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Recruitment as part of Management Process
The rapid changes in the business environment require the management of the organization to be proactive at all times. It is only with such a proactive and ready to face challenge attitude, the organization can effectively embrace new opportunities and negate any threats which may bring along harmful implications along with them. Management as a dynamic process involves five core functions which are –
- Planning
- Organizing
- Staffing
- Directing
- Controlling
Any business organization requires to follow these five functions of management properly for ensured and continuing success. The planning and organizing functions of management define the goals and objectives of the organization and arrange the physical, financial and human resources effectively to create coordinated and well-monitored efforts towards achieving the organizational goals and objectives effectively and efficiently. It can be said that these two functions involve the creation of a synergistic effect within the organization to ensure a smooth flow of activities. However, it is pertinent to note that all the planned activities are to be executed by the workforce of the organization. Keeping this thing in mind the third function of management, Staffing focuses on the procurement of suitable individuals for achieving organizational goals.
Staffing function of Management
It is a well-known and proven fact that a competent and dedicated workforce serves as one of the major cornerstones for the organization’s success and survival in the long run. Without the presence of competent staff, the organization may not live long enough to taste success in the highly competitive business world. This is where the staffing function of management comes into play. Staffing involves looking for potential employees and carefully evaluating them in terms of their skills and knowledge before eventually offering them a job opportunity in the organization. The staffing function of management is paramount, as it provides the basis of success for other functions of management. If the organization fails to deploy suitable employees through the staffing process, other functions of management may be rendered meaningless. The entire staffing process is categorized into nine different components, which are enlisted as follows-
- Estimating Manpower Requirements
- Recruitment
- Selection
- Placement and Orientation
- Training and Development
- Performance Appraisal
- Promotion
- Compensation
- Separation
Recruitment and its types
The process of recruitment is an important phase of staffing function and also plays a salient role in the effective functioning of the organization as Recruitment is primarily responsible for helping the business organization to attract a diverse pool of talent to apply for various job positions. In Simple terms, Recruitment can be defined as the process of looking for potential employees, locating them, and hiring them for a specific role in the organization. If we look at the staffing process as a whole, the first two steps of staffing – Estimating manpower requirements and recruitment are highly dependent on each other. The entire process begins when the Human resource department identifies a shortage of employees in a particular department and the Human Resource Department initiates the first step of the staffing process. All the pertinent information about the vacant job position such as job roles, duties, skills required in a potential employee, and other criteria are enlisted. After estimating the requirement of the workforce, the quest for potential employees begins. The recruitment process requires extensive planning and evaluation. Recruitment is generally divided into two types which are discussed as follows-
(A) Internal Recruitment
Internal recruitment is when the organization tends to fill the vacancy by hiring workers from the organization itself. The decision for internal recruitment may come after a thorough analysis of job roles, cost of external recruitment, and expenses related to the training of new employees. Internal recruitment is generally done through methods such as promotions, transfers, employee exchanges, employee referrals, and also demotion in some cases. The internal source of recruitment is generally prevalent in well-established organizations because such organizations possess a vast pool of highly talented workforce from which they can fill the vacant positions. Recruiting from internal sources provide the organization with a plethora of benefits, some of the benefits of internal recruitment are discussed below-
- Internal recruitment is considered as a cost-effective method of recruitment, which is rightly so, as this source of recruitment does not require any extensive expenditure on advertising. Moreover, when employees have been recruited internally, the need for induction and training is very less and this brings down the overall cost.
- Internal recruitment motivates all the employees of the organization to work with more commitment and determination and contribute to the success of the organization. Employees will be aware of the fact that by doing so, they may be directly in line for being recruited to higher posts within the organization.
- Recruiting from within the organization is also a time-saving technique as compared to external recruitment, which is a very lengthy and time-consuming process.
