Recruitment Process Overview

Recruitment Overview

• Recruitment is the process of finding and attracting suitable individuals to apply for and accept a job offer.
• Cost of recruitment can vary widely, from an average of $4,700 to significantly more for hard-to-fill roles.
• Smaller businesses (SMEs) often face challenges in recruitment due to financial limitations, a lack of established employer reputation, and unclear job descriptions and responsibilities, sometimes with ad-hoc recruitment processes
• Recruitment encompasses both intentional actions (like job postings) and unintentional actions (how a company treats its employees).
• Companies continuously recruit through their branding, products, and employee treatment.

Recruitment Process

• Identifying job openings
• Reviewing job specifications
• Determining desired recruit characteristics
• Selecting recruitment methods
• Gathering applications
• Maintaining applicant interest during the selection process
• Persuading suitable candidates to accept offers
• Double-checking job details to ensure accuracy

Recruitment Sources/Methods

• Considerations for choosing a recruitment method include the number of recruits needed, required skill level, budget, and prior successful recruitment strategies.
• Labor agreements might mandate internal recruitment before external hiring.

Internal vs. External Recruiting

Advantages of Internal Recruiting

• Existing employees possess organizational knowledge and likely demonstrate a fit.
• Improves employee morale and motivation.
• Reduces orientation and training costs.

Disadvantages of Internal Recruiting

• Potential reduction in cooperation among existing employees.
• Absence of new ideas and perspectives.
• Potential negative morale and greater turnover if no promotions.

Advantages of External Recruiting

• Acquisition of new skills and knowledge.
• Introduction of novel ideas and problem-solving approaches.

Disadvantages of External Recruiting

• Difficulty integrating new employees into the existing team.
• Higher costs associated with orientation and training.

Recruitment Methods

• Direct inquiries
• Employee referrals
• Online and offline advertising
• Social media recruitment
• Digital recruitment platforms (e.g., LinkedIn)
• Private or temporary help agencies
• Educational institutions (internships)
• Professional and labor organizations
• Job fairs
• Recruitment abroad

Headhunting and Poaching

• Headhunting, while common, can be ethically challenging.
• Non-poaching agreements are now illegal.
• Non-compete clauses are generally limited to senior executives in duration and enforceability.

Important Recruitment Considerations

• Compliance with legal and regulatory requirements.
• Addressing bona fide occupational requirements and potential systemic discrimination.
• Ensuring equity, diversity, and inclusion throughout the process to avoid biases.
• Thoughtful consideration to the recruitment process's impact on potential applicants and consideration on how to utilize AI in employment processes, in a transparent way.

Evaluating Recruitment

• Cost per hire: The total cost of recruitment divided by the number of hires.
• Quality of hires: Evaluating the hires' suitability for the role.
• Offer-to-applicant ratio: The proportion of job offers issued after the recruitment process.
• Time lapse per hire: The time taken to fill a particular position.

Selection Process and Strategic Significance

• Selection processes match organizational needs with applicant characteristics, reflecting organizational priorities and considering market realities.
• Selection is integral to organizational strategic execution.

Steps in the Selection Process

Step 1 & 2: Preliminary Reception and Screening

• Initial contact with applicants
• Filtering out unqualified applicants using various tools, such as automated screening (though appropriate care to avoid biases).

Step 3: Employment Tests

• Administering personality, integrity, ability, and performance tests or assessment centers.
• Tests should be reliable, valid, and defensible.

Step 4: Employment Interviews

• Utilizing structured or unstructured interviews to evaluate candidates based on various interview approaches
• Structured interviews feature planned questions; unstructured interviews focus on a flowing conversation. Both methods should be considered based on candidates' roles, (e.g.: structured for junior roles, and unstructured for senior roles), and interview method consistency.

Step 5: Realistic Job Previews

• Providing candidates with an honest portrayal of work conditions.
• Increasing employee retention through clear expectations.

Step 6: Verification of References

• Obtaining permission from candidates before contacting references.
• Verifying information to avoid legal issues

Step 7: Contingent Assessments

• Evaluating health, medical, or driving information.
• Increasing awareness of the employee's rights before administering a drug or other assessment in a meaningful manner.

Step 8: Hiring Decision

• Making the final selection decision.
• Tradeoffs among different aspects that guide the process in decision making (e.g, subjective, multiple cutoff, compensatory).

Employment Contract

• Detailing specific legal obligations like probation periods, start dates, and terms.
• Enforceable termination clauses that outline responsibilities (e.g., non-disclosure agreements (NDAs), non-competition agreements, non-solicitation agreements).

Evaluation of Selection

• Assessing workforce quality and productivity
• Considering costs of training and management time.
• Evaluating trends in grievances, absenteeism, and turnover.
• Utilizing EDI considerations to understand any potential biases or disparities.

This quiz covers the essential elements of the recruitment process, including the identification of job openings, selection methods, and strategies for maintaining applicant interest. It also highlights challenges faced by SMEs in recruitment and the importance of company branding and employee treatment. Test your knowledge on these topics!