Recruitment and Selection – An Overview

The role of talent in any economy raises various issues. In the early years, it was the employers who had dominated the market, and employees were in abundant supply with no shareholder’s activism. As we moved on, the financial power assumed more significance. However, the Human Capital is now becoming the most dominant force in the business.
Recruitment and Selection of the right candidate considering the vision, mission and strategy of the organization, is increasingly gaining significance.
Recruitment
Rynes defines recruitment as, “Recruitment encompasses all organizational practices and decisions that affect either the number or type of individuals who are willing to apply for, or to accept a given vacancy.”
The focus of recruitment and selection is on matching the capabilities and inclinations of prospective candidates against the demands and rewards inherent in a given job.
Effective Recruitment and Selection
Recruitment Strategy focuses on the following -
• When to recruit
• How many to recruit
• Where to recruit from
• Which channels to tap
When to recruit
The recruitment practice of any organization varies, depending on the life cycle and size of the organization. It also depends heavily on the Manpower planning.
How many to recruit
The quantum of recruitment varies according to the organizational structure. An organization with a long hierarchical structure might recruit large number of people at the time of its expansion. On the other hand, an Organization which has a relatively flat structure, might recruit lesser number of people, considering its resource constraints.
Where to recruit from
The larger organizations usually recruit internally across all the managerial grades. This is in contrast to their smaller counterparts. The larger organizations tend to have a larger pool of potentially suitable candidates. The newer entrants with little or no knowledge mostly involve in External recruitments.
Which channels to tap
The possible sources of attracting potential candidates for recruitment –
Newspaper
Organizations having less knowledge in the existing market tend to opt for newspaper to explain who they are and help people make a choice. As there is already a known domain competency for established organizations, they would not make much use of Newspaper as a possible source.
Magazine
Assuming the same logic as explained above, newer organizations in an existing market would make more use of this source.
Online Recruitment
The scope of online recruitment is wide open. It provides information on job vacancies, conduct online interviews, psychometric assessments, interactive tools for communication, interactive application forms, electronic mailing lists, etc. It is slowly becoming the most reliable source.
Word-of-mouth
Well established organizations use word-of-mouth promotion of the organization through its employees, customers, suppliers, and other stakeholders.
Recruitment Process Outsourcing
Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) is a form of Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) where an employer outsources or transfers all or part of the staffing process to an external service provider. Many organizations lack the internal expertise and resources to acquire the talent needed to remain competitive.
RPO solutions achieve improvements in four areas:
• Quality
• Cost
• Service
• Speed
Selection
Selection involves screening applicants’ abilities and traits in order to assess the degree of success and compatibility of the individual in the organization. This is the phase of the recruitment strategy where the communication between the employers and job seekers is crucial.