Effective Recruitment and Selection
Before you read this article, try your hand at the first activity. Though all of us have our own sets of experiences and opinions, we must not place our organizations in a situation of liability due to our individual biases, as they may not be strategically aligned with the organization's best interests. You must learn to work through personal perceptions and make strategic business decisions when recruiting and selecting human capital.
Candidates Make Decisions Too
In the past people have tended to see selection primarily as organizations choosing between individuals. However, we must not forget that candidates are also making choices: about whether to write in for an application form, whether to apply, whether to attend an interview, whether to accept an offered job. This makes it important for organizations to treat candidates in a sensitive and responsive manner. They will need to pay attention to their recruitment materials, to provide realistic job descriptions and to be aware of how candidates are treated.
Recruitment processes vary between sectors and organizations. They are also constantly changing (see Box 4).
Box 4: Internet Recruitment
Employers increasingly use the Internet for recruitment purposes. One way to use the Internet is to post vacancy advertisements on a specially-created "job board" – electronic versions of a newspaper's situations pages. Another method is to incorporate a recruitment section on the company website. The capital costs may be a modest investment considering the price of national newspaper advertisements and the long-term use of the website. Organizations need to encourage potential recruits to visit the site by placing advertisements on job boards and in the press indicating the organization's web address.
The audience for recruitment websites has been concentrated in younger age groups and professional occupations, although this is likely to broaden out. Recruitment costs may be reduced – some US firms claim a 45 percent saving by using the Internet.
Criteria for success are that visitors to a company website should find it convenient to use, up-to-date and offering online application facilities. The advantage to the organization is the technical simplicity of adding applicant details to its database and in conducting online dialogue with applicants about job and career requirements so they can be advised when a suitable vacancy arises. The Internet offers several attractions to recruiters and job hunters.