HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PRACTICES IN PRIVATE SECTOR ORGANIZATIONS IN SRI LANKA

 

The key elements of a successful workplace diversity programme would include mutually reinforcing human resource practises that support diversity through staffing, work design, training and development, organizational policies that follow fair procedures and management that embraces the practices and policies of the program and compensation. (Richard and Johnson 2001). Current competitive environment, every organization has to change its internal environment according to external environment changes. To perform as successfully in such a turbulent environment competitively, Organizations need resources such as capital, methodology, material, machine, men and management information system. Also, resources should be used in a very effective way to achieve strategic objectives. (Gamage and Imbulana 2013). Serasingha and Opatha (2007) explained, the economic development of Sri Lanka heavily depends on the success and progress of organizations including listed firms. Human resource management is one of the most important functional fields of organizational management.

Video 1.0. Human Resource Management in Organizations

Source. Gregg Learning 2018

Video 1.0 explained about benefits of Human resource management,co-competencies and challenges to Human resource Management in organizational level and also how human resource management applies to the organization. Considering the human resource management practices, Serasingha and Opatha (2007) state that following five main practices under Human resource management and figure 1.0 shows an employee satisfaction link.

• Human Resource Planning ( Recruitment / Selection / Induction / Orientation)
• Training and Development
• Performance Evaluation
• Grievance Handling
• Discipline Administration 

Figure 1.0, Human Resource Management Practices - Employee Satisfaction Link

Source, Sri Lankan Journal of Human Resource Management (2007)

Ijigu (2015) states that Human resource practice like recruitment, selection, induction and orientation, training and development, performance appraisals and compensation management is positively related to employee job satisfaction. Wickramasinghe (2007) suggest that the companies move away from the internal labour market and prefer to recruit from the external labour market. This has implications for practice as internal recruitment not only motivate current employees to perform better and increase their commitment towards the organization but may also help to create a flexible/mobile internal labour market whose job security could be improved through upward or lateral career opportunities. Thus, a greater preference for external labour market may not represent a deliberate, organization-wide, strategic selection strategy. Serasinghe & Opatha (2007). noted that, A Nestle very large multinational company operating closely in hundred countries worldwide and in Sri Lanka too. In Sri Lanka, the employee strength of that company is less than 500 but comparatively the Human Resources management practices are at an acceptable level. Similarly, if Coca Cola Company in Sri Lanka is taken it has less than 500 employees but its systematic use of Human Resource Management practices is high. When looking at large firms operating in Sri Lanka such as Uni-Leaver, Hayley’s, there are comparatively good Human Resources Management practices.

Singer Finance Lanka Plc (2018/2019) states that in Human Resource strategies “Finding the right fit to the right job, continuous human capital development and creating a healthy work environment that encourages a healthy work-life balance are our strategic HR goals. Currently, we are in the process of securing a Human Resource Information System (HRIS) and a Performance Management Framework and putting in place a process for measuring Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) this programme was initiated by the ultimate parent company. Considering the company new management, the Company has streamlined the recruitment process by introducing a recruitment tracker and conducted interviews for over 500 candidates, absorbing 46% into the carder as a result. We also began maintaining a CV bank to strengthen the pool of sources in generating interview candidates”.  

   

Considering the Singer, Sri Lanka Plc continued to have excellent industrial relations and continued its engagement activities and events for employees as well as their families. The Group continued the development and training for its staff as well as for our partners and their staff. Development of the retail channel continues with a focus on enhanced merchandising and displays, overall shop administration, and staff training and development to serve our customers better. Induction and orientation are important and useful for our employees to have a macro picture of Singer’s operations. The formal induction and visits to the retail outlets of the Company’s channels of distribution offer a broad overview of the whole business upon joining. As a large household retailer, the service provider of 430,000 customers and well-diversified social responsible Company, conducting various categories of training programmes for several levels of employees to serve better to internal and external customers. Also, Singer retail academy aims to develop company employees in field activities, providing five diploma programmes. These aspects constitute the modules of the programmes, culminating in 164 modules being conducted under these diplomas that have benefited over 2,700 employees. All employees of the Group undergo performance appraisals except interns, trainees, and temporary employees. The process facilitates career management, mapping development paths, and enhancing the effectiveness and motivation of our employees. It helps to achieve better results, manage employees effectively, and identify the training needs of individuals.      

Company has introduced the ORACAL HRIS system in 2019 and is designed to support the planning, administration, decision-making, and control of human resources management. Candidate Applications such as employee selection and placement, payroll, pension and benefits management, intake and training projections, career pathing, equity monitoring, and productivity evaluation are supported by this information system.

