The following assignment will take a detailed look into the recruitment practices of Regent Furniture Company (RFC). Certain areas of RFC’s recruitment will be studied and relevant conclusions will be drawn to give some idea of how their recruitment process works. For the understanding of RFC’s recruitment process and practices certain areas must also be looked upon outside of the organisation, these areas include the legislation which accompanies recruitment and the purpose of recruitment.
Foot & Hook (1999) et al believe ‘Recruitment is a practice which is made up of activities. These activities are all directed towards the location of potential employees. It also involves the attraction of suitable applicants. ‘ This belief is also backed up by Dowling & Schuler (1990) et al who state Recruitment is ‘searching for an obtaining job candidates in sufficient numbers and quality so that the organisation can select the most appropriate people to fill its job needs. ‘
Regarding the two above statements it is obvious to see that a large part of recruitment is finding the best possible people for the particular job available. Looking at the recruitment activities of RFC they fill their positions using ‘word of mouth’ and/or ‘internal promotions’. These two kinds of recruitment which RFC follow may not attract the best possible candidates around. Using only word of mouth and internal promotion limits RFC to who will apply for the vacancies and this in turn may hold RFC back as a business.
There are many different methods of recruitment which organisations use in order to attract the best possible candidates. Some of the most common of these approaches are as follows;All these have been identified as the most common ways of recruitment that organisations use, this helps attract applicants from not only in the local area but from different areas. This in turn means that there will hopefully be a larger range of skilled applicants applying for the vacancy.
Unlike RFC who only use two methods of recruitment it restricts the range of skilled applicants as the two methods used can be identified as internal advertisement. Using many different practices of recruitment means that an organisation has the potential to gain more growth within its operating market and therefore maybe become more successful over time. This again can be the result of far and wide recruiting methods used by the organisation in question. Taking a look at RFC it can be seen that their practices of recruitment are inadequate as it restricts the range of applicants that may apply.
The recruitment of new employee’s maybe an integral part to the future success of an organisation. For example if an organisation employs imperfect staff which are not highly educated and skilled in the area of work then this could lead to an organisation losing ground on its competitors. This is why organisations must look at their purposes of recruitment, not only must recruitment take place to fill up a certain vacancy within the organisation but recruitment can take place to help achieve company goals and objectives.
Another purpose of recruitment can be to attract applicants with the correct education/skills/enthusiasm that benefits the organisation and again helps contribute to its objectives with the organisation operating at the highest possible standard. Taking into account the way in how RFC are trying to recruit through their job advertisements from the case study. It is identified that there is large amounts of information missing and that they have not taken into account the legislation which accompanies recruitment.
While recruiting there are many areas of legislation which must be considered by the organisation so that no prejudice or discrimination occurs. These areas are as follows. Regarding the job advertisements that RFC have put together there are several examples of discrimination concerning the legislation of recruitment. RFC have a vacancy on the reception desk and the advertisement reads ‘Two Ladies required….. ‘ Already it can be seen that this is in breach of the Sex Discrimination Act.
The advertisement also talks about ‘looking the part,’ this again can be seen as discrimination as ‘if the face doesn’t fit don’t bother applying’ is the message which comes across. In the second advert it talks about wanting to attract ‘fit young people’ to work on the assembly line. This again is a form of discrimination, in this instance being Ageism. RFC are quite clearly discriminating against the older generation, even if those people can do that specific job advertised they are getting overlooked as they are not in the target age group which RFC are advertising for.
With this in mind RFC could be overlooking certain persons who have adequate experience for the specific job. The third vacancy is for a trainee upholsterer, RFC specify that the person applying be of a strong stature. Once again RFC are showing signs of not abiding by the recruitment legislation. In this case they maybe are discriminating against the disabled, the older generation of persons and are showing signs of sexism. The position is based mainly within the administration department. You will carry out tasks such as word processing clerical support duties, also offering with secretarial support throughout the company.
Good communication skills are required as you will be talking to the public often. Excellent word processing skills and a good understanding and knowledge of word are important. A professional and efficient manner and the proven ability to work with minimal supervision while adhering to strict deadlines is essential. Selection is a method which allows an organisation to identify the most appropriate candidate for a specific job within the organisation. Foot et al (1999) believes ‘selection is choosing the best person for the job. ‘
There are many different methods of selection that an organisation can use to determine which candidate is best suited to the job, they range from everything from one on one interviews to group testing of future employees. For an organisation to make sure that their selection techniques are running smoothly a ‘selection system’ has been designed. This allows the organisation to follow the selection method and hopefully reducing any problems which might be incurred during the process. Below shows the selection system diagram which an organisation may use.
The above diagram shows how a selection system should work, as along as the organisation follows this system then there should hopefully be minimal problems which they incur when selecting the appropriate candidate. Regarding the selection procedure for RFC when recruiting a new receptionist they should take into account the different approaches of selection. For instance Storey (1992) suggests ‘systematic techniques, such as testing, to assess behavioural and attitude aspects, are being used by employers to control the type of employee recruited.
‘ Williams et al (1993) however has discovered that ‘many companies use psychological techniques to select staff who will conform with the existing or desired commitment culture. ‘ The selection method which may be best for RFC would be one which incorporates psychometric testing as RFC seem to have a loyalty factor within their organisation. This type of testing is a ‘standardised administration of tests meaning that all applicants will be asked the same questions in the same conditions, and the scoring means that the scores are not open to individual interpretation as in the case with an interview. ‘ Foot, M et al (1999)
Using psychometric testing and interviews it would give RFC a more accurate idea of which candidates were best suited for the vacancy which is available. Using the interview technique it will give RFC the chance not only to find out about their applicant but will also give RFC the chance to sell their company to that applicant. Interviews give an organisation a chance to predict the future performance and behaviour of a candidate. This can be vitally important for an organisation especially if they are a market leader. It also gives the organisation the chance to persuade the candidate to accept the job offer instead of looking else where.
