Recruitment and selection are the most important processes of HRM, in addition to the training of workers. The two processes ensure that positive qualities in people manifest to support a favorable atmosphere for improving organizational culture. For a medium-sized organization, the processes will often overlap and its repeatability may not be certain because the organization is growing and changing its structure. This paper will be revealing the main functions and responsibilities of the HR department regarding recruitment and selection. Management has to undertake a future resource needs planning for the organization.\
The exercise starts with the evaluation of current employees and then proceeds to the forecasting stage. Here, the midsized organization will be considering the specialists needed for the firm. Also, it will consider when the employees would be critical to its growth and development (Dale 4-5). In this case, the organization is not expanding into different branches. Therefore, forecasting is only for current operations. An additional role of HR will be the definition of future duties of selected or to-be selected employees.
HRM strategies
Recruitment
For a midsized firm, relying on existing employees to find recruits is a common strategy that saves costs and leads to the fast recruitment process. People already working in an organization are good at identifying potential candidates for their existing positions or departments. They are familiar with organization needs at a particular time, and they may be motivated to complete the recruitment exercise because they are due for a promotion. Unfortunately, this strategy is not appropriate because it only opens up the organization to a pool of potential candidates that is unlikely to bring new ideas and views to the organization.
There are distinct external and internal environments for the organization that HR managers must consider in their efforts to present the best candidates during recruitment. When candidates are to fill a blank position, they come with expectations for the job. Meanwhile, there is the actual work that the new employees will be expected to do. In this case, the recruitment will be for line supervisors that coordinate production efforts at the company’s manufacturing facility (Campton, Morrisey and Nankervis 15).
The skills needed for the new employees are also the same skills that incumbents have. Thus, the incumbents can quickly orient the new employees once they are recruited. However, the efficacy of orientation is not guaranteed. The company has a current ideal performance that will allow the HR department to come up with the appropriate job description for new jobs. They also help the organization to have a benchmark against other similar organizations to use for considerations when seeking to make job postings attractive to the market.
Despite the limited scope of relying on the internal environment to find new staff, the company will first consider this strategy for the potential of savings in the entire recruitment process. As a growing mid-sized organization, its recruitment will be periodic and will often arise when the needs emerge. It will not be planned for a given time of the year. The organization is in the manufacturing sector, and its capacity plan is agile, often requiring additional support staff in the short-run.
The position of management supervisors will often rise as demand for the company’s products rises in its respective markets. Internal company magazines and newsletters, as well as communication memos, will be used to communicate with the organization’s members about job openings that need filling and the details of the recruitment. This avenue is ideal for internal organization staff members seeking promotion or change in job profiles. They can apply for these jobs. An advantage of this approach is the enhancement of job fit for existing employees who change jobs within the organization.
In addition to in-house recruitment efforts, the organization will seek recruits from outside the organization. It will pick publications that are likely to have the highest reach for its required mid-sized manufacturing company management supervisors. Daily newspapers that have a high circulation and are known for posting reputable jobs will be considered. However, this will only happen when the organization has funds allocated for the process that is less than what a recruitment agency would require. The organization will not consider recurrent expenditures regarding the fees paid to recruitment agencies for serving it with candidates for various positions as they arise, given that the organization does not have an elaborate recruitment plan. An internal recruitment panel is appropriate because of the organization’s size and time considerations.
The biggest factor for recruitment will be the attraction of the right candidate, such that the company does not have to recruit in the same position again. However, employee turnover is expected and in some cases, there will be a need to do successive recruitment processes for similar positions. Nevertheless, recruitment will mainly be for an employee at a time. Thus, the organization will be able to perform background checks for candidates before proceeding with the selection process. The company lacks a training and development budget for its employees, and it will be considered employees who already have the necessary training for the supervisor management position. It will also be relying on its internal culture to shape the recruit’s expectation for their jobs and performance discipline (Cooper, Robertson, and Tinline 32).
Considerations in the recruitment process will include the employment type, which in this case is on a long-term contract. Others are the rate of pay for recruits and the employment conditions regarding health and occupational safety. Besides, the business will consider the taxation policies of the country regarding the job type and pay scale. It will develop a manual for staff that meets the business needs, and this manual will let employees know the way the business runs and the critical and non-critical elements of its operations (Cooper, Robertson, and Tinline 36). The HR department will set up these features before embarking on the recruitment process.
Selection
Selection will start with the advertising of vacant positions in the midsized company. It will include reviewing, screening and interviewing candidates shortlisted for the management supervisor positions in the company. There will also be testing of skills mentioned in interviews to provide sufficient information for the selection of the right candidate. The selection process will ensure that all individuals taken from the pool of job applicants are the ones needed most by the organization. It will be a differentiating process and the difference highlighted in every iteration of the process will inform the final HRM decision. After succeeding to bring in many job applicants and taking them through the testing and interviewing processes of the company, the selection will purge all but the fittest.