References

Annual Report (2017/2018). Singer (Sri Lanka) Plc

Annual Report (2018/2019). Singer (Sri Lanka) Plc

Annual Report (2018/2019). Singer Finance Lanka Plc

Richard, O.C. and Johnson, N.B. (2001), “Understanding the impact of human resource diversity practices on firm performance”, Journal of Managerial Issues, Vol. 13 No. 2, pp. 177-96.

Gamage, P. Ambulant, L. (2013). Tanning and Development and Performance of Employees, Evidence from Sri Lanka Telecom, International Journal of Marketing, Financial Service and Management Research 02.

Ambulant. (2007). Human Resource Management Practices in listed Firms in Sri Lanka, Sri Lankan Journal of Human Resource Management 01.

Ijigu, A.W. (2015). The Effect of Selected Human Resource Management Practices on Employees’ Job Satisfaction in Ethiopian Public Banks. Emerging Markets Journal, 5(1), pp. 1–16.

Wickramasinghe, V. (2007). Staffing practices in the private sector in Sri Lanka. Career Development International, 12(2&3), 108-128. 

EMPLOYEE TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT

 

Organizations are maintaining a business during a severely competitive environment today's business the interior and external environment is continuously changing thanks to numerous factors. (Gamage,Imbulana ,2013).In other words, Organizations try to survive within the turbulent dynamic market, strong emphasis must be laid on human capital to be competitive and financially solvent (Nda, Fard 2013). According to Jehanzeb and Bashir (2013), the 1970s the efforts of career Training and development were mainly dedicated to young employees those demonstrate to have a high potential. It has been suggested for the organization to form an idea for the longer term and supply training and development to their fresh employees for the high ranking positions in future (Moses 1999).To ensure that employees are equipped with the proper quite skills, knowledge and skills to perform their assigned tasks, training and development play its critical role within the growth and success of the business. (Nigzi, 2011). Falola, Osibanjo and Ojo (2014) noted that Training and development play an important role within the effectiveness of a corporation. It is one among the foremost pervasive techniques for improving employees' performance-enhancing organization productivity within the workplace. Employees are the essential asset and key element of gaining competitive advantage of any organization and training is an essential tool for its actualization.

Video 1.0. Introduction to employee Training and Development.

Source.Gregg Learning 2016

Grubb, T. (2007). defined that ‘training is a short-term educational process utilizing a systematic and organized procedure by which nonsupervisory personnel learn technical knowledge and skills for a definite purpose. Development, about staffing and personnel matters, is a long-term educational process utilizing a systematic and organized procedure by which managerial personnel learn conceptual and theoretical knowledge for general purpose’. Video 1.0 explained the definition of Training & Development, Role of Tanning (Formal / Informal & Knowledge Management) and training process.

Figure 1.0. The Context of Training and Development

Source. Nelson Education series 2011

Training and development are embedded with large environmental and organizational context as well as a human resource system. Considering Figure 1.0 training and development is just one part of human resource practices. In other words, the human resource system is convinced by environmental and organizational factors. Environmental factors such as rule, the economic climate, competition, demographics and social volume have an impact on the organization. The key factors of environmental context a Global competition. Technology, the labour market and change. The factors under organizational context are strategy, structure and culture. (Saks, Haccoum, Belcourt 2011).

 Importance of Training and Development

Training is importation for the survival of any organization. It is also imperative for the effective performance of employees, enhancement of employees' ability to adapt to the changing and challenging business environment and technology for better performance, increase employees' knowledge to develop creative and problem-solving skills. (Falola, Osibanjo and Ojo 2014). Rodriguez, Walters. (2017), Explained that employees are the backbone of the organization. All levels of employees such as strategic, tactical and operational, needs the training and development. In other words, Training and development will bridge the gap between business and management of career development programme. (Kunenc 2009). Mulang (2015) states that important points of the training and development process and those are as follows.

•  Helps remove performance deficiencies in employees
•   Greater stability, Flexibility and capacity for growth in an organization
•   Accidents, scraps and damages to machinery can be avoided
•   Serves as an effective source of recruitment
•   It is an investment in HR with a promise of better returns in future
•   Reduces dissatisfaction, absenteeism, complaints and turnover of employees

In the Sri Lankan context, Gamage and Imbulana (2013). states that Sri Lanka telecom limited at present enjoys greater employee performance through successful implementation of the training and development programmes. Also, Singer (Sri Lanka) Plc has mentioned "The Group continued to have very good industrial relations and continued its engagement activities and events for employees as well as their families. The Group continued the development and training for its staff as well as for our partners and their staff." Also noted that "Our capability development agenda enhances the skills of our employees through customized training and development programmes" Considering the company training and development agenda. Singer conducts four categories of training: major training, external training, operational training, and product training and the following are the subcategories of training programmers.

