I would expect a medium or large organisation to be continually updating their recruitment and selection strategy Due to the importance recruitment and selection pose to the future of the organisation and I would hope that the organisation would consider many of the following. The first area an organisation would look at is its advertisement strategy. The fundamental question would be how to target the relevant mediums to reach potential employees and what is required to attract the right employee for the job and the company.
This would then mean that the organisation would have the capacity to attract a broad range of potential candidates from all ethnic backgrounds and areas of the country. Additionally, in conjunction with advertising a cost effective scheme could be to implement an award to current employees to introduce potential employees to the organisation. This benefit would only be paid upon the completion of a successful probationary period. Once the candidates had been chosen the next section of strategy would be aimed at improving the interview section of recruitment.
The organisational strategy for this section would look to conduct fair interviews to each candidate regardless of skills, experience, race, sex and qualifications. This way the best candidate for the job would be selected rather than a biased choice. Once the interviews have been completed, able and well trained managers would be called upon to select and assess the potential candidates for relevant posts within the organisation. This should be easily achieved through increased sophisticated methods of selection, enabling sound judgements to be made and the correct choice of candidate to be obtained.
A further choice within many larger organisations is outsourcing recruitment. This is where an organisation uses agencies and recruitment consultants to find suitable employees. The two final parts of an organisations recruitment and selection strategy are the use of assessment days and educational institutions. Advertising Although this is the just first area of the overall recruitment strategy, advertising, by its very nature, is normally the most important and most expensive part of the whole process.
It is considered the most important part because without a successful advertising campaign the organisation may never be able to attract quality candidates in sufficient numbers. This would prove to be disastrous to the company as they may be forced to settle for an inferior employee. The first and perhaps pivotal step for the organisation to take before deciding which sort of employee is needed is to examine its own pertinent needs and objectives thereby recognising which skills and qualifications are needed.
This will cut down on superfluous correspondence and time wasting, interviewing a person who did not meet the job requirements. Because this part of the recruitment strategy is so expensive it is very important to get it right. It would be wasteful to use a blanket policy. Demographics has a part to play in the advertisement strategy. Since the industrial revolution certain areas around the country have encouraged certain skills and abilities to develop and it would be prudent to look at this diversity when deciding which skills and abilities to target in any given advertisement campaign.
It is important that not only are the right areas targeted but that the correct message and requirement is being conveyed. Advertising in itself is a highly skilled and crafted vehicle and thought and originality is an integral part of this most important process. During the past decade the advent of IT has meant that more and more organisations are looking to complete their job advertising and applications through the internet. This is a cost cutting and time saving method. Educational Institutions
A small proportion of organisations are now forming industrial relationships with universities, to enable them to attract the top people in their field. Two examples of this can be seen at the University of Bristol. Sponsorship during the final year is offered by the company after the successful completion of a placement year, to under graduates. This is beneficial to both parties. Also when graduates who specialise in engineering apply for positions at Rolls Royce Plc they are looked upon favourably by that organisation and are normally entered into the Rolls Royce “fast track” scheme.
This will allow that employee to move quickly up through the managerial structure of the organisation. The beneficial effect of this scheme is twofold. It helps the graduate to find suitable employment swiftly and without the need to relocate and it helps the employer to find top grade recruits with little drain on resources. It would definitely show business acumen if more organisations realised the potential of being allied to their local university or educational centre. This option seems to be underused by many companies and organisations.
This is puzzling as there is so much to gain from such an alliance. However, there is a trend towards this option being adopted by larger organisations situated near major universities as shown by the quote below. “Graduate recruitment is a major annual exercise for some companies, which go to great efforts to produce glossy brochures, visit campuses on the “milk run” and use elaborate sifting and selection procedures to vet candidates, including bio data and assessment centres. ”
(A Handbook of Human Resource Management 8th Edition, Michael Armstrong, 2001, Kogan Page Limited, Pg 398.) Outsourcing Recruitment. This is a very common practice by large organisations as it is a proven way of obtaining employees quickly and cheaply. The organisation will normally contact an agency or recruitment consultant. Agencies are normally small regional companies that have a high number of qualified professionals and unqualified administration workers. The benefits to the company are manifold.
The company will not have to advertise for the position, which can cost substantial amounts of money. Also the organisation does not have to pay to train the applicants, as the agency will match the company’s requirements to a possible candidate. They will screen all applicants and will have a record of qualifications, ability and experience of potential aspirants. This service will come as a packaged and although expensive, will ultimately save a company or organisation money. In Northampton both Barclay Card and Nationwide use this method of recruitment.
Agency workers are employed on a temporary basis and if they meet the criteria for which they are employed then and only then are they offered permanent employment. This method of recruitment is cheaper, reliable and offers a “taste before you buy” option. If the employee is unsuitable or unsatisfactory then, because of the temporary status of the employee, the contract can be terminated instantly. This is becoming a very attractive alternative to the normal method of recruitment and more and more companies are opting for this service.
Quite large organisations prefer this arrangement as they find that this type of selection offers more flexibility. They also find that it is preferable to have a long term temporary employee than to have a permanent employee for a short term. A temporary employee will help a company to deal with “peaks and troughs” but will not impinge on redundancy payments and pensions etc. If an employee is retained on a permanent basis then the agency will request an introduction fee of between 10% and 20% of the first year’s basic salary.
A recruitment consultant acts in a similar way except that with a consultancy the potential employee is recruited straight onto the permanent staff. However, the benefits of a consultant over an agency are that they provide expertise and reduce the recruitment process workload. The workload is reduced due to the fact that the consultant will advertise and interview for the position within the company. As with an agency a recruitment consultant will charge a percentage of the first year’s basic salary. This will normally be between 15% and 20%.