(B) External Recruitment
External Recruitment is when employees are hired from outside the business organization. Newly set up organizations tend to use external recruitment to build a strong and talented workforce. External recruitment is generally done through methods such as advertising, employee exchanges, campus placements, direct recruitment, and placement agencies amongst others. The campus placement method has emerged as one of the most prominent forms of external recruitment. In this method, students from various postgraduate and graduate courses are interviewed by business organizations for various job profiles. This method allows organizations to choose employees from a particular stream of study, which may be the suitable educational requirement for the job position. Organizations establish contacts with placement heads of educational institutions, who serve as linking pins between recruiters and students. The external source of recruitment also possesses some distinct set of advantages, which are mentioned below-
- External recruitment allows organizations to access a larger pool of talent as compared to the internal mode of recruitment. External sources enable business organizations to acquire highly skilled employees to work for their organizations.
- External recruitment also serves as a source of motivation to existing employees, as there will be continuous pressure on them to give their best efforts for the organization or be ready to sacrifice their place for a candidate coming from outside the organization.
- Using methods such as advertising and campus placements for external recruitment results in the enhanced brand image of the organization and adds up to the reputation of the organization. Job seekers are more inclined towards such organizations which possess a distinct brand image in the business world. So the cost of advertising incurred on recruitment gives value to the organization in the future also.
Recruitment and Selection
So, after a thorough evaluation of the organization’s needs and objectives, the Human Resource Department makes a call on whether to use internal or external recruitment. After deciding the mode of recruitment, the process is initiated as planned. After receiving the applications from various candidates, these applications are evaluated and some are shortlisted whereas, others face rejection due to a multitude of reasons such as incomplete application, no references on resume, and many others. This is the stage where the recruitment process shifts to the selection component of the staffing function. After shortlisting candidates, the remaining ones are evaluated through written tests and preliminary interviews. Different types of tests may be conducted depending on the nature of the job in question. This stage holds a crucial value in the entire staffing process as a selection of wrong employees will render the entire recruitment process useless. So, the candidates are extensively screened to avoid any mistakes. After a thorough evaluation, the final few candidates are required to undergo the final interview stage. The interview may be conducted as a personal interview, panel interviews or other interview types may be used. After successfully clearing the interview, the candidate is ready to get on board with the organization. After the selection process, the other steps of the staffing process are performed as the new employee progresses his/her career with the organization.
Recruitment evaluation and control
After the recruitment process is done, it is highly recommended to evaluate the effectiveness of the recruitment program. This is done through Recruitment evaluation and control.
- Recruitment evaluation and control are aimed at measuring the overall effectiveness of the recruitment process. The process of recruitment is a costly affair, So it becomes very important to evaluate it and establish control.
- The evaluation and control phase of recruitment enables the organization to know whether the costs incurred on recruiting personnel have been met with the appropriate return of investment on human capital recruited.
- It also enables the recruiter to test the appropriateness of the methods of recruitment used. So the comprehensive evaluation mechanism helps the organization to identify any shortcomings in its recruitment process and to eliminate such pitfalls in future recruitment programs.
- To ascertain control, the actual performance of the personnel selected through recruitment is compared with desired or set performance required from them. This allows the Human resource manager to take timely action if the performance level of the employee does not match with the expected levels.
Conclusion
To recapitulate, it can be said that recruiting is one of the key aspects of every business organization whether it is small or large-scale in nature and the entire recruitment process must be thoroughly planned and executed to ensure the everlasting success of the business organization.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Question1. Is recruitment an individual function of management?
Answer. No, recruitment itself is not a function of management. It is a sub-part of the staffing function of management.
Question2. Which mode of recruitment should be used?
Answer. Recruitment includes two modes which are internal and external recruitment. The choice between the two can be made depending on the funds available with the organization for recruiting purposes, organizational needs, availability of competent employees with the organization, vacant posts, etc.
Question3. Are evaluation and control necessary after recruitment?
Answer. Yes, it is advisable to perform recruitment evaluation and control. This will enable the organization to assess the effectiveness and success of the recruitment process.
