RECRUITMENT & SELECTION PRINCIPLES

If we go back to 1990s and 2000s, Human Resource Departments were established in organizations mainly to look after the functions of recruitment and selection. However, the growth in strategic thinking have lead the organizations to understand that HRM in beyond recruitment and selection. Let's go in to detail on this topic!

RECRUITMENT

Recruitment can be defined as the process attracting or searching for potential applicants and encouraging them to express interest for an already vacant or anticipated vacant job role.

Human Resource Management for short, is the function of people management within an organization. HR is responsible for facilitating the overall goals of the organization through effective administration of human capital focusing on employees as the company's most important asset. Therefore, recruitment is the first step in building an organization's human capital. At a high level, the goals are to locate and hire the best candidates, on time, and on budget (Smart Recruiters, 2018).

 

 

                                                                                                                    (iEdu Note, 2019)

Step 1 -  Understand the requirement of HR and assess the need to be completely sure. Develop a Post Description through job analysis and outline the expertise, experience and competencies required for the position. Set up an appropriate wage in line with the organizational standards.

Step 2 – Explore the sources from which a fitting pool of candidates can be identified. It is important to look for internal human resources initially to identify potential candidates through job rotation, job enrichment or job enlargement. If failed, search can be expanded towards external candidates.

Step 3 – Take initiatives to communicate the vacant position through vacancy circulation channels. It can electronic vacancy advertisement, printed advertisement, social media post, or through recruitment agencies.

Step 4 - The final step in the process is attracting a wider pool of applicants and receiving their applications within the deadline. Selection process begins from here!

 SELECTION

The selection can be defined as the process of identifying the best and most suitable candidate/s among the pool of applicants through a competitive selection mechanism. In other words, selections process results in rejection of unsuitable candidates.

As per Prachi Juneja of Management Study Guide, Employee Selection is the process of putting right people on right jobs. It is a procedure of matching organizational requirements with the skills and qualifications of people. Effective selection can be done only when there is effective matching (Prachi Juneja, 2015).

(Vulpen, 2021)

 

Step 1 – A panel selection committee is established and the hiring manager takes the lead in this stage. From the pool of applications, the selection panel will strategically shortlist a certain number of potential candidates in line with the requirements outlined in the vacancy announcement.

Step 2 – This step differs from organization to organization. The sequence of Step 2 and step 3 can vary. The selection panel conducts interviews for the shortlisted candidates with structured or unstructured questions depending on the complexity of the job role. The members of the selection panel play an important role here to assess and understand the depth of subject knowledge, level of willingness to learn, confidence level and attitude of the interviewees. Usage of a predefined scoring matrix is recommended to ensure transparency in the process.

Step 3 – The selection panel will come up with a written / practical assessment to further shortlist candidates. This can be a set of questions or tasks to assess the technical skills and expertise of the candidates. To give an example of such a test, call centre operators might be assessed on their client service, attention to detail and communication skills. These screening tools help to retain the most suitable candidates in the process.

Step 4 – This a traditional step and very effective to acquire information on candidate’s previous performance and relationships with the management. The reference check, should mandatorily cover the areas such as, period of employment, reporting lines and relationship with the referee, candidate’s performance at work, integrity & commitment, misconduct & formal investigations, competency oriented questions and etc.

Step 5 – The selection panel will be responsible to take a decision based on the performance of the candidates in the selection process and most importantly the right fit to the organization taking in to consideration the vision, values, cultural diversity and contingency plan.

Step 6 – The selection decision is communicated to the HR division of the organization and HR Division will be initiating the offer of employment and pre- employment requirements which vary from organizations to organizations based on the domain of operations and organizational standards.

GUIDING PRINCIPLES

Guiding principles are used in the recruitment process to attract potential applicants, select and assign qualified candidates to available positions in an effective and timely manner, through a competitive selection process with due consideration to the context of the organization.

• Assess level of Integrity, Competence and Efficiency of the candidates.
• Ensure non-discrimination and decision must be made without regard to race, ethnicity, gender, political affiliation or religious belief.
• Priority to Internal candidates is a must unless adequate evidence is collected that no existing employees are suitable for the role.
• While respecting the outcome of the selection process, selection panels should give due consideration to candidates from an under-represented gender to support gender balance at the work place.
• Due consideration to geographical diversity when applicable (This is important in multinational / international organizations).
• The recruitment and selection process and related information, such as candidate information, must be kept fully confidential.

·      An equal opportunity employer seeks committed professionals, in all staff categories, with a wide variety of skills. Organizations should focus on hiring workers who can survive in multi-cultural environments, in which diversity and cultural sensitivity are valued (International Organization for Migration, 2021).

CONCLUSION

Organizations should ensure a fair and transparent procedure for advertising and filling positions and should recruit committed professionals with a wide variety of skills. Selecting and hiring best candidates is fundamental to ensure stability of any organization. Establishing thorough recruitment and selection process helps to build a competitive advantage for the organization. Therefore, it is one of the key contributions that HR can provide to the mandate of the organization. 

REFERENCES

iEdu Note, 2019. Recruitment Process: 4 Steps of Recruiting Best Talents. [Online]

Available at: https://www.iedunote.com/recruitment-process

[Accessed 07 April 2023].

International Organization for Migration, 2021. Guidence Principles of Recruitment and Selection Process. Geneva: IOM.

Prachi Juneja, 2015. Employee Selection Process. Management Study Guide.

Smart Recruiters, 2018. Recruitment - Hiring Success Glossary. [Online]

Available at: https://www.smartrecruiters.com/resources/glossary/recruitment/

[Accessed 07 04 2023].

Vulpen, E. v., 2021. The Selection Process: A 7-Step Practical Guide. [Online]

Available at: https://www.aihr.com/blog/selection-process-practical-guide/

[Accessed 07 April 2023].