Recruitment for Packaging Company essay 1500 words

Review of Recruitment Procedures of Portola Packaging Limited

Executive Summary

The objective of this proposal is to provide recommendations for Portola Packaging Limited in order improve on the recruitment process. An overview of current recruitment practices of Portola Packaging reveals that there are shortcomings and weaknesses in the company’s recruitment process.

This proposal will employ primary and secondary research as method of investigations. The facts and findings from the investigations will mean the researcher can provide recommendations for Portola Packaging in order to increase organizational performances.

Term of References

The paper will use Harvard referencing to cite all the sources used for the proposal.

 Introduction

Portola Packaging Limited is a global company with headquarter located in the UK. Portola Packaging Limited is a part of the European Division of Portola Packaging Inc specialising in the manufacturing of plastic containers, tamper-evident plastic closures, and related equipments. Moreover, Portola Packaging provides engineering services for the Dairy, Juice and Food industries. Apart from being in the UK, Portola Packaging also has manufacturing and distribution sites in Canada, Mexico Russia, and China. In the UK, Portola Packaging has approximately 115 permanent employees, and the company controls some other member of staff at other locations. Within Portola Packaging, the Human Resources (HR) Department controls and manages the activities of staff. The HR Department is in charge of activities such as maintenance of personnel records, payroll, and assisting with employee training.

One of the activities of the HR department is also to assist in the recruitment process. An overview of recruitment practice at Portola Packaging reveals that the HR department has some shortcomings in providing efficient human resources services for the company. Specifically, the proposal identifies that the HR department is not effective in implementing effective human resources practice. Typically, the company does not comply with current legislative requirements with related to employment practice: a serious matter. For example, the company does not implement verification procedures to access the qualifications of personnel, and this has led the company to recruit inefficient staff with deficient skills sets. Thus, the inefficiencies of the HR department  have led to staff inefficiencies, and high staff turnover or ‘churn’. (BusinessLink,2010).

To address these problems, the proposal employs different methods of investigations.

Methods of investigation

The methods of investigation will be through primary research and secondary research. The investigation through secondary research will involve collection of data from journal articles, e-books, academic books, and publications from the internet. The researcher will access the journal articles from electronic databases such as Emerald, Science Direct, Social Science Research Network (SSRN), Wiley Publication, JSTOR, Oxford Journals, and Journal Seek. As well as the use of electronic databases, the investigator will also search for academic books from the university library and purchase academic books too. The primary objective of using secondary research is to investigate the modern method of recruitment in order to provide recommendations for Portola Packaging; moreover, Boslaugh (2007) argued that secondary research is the best for a researcher with a limited budget: primary research can be extremely expensive. Typically, a researcher does not need to devote a large amount of financial resources when using secondary research for investigation. In addition, secondary research allows the investigator to save time because the bulk of data can be collected through an electronic format. Despite the advantages of secondary research as method of data collection, it may not be adequate for research if there is limited academic literature in the field.

To achieve the project aims and objectives, the researcher will collect data by reviewing several academic journal articles related the management of human resources. To ensure that the researcher has access to the journal articles related to the proposal, the researcher will search uniquely  for articles from  academic journals such as those in human resources, human resource management review, management journals, journals in organisational behaviours and other business journals. Moreover, the researcher will employ unique keywords such as recruitment policy, human resources, organisation, human resources department, and recruitment practice and recruitment process, to search for journal articles on electronic databases. In addition, the proposal will review current recruitment documentations of major companies and personnel files of new recruits.

Apart from secondary research, the proposal will use primary research as a method of investigation. The primary research will consist of data collected through questionnaires, interviews, and personal observation. The primary advantage of using primary research is that the data are collected in a natural setting. However, primary research is expensive as a method of data collection. It may not be appropriate for a researcher with a limited budget. (Key, 1997).

To provide greater understanding of the extent to which the current recruitment practice could improve organisational recruitment process, the proposal suggests benchmarking the recruitment practice of various organisations.

6: Facts and Findings

The section examines facts and findings of recruitment process, the proposal benchmarking recruitment practice, and law guiding recruitment process. The proposal also examines the methods by which candidates are selected for interview.

6.6: Benchmarking Recruitment Practice

The benchmarking of recruitment practice is the method to access the effectiveness of recruitment practice of different organisations. The proposal will benchmark recruitment practices of different organisations. The methods the proposal will use for benchmarking are: the collection of  data related to salaries of different organisations, staff turnover and employee satisfaction level. The advantage of benchmarking of recruitment practice has been revealed  by  Chapman (2010) who argued that  “benchmarking provides a simple, robust, management tool that is accessible by the non-expert and provides executives with the capability to understand the drivers in their own operation compare it to those of others and then determine the practices that underpin superior performance.” (P 1).

