10-11-2012, 05:21 PM
Recruitment and Selection
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LEARNING OUTCOMES
After reading this chapter, you should be able to:
comprehend the potential importance of recruitment and selection in successful people
management and leadership
identify aspects of recruitment and selection which are needed to avoid critical failure factors
understand recruitment and selection policies and procedures which are said to be asociated
with high performance, commitment and successful organisational outcomes
evaluate selection methods according to criteria of professionalism including reliability, validity
and fairness
appreciate the links between recruitment and selection and other activites which integrate
workers within an organisation and ensure their longer-term successful working.
introduction
Recruitment and selection forms a core part of the central activities underlying
human resource management: namely, the aquisition, development and reward
of workers. It frequently forms an important part of the work of human resource
managers – or designated specialists within work organisations. However, and
importantly, recruitment and selection decisions are often for good reason taken
by non-specialists, by the line managers. There is, therefore, an important sense
in which it is the responsibility of all managers, and where human resource
departments exist, it may be that HR managers play more of a supporting
advisory role to those people who will supervise or in other ways work with the
new employee.
As Mullins (2010, p 485) notes: ‘If the HRM function is to remain effective, there
must be consistently good levels of teamwork, plus ongoing co-operation and
consultation between line managers and the HR manager.’ This is most definitely
the case in recruitment and selection as specialist HR managers (or even external
consultants) can be an important repository of up-to-date knowledge and skills,
for example on the important legal dimensions of this area.
Recruitment and selection is often presented as a planned rational activity,
comprising certain sequentially-linked phases within a process of employee
resourcing, which itself may be located within a wider HR management strategy.
Bratton and Gold (2007, p 239) differentiate the two terms while establishing a
clear link between them in the following way:
a topical and relevant area
Recruitment and selection is a topical area. While it has always had the capacity
to form a key part of the process of managing and leading people as a routine
part of organisational life, it is suggested here that recruitment and selection has
become ever more important as organisations increasingly regard their workforce
as a source of competitive advantage. Of course, not all employers engage with
this proposition even at the rhetorical level. However, there is evidence of
increased interest in the utilisation of employee selection methods which are
valid, reliable and fair. For example, it has been noted that ‘over several decades,
work psychology has had a significant influence on the way people are recruited
into jobs, through rigorous development and evaluation of personnel selection
procedures’ (Arnold et al, 2005, p 135). In this chapter we will examine several
contemporary themes in recruitment and selection including what is human as
the competency approach and online recruitment.
Recruitment and selection does not operate in a vacuum, insulated from wider
social trends, so it is very important to keep abreast of current research. A CIPD
annual survey report, Recruitment, Retention and Turnover (2009d), showed how
the financial crisis was biting in the field of HRM. The survey concluded that
half of the companies surveyed claimed that the recession was having a negative
impact on their employee resourcing budgets and activities. 56 per cent of
organisations were focusing more on retaining than recruiting talent, while four
out of ten said that they would recruit fewer people in the forthcoming year.
Interestingly, 72 per cent of respondents thought that employers would ‘use the
downturn’ as an opportunity to get rid of poor performers and bring about
culture change. These specific findings epitomise the very close link between
recruitment and selection and the wider social and economic context.
effective recruitment and selection
We have already referred to the potential importance of recruitment and selection
as an activity. Pilbeam and Corbridge (2006, p 142) provide a useful overview
of potential positive and negative aspects noting that: ‘The recruitment and
selection of employees is fundamental to the functioning of an organisation, and
there are compelling reasons for getting it right. Inappropriate selection decisions
reduce organisational effectiveness, invalidate reward and development strategies,
are frequently unfair on the individual recruit and can be distressing for
managers who have to deal with unsuitable employees.’