•  Showroom Level Training Programs for Shop Managers and staff Members
•  Product Demonstration Training and Competition
• Training on sales, Customer Care and self-Motivation
• Product Training (Industrial Sewing Machines / White Goods / Furniture and Argo Products
• Training oh Hire Purchase Business
• Language Development Programs
•  ERP Tanning 

Figure 2.0. Investment in Training and Employee Trained at Singer Sri Lanka Plc

Source. Annual Report 2018/2019

According to figure 2.0, Company has invested Rs 13.4M to train 8500 participants in both office staff and field staff in the year of 2018/2019 conduction 394 training programmes during the year.

 

References

Annual Report (2018/2019). Singer (Sri Lanka) Plc

Falola, H.O. Osibanjo, A.O.OJO, S.I. (2014). Effectiveness of Training and Development on Employees performance and Organization Competitiveness in the Nigerian Banking Industry,

Bulletin of the Transylvania University of Braşov, Series V: Economic Sciences • Vol. 7.

Gamage, P. Imbulana, L. (2013). Tanning and Development and Performance of Employees, Evidence from Sri Lanka Telecom, International Journal of Marketing, Financial Service and Management Research 02.

Grubb, T. (2007). Performance appraisal reappraised: It’s not all positive. Journal of Human Resource Education, 1, 1–22.

Jehanzeb, K. Bashir, N.A. (2013). Training and Development Program and its Benefits to Employee and Organization: A Conceptual Study, European Journal of Business and Management, Vol5.

Kunenc, M.P(2009). The Effectiveness of the Induction and Orientation Programme in the Nkangala Health District of Mpumalanga Province, 2006 to 2007, Nelson Mandela School of Medicine University of Kwazulu – Natal Durban, South Africa.

Moses, B. (1999, February 1). Career planning mirrors social change. The Globe and Mail [On-Line]. Retrieved January 18, 2001, from the World Wide Web.http://www.bbmcareerdev.com/careerplan.html

Mulang, A. (2015). The Importance of Training for Human Resource Development in Organization, Journal of Public Administration and Governance, Vol05.

Nigzi, A.S. (2011). Training And development strategy and its role in organizational performance, Journal of public administration and governance, Vol01.

Nda, M.M. & Fard, R. F (2013). The Impact of Employee Training and Development on Employee Productivity, Global Journal of Commerce & Management Perspective, Vol2, PP91-93.

Saks, AM. Haccoum, R.R. Belcourt, M (2011). Managing performance through Training and development, Nelson Education Series in HRM,5^th edition 17).

IMPORTANCE OF THE SUCCESSFUL AND EFFECTIVE INDUCTION AND ORIENTATION

 

Induction and orientation are effective in equipping employees with the practice and core value of the organization and what is expected of them to do. (Falola, Osibanjo, Ojo 2014). According to the Zineldin (2000) Onboarding process is aimed to retain employees. Retention defined as “a commitment to still do business or exchange with a selected company on an ongoing basis”. Instead, it’s about cultivating a replacement mindset and a replacement way of watching succuss. Traditionally “Employee induction and orientation process includes showing new employees the places and things in the company, introduction with only new co-workers and wishing them good luck. Considering the new era, new employees expect far more than this and truly deserve quite traditional methods. The most common complaint that newcomers experience is that they bored.” (Saeed et al 2013).

The effectiveness of induction programme depends not only in familiarization the new employees, but it is the right strategy to make the employee as a “Right-Fit” to the organization. So, it should be done analytically and meticulously and make the workers manage with organizational culture. In other words, induction programme helps new employees to understand the organizational culture, people and individual roles. Video 1.0, explained that components of good induction as, Induction plan, Proper timing, proper communication, distribution, preparation of chick list and more details about primary and secondary induction.

