UNIT III

PRACTICES IN HR: RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION

MEANING OF RECRUITMENT

Recruitment is searching for prospective employees and stimulating and encouraging them to apply
for jobs in an organization. Recruitment is a step-by-step process of locating, identifying, and
attracting qualified people to apply for the vacant post in an organization.

Recruitment means announcing job opportunities to the public and stimulating them so that several
suitable people will apply for them. Recruitment is the process of discovering the potential for actual
or anticipated organizational vacancies.

Recruitment is the process of attracting and identifying a pool of candidates, from which some will be
chosen for employment

Human resources are the most important assets of an organization. The success or failure of an
organization is largely dependent on the caliber of the people working therein. Without positive and
creative contributions from people, organizations cannot progress and prosper.

In order to achieve the goals or perform the activities of an organization, therefore, we need to recruit
people with requisite skills, qualifications and experience. While doing so, we have to keep the
present as well as the future requirements of the organization in mind.

Organizations have to recruit people with requisite skills, qualifications and experience if they have to
survive and flourish in a highly competitive environment.

DEFINITION OF RECRUITMENT

Acc. to Yoder “ Recruitment is a process to discover the sources of manpower to meet the
requirements of the staffing schedule & to employ effective measures for attracting the manpower in
adequate number to facilitate effective selection of an efficient working force”.

Edwin B Flippo “Recruitment is the process of searching for prospective employees and stimulating
them to apply for jobs in the organisation”

According to Plumbley “Recruitment is a matching process and the capacities and inclinations of the
candidates have to be matched against the demand and rewards inherent in a given job or career
pattern”

OBJECTIVES OF RECRUITMENT

The recruitment policy asserts the recruitment objectives and provides a framework for implementing
the recruitment program.

It may involve the organization system to be developed for implementing recruitment programs and
procedures to be employed.
According to Memoria, a good recruitment policy must contain elements such as

i. the organization’s objective (short term and long term),

ii. identification of the recruitment needs,
iii. the preferred source of recruitment,
iv. criteria of selection and preferences, and
v. the cost of recruitment and its financial implications the same. Objectives are targets and
goals.

According to Yoder (1996), the following are the main objectives of recruitment policy:

i. To find and employ the best-qualified person for each job.

ii. To minimize the cost of recruitment.
iii. To offer promising careers and security.
iv. To provide facilities for growth and development.
v. To retain the best and most promising ones.
vi. To reduce the scope of favoritism and malpractice.

SOURCES OF RECRUTIMENT

I.INTERNAL SOURCES/METHODS - Internal methods seeks applicants for positions from those
who are currently employed, it included

i. Promotions & Transfers - Promotion, movement of employee from a lower level position to
a higher level position accompanied by (usually) changes in duties, responsibilities, status &
values. Transfer, is an internal movement within the same grade, from one job to another. It
may lead to changes in duties & responsibilities, working condition etc, but not necessarily
salary.
ii. Job Posting - job posting is another way of hiring people from within. In this method, the
organisation publicizes job openings on bulletin boards, electronic media & similar outlets.
iii. Employee Referrals - Employee referral means using personal contacts to locate job
opportunities. It is a recommendation from a current employee regarding a job applicant. The
logic behind employee referral is that “it takes on to know one”.

II. EXTERNAL SOURECE/METHODS - Every enterprise has to use external sources for
recruitment to higher positions when existing employee are not suitable. More persons are needed
when expansions are undertaken. External methods includes

i) Advertisement - Advertisement is the best method of recruiting person for higher &
experienced jobs. The advertisements are given in local or national press trade or
professional journals. The requirements of jobs are given in the advertisements. The
prospective candidates evaluate themselves against their requirements f jobs before
 sending their applications. Management gets a wider range of candidates for selection.
The flood of application may create difficulties in the process.
ii) Direct Recruitment:- Direct recruitment refers to the external source of recruitment
where the recruitment of qualified candidates are done by placing a notice of vacancy on
the notice board in the organization. This method of sourcing is also called as factory gate
recruitment, as the blue-collar and technical workers are hired through this process.
iii) Employment Exchanges:-As per the law, for certain job vacancies, it is mandatory that
the organization provides details to the employment exchange. Employment exchange is a
government entity, where the details of the job seekers are stored and given to the
employers for filling the vacant positions. This external recruitment is helpful in hiring
for unskilled, semi-skilled, and skilled workers.
iv) Employment Agencies:-Employment agencies are a good external source of recruitment.
Employment agencies are run by various sectors like private, public, or government. It
provides unskilled, semi-skilled and skilled resources as per the requirements of the
organization. These agencies hold a database of qualified candidates and organizations
can use their services at a cost.
v) Professional Associations:- Professional associations can help an organization in hiring
professional, technical, and managerial personnel, however they specialize in sourcing
mid-level and top-level resources. There are many professional associations that act as a
bridge between the organizations and the job-seekers.
vi) Campus Recruitment:-Campus recruitment is an external source of recruitment, where
the educational institutions such as colleges and universities offer opportunities for hiring
students. In this process, the organizations visit technical, management, and professional
institutions for recruiting students directly for the new positions.
vii) Word of Mouth Advertising:-Word of mouth is an intangible way of sourcing the
candidates for filling up the vacant positions. There are many reputed organizations with
good image in the market. Such organizations only need a word-of-mouth advertising
regarding a job vacancy to attract a large number of candidates.

