Recruitment and Training

Reasons for Recruitment


Pizza in ArubaRecruitment, or taking on employees, is one of the personnel department's most important tasks, as the success of any business depends to a large extent on the quality of its employees. Employees may be needed when:

Recruitment and Training the business expands;
Recruitment and Training the business targets a new market;
Recruitment and Training new skills are needed because of technological advances;
Recruitment and Training employees are dismissed, or retire, or leave to join other firms.

The decision to appoint a member of staff is usually made by the personnel department and the head of the department or section concerned. Decisions to appoint heads of departments and very senior managers would be made by the directors of the business.
First Stages in Recruitment

The personnel department's first task is to carry out a job analysis by deciding the exact nature of the job, and the knowledge, skills and other qualities required to do it. (With sole proprietors, exactly the same procedures would be followed in all stages of recruitment and selection, except that the tasks involved would be done by the sole proprietors themselves.)

Job description

The personnel department would then produce a job description. This describes the nature of the job and the responsibilities involved, usually in great detail. The job description is useful for informing applicants exactly what the job entails, and also for settling any later disputes about the tasks that the person appointed has been asked to perform.

Job specification

A job specification is also written, stating the qualifications, skills, previous experience and other personal qualities that the person must have.
Methods of External Recruitment

Most job vacancies are filled by recruiting people from outside the firm - workers from another firm or organization, people who have never worked before, or people who are unemployed. There are several methods of external recruitment for a job. They include:

Recruitment and Training Personal recommendation. Someone who is already working for the firm recommends someone they know. This takes place at all levels of business. A plasterer on a building site may recommend his mate if he hears there is a job for another plasterer. A director may recommend that a friend should be appointed to the board of directors.

Recruitment and Training Jobcentres. These are a nationwide chain of government agencies, which have details of local job vacancies and of a smaller number of jobs elsewhere. They deal mainly with manual and office work.
They also provide other services for the unemployed, such as details of training courses. Their services are free to both employers and job applicants.

Recruitment and Training Private employment agencies. They provide firms with details of selected employees, including temporary staff, for a fee. There are general agencies that deal with all kinds of staff, and specialized agencies for some kinds of work, such as catering and nursing.

Recruitment and Training Executive employment agencies provide a complete recruitment service for senior managers, for a large fee. They will 'head hunt' suitable candidates in other companies.

Recruitment and Training Careers advisers in schools and colleges, and university appointment boards, may be able to provide suitable candidates.

Recruitment and Training Advertisements. This is one of the most common methods of obtaining employees.
Advertising Job Vacancies

A job advertisement should:

Recruitment and Training describe the job fully, and the skills and qualifications required;

Recruitment and Training indicate what is being offered in the way of training, fringe benefits, career prospects;

Recruitment and Training be legal, i.e. it must not discriminate between male and female applicants, or against people of ethnic origins.

The personnel department usually chooses the newspaper or magazine in which a job should be advertised; the wording and the size of the advertisement; and how often the advertisement should be inserted.
Choice of Media

Job advertisements range from a sole proprietor's card in a shop window, costing a few cent a week, to a company's display advertisement in a quality national newspaper, costing hundreds of dollars for just one insertion.

It is important to choose the most appropriate newspaper or magazine for the kind of job. It is easy to find out from the publication about their readers - their socio-economic group, sex, age, etc. This helps the personnel department to choose the most suitable publication.

Recruitment and Training Quality national newspapers are used mainly for advertising senior managerial and professional vacancies in both the private and the public sectors.

Recruitment and Training Business and professional magazines are used mainly for specific technical and professional posts.

Recruitment and Training Local newspapers are used for a variety of local jobs at all levels, ranging from the unskilled to senior management.
The Selection Process

Sending out application forms

An application form has to be designed which can be sent to people who apply for the post. Most personnel departments have a standard form that is suitable for all vacancies.

