various stages of their lives.
The Recruitment procedures are carried out in a fair and consistent manner. As the writer said noticeable areas of weakness in HRM, in employees" estimation, exist, in the management of staffing levels aspect of recruitment and retention communication and with level of moral in the organization as a whole. According to the Wayne (2000) the employee should be paid adequately to gain his\her maximum benefit. In the area of employee resourcing employee indicate that while pay and recruitment procedures are fair they indicate that staffing levels are considered inadequate, and that the right people are often not recruited or retrained.
The recruitment process begins with advertising the current vacancies. Usually internal or external Medias can be used to archive this goal. Most of time company web site used to advertise vacancies. According to EI-Kot & Leat (2008) for managers the most commonly used selection methods are an interview, application forms and references, however, for the other job types this is not the case. For each of the other three job types, the most popular single method involves some form of psychometric or aptitude testing with well over half of the organizations using testing in order to select technical/professional, clerical and manual staff. The main principle of selecting manual staff is testing. It may of course, be that this declining use of the application form as we move from managerial through professional, clerical and manual staff positions is also a reflection of levels of literacy within the country. Further according to EI-Kot & Leat (2008) most of managerial and professional jobs are selected through web based methods. Educational institutes like universities, High schools and TAFE used for the recruitment of managerial and professional jobs than 1980's or 1990s.
The most popular method for recruiting managers is from among existing employees and this is not the case for any of the other categories of staff. For professional/technical and clerical staff the most popular method in both surveys is recruitment through advertising EI-Kot & Leat (2008). Most companies use the traditional way of recruiting employees (informal and internal) systems are used for both manual and professional jobs due to cost cutting. Arguably the both writers says higher positions like managers, administrator needed higher education qualifications, most organizations widely uses internet or educational institute to find the best person for the vacancy.
According to Kotey & Sheridan (2004) at the manager level, the need for suitably qualified managerial staff to fill gaps in the owner manager's skill and to take responsibilities for operational activities with increasing firm size is indicated by sharp rise in use of formal recruitment sources such as newspaper advertisements. However recruiting managers by word of mouth is still common in some small and medium firms. Kotey & Sheridan (2004) argues that for the top level of positions organization need much qualified employees with the experience. At the medium level, the use of newspaper advertisement in the majority of firms indicates an emphasis on employee competency in the recruitment process. Kotey & Sheridan (2004) reflects when organization requires the higher number of managerial staff and greater specialization in takes at this stage. That a smaller percentage of micro and small firms reported using the various recruitment sources at the managerial level is not surprising in light of the size of these firms. With less than 20 employees, recruitment art the managerial level is not a frequent occurrence in these firms.
Interviews were the predominate selection methods at the operational level for all three groups of firms. In addition, more small and medium firms than micro firms review applications and investigated candidates' backgrounds from previous employers. The use of a greater variety of selection techniques as more employees join the firm from outside the network of friends and family is in consonance with accompanying increased risk in selection and greater cost of recruitment Kotey & Sheridan (2004). A greater variety of section techniques is advised in HRM texts however, greater variety can also entail higher costs, which micro level; employee qualities required by the owner manager can be easily accessed through interview. In here the writer argues the increase set of the various selection techniques was greater between micro and small firms than between small and medium firms, indicating greater increase in the adoption of formal practices during the early stages of growth than during the later stages.
At the managerial level, selection techniques such as interview, review of appellation letters and assessment of candidates' qualification increased with firm size (Smith 2003). Moreover, investigations from previous employers, and requests for reference letters were more prevalent in small and medium firms than in micro. These selection methods were less frequently applied at the micro level, as employment of managerial staff is rare and as potential mangers are likely to be family and /or friends, reducing the need for in-depth screening and reflecting the more limited resources available to micro firms. In comparison to Kotey & Sheridan (2004) at the operational level, the percentage of firm that applied the various selection methods at the managerial level increased from small to medium firms, consistent with increasing number of specialist staff recruited from outside the confines of family and friends at the larger firm size.
The author Thompson & Aspinwall (2006) has finds out that, in practice, work/life benefits are commonly offered in the hope of recruiting new employees. Yet, little is known about witch benefit best attract new graduates. Moreover, research has only begun to examine individual difference that moderate the effect of work/life policies on recruitment outcomes. Also as the work world continues to evolve, demographics shifts with organizational implications are taking place. Baby boomers are reaching retirement age, and finding and adequate number of college-educated workers to fill the ensuing labor gap will be difficult. Looming labor pool reductions make recruitment a top priority (Thompson & Aspinwall , 2006).
The author explicit, demographic change in the workforce necessitates targeted recruitment programs not only for members of generation born 1965-1977 (X), but also for member of generation born 1977-1997(Y) (Thompson & Aspinwall , 2006). In all likelihood, educated segment of these generations will be particularly sought after. Factors that account for the impending shortage of educated works include declining reproduction rates in combination with tuition increases that will make it difficult for members of generation Y to complete college.
These is about the importance of work/life benefits recruitment, work/life benefits refer to programs and policies designed to help employees manage the competing demands of life, work, and family. According to Thompson & Aspinwall (2006) Example include flextime compressed work week, job sharing, part-time work, seasonal schedules, telecomm uniting, paid time-off plans, personal leave of absence/respite, childcare benefits, lactation areas, on -site childcare centers, school-age programs, dependent care spending account, managerial work/family training, eldercare benefits, and work-family resource. The number of organization offering work/life benefit as part of their human resource programs has increased in recent years (Cerdin & Peretti 2001). For instance, a 2001 study of benefit conducted by the Society for Human Resource management Revealed that 69 per cent organization offered dependent care flexible spending accounts. In 1997, only 58 per cent of surveyed organizations provided this benefit.
Conclusion
Recruitment is a most important activity in a firms' program to manage its human resources. After human resources needs have been recognized and job requirements have been recognized throught job analysis, a program of recruitment can be established to produce a pool of job applicants, from internal or external sources. For a company it is vital to assess the recruitment. Usually this is done by estimate the benefit and cost criteria associated with recruitment. Organization needs to make sure that they select the best applicant for the vacancy. In order to match individual skills, knowledge and abilities to job vacancy and individual preferences to job and organizational characteristics, organization need to gather information about job application. The most popular methods for recruitment are interviewing, testing and application. It is depends on the type of the job. For example assessment centres most commonly used for higher position jobs like managerial or professional jobs and physical ability tests are more appropriate for factory labor jobs. The cost for recruiting process also concerns, but modern organizations rather concern selecting the suitable applicant for the organization.
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