PROCESS OF RECRUITMENT

Recruitment process involves a systematic procedure from sourcing the candidates to arranging and
conducting the interviews. This process requires many resources and time. The steps to be involved in
the process of recruitment

1. Identify vacancy
2. job description and person specification
3. Advertising the vacancies
4. Managing the response
 5. Short-listing
6. Arranging interviews
7. Conducting interview and decision making

The recruitment process is immediately followed by the selection process i.e. the final interviews and
the decision making, conveying the decision and the appointment formalities.

SELECTION

Meaning and definition of Selection

Acc. to Dale Yoder, “Selection is the process in which candidates for employment are divided into
two classes those who are to be offered employment & those who are not. Selection means a process
by which qualified personnel may be chosen from the applicants offering their services to the
organization for employment”.

The Business Dictionary defines employee selection as the “process of interviewing and evaluating
candidates for a specific job and selecting an individual for employment based on certain criteria.”

The purpose of selection is to pick up the most suitable candidate who would meet the requirements
of the job in an Organization to the best possible way. To meet this goal, the Company obtains and
assesses information about the applicants in terms of age, qualifications, skills and experience. The
needs of the job are matched with the profile of candidates. How well an employee is matched to a job
is very important because it affects directly the amount and quality of employee’s work. Any
mismatch in this regard can cost an Organization a great deal of money, time and trouble, especially,
in terms of training and operating costs. In course of time, the employee may find the job distasteful
and leave in frustration. The size of the labour market, the image of the Company, the place of
posting, the nature of job and compensation package may influence the aspirants who are likely to
respond to the recruiting efforts of the Company. Through the process of recruitment the Company
tries to locate prospective employees and encourages them to apply for vacancies at various levels.
Recruiting, thus, provides a pool of applicants for selection.

Selecting the wrong employees can lead to all sorts of problems down the line. For instance,
employees may fail to perform their jobs satisfactorily, they may leave soon after being hired because
they are simply not suitable for the Company, or they may require extensive training and mentoring,
which you may not have the time to provide. Employees who are suitable for your Company, and
have the skills and expertise required to do the job for which they are hired, are much more likely to
meet expectations and stay in the position for a considerable time. On the other hand, employees who
are chosen poorly and lack the previously mentioned qualities will likely be terminated or leave on
their own, often soon after hiring. Your Company will then be back to square one, trying to fill the
empty position, which can be a costly endeavour. Meanwhile, other good employees often suffer
because they must take on the duties of the empty position until it is filled once again.
SELECTION PROCESS/STEPS IN SELECTION

1. Screening of Applicants (Application Blank):- Prospective employees have to fill up some

sort of applications forms. These forms have variety of information about the applicants like
their personal bio-data, achievements, experience etc. such information is used to screen the
applicants who are found to be qualified for the consideration of employment. The
information may also be used to keep permanent records of those persons who are selected.
Based on screening of applications, only those candidates are called for further process fo
selection that are found to be meeting the job standards of the organization.
2. Selection Methods/Tests:- Organizations hold different kinds of selection tests to know more
about the candidate or to reject the candidates who cannot be called for interview etc.
selection test normally supplement the information provided in the application forms, such
forms may contain factual information about candidates selection texts may give information
about their aptitude, interest, personality etc, which cannot be known by the application
forms.
3. Interview:- Selection tests are normally allowed by personal interview of the candidates. The
basis idea here is to find out over all suitability of candidates for the jobs. It also provides
opportunity to give relevant information about the organisation to the candidates. In many
cases, interview of preliminary nature can be conducted before the selection tests.
4. Reference & Background Verification:- many organisation ask the candidates to provide
the names of referees from whom more information about the candidates can be solicited.
Such information may be related to character, working etc. the usual referees may be previous
employers, person’s associated with the educational institutions from where the candidates
have received education or other person’s of prominence who may be aware of the
candidates’ behaviours ability.
5. Medical Examinations:- certain jobs require unusual strength to tolerance of hard working
conditions. A physical examination reveals whether or not a candidate possesses these
qualities. It brings out deficiencies not as a basis of rejection but as a positive aid to selective
placement & as indicating restrictions on his transfer to other positions.
6. Approval by Appropriate Authority or Hiring Decisions:- on the basis of the above steps
suitable candidates are recommended for selection by the selection committee or personnel
department. Though such a committee or personnel department may have authority to select
the candidate finally, often it has staff authority to recommend the candidates for selection to
the appropriate authority.
7. Placement:- After all the formalities are completed the candidates are placed on their jobs
initially on probation basis. The probation period may range from 3 months to 2 years. During
 this period, they are observed keenly, & when they complete this period successfully, they
become the permanent employees of the organization.