The organization will rely on three tools for its selection strategy. These tools are interviews, selection tests, and physical examinations. Selection tests will be mainly mental and knowledge-based. They will be the first tool used to ensure that candidates moving to the next selection process are ideal for the organization. The tests come in the first part because the organization needs to ensure that it does not miss an opportunity to have a knowledge employee whose other attributes can be influenced to adapt to the requirements of the company. Selection tests will show the number of candidates that need training after selection. If the number is high, management may decide to reduce the threshold for employment and supply a budget for new employee training.
The interviews used will be in two phases. The first one will be preliminary and will be for the elimination of unqualified applicants. After completing initial tests, candidates will be subjected to physical brief interviews that will be conducted by a single HR manager. The manager will go through all the supplied documentation for the job applicants and review them against job requirements. After that, the interviewee will receive feedback regarding the progress of the selection process. Those who pass will be referred for further tests and an employment interview. Upon passing the employment interview, the candidate will be considered ready for hire unless the candidate has additional demands or reservations about the company that is hard to fulfill (Cassell et al. 133).
As described earlier, the midsized organization deals in manufacturing and has processes that run continuously in its production facility. Therefore, existing managers will only attend employment interviews briefly. The HR staff may also consider having the participation of existing management supervisors via electronic means. During the employment interview, the HR department will do a formal and in-depth conversation with the interviewee regarding the acceptability of the candidate to the job.
The process will be similar for all candidates irrespective of whether they are from the internal recruitment process, or they come from outside the organization (Ban, Drahnak-Faller, and Towers). The process is crucial because any wrong selection will hurt the organization’s bottom line and will likely introduce conflicts in the company’s culture. Moreover, the company will be using a panel of interviewers drawn from different areas of the business to remove the threats of biases, in particular, interview subjects.
Upon completion of interviews and success, candidates will be required to provide a physical examination report. The reports will provide a starting basis for relating to the new employee in regard to occupational and health safety. The physical examination is the last bit of the selection process and will be done after the letter of appointment. However, failure at this stage will force the HR managers to go to the second-best candidate for the job and evaluate the same report.
This process shall go on as long as possible until a suitable candidate is available. The organization’s expectation is that many applicants will be fit for work and will provide positive reports. They will have been informed of the recruitment process about job selection demands and work demands. The preliminary interviews and the selection tests will also eliminate most candidates likely to fail in the physical exams (McEvoy and Buller 86-87).
The managing supervisor’s level in the company represents average level employees that are just below the senior managers in the organization. However, because of the organization’s size, its average level managers also play a critical role in leadership just as senior managers would do. They are also among the first candidates considered for a senior leadership position when a gap arises or when the company decides to expand. Therefore, their selection is critical to the growth and success of the company. In this regard, the company will be using a single standard for the selection of candidates in its open position and the key characteristics of job applicants must match the standard.
The standard will be reviewed periodically to correspond to the job and organization structures of the organization. It will also inform the uniform decision-making mechanism for the organization when picking each employee. HR managers will be in charge of the standard and will rely on the input of the incumbent managers and senior company leadership for changing the standard. It shall rely on the budget allocation for recruitment and compensation of employees to determine salaries and benefits, according to the standard and the availed resources.
Conclusion
The recruitment and selection process at the midsized organization considers the fact that a worker coming into the organization is already experienced. He or she also has beliefs and visions of the work of the organization. The organization’s HR task will be to align the experience and beliefs of the new worker with the organization’s culture. The selection process is rigorous and mainly relies on internal processes and resources because the organization is at a critical stage of growth. Outsources the service is likely to yield bad results for worker-job fit. However, for recruitment, the organization may rely on external agencies to increase its pool of suitable candidates for specific managing supervisor jobs.
Works Cited
Ban, Carolyn, Alexis Drahnak-Faller, and Marcia Towers. “Human Resource Challenges in Human Service and Community Development Organizations: Recruitment and Retention of Professional Staff.” Review of Public Personnel Administration 23.2 (2003): 133 – 153. Print.
Campton, Robert, William Morrisey, and Alan Nankervis. Effective Recruitment and Selection Practices. Sydney: CCH Australia Limited, 2009. Print.
Cassell, Catherine, Sara Nadin, Melanie Gray, and Chris Clegg. “Exploring Human Resource Management Practices in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises.” Personnel Review 31.6 (2002): 133 – 153. Print.
Cooper, Dominic, Ivan T Robertson, and Gordon Tinline. Recruitment and Selection: A framework for success. London: Thompson, 2003. Print.
Dale, Margaret. A Manager’s Guide to Recruitment & Selection. 2nd ed. London: Kogan Page, 2003. Print.
McEvoy, Glenn M, and Paul F Buller. “Human Resource Management Practices in Mid-Sized Enterprises.” American Journal of Business 28.1 (2013): 86 – 105. Print.