Video 1.0: Elements of successful induction Programme

Source: CommLab India 2012

 

Importance of effective induction and Orientation

The induction and orientation programmes is an investment to new employees for personal carrier journey as an employee (Fae , Mark and Patrick 2006). Considering Arockiam () On-boarding data ,90% of employees make their decision to stay at a company within the first six months, 22% of employee turnover happens in the first 45 days of employment, One in three newly hired employee’s leaves before the end of their first year and 69% of new employees more likely to stay because of effective onboarding. Considering the employee retention, Sumith and Ingersoll (2004) found a correlation link between induction and orientation programmes and employee retention. Successful and effective onboarding programmes increases 20% of retention of teachers. Kearncy (2011), states that following important points in onboarding process settling smoothly of the new employees in the job

a)     Settling smoothly of the new employees in the job

b)  A well developed and organized induction will form a base for future training and developments

c)     Can save the high cost of recruitment and selection

d)     Increase commitment

e)     Result in the integration of the new employees with the team

f)      Clarifying the psychological contract

The organisation which I work is leading consumer durable company within the country and everyone new employees are welcomed and are subjected to a comprehensive induction and orientation process by a team including the Human Resource personnel and heads of departments. Upon induction to the Group, All employees are walked through the whistleblower procedures upon induction to the Group. They also receive the assurance of confidentiality and anonymity in event of resorting to whistleblowing. The Company conducted a series of 11 in house training sessions for staff members on anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism. Regional and branch managers, Marketing staff, Recovery staff, operation staff and cashiers were trained at these sessions conducted on a regional basis. Awareness sessions on compliance and regulatory environment of finance company have been conducted during orientation sessions for newly appointed employees. Furthermore, when an employee joins us, we make sure that he or she is mentored and developed until reaching the fullness of his or her potential. As a new finance company which completing 15 years, proving that the Successfulness of employee onboarding processes by maintaining 32% of over 5-year employee retention in the finance year 2019/2020. Thus, these numbers bear testimony to our credibility as a sought-after employer within the country.

 

 References

Annual Report (2019/2020). SINGER Finance Lanka Plc.

Arockiam, K. Gunasundari, T. (2016). Efficacy of Orientation Training Programme in Organizations, ReTeLL, Vol 16.

Falola, H. Osibanjo, A. Ojo, S. (2014). Effective of training and development on employee’s performance and organizations competitiveness in the Nigerian banking industry, Bulletin of the trans.

Fae, M. Mark, S. Patrick, K 2006). The importance of effective induction and orientation activities for first-year engineers.17^th Annual conference of the Australian Association for engineering education.

Kearncy, P.S. (2011). The Importance of Induction Programmes for Beginning teachers in Independent Catholic Secondary Schools in New South Wales. The University of Notre Dame Australia, ResearchOnline@ND.

Saeed, I. Arif, M. Gul, H. Ayaz, B. Khan, Q. (2013). Employee Induction and Orientation at Public Sector Organization: A Case from Pakistan, International Journal of Contemporary Business Studies 4, pp 32.

Smith, T.M., Ingersoll, R.M. (2004). What Are the Effects of Induction and Mentoring on Beginning Teacher Attrition? American Educational Research Journal, 41(3), 681-714.

Zineldin, M. 2000, TRM Total Relationship Management, Student litterateur, Lund.

EMPLOYEE INDUCTION AND ORIENTATION

 

Induction and Orientation is the logical and essential step in human resource management process Salau, Falola, Akinbode(2014), According to the Armstrong (2003), The process of onboarding a candidate when he first joins a company and giving him the basic details about the organization, he needs to settle down quickly and happily and start work. Arockiam and Gunasundari (2016) explained that attracting and sustaining proficient employees is the pinnacle priority for all the organizations in today’s cut-throat competitive world. The induction and orientation play a crucial role in an organization to attain its long-term competitiveness. furthermore, induction and orientation process bridges the gap between fresh/new recruits and organization.

Saeed et al (2013) state that, the term induction is most commonly used in an employee context to explain the process in which employees of an organization adjust to new jobs and become familiar with the new environment. Orientation process includes, welcoming selected candidates and given the basic information about the organization. In other words, Onboarding is the process by which new hires get acclimatized to all aspects of their job rapidly and easily, and learn behaviours required to function effectively with an organization (Kumar 2017).

Video 1.0: Hr Basics - On-Boarding

Video 1.0 explained that onboarding is the integration process used to smooth transaction of new employees into new roles, and the organisational discussed about the rules, checklist of the effectiveness of the onboarding procedure.

Source; Gregg Learning 2017

Purpose of Induction and orientation

“The main purpose of efficient induction practices should be to assets new employee of staff with the “settling down” operation. Getting into a replacement carrier is a demanding encounter, due to of new conditions and requirements also as anxieties connected with the looking absurd” (Saeed 2013). In other words, the purpose of the induction process is to facilitate the transaction of a new employee into the working environment and enable them to respond to new responsibilities (Ogunbaneru 2004). As per Amstrong (2003),” Induction provide the chance to shape work-related attitudes and enhance organizational commitment.