INTERVIEW

Meaning:- Interview means a conversation between interviewer & interviewee aimed at assessing the
potentialities for a job. In other words “ An interview is an attempt t secure maximum amount of
information from the candidate concerning his suitability for the job under consideration”.

Types of Interview

1. Informal Interview: This is may take place anywhere. The employer or a manager in the
personnel department may ask a few questions, like name, place of birth, previous experience,
etc. It is not planned and is used widely when the labour market is tight and you need workers
very badly. A friend or a relative of the employer may take a candidate to the house of the
employer or manager where this type of interview may be conducted. Formal Interview: This
held in a more formal atmosphere in the employment office by the employment officer with
the help of well-structured questions. The time and place of the interview are stipulated by the
employment office.
2. Planned Interview: This is a formal interview carefully planned. The interviewer has a plan
of action worked out in relation to time to be devoted to each candidate, type of information
to be sought, information to be given, the modality of interview and so on. He may use the
plan with some amount of flexibility.
3. Patterned Interview: This is also a planned interview but planned to a higher degree of
accuracy, precision and exactitude. A list of questions and areas are carefully prepared. The
interviewer goes down the list of questions, asking them one after another.
4. Non-directive Interview: This is designed to let the interviewee speak his mind freely. The
interviewer is a careful and patient listener, prodding whenever the candidate is silent. The
idea is to give the candidate complete freedom to ‘sell’ himself without encumbrances of the
interviewer’s questions.
5. Depth Interview: This is designed to intensively examine the candidate’s background and
thinking and to go into considerable detail on a particular subject to special interest to the
candidate. The theory behind it is that if the candidate is found good in his area of special
interest, the chances are high that if given a job he would take serious interest in it.
6. Stress Interview: This is designed to test the candidate and his conduct and behaviour by
putting him under conditions of stress and strain. This is very useful to test the behaviour of
individuals under disagreeable and trying situations.
7. Group Interview: This is designed to see how the candidates react to and against each other.
All the candidates may be brought together in the office and they may be interviewed. The
candidates may, alternatively, be given a topic for discussion and be observed as to who will
 lead the discussion, how they will participate in the discussion, how each will make his
presentation and how they will react to each other’s views and presentation.
8. Panel Interview: This is done by members of the interview board or a selection committee.
This is done usually for supervisory and managerial positions. It pools the collective
judgement and wisdom of members of the panel. The candidate may be asked to meet the
panel individually for a fairly lengthy interview

CRITERIA OF SELECTION PROCESS

Clear criteria are essential for credible selection decisions, choosing appropriate procedures and
validating the process. Three perspectives to determine selection criteria

1. Organisational fit: Attributes valued by the organisation, affecting judgements on candidates

potential success. For example in an expanding and innovating company, flexibility and
adaptability might be key
2. Functional and Team fit: Criteria specific to a department or team, such as appropriate
interpersonal skills for all HR members. It is also important to for integrating the new hire
into a pre-existing work team
3. Job fit: Specific job criteria derived from job analysis, typically detailed in job descriptions
and persons specifications. While the influencing factors are clear, forming these
specifications is complex

METHODS OF SELECTION

Selecting the right candidates involves using a combination of methods to assess their suitability for
the job. Here are some commonly used selection methods:

1. Interviews - Interviews are a fundamental selection method where candidates interact with
hiring managers to showcase their skills, experience, and personality traits.

2. Assessment Tests - Assessment tests evaluate candidates’ cognitive abilities, technical skills,
personality traits, and other attributes relevant to the job.

3. Reference Checks - Reference checks involve contacting the candidate’s previous employers
or professional contacts to verify information and gain insights into their past performance.

4. Skills and Job-related Tests - Candidates may be required to perform specific tasks or
exercises that simulate tasks related to the job to demonstrate their abilities.

5. Group Discussions and Role Plays - Group discussions and role plays assess candidates’
communication skills, teamwork, problem-solving abilities, and how they handle real-life
scenarios.

6. Presentation and Portfolio Assessment - For roles requiring public speaking or creative
skills, candidates may be asked to give presentations or showcase their portfolios
 7. Background Checks - Background checks verify candidates’ educational qualifications,
employment history, criminal records, and other relevant information.

8. Personality Assessments - Personality assessments evaluate candidates’ personality traits,

values, and behavioral tendencies to determine their fit within the company culture.

IMPORTANCE OF SYSTEMATIC AND SCIENTIFIC SELECTION PROCESS

Selection is an important facet for the organization, its importance can further be summed up as
below-

1. It identifies the right candidates for the company.

2. Recruiting talented employees can help increase the overall performance of the organization.

3. Helps in avoiding false negatives and false positives of the candidates.

Above all, the process selection has all the way become more complicated. As the organizations want
to hire talented and effective employees, this can create a difference in the interest of the organization,
hence the organizations carefully have adopted different methods of recruiting a candidate.