EMPLOYEE RECRUITMENT

 

EMPLOYEE RECRUITMENT

Recruitment is the process of generating a pool of qualified applicants for organizational jobs (Mathis and Jackson 2004). In other words, recruitment is the process of engaging and finding the people an organization’s needs ( Josee et al 2014 ). It can be defined as any exercise or activity carried on an organization with the primary purpose of identifying and attracting potential employees (Amin at al 2014) Both success and survival of an organization depend on the quality of Human resource available to it and/or use. Therefore, the organization should focus on identifying and attracting the most competitive applicants, which is achieved through a recruitment process effectively (Musculo 2015). The recruitment of human resource in an organization can be costly and different when the labour market is low and they are no others for the request of the organization who want to recruit (Musculo 2015). Also, employee retention is the ability to maintain and retain the most desirable employees for a longer period in the organization (Gupta 2014)

In Kenyan contest, Employee recruitment has influenced employee retention (Mbugua 2015). The organization makes vacancies known to a larger number of people to the organization through advertisement and publicity and make a larger number of people to apply is called recruitment. “The aim of recruitment is to attract qualified job candidates.” (Balasubramanian 2014). Furthermore, employee retention should be linked with an effective recruitment process Kumari, N (2012).

Musculo (2015) have mentioned that the recruitment aims to attract human resources needed to develop the adequate activity of the organization and human resource attracted increasing their chances to remain in the organisation as long as possible. Furthermore, he stated that, determine current and future recruitment needs in retention to human resource planning and job analysis activities, Increasing the number of potential candidates qualified with minimum costs, selecting those candidates who have the potential to add value to the organization, they are able to work in a team, the success of the selection process by reducing opportunities for input into the process people with lower qualifications to the job requirement, increased effectiveness and efficiency across the organization in the short, medium and long term are the most important objectives of the recruitment process.

Kumari, N(2012) have noted that, helps to create a talent pool of potential candidates for the benefits of the organization, to increase the pool of job-seeking candidates at minimum cost, helps to increase the success rate of the recruitment process by decreasing the no of visits qualified or overqualified job applicants, helps to identifying and preparing potential applicants who will be appropriate for the job are benefits and importance of the recruitment process.

SINGER (Sri Lanka) Plc maintains a commitment to employee engagement that is respectful of individual dignity and human rights. Our employment practices are premised on attracting and retaining human talent based on merit (Singer Sri Lanka Annual Report 2017/2018). Since there is a very high demand for their Multi brand products; the company has to ensure that it has a sufficient number of staffs to carry out the organizational projects which are quite high in demand. Therefore, before beginning the year individual department heads request number of additional staff requirement according to their business expansion plan. Considering the department wise staff’s requirements, HR manager prepares a total required staff carder to take approval from the CEO and the following table shows the statistic of requirement/resignation in the Financial year of 2017/2018.

Table 1.0 : Management Decision and Analysis – Employee Capital

(Source: SINGER (Sri Lanka) Plc Annual Report 2017/2018)

Considering the above Table 1.0, Company take actions to increase his no of employees in 2017/2018 financial year due to the expansion of the after-sale service sector and Sales, Marketing sections. The staff growth recorded as 7.43% in the same financial year and it nearly equal to 2015/2014. The recruitment of employees who have the potential to be the Company leadership in the future ensures the growth of the business. Beyond academic credentials and skill levels, various factors also need to be taken into consideration when making recruitment and training decisions. 

Sources of Recruitment

A source of recruitment can be described as an avenue through which a prospective employer can organize a pool of prospective job applicants or seekers. Basically, there are two avenues preferably described as sources of recruitment. The two are Internal and external sources and is as follows (Otoo et al. 2018).

Internal recruitment sources

Muscalu (2015) note that Organization relates to filling vacancies by members of the organization by promoting a better job (in terms of working conditions) or advancement in the hierarchy of jobs (higher qualifications, greater responsibility, higher remuneration.). Also, Internal recruitment allows managers to observe employees for a certain period of time to evaluate each individual’s potential and performance of the office. The internal recruitment sources are Promotions ( Appointing internally qualified / suitable candidate to the vacancy allocating addition responsibilities ), Transfers ( An employee transferred to another place of work with in the same organization or group ), Internal Advertisement ( Company annoys a vacancy within the company and employees are encouraged to apply ), Recall ( Company recalls former works to fill the vacancy ) Otoo et al. (2018).

