_____________________________ Chapter 6 Recruiting
CHAPTER 6
RECRUITING
CHAPTER OVERVIEW
The opening vignette for Chapter 6 is about the Container Store’s recruiting approach. The company combines an employee referral and customer contact strategy with a focus on retention. Turnover is low and the company does not need to use traditional recruiting often, such as advertisements. This vignette complements the chapter’s overview of recruitment methods used for internal, external and international recruitment. This includes some non-traditional sources of workers, such as temporary employees and employee leasing. Finally, students are given guidance on how to apply for a job.
Additional Features of This Chapter
“Did You Know: Something for Everyone” discusses what members of different generations look for in the job search.
“Diversity and HRM” discusses the importance of assuring that job ads are not discriminatory.
Exhibit 6-1 is a general job advertisement for an HR Generalist-Recruiter. Exhibit 6-2 is a more specific advertisement.
A “Workplace Issues” segment provides a listing of EEOC recognized best practices in recruitment and hiring.
The “Technology Corner” provides information on sources of software to help prepare a resume.
Exhibit 6-4 is a sample resume.
ADDITIONAL LECTURE OR ACTIVITY SUGGESTIONS
Recruitment/Selection examples: Have students share their own experiences with recruitment and selection. Try to place their experiences along a continuum of HR sophistication; e.g., some employers put out a sign, while others may have an elaborate process to attract and screen employees. Discuss the costs, benefits and effectiveness of the different approaches. Discuss student examples of bad hiring decisions and why they may have occurred.
Assign students to research jobs they are interested in on the Internet. They should bring copies of postings that interest them to class where they can share what they’ve found in small groups. Encourage them to compare what they found to the text’s coverage of recruitment marketing, job advertisements, etc. You can adapt this activity by focusing the search on open HR jobs.
Invite a representative from the campus career center to provide an overview of the resources and lead a “mini-workshop” on resumes.
CHAPTER OUTLINE AND LECTURE SUGGESTIONS
1. Introduction
A. Once an organization identifies its human resource needs through employment planning, it can begin the process of recruiting potential candidates for actual or anticipated organizational vacancies.
B. Recruiting brings together those with jobs to fill and those seeking jobs.
2. Recruiting Goals
A. Goals: To provide information that will attract a significant pool of qualified candidates and discourage unqualified ones from applying.
B. Factors that affect recruiting efforts
1. Organizational size
2. Employment conditions in the area
3. Working conditions, salary and benefits offered
4. Organizational growth or decline
C. Constraints on recruiting efforts are factors that limit managers’ freedom to recruit and select candidates of their choice. These include:
1. Organization image
2. Job attractiveness
3. Internal organizational policies, such as those encouraging promotion from within
4. Government influence, such as discrimination laws
5. Recruiting costs
6. “Did You Know: Something for Everyone” discusses how generational differences affect recruiting.
3. Recruiting: A Global Perspective
A. For some positions, the whole world is a relevant labor market.
B. Home-country nationals are recruited when an organization is searching for someone with extensive company experience to launch a very technical product in a country where it has never sold before.
C. Host-country nationals (HCNs) are targeted as recruits when companies want each foreign subsidiary to have its own distinct national identity. In some countries, laws control how many expatriates a corporation can send. HCNs minimize potential problems with language, family adjustment and hostile political environments.
D. Expatriates live and work in a country of which he/she is not a citizen.
E. International recruiting for executives, regardless of nationality, may develop an executive cadre with a truly global perspective.
4. Recruiting Sources
A. Sources should match the position to be filled.
B. Additionally, the Internet is providing many new opportunities to recruit and causing companies to revisit past recruiting practices.
C. Internal searches
1. Organizations that promote from within identify current employees for job openings by having individuals bid for jobs, by using their HR management system or by utilizing employee referrals.
2. Advantages of promoting from within include good public relations, morale building, encouragement of ambitious employees and members of protected groups, availability of information on existing employee performance, cost-savings, internal candidates’ knowledge of the organization, and the opportunity to develop mid- and top-level managers.
3. Disadvantages include possible inferiority of internal candidates, infighting and morale problems, and potential inbreeding.
D. Employee referrals/recommendations: Current employees can be asked to recommend recruits.
1. Advantages include the employee’s motivation to make a good recommendation and the availability of accurate job information for the recruit. Employee referrals tend to be more acceptable applicants, to be more likely to accept an offer and to have a higher survival rate.
2. Disadvantages include the possibility of friendship being confused with job performance, the potential for nepotism, and the potential for adverse impact.
3. Refer to opening vignette – the Container Store.
E. External searches
1. Advertisements:
a. Must decide type and location of ad, depending on job; decide whether to focus on job (job description) or on applicant (job specification).
b. Three factors influence the response rate: identification of the organization, labor market conditions, and the degree to which specific requirements are listed.
c. The job analysis is the basic source of information for the ad.
d. Blind box ads don’t identify the organization.
e. See Exhibits 6-1 and 6-2.