Sadee et al (2013), states that Induction is a short-term activity while orientation is a long-term activity. Induction is given an overall preview of the organization like introductory videos and presentations. Orientation is a practical overview of the company which includes an introduction to new employees, making the newcomer familiar with everyone and everything giving him a realistic picture of the environment of the company he is joining. Considering the current procedure of induction and orientation is not an obligation of HR alone, every front-line manager should also be a part of this process starting from the very first preliminary stage. Also, the method must be considered as a comprehensive procedure and not some separate standalone routine actions (Kumar 2017). furthermore, (Otoo, Assuming and Agyel 2018), explained that recruiting internally is extremely for growth of the organization because it reduces cost as compared to recruiting externally induction is not needed as the employees already know about the company.

The visionary Management team of Singer (Sri Lanka) Plc, states that, “it is important and useful for our employees to have a macro picture of Singer’s operations. The formal induction and visits to the retail outlets of the Company’s channels of distribution offer a broad overview of the whole business upon joining. Guided visits to Company locations like factories and warehouses provide a much-needed real-world visual element and exposure that help them remember and relate better through their jobs to the Organization’s grander objectives”.

 

References

Annual Report (2018/2019). SINGER (Sri Lanka) Plc.

Arockiam, K. Gunasundari, T. (2016). Efficacy of Orientation Training Programme in Organizations 16.

Kumar, N. (2017). New Employee Onboarding Process in an Organization, Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies.

Armstrong, M.A (2003) A Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice (9th ed.). Kundli, replica press ltd.

Saeed, I. Arif, M. Gul, H. Ayaz, B. Khan, Q. (2013). Employee Induction and Orientation at Public Sector Organization: A Case from Pakistan, International Journal of Contemporary Business Studies 4, pp 32.

Ogunbameru O.A (2004) Organizational Dynamics. Ibadan, Spectrum Books Ltd.

Otoo, I. Assuming, J. Agyei, P. (2018). Effectiveness of Recruitment and Selection Practices in Public Sector Higher Education Institutions European Scientific Journal May 2018 edition Vol 14.

Salau, O. Falola, H. Akinbode, J. (2014). Induction and Staff Attitude towards Retention and Organizational Effectiveness, IOSR Journal of Business and Management (IOSR-JBM), Vol16, pp47-52.

EFFECTIVENESS AND CHALLENGES OF EMPLOYEE RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION PRACTICES

 

Recruitment and selection are one of the basic functions of human resource management. There is a clear difference between recruitment and selection (Otoo, Assuming and Agyel 2018). In other words, recruitment is the process of attracting a large pool of qualified people for employment. This involves planning for human resource to job design, job description, job analysis, creating awareness among others (Walker et al 2009). Guptha and Jain (2019) explained that the selection process able to divided candidates to two classes. Those who are providing employment and those who are not to be. Barbar (1998), argues that “The recruitment and selection procedure is a vital function of the human resource division of every organization and very crucial function as it affects the success of the organization”.

Effectiveness of Employee Recruitment and Selection Practices

According to the Barber et al (1999), the recruitment process is effective if it brings enough pool of applications and the selection process is handled with ease. The effectiveness & efficiency of the selection procedure is directly influenced by whatever happens during the recruitment process. As per Otoo (2018), management of a diverse workplace effectively, an organization must hire the most capable candidate for a vacancy, while being mindful of the necessity to build a labour force that is representative of the greater business community. This may be attained by using more appropriate and inclusive recruitment and selection strategies. Furthermore, the principal purpose of recruitment practice is to attract adequate and suitable potential employees to apply for vacancies in an organization and the principal purpose of selection activities, by comparison, is to identify the best-suited applicants and persuade them to accept a position in the organization. The importance of having efficient and effective procedures for recruitment and selection can be hardly be exaggerated (Diarmuid 2015).

To ascertain the effectiveness of several recruiting sources and methods, it is important to evaluate recruiting efforts. Organizations evaluate recruiting success to see how their recruiting efforts compare with their goals and budget, past patterns, and the recruiting performance of other organizations. Following Video 1.0 explained about Effectiveness, Quantity of applications, Quality of applicants, Recruiting metrics including Time to fill, Recruiting cost, Cost and benefits analysis, Selection rate, Acceptance rate and success base rate.

