The hiring practices that many business organizations promote may differ depending on various criteria, including the specifics of the activity, the volume of production, location, and other factors. Nevertheless, despite the individual nature of these approaches, there are special principles for the selection of employees, and relevant laws oblige employers to follow them. In particular, one of the UK legislation is the Equality Act signed in 2010 and determines cultural and ethical aspects of selection.
Hankivsky, de Merich, and Christoffersen view this bill as a list of measures designed to ensure the equality of job seekers in the context of such criteria as “gender, race, and disability”. The authors argue that the Act combines these aspects into a single algorithm and suggests taking into account additional factors that can also cause an unfair approach to recruiting. As factors, marital status, religion, and other individual characteristics may be mentioned. This Act allows applicants to count on potential employers’ impartial attitude and is a valuable law in the context of the cultural diversity of the workforce.
In addition to the cultural and ethical recruitment obligations that the UK official legislation imposes on employers, safety issues are also addressed. Haynes, Bawden, and Robinson mention the Data Protection Act signed in 1998 and noted that this bill defines the possibilities for obtaining personal data. For applicants who are not ready to disclose their individual information completely, there are guarantees of protection. Employers do not have the right to force employees to disclose their personal data or to receive them secretly, and the proposed bill defines the responsibilities and conditions of access. The acts reviewed are important laws that determine the nature of recruitment and selection policies in the UK.
Strengths and Weaknesses of Recruitment and Selection Methods
Recruitment and selection practices are important aspects of HR activities and largely determine organizations’ performance indicators. Properly selected and implemented hiring algorithms to help retain talented employees and increase the potential of the workforce. Regarding recruitment, this procedure may be performed differently, and one of the methods is to advertise on social media. As Khandelwal and Kumar state, this principle has two evident advantages – a wide range of applicants, which allows choosing the best employees, and low costs due to the availability of online communication.
However, one can highlight some of the disadvantages of recruitment via the Internet, for instance, poor user skills among the older population or a large list of offers from competitors. In order to search and involve potential employees in the online space efficiently, it is essential to choose appropriate platforms and propose objectively beneficial conditions for cooperation. In terms of selection methods, these strategies involve hiring employees based on the analysis of their individual characteristics through special tools.
Khandelwal and Kumar argue that recruitment and selection are inextricably linked and complement each other as mandatory stages of a hiring policy. The authors mention different selection methods, and one of the most common approaches is interviews with HR specialists. One of the merits of such an instrument is the possibility of direct communication, which, in turn, allows revealing the identity of an applicant and provides a general impression of his or his psycho type.
Another advantage of interviews is an opportunity to convey employers’ requirements as clearly as possible, thereby avoiding misunderstanding. However, not all HRs prefer such a selection tool, and one of the reasons is the ability of the applicant to hide real facts and communicate differently than in a real work environment. In addition, during an interview, personal bias may occur, which is an unacceptable practice. These aspects of recruitment and selection are essential to consider when promoting appropriate hiring and retention strategies.