The application form, and further details about the post and the firm, are sent to everyone who replies to the job advertisement. The application form usually asks for the following information:

Recruitment and Training personal details, including age and nationality;

Recruitment and Training education and training, including schools, colleges or universities attended and qualifications obtained;

Recruitment and Training previous employment, including wages or salaries and reasons for leaving;

Recruitment and Training health, including any serious illnesses and whether registered as a disabled person;

Recruitment and Training reasons for applying for the post;

Recruitment and Training interests and leisure activities.

It also asks for the names of previous employers and responsible persons who could give a reference, or a written statement about the applicant's ability and character. Instead of filling in a form, applicants are sometimes asked to write a letter of application and to enclose a curriculum vitae (cv) - an outline of their career - instead.

Making a shortlist of candidates

When all the completed application forms have been received, members of the personnel department study them to find the most suitable candidates. The standard application form lists all the information in the same order, which makes it easier to compare candidates.

Three or four of the most suitable candidates will be put on a shortlist and invited to attend an interview at a stated time on a stated date. A formal letter may be sent to all the other candidates thanking them for applying for the post.

Interviewing the candidates

An interview is usually the main feature of the job selection process. Sometimes there is just one interviewer, but, more often, there are two or three. With senior jobs, there is normally a panel of interviewers, usually five to eight or more.

Interviews give the interviewers the chance to meet the candidates; to assess their abilities and characters; and to see how they react to one particular situation - the interview itself. Interviews do not always indicate whether a person will be successful in the job, as they do not test the skills and qualities that would be required for that particular post.

There are other defects in the interview system. Some candidates are much more successful in the interview than they would be in the job. Interviewers sometimes let their personal prejudices influence their choice of candidate.

Other methods of selection

Many firms, therefore, use other methods of selection in addition to the interview. With some jobs, they test the candidates' skills. For example, they might ask designers to bring samples of their work.

With other jobs, they use personality tests, which are based on questions written by a psychologist. Tests of this kind might be used in jobs that involve a great deal of contact with the public, for example a job as a hotel receptionist.

With management jobs, there might be whole-day tests of endurance and qualities of leadership in outdoor activity centres.

Companies also carry out other checks. Most companies send for the references that the candidate has provided and other companies confirm with the examining board whether degrees and certificates have actually been awarded. A medical examination is also carried out for some jobs.

The successful candidate is usually told he or she has been successful at the end of the interviews or other tests. A letter confirming the appointment is then sent, usually within a day or so.
Advantages and Disadvantages of External Recruitment

There are advantages and disadvantages with external methods of recruitment. The main ones are:

Advantages

Recruitment and Training Large choice of candidates.

Recruitment and Training New individuals with new ideas.

Recruitment and Training Applicants may have wide experience.

Recruitment and Training Greater flexibility in amount of salary offered.

Disadvantages

Recruitment and Training Long process of recruitment, selection and appointment.

Recruitment and Training Costly advertising and/or agency fees.

Recruitment and Training Difficulties in assessing suitability of candidates.
Internal Recruitment

Internal recruitment can be used instead of external recruitment. In internal recruitment, a job is offered only to current employees by advertising it on staff notice boards or in the company news sheet or magazine.

One big advantage of internal recruitment is that it enables the firm to create a career structure for suitable employees. They can be promoted by being selected for a more important job. If a company is known to favour internal recruitment, it may help to attract other ambitious recruits to the firm.

However, internal recruitment may cause resentment among other employees, and it can make the organization sterile if all the top posts are filled by long-serving employees with few new ideas.

Advantages of internal recruitment
The main advantages of internal recruitment are:

Recruitment and Training much cheaper;
Recruitment and Training much quicker;
Recruitment and Training abilities - and failings - of individual already known;
Recruitment and Training employee has good knowledge of the firm and its policies;
Recruitment and Training provides a career structure.