Video 1.0: Recruiting Evaluation and Metrics

(Source: Gregg Learning 2018)

Effectiveness depends on the performance of an organization’s human resource capital. To reduce the risk of employees talking flight organizations need to evaluate their recruitment/selection strategy comprehensive evaluation of recruitment strategy allows organisations to identify internal capability and gaps, employee commitment levels and the corresponding cost-effectiveness of that strategy (Diarmuid 2015). In the Sri Lankan context, leading private bank CEO of Pan Asia Bank has made a vital decision to recruitment and selection process. Bank management change their strategy to provide more progression opportunities within the bank to own officers instead of hiring from outside. As per Deputy general managers view, this has been a great source of encouragement to own organizational staff to remain with the bank and enhance their competitiveness (Jayasinghe 2019).

Challengers of recruitment and selection practices

Considering the effectiveness of the recruitment and selection process, organizations need to face a set of challenges Kaplan and Norton (2004), and Zinyemba (2013).

1)     Poor Human Resource Planning

Effective human resource planning translates the major organizational goals into specific human resource objectives, policies and practice. However, human resource planning affects the effectiveness of the recruitment and selection process. That is, the organization will not be informed of its correctly human resource needs, which cause the recruitment and selection may process to recruit persons who do not fit for the job (Kaplan and Norton 2004).

 

2)     Cost of the Recruitment Process

The actual cost of hiring new employees can vary between industries and regions, but once all of the line item costs have been factored in, it’s surprisingly easy to see the bottom-line figure. According to Video 2.0 described, Breakdown of hiring cost, Cost of bad hires, the impact of bad hire, four courses of bad hires and the steps of hiring right candidates.

Video 2.0: The cost of hiring new employees

Source Recruiterbox.com 2015

 

According to the Staffing practices in the private sector in sri lanka, Wickramasinghe, V. (2007) noted that, the usage of more sophisticated selection methods could be quite costly if organizations do not have trained staff and require the help of professional psychologists from outside the organization to administer and interpret test results. However, the misuse of such instruments may be even costly to the organization and may also be demoralizing to the new hire who may find him/herself in the wrong job. This could demotivate the new hire as well as the rest of the staff.

1) Inappropriate Methods of Selection

Birago (2014) state that, A set of methods, such as application forms, interviews, formal tests, references, assessment centres and official transcripts are used by organizations in the selection process. A firm needs to select a method that is most suitable to the job positions. Also, HR experts generally drive the staffing process and the purpose of the staffing is to fulfil the requirements of the business, and the skill levels presented by each new candidate is likely to be judged better if the line managers are involved in the recruitment and selection practices. Dess and Jason (2001) suggest that in business strategy implementation the involvement of line managers in the staffing process is vital for ensuring recruitment and selection to meet business needs. In other words, the line managers should be the centre point around which the recruitment and selection process evolved with HR playing a facilitator role.

2) Nepotism and Favoritism

Nepotism is defined by Peters et al. (1998) as “showing favouritism toward relatives, family members of current employees when hiring new employees”. Policies against this practice, where present, are considered as enhancing the effectiveness of selection and thereby person-job fit. Considering the Sri Lankan service sector organization, Samarakoon, Sureshchandra and Dharmasiri (2008) found that the presence of anti-nepotism policies positively influences the level of the person-jab fit. Where current trends of practice are concerned, it was found that most practitioners realize the need for impartiality in selection decision but tend to have a preference for applicants who are known to current employees.

3) Efficiency, Control and Social Justice

As per Birango (2014),” There is the disagreement of other key issues and argument that run through analysis of human resource management and recruitment and selection: efficiency, control, and the difficulty of orienting practice towards social justice”. Burton (2001) pointed out that, the first two problematics, as have been central to the management of people for as long as managers have been present in organizations. The latter is also the same across all organizations but is a specific academic and policy concern for smaller or growing organizations (Burton 2001). In recruitment and selection practice the establishment of formalized selection structure and norms of acceptable differentiation may be seen as an attempt to enable managers to navigate between efficiency, control and social justice.

References

Barber, A. E. (1998). Recruiting employees: Individual and Organizational Perspectives. Thousand Oaks, CA, USA: Sage Publications, Inc.

Barber, A. E., Wesson, M. J., Roberson, Q. M., & Taylor, M. S. (1999). A tale of two job markets: Organizational size and its effects on hiring practices and job search behaviour. Personnel Psychology, 52(4), 841- 868.

Birango, A A.(2014). An Evaluation of the Recruitment and Selection Policies and Practices of the National Health Insurance Authority,Brong-Ahafo Region; Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology

Burton, M D.(2001). The Company They Keep: Founders' Models for Organizing New Firms, Cornell University ILR School

Dess, G G. and Jason, D.S. (2001). Voluntary turnover, social capital, and organizational performance. Academy of Management Review, pp.26(3): 446-456.

