HR 1000 words – Today’s organisations face a range of people management challenges. Critically examine the challenges and choices HR managers now face in regard to recruitment and Selection

Introduction

For many years, managers have been facing challenges with recruitment and selection process in companies. This problem has caused a lot of companies to make some poor decisions concerning human resource management as a result of recruiting and selecting the wrong candidate for a particular job. The topic for the report is;

 

“Today’s organisations face a range of people management challenges. Critically examine the challenges and choices HR managers now face in regard to recruitment and Selection”

 

This report will focus on human resource management with special focus on recruitment and selection process. The main aim of this report is to;

  • Identify the concept of recruitment and selection and their needs
  • The importance of the concept
  • Challenges and choices managers have to face during this process

At the end of the report, readers should be able to identify and understand the concepts and challenges on the topic and what choices managers can make to reduce the risks of making wrong decisions.

Background information

Recruitment and selection is the backbone of human resource management (HRM). This is the part of HRM that determines the efficiency of the work force and also employee turnover. For many years now, companies have followed a particular process of carrying out this function and have even appointed experts to make sure the right candidates are being selected. One of the major concerns about this part of human resource management is the fact that changes in the environment cause changes in the way the process is being carried out. These changes might sometimes be of benefit to the company if well managed or might be of disadvantage to them if neglected. Despite its importance and how much people stress the importance of recruitment and selection, managers still face challenges when deciding on who to select for a particular role. These are the most important issues that need to be addressed by the organisation in order to make the right decision when it comes to selecting the right candidate for the job. Different companies have different ways of carrying out this function. At Standard Chartered Bank, recruitment is carried out by filling out an application form on the company’s website. After going through the interview and selection stage, the company then offers training to its employees based on their strengths. Other companies in some countries do not advertise jobs. They just go directly to select the candidate they think is fit for the job. This is common with CEO appointments – so-called ‘headhunting’ – and also in countries like Iran where selection is based on trust and loyalty and not experience or skills.

This will continue to pose problems with management unless steps are taken to make the right choices on how, when and where to advertise jobs, and how long the process should take.

Limitations of the discussion

The report is only limited to recruitment and selection and no other part of human resource management. The study does not look at other aspects of HRM like training, rewards and motivation. Selecting the wrong candidate will not always lead to a fall in work efficiency or high employee turnover because recruitment and selection is just one part of HRM, but if the employee has been trained or motivated, they will be able to perform better. Management also make provision for training, reward systems and motivation when carrying out human resource planning. Therefore, limiting the report just to recruitment and selection is not enough to fully examine challenges management will face.

Report Plan

It is very important to define concepts in order to understand the whole report. Defining the concept of recruitment and selection will give a clear understanding of the problem.

Recruitment is allocating, Identifying and attracting potential employees to a company while selection is making sure the right person is selected for the right job; who has the right experience, skills and knowledge should be appointed to take that role (Marthis and Jackson, 2006; Dessler, 2007). Recruitment has two processes; job description and person specification. Job analysis is important because it gives an explanation of what the job and the organisation are about (Marthis and Jackson, 2006; Dessler, 2007). This explains what the employee will be doing when selected and what part of the organisation chart they fall under, so they know who they report to and when. It is an organised way of making sure that the process is well organised. Job analysis also gives person requirement for the job. This means it specifies what qualifications, experience and skills the company is expecting from the applicants.

The second aspect is to look at those challenges the management face during this process and what choices they can make. The list of challenges faced by managers includes;

  • Cost and time
  • Changes in employees’ expectations
  • Managing diversity
  • Changes in technology
  • Changes in the economy
  • Legal issues

These are both internal and eternal issues that can affect the company and should be regarded as being important to management if the company comes across issues like these. When employees’ expectations change, companies need to respond to these changes. It is also important for the company to manage changes in diversity by adapting to the culture of other companies, for example in a case where there is a merger or outsourcing. Legal issues are one of the greatest challenges companies have to face in recruitment and selection because they have to meet requirements set by the government concerning every aspect from contracts, diversity and minimum wage to advertising jobs: one error can lead to large fines.

The main argument is that employee referral and internal applications method of recruitment could be less challenging for a company. This method is less costly, less time consuming, can easily adapt to changes in technology and economy and managing diversity will be less stressful for the management. Nevertheless, the benefits gained from recruitment and selection process should always be more than the cost incurred. And anyway, public organisations have to advertise jobs both externally and not just internally (e.g. schools and colleges).

If the cost of carrying out the recruitment process is more than the benefit the company is going to gain from it, then the process will be worthless or even cost the company money. This can be done by looking at time between when the job has been advertised to when the candidate was selected. This is compared against what the company expects from the selected candidate. Cost can also be calculated by looking at wages/salaries paid to the employee.

 

Conclusion

Recruitment and selection should not be treated as the only aspect of human resource in the sense that if they fail, the company should give up on the process. Other aspects of human resource like training, motivation and reward system can also help the company to support recruitment and selection. All employees need to be motivated in order to carry out their duties; a motivated employee will be willing to learn more and be more efficient. A company can hire the right – or even perfect – candidate for the job, but with no motivation or training, the candidate may not be willing to work to their best or know how the company functions.

Therefore, other aspects of the human resource planning should be considered in the selection process to make should the candidate undergoes continuous improvement and also tries to adapt to the culture of the organisation. With such aspects taken into consideration, the pressure of the challenges to be faced by management will be less.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

 

  • Mathis, R and Jackson, J H (2006). Human resource management. 11th Edition. Thomson/South-western, 2006
  • Dessler, G (2007). Human Resource Management. 11th Edition. Prentice Hall