As a responsible employer, we encourage our employees to pursue career development opportunities and continuously support their growth. We continue to invest time and money, even in difficult times, for the training and professional development initiatives of our employees (Annual Report 2017/2018, p. 86). In other words, the largest household appliance retailer in Sri Lanka with the human capital of 4000 (Direct and Indirect), have fantastic succession plan aiming all level of staff. Hence, employees have opportunities to move up into a higher position. Once, higher post vacancies come they offer the first opportunity for the current employees before advertising outsiders. The organization continually follow this method, even after the management change in 2017/2018 period.

External recruitment sources

Grabara et al. (2016), stated that in his Recruitment process optimization journals article, an organization which decides to recruit a new employee through the process of external recruitment has at its disposal 02 methods: passive recruitment and active recruitment. Passive recruitment methods include a re-examination of the CVs of candidates who participated in earlier recruitment processes. The greatest advantage of using the passive recruitment method over the active recruitment method is time and cost-saving. The greatest advantage of the active recruitment method is the possibility to assess the competence of a candidate in diff event situations and with the use of a variety of techniques and tools. As of Otoo et al. (2018), External source of recruitment means recruiting from outside the company and It includes through Human resource recruitment consultants, Executive recruiters, Public advertisement, Graduate recruitment, Management Recommendation methods.

Considering the Sri Lankan organization’s view, identifying and nurturing potential leaders who have the potential to be bold, mature and responsible decision-makers is part of our focus areas in creating a quality workforce (Annual Report 2017/2018, p. 85). Furthermore, if an organization unable to recruit internally the company will be advertised job vacancy in the local newspaper or the Internet. It is usually the HR manager and relevant department/section manager responsible for holding interviews and hiring staff to fit in the job requirements in the best possible way.

The recruitment process at Singer Sri Lanka’s comprises of three simple steps. Step one requires filling up of an application form, steps two is an interview and the last steps is the reference check.

Step 1: Application form and quiz

In the first step, the candidates are required to apply for the desired post by simply filling in an application form. The application form includes a company demanding personal and a few other details of the applicant.

Step 2: The Interview

Incidentally, the 1st one generates more applications as compared to the positions available. All the resumes and applications are carefully examined and the applicants whose applications look good are called for the interview via telephone call or electronic mail. The interview process is conducted twice, one is with the department manager or human resource manager and the other is with the director himself. The interviews take place in the head office and it is a face to face interview conduct to check the personal skills, competencies and attitude of the candidate.

Step 3: Reference Checks

As a part of the final step of the recruitment process, the HR managers carry out reference checks of the documents provided by the candidates as proof of their qualification or prior experience. After the reference checks are done, the managers select the qualified candidates for various job posts.

Finally, an organization to succeed and service must combine rational use of both internal and external sources of recruitment. (Muscalu 2015). Recruitment processes aimed at finding the most suitable employees are still being evaluated. Nowadays, proper planning and preparing the recruitment process influences its efficiency. Modern and innovative solutions constantly appearing in the labour market, support the recruitment process by optimization of costs and time of the conducted recruitment activities Grabara et al. (2016).

References

Amin, M & Ismail, W, R Asaid, SZA & Selemani,(2014), The impact of human resource management practices on performance, The TQM Journal Vol 26.

Annual Report (2017/2018), SINGER (Sri Lanka) Plc.

Balasubramanian, K. (2014), The Significance of Recruitment in an Organization: Global journal of Finance & Management (Volume 06): Research India Publications.

Grabara, JK, Kot, S, Pigoń, Ł, (2016), Recruitment process optimization: Journal of International Studies Vol 09.

Josee, VM, Kahara, G & Karemu, (2014), An analysis of the effect of employee recruitment on retention at equity bank Kenya, Journal of Business and Management.

Kumari, N (2012), A Study of the Recruitment and Selection process: SMC Global, Vol. 02.

Mathis, RL, Jackson, JH (2004), Personal Contemporary Perspective and applications, St. Paul, West Publishing Company.

Mabugua, GM,(2015), Relationship between Strategic Recruitment and Employee Retention in Commercial Banks in Kenya.International Journal of Business Administration, Vol. 6.

Muscalu, E ( 2015 ), Sources of Human Resource recruitment Organization,” Lucian Blaga” University Of Sibiu, Romania.

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

Taylor.MS, Bergmann.TJ (1987), Organizational recruitment activities and Applicants Reaction at different stages of the recruitment process, University of Maryland collage Park, University of Wisconsin, Eau Clair.