Gupta, R.and Jain, T.(2014). Role of recruitment & Selection policies in central Co-operative Banks, International monthly refereed journal of research in management & technology, Vol iii, ISSN-2320-0073.

Kaplan, S. R. & Norton, D. P. (2004). The Balanced Scorecard. Boston: MA: Harvard Business School Press.

Otoo, I.Assuming, J.Agyei, P.(2018). Effectiveness of Recruitment and Selection Practices in Public Sector Higher Education Institutions European Scientific Journal May 2018 edition Vol 14.

Peters, Lawrence H, Greer Charles R and Youngblood Stuart A., (1998). Blackwell Encyclopedic Dictionary of Human Resource Management, Massachusetts, Blackwell Publishers Ltd.

Samarakoon,U.Sureshchandra,R. and Dharmasiri,A. (2008): Factors that Influence Hiring the Right Person for the Right Job in Sri Lankan Service Sector Organizations: Sri Lankan Journal of Management: Volume 13, Nos. 3 & 4, July-December, 2008.

Walker, H. J., Feild, H. S., Giles, W. F., Armenakis, A. A., & Bernerth, J. B. (2009). Displaying employee testimonials on recruitment web sites: Effects of communication media, employee race, and job seeker race on organizational attraction and information credibility. Journal of Applied Psychology, 94(5), 1354-1364.

Wickramasinghe, V (2007). Staffing practices in the private sector in Sri Lanka, Career Development International, Vol 12, ISSN-1362-0436, pp108-128.

Zinyemba, A. Z. (2013). The Challenges of Recruitment and Selection of Employees in Zimbabwean Companies. International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR)(0nline), 2310-7064.

ROLE OF RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION POLICIES IN SRI LANKAN ORGANIZATIONS

 

Human resources are a term used to define the candidates who comprise the workforce of an organization and organizations to describe the workforce capacity available to devote to the achievement of its strategies has drawn upon theory developed in organizational psychology. Better recruitment and selection strategies result in improved organizational outcomes (Gupta and Jani 2014). Hughes and Rog (2008), stats that, it is explained that the ability of an organization to find, attract and retain best employees was perceived is the two most critical people management problems that are faced by organisations today. According to Amin et al (2014), to achieve this purpose, it is required to have sound human resource management practices. ‘Among the varied responsibilities of human resource management, the most critical are the recruitment of the most excellent employees and keeping them happy and on the job’ (Carter-ward et al, 2006).

Economically Active / Inactive Population

Sri Lanka labour force survey – 2019, Labour force or synonymously currently the economically active population is one of the most widely used measures of the labour market. It computes the employment and unemployment circumstances of the economy and the current employment characteristics of the population. All persons who were employed or unemployed during the reference time period of the survey is referred to as the economically active population. In other words, the content of all persons above a specific age (15 years and above) of either gender who furnish the supply of labour for the production of economic goods and services during a specified time period. The currently economically active population or the labour force is usually recognized as the sum of employed and unemployed population. Economically inactive means, all persons who neither worked nor available/looking for work during the reference period and those active and inactive details shown as follows.

Figure1.0: Economically Active / Inactive population by gender

(Source: Annual Report – Sri Lanka labour force survey 2019)

In 2019, an estimated economically active population is around 8.6 million, and of that about 64.6 percent are male. That is about 5.6 million. Majority among the economically inactive population are females (73.7%). That is about 5.8 million.

Sector-wise employment

Considering the sector-wise employment in Sri Lanka following table shows area-wise details for the year 2019

Figure 2.0: Currently Employed Person by Employment Status

Source: Annual Report – Sri Lanka Labour Force survey – 2019)

According to the above figure 2.0, 4,738,244 (57.9%) workers working under the public and private sector organizations as salaried employees. Under this category, private sector employment is 74.3% and the public sector was 25.6%. The rest of 3,442,449 (42%) labour force is under an employer, Own account workers and unpaid family workers categories (Annual Report – Sri Lanka Labour Force survey – 2019).

 

Recruitment / Selection practices in Government and Privet Sector Organizations

Considering the above details, Private and Public sector organizations play a most important role in labour force while implementing and continuing various recruitment and selection policies. According to the Ministry of Public Services , Provincial councils and local government ,all public/Government sector organizations in sri lanka governing under “Establishment code” which is issued by the Secretary of the Ministry in Charge of the subject of Public Administration on the approval of the Cabinet of Ministers and revision of the provisions of Establishments Code is made by Public Administration circulars issued by the Secretary of the Ministry in Charge of the subject of Public Administration on the approval of the Cabinet of Ministers. “The Establishments Code consists of two volumes.