Disadvantages of internal recruitment
There are also some drawbacks:

Recruitment and Training limits number of candidates;
Recruitment and Training no 'new blood' or ideas;
Recruitment and Training may cause jealousy;
Recruitment and Training managers may resent loss of staff to other departments;
Recruitment and Training employees may resent receiving orders from former equal;
Recruitment and Training may create another vacancy to be filled.
Contract of Employment

When a person has been appointed, the employer must give him or her a written statement of employment - or contract of employment - within two months. Some of the items that must legally be included are:

Recruitment and Training the name and address of the employer;
Recruitment and Training the employee's name;
Recruitment and Training job title or brief description of job;
Recruitment and Training the date employment began;
Recruitment and Training the amount of pay and the intervals between payments;
Recruitment and Training hours of work;
Recruitment and Training holiday entitlement;
Recruitment and Training sick leave arrangements;
Recruitment and Training pension arrangements;
Recruitment and Training length of notice for ending employment;
Recruitment and Training if not a permanent job, the period for which employment is expected to last;
Recruitment and Training details of disciplinary and grievance procedures.
Induction Programmes

With all externally recruited people, one important task is to give them some form of induction. This introduces them to their job, their new colleagues, the premises and the firm. In a very small business, the induction may be no more than a quick tour of the workplace and a few 'Hellos'.

In a big company, there is usually a far more elaborate, formal induction programme. This usually involves a talk on the company's history, products and policies, which is sometimes accompanied by a video. The company's organization will be explained, and the new employee will be shown the building where he or she will work. The recruit will be told the company's rules and given a copy of the staff handbook. There may also be a tour of various departments and, sometimes, talks by departmental managers. Finally, new employees will be introduced to their departmental and section heads and their future colleagues.

An induction programme helps to make recruits familiar with the company and working environment. It helps them to settle in more quickly. It also helps them to get the feel of the workplace and their new job.

The employer benefits, too, as recruits learn hoe the company operates and what they should and should not do. The induction programme presents the company in a favourable light, which may help to increase employee loyalty and motivation.
Discipline and Dismissals

Disciplinary procedures

Discipline and dismissals are other important tasks of the personnel department. Under the Employment Protection, it is illegal to
dismiss an employee without a reasonable cause. Therefore, the contract of employment includes details of the company's disciplinary procedures.

If a company wants to dismiss an employee for unsatisfactory work or misconduct, he or she is usually given a verbal warning first. This is followed by a second warning at a formal meeting with a manager; and finally, a third warning in writing, before the employee is dismissed.

The contract of employment also says what employees should do if they have a grievance. It gives the name of the person they should see first, and the procedure they should follow if they are still not satisfied.

Dismissals

In most cases, employees can be dismissed only after the whole disciplinary procedure has been observed. Employees must be given the period of notice specified in their contract of employment.

Employees may be dismissed without notice only if they are guilty of a gross breach of contract, such as theft. They are then entitled only to the pay they have earned up to the time of their dismissal.

Redundancy

Employees can be made redundant if their job is being abolished so that their services are no longer required. Employers cannot use this as an excuse for dismissing workers. The job must have genuinely disappeared. Firms sometimes use natural wastage instead of compulsory redundancy, i.e. not replacing employees when they leave or retire.

The business has to pay compensation, or redundancy pay, to employees with at least two years' service.
The Work of Industrial Tribunals

The personnel department has to make sure that all the laws relating to employees are observed. Those dealing with equal rights and dismissal are particularly important. If employees believe they have been treated unfairly, they can take their case to an industrial tribunal.

These informal tribunals have a legally qualified chairperson, plus one trade union member and another member from an employers' organization. The most common cases concern unfair dismissal.
Training

Training is the final responsibility of the personnel department. There are many reasons for training employees. The main ones are:

Recruitment and Training General skills shortage, particularly of people with knowledge of computers and information technology.

Recruitment and Training Inadequate knowledge and skills of individual employees.

Recruitment and Training The complexity of the job.

Recruitment and Training Retraining needs, e.g. mothers returning to work and long-term unemployed.

Recruitment and Training Introduction of new working methods or machines.

Recruitment and Training Reducing the need for supervision.

Recruitment and Training Cutting workplace accidents.
 
Ends





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