Thus, the proposal will employ benchmarking of recruitment practice of different organisations in order to access their recruitment performances. With benchmarking, the proposal will be able to provide recommendations that could lead to the improvement in the recruitment practice of Portola Packaging limited. Typically, Portola Packaging limited will enjoy several advantages from the recommendations provided.

One of the advantages is that it will improve the business performances of Portola Packaging, and this will facilitate continuous improvement in Portola Packaging’s HR department.

Moreover, the data collected from benchmarking will stimulate efficiencies and effectiveness within the Portola Packaging organisation.

Meanwhile, the review of the law and requirements process is critical for the proposal because it provides the guidelines for Portola Packaging with related to recruitment process.

6.7: The Law and Recruitment Process

Staff recruitment is one of the consuming tasks of any organization, because a company relies totally on its people. Typically, there are multifarious laws – (British and EU) – guiding the recruitment process, and every organisation needs to follow the appropriate legislation during the recruitment process in order to ensure that the company is complying with all legal demands. One of the laws guiding recruitment practice is the Equality Act that aims to address discrimination in employment processes. Typically, the Equality Act guides against employment discrimination against minority groups, and it is one of the issues that employers should be mindful of in order not to face legal risks. It is essential to realise that it is unlawful to discriminate with regard to race, colour, sex, and political affiliation. In the recruitment process, employers must also advertise the job vacancies in a way that complies with this act. (Howse & Lewis 2010).

6.8: Filling the Vacancies: Advertisement

One piece of UK legislation concerning the job requirement process states that the employer should advertise all job vacancies, and provide the job description and qualification required for the job in a non-discriminatory manner. (Interestingly, if a job is not advertised but just made available through social contacts, an employer can discriminate in any way they wish, no matter how unfairly). Filling of vacancies requires short-listing the candidates for interview. The interview process should be conducted to determine the level of competence of candidates before any the job offer. The employer could use combinations of interview results, educational qualifications, and job experiences to determine whether a candidate is suited to the job.

6.9: Selection for Interview

The selection of candidates for interview largely depends on educational and training qualifications and experience. However, some organisations may implement written or psychometric tests in order to shortlist candidates for interview. Employers should understand that it is critical to implement the principle of the Equality Act in the interview in order not to face a discriminatory claim from unsuccessful candidate. Of course, an employer can discriminate is he or she wants, so long as the process complies with all legislation – by, for example, inviting a mix of people to interview despite having already decided to employ a woman for the job.

6.10: The Economy and its Effect on Recruitment

The recent global economy crisis, which is affecting many developed countries, is also affecting recruitment practice. Typically, the current recession is giving rise to unemployment because many organisations are laying off their workers and fewer than before are recruiting. However, the present recession is affecting the recruitment of unskilled workers than skilled workers, especially with so many immigrants, who are often willing to work to minimum wage, competing for jobs against native workers. Duncan & Waldorf (2010) argued that there has been decrease in demand for  unskilled workers – most jobs need skill sets these days and manual work has long been in decline. Despite the current economic crisis, the demand for technical and skilled workers is still on the increase, though employers seem reluctant to train people themselves for these roles.

7: Conclusion

This proposal explores the recruitment process of Portola Packaging. An analysis of the company’s recruitment practice reveals that Portola Packaging’s HR department is not efficient with regard to its recruitment process. The paper explores the method for improvement by benchmarking recruitment practice. The proposal also examines interview selection, methods to fill vacancies and various laws guiding the recruitment process.

8: Recommendations

The proposal recommends that Portola Packaging Limited needs to implement training for the staff in the HR department to improve their skills in order to provide the best methods to implement recruitment process for the company.

10: Implementation Plan

The proposal will take approximately 10 months to complete and the implementation plan is provided in Table 1.

Table 1: Implementation Plan

List of References

Howse,H. & Lewis,M. (2010). Employment Law in the Recruitment Process. White Paper. Construction Network.UK.

Boslaugh, S.(2007). An Introduction to Secondary.Data Analysis. UK. Cambridge University Press.

BusinessLink(2010). Control staff turnover. Department for Business, Innovation & Skills.UK

Chapman, P. (2010) Why benchmark – the search for superior performance. Recruitment Industry Benchmarking.UK.

Key, J.P. (1997). Research Design in Occupational Education. Thesis Handbook.Oklahoma State University.USA.

Natasha T. Duncan and Brigitte S. Waldorf (2010). High Skilled Immigrant Rescruitment at the Global Economic Crisis. The effects of Immigration Policies.Working Paper. Purdue University.