The first volume includes chapters from I to XXXIII and Chapter XXXVI while the second volume contains Chapter XLVII and XLVIII. The first volume of the Establishments Code has been issued in 1972 as a complete document to be effective from 01.01.1972. Its first edition and the edition effective at present have been issued on 01.09.1985 and 08.07.2013 respectively. The second volume of the Establishments Code has been issued in 1974 as a complete document. Its first edition and the edition effective at presently have been issued on 08.04.1981 and 02.08.1999 respectively.

Establishment code Chapter II, states about Recruitment Procedure and onboarding process in government organizations and it consists 17 subheadings which covers all related areas. All state sector organizations should follow the instructions under the Establishment code for recruitment and selection process.

Role of Private sector organizations in Sri Lanka placed higher weighting on the outside labour market in recruitment and use of objective criteria in selection. The common ground for the companies is the heavy role that interviews, written tests/exams, psychometric tests and assessment centres play as selection methods (Wickramasinghe 2007). As per Wickramarathne (2009), According to annual reports, organizations that are smart enough to set overall information system policies in advance seem to acquire HRIS to fulfil their HR administrative proceedings as well as human resources planning functions. Though the existing HRIS supports HR planning functionalities of the organizations, some organizations do not fully utilize them for recruiting, selection, training and development due to the dependence on traditional methods or due to unawareness.

Referring to the Multi-National organization's procedures, Unilever (Sri Lanka) Ltd has well planned, pre decide system for recruiting it called as Man Power Planning it happens annually on every June or July. This will manage by HR business partners, Recruitment manager and line managers. In this meeting they talk about all their new plans, current situation of the company, about new products they are going to introduce to the market, targets to be achieved in the future etc. Specially they discuss new opportunities in separate sections, who are going to leave the company in upcoming year and if there are new brands to introduce new employees to handle it as an example new brand “Lakhme” come to the market they have to decide what kind of new employments will be required, what kind of employees should recruit, when they should recruit and what are the requirement, they should have likewise organization has to decide the human resource for that new product.

Organization use two kinds of methods to recruit employees which are external and internal. When they recruit, they unable to give any priority to any of recruitment method because as a profit-oriented organization they need more suitable, talented and skill full employees. The method they use for

recruitment depends on the job. As per the practice of Unilever (Sri Lanka) Ltd, shortlisted candidates call for preliminary interview, written test and finally panel interview with line director, senior HR business partner. After they selected an employee, they call him for a medical test in that test they test whether the selected candidate is fit enough for the employment or not. For the medical examinations, they have agreements done by the hospitals and they do the medical tests for the employees and the medical reports go to the Horana Unilever medical centre for the approvals. Selected candidate has an induction program to the newest employee this induction program will cover all three areas Organizational induction, employee induction and job induction. The selected employee will have a three weeks of organizational and employee induction and three months job induction under a supervisor (Wickramasinghe 2012).

Wickramasinghe (2007) status that Sri Lankan companies highly rely on interviews as a selection method. Many of the inherent problems of interviewing may be reduced due to the use of panel interviews and a number of stages in the selection process. However, interview decisions would be inappropriate without complementary onboarding practices such as training of interviewers, consistency in interview evaluations, common grading system in defining personal attributes and the evaluation of interview outcomes on the basis of job performance. Hence, the use of personal interviews in Sri Lankan organizations needs to be developed along with other related HR practices.

Reference

Amin,M,Ismail. Rasid,SZA. Selemani,RDA,(2014). The impact of human resource management practices on performance, The TQM Journal 26, pp 125-142.

Annual Report (2019) Sri Lanka Labour Force Survey.

Carter-ward, MA.Prince,SE. and Quayle,E (2006). Best practices in recruitment and retention.

Establishment Code (2013). Recruitment Procedure and Appointments, Chapter II.

Gupta, R.and Jain,T.(2014). Role of recruitment & Selection policies in central Co-operative Banks, International monthly refereed journal of research in management & technology, Vol iii, ISSN-2320-0073.

Hughes,JC and Rog,E (2008).Talent Management, International Journal of contemporary Hospitality Management 20, pp.743-757.

Wickramasinghe, AGRS. (2012). Recruitment, selection and Reward system in Unilever (Sri Lanka) Ltd, National Institute of Business Management, pp 6-9.

Wickramasinghe,V (2007). Staffing practices in the private sector in Sri Lanka, Career Development International, Vol 12, ISSN-1362-0436, pp108-128.