RECRUITMENT

INTRODUCTION

According to Mandell (1956), recruitment refers to the process of finding possible candidates for a job or function, usually undertaken by recruiters. It is any act of canvassing, enlisting, contracting, transporting, utilizing, hiring or procuring workers and which includes referrals, contract services, promising or advertising for employment, locally or abroad, whether for profit or not. The choice of workers has been long based on age, appearance, height, physical build, skill, education, race, and religion. Previously, there were no tests given to the applicants and even the interview is conducted haphazard.

 

Recruitment differs among companies. In the small firms, recruitment is usually done exclusively by the owners of the enterprise, the superintendent, or the manager. This is the traditional unplanned process in which the interviewer usually used his own impression during the interview and gives a little weight on the applicant’s actual aptitude and capacity to work.

 

On the other hand, in the larger firms, the trend today is to assign the job of recruitment, selection and hiring to an employment officer or personnel staff which assists the line supervisor or department head in this task, following well-established procedures of selection.

 

 The main objective of a good employee selection and hiring procedure is to acquire people who possess the ability and competence to accomplish successfully the duties and responsibilities not only of the job to be filled but also of the potential to grow with the company.

 

The success of any organization, large or small, chiefly depends on the ability and efficiency of the persons in its rolls. People are hired to do jobs to attain the objectives of the organization. People make use of money, materials, and machines to produce goods and render services. People with specialized knowledge and skills are needed to render services.

 

People who possess the right qualifications for their jobs also require less supervision, give better work performance, get along better with fellow employees, and are happier in their jobs than those who lack the proper qualifications. When people are interested in what they do, they make efforts to get better at it (Rosenberg, 2000). No job is performed in a static situation. Additionally, those who have the right qualifications for the job are less likely to present problems to the management in the long run.

 

The challenge here is to look for applicants who through interviews and tests will assure the selecting committee that they can handle the job at present but at the same time also show that they are equipped to handle and face tomorrow’s challenges and responsibilities.

WHY RECRUIT?

Jobs differ and require a wide variety of skills, knowledge and ability. Workers also differ from one another in many ways. If a person is assigned to a job to which his ability, character, knowledge and temperament is not suited, he is likely to fail and thereby create a problem to the management. The hiring practices used in some of the companies are haphazard that may be the root cause of many problems involving personnel. It is undoubtedly that there has been a motion and failure in trying to suit the worker to the job.

 

It is therefore god personnel policy to attract and hire for every vacant position those who possess the ability, personality, and potential to grow with the company and to develop them into efficient, loyal and satisfied employees.

 

Finding the right man for a job and finding the right job for the man who is available is essential to sound employee recruitment, selection and placement. The objective is to build and maintain a working force which will be stable, productive and satisfied and to insure union-management relationships which are free from conflicts. In short, recruitment process is a sound practice designed to get the right kind of employees, place them properly, and handle them effectively.

 

The company which must meet competition and maintain leadership in the field cannot leave the hiring and selection of its workers to chance. It needs people to contribute to the company’s business, people with progressive ideas for new products, services and methods. Employees with the right qualifications for the job are more economical for the company in the long run since they learn faster and are less costly to train. People who possess the right qualifications for their jobs also requires less supervision, gives better work performance, get along better with fellow employees, and are happier with their jobs. Moreover, they are far less likely to do damage to the company’s equipment, customers, publics and corporate image.

 

In addition, there are still several reasons for proper recruitment. These are enumerated as the following:

Company objectives are better achieved by workers who have been properly recruited.

An incompetent worker is a liability to the company.

Personnel requirements vary from job to job.

People have varying degree of intelligence, aptitudes and abilities.

Labor laws protect employees, making it difficult to fire incompetent and problem employees.

Individuals have different interests, goals and objectives in life.

Careless hiring is costly and can cause problems to the company, especially to the supervisors and managers who have to deal with the workers.

 RECRUITMENT PROCESS

The procedure in recruitment, selection and hiring should be in accordance with the company policy. When the company has a personnel department to handle matters of employment, the selection and hiring process could be more objective and satisfactory. There is no single technique that is effective at all times, under all circumstances for all companies. Employee selection involves serious responsibility and it is worth the effort to know and observe proper procedure in hiring to ensure success in choosing the right man for the job and to avoid snap judgments.

 

Step1. Studying the Different Jobs of the Company and Writing the Job Description and Specification

The first requirement for recruitment process is knowing what kind of man the job needs. This requires the knowledge of the exact nature of the job to be filled; its duties and responsibilities; the steps taken to perform those duties and responsibilities; the tools and equipment used; the working conditions under which the specific job is performed; the amount of authority delegated to the job incumbent; the supervision involved in the job such as education, skill and physical demands; and environment of the job.

 

Step 2. Requisition for New Employee

To inform the employment office about the existence of a vacancy to be filled, the line supervisor or the department head concerned should accomplished a formal requisition form, indicating the facts and information about the vacancy to be filled such as the date when the new employee will be needed, his rate pay, the required qualifications of the employee, the job description and job specification, approval by the responsible official of the firm and other data.

 

In making the selection, the employment officer must be given sufficient time to recruit and evaluate the records of applicants and to arrive at a sound decision as to the right man for the vacancy.

 

Step 3. Recruiting Qualified Applicants

Recruitment is the process by which prospective applicants are induced to apply to the company in order that their qualifications for present and anticipated vacancies can be evaluated through sound screening and selection procedures.

 

The employment officer must continually look for prospective applicants until he has the sufficient number of applicants to choose from. He must determine the most productive sources of qualified applicants. The employment officer devises an effective means of reaching qualified applicants and encouraging them to apply. Care should however be made to prevent overselling the company to the prospective employees through false promises of attractive salaries and benefits.

Step 4. Reception of Applicants

Not all applicants can go through the selection process. Some are eliminated through screening whereby the undesirable applicants are quickly eliminated in the basis of his apparent characteristics.  

Step 5. Application Form

Those chosen to be given examination and further interviews are asked to fill out application form in their own handwriting. The application form is an important tool in the selection and hiring procedure as it gives vital information about the applicant which is relevant to the job for which he has applied.

Step 6. Testing

The purpose of testing is to measure the applicant’s ability. Tests are needed to discover mental ability, aptitude, proficiencies, potential ability, skills and knowledge of an applicant. They measure a person’s ability to quickly learn those jobs which involve memory, reasoning, abstracting, analyzing, and solving problems and reading comprehension.

 

Step 7. Checking the Applicant’s Work Experiences, School Records, and Personal References

This step determines the type of job formerly done by the applicant and how efficient his performance was. His work experience and his educational background may indicate the applicant’s can do and will do qualifications.

Step 8. Interview

The interview is done to find out how well qualified the applicant is for the vacancy; to give the applicant he information he needs in order to decide whether or not he will take  the job if offered to him and to create goodwill for the company (Mandell, 1961).

 

Step 9. Matching the Applicant with the Job

This matching process will enable the employment officer to determine if the applicant can perform the job satisfactorily.

 

EMPLOYEE RETENTION

Job satisfaction is one of the most important issues in employee retention. Job satisfaction is the overall attitude of liking or disliking a job. It is a significant aspect that is essential for career development as well as the success of an organization. In order to satisfy the employees, the following should be undertaken.

 

Job Enrichment

Job enlargement or job enrichment is the term given to the reversal of a job specialization trend. The motive is to make jobs more interesting and promote job satisfaction by adding variety.

Performance Appraisal

The purposes of performance appraisal are evaluation and development (Schuler, et al. 1992). Evaluation aims to establish the relative worth of each individual’s contribution and encourage good performance while development aims to improve communication between managers and employees, and to assist employees develop their skills and improve their performance.

 

Training and Development

Employee training and development is “any attempt to improve current or future employee performance by increasing, through learning, an employee’s ability to perform, usually by increasing his or her skills and knowledge” (Schuler et al., 1992: 329). Having the proper training, employees can be more confident in their work and gives them a feel of satisfaction.

 

Employee Morale and Motivation

The job satisfaction of an employee could be attributed to the level of morale and motivation that is present in the employee. Employee morale is an attitude, a state of mind, intangible but manifested by the employee’s manner and reactions to his or her job, working conditions, the company policies and programs, fellow workers, supervisors, compensation, opportunities for advancement, and the general environment (Flippo, 1976).

 

The word “motivation” is derived from the word “motivate” which means to move, impel, or induce to act to satisfy a need or want (Butkus & Green, 1999). The company may provide the necessary motivations such as good pay, excellent benefits, and good environment but if he or she lacks personal drive, or the will to forge ahead, no amount of motivation will make him strive to great achievement (Maslow, 1960).

 

Job Feedback

Giving feedback is the activity of providing information to staff members about their performance on job expectations (London, 2003). A desirable employee, who accepts criticisms as part of growth and development within the job, will look at a mistake as feedback rather than as a failure, regard every job assignment as developmental, and seek out challenging opportunities where the pressure to learn will force them to grow professionally and stretch their capabilities (Rosenberg, 2000).

 

CONCLUSION

Recruitment is therefore an important aspect in the success of the company. It is important to follow the some steps in the recruitment process to be able to be sure to select the right person for the right job. In the competitive market, it is important that companies can capture the highly competitive employees. When the company has already has selected its employees, it is also important to retain them for the long term success of the company. One of the identified root cause of retaining employees is job satisfaction and therefore companies must do some techniques to keep their employees satisfied with their job.

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