2. Employment agencies
a. Public or state employment services traditionally have focused on helping unemployed individuals with lower skill levels to find jobs.
b. Private employment agencies may provide more comprehensive services and are perceived to offer positions and applicants of a higher caliber. Fees may be paid by employer, employee or both.
c. Management consulting, executive search or headhunter firms specialize in executive placement and hard-to-fill positions. They charge employers up to 35% of the first year salary, have nationwide contacts, and do thorough investigations of candidates.
3. Schools, colleges, and universities may provide entry-level or experienced workers through their placement services. May also help companies establish cooperative education assignments and internships.
4. Professional organizations: Publish rosters of vacancies, placement services at meetings, and may control the supply of prospective applicants. Professional organizations also include labor unions.
5. Unsolicited applicants (Walk-ins): May provide a stockpile of prospective applicants if there are no current openings.
6. Cyberspace Recruiting: Most companies use the Internet to recruit employees. Commercial job-posting services continue to grow. An estimated 80% of resumes submitted electronically are inappropriate for the position, but employers can use technology to sort through the submissions.
7. Recruitment alternatives: More and more companies today are looking at hiring temporary help.
a. Temporary help services. Temporary employees help organizations meet short-term fluctuations in HRM needs. Older workers can also provide high quality temporary help.
b. Employee leasing. Trained workers are employed by a leasing company, which provides them to employers when needed for a flat fee. They typically remain with an organization for longer periods of time.
c. Independent contractors do specific work either on or off the company’s premises. Costs of regular employees (i.e. taxes and benefits costs) are not incurred.
5. Meeting the Organization: View getting a job as your job at the moment.
A. Preparing Your Resume
1. Use quality paper and easy to read type.
2. Proofread carefully.
3. Include volunteer experience.
4. Use typical job description phraseology.
5. Use a cover letter to highlight your greatest strengths.
6. Don’t forget about networking as an excellent way of gaining access to an organization.
7. Exhibit 6-4 is a sample resume.
DEMONSTRATING COMPREHENSION: Questions for Review
1. What is the "dual objective" of recruitment?
The two goals of recruiting are to generate a large pool of applicants from which to choose while simultaneously providing enough information for individuals to self-select out of the process.
2. Identify and describe what factors influence the degree to which an organization will engage in recruiting.
Influences that constrain Human Resources Management in determining recruiting sources include image of the organization, attractiveness and nature of the job, internal policies, government requirements, and the recruiting budget.
3. What specific constraints might prevent an HR manager from hiring the best candidate?
As discussed in the previous question, the best candidate might not be attracted to the organization. Company policies that prohibit hiring from the outside and promote from within might exclude the best candidate. The recruiting budget might limit the size of the applicant pool and omit the best candidate. The organization’s pay scale may not be sufficient enough to be acceptable to the best candidate.
4. Present the advantages and disadvantages of recruiting through an internal search.
Advantages of an internal search are that the person already knows the culture and the organization. If the candidate is selected, he or she probably will accept the job. Background investigations and other external hurdles have already been cleared by internal applicants, so the recruiting process is a simpler one. Costs are less than recruiting on the outside. Disadvantages of an internal search are that the pool will be restricted to attitudes, skills and abilities already in the organization.
5. What are the pros and cons of using employee referrals for recruiting workers?
Pros. Employee referrals have several advantages. The candidate probably already has a realistic sense of the organization from the employee and he or she probably will accept the job. The employee can serve as a reference, thus somewhat potentially simplifying security and background investigation measures.
Cons. Disadvantages are tied to the nature of the employee who recommended the applicant. If that employee is not a good employee, chances are that he or she has not recruited a good employee. The applicant pool is restricted to acquaintances of current workers thus potentially limiting diversity. The limitations are not as severe as an internal search, but are similar in kind.
6. Describe the differences one may encounter when recruiting globally.
First, companies need to define the target labor market. It may, indeed, be completely global. Companies need to explore how they will approach host-county nationals, expatriates, home-country nationals. Local labor laws may affect who the company can and cannot hire, such as in the textbook example about African nations. Compensation packages will be more complex for international hires. Hiring in some locations will require the company to consider political turmoil and possible terrorism. These issues may affect the company’s decision to send an expatriate or to hire locally. Overall, however, global recruiting can result in executives and managers with a broad understanding of the business and global economy.
7. What are the advantages and disadvantages of having a “websume”?
Advantages. Applicants who have their own web page have the opportunity to showcase themselves in more creative ways than just submitting a resume. In addition to their resume, they can provide supporting documentation, letters of reference, a video of themselves and anything else they think could make them appeal to prospective employers.
Disadvantages. Some recruiters may prefer to have a standard resume before them. Others may not want to have to visit the applicant’s website to obtain information. And, what if the website has technical problems and goes down?
How will a prospective employer access the information?
LINKING CONCEPTS TO PRACTICE: Discussion Questions
1. “A job advertisement that generates 1,000 responses is always better than one that gets 20 responses.” Build an argument supporting this statement and an argument against this statement.
Pro. Even though large applicant pools may be cumbersome, they offer the greatest opportunity to find applicants, increase diversity, and bring new ideas to the company.
Con. Companies have limited resources that must be used judiciously. Using well-constructed ads allows individuals to self-select out so that those who are left should be truly viable candidates.
2. "An organization should follow a promote-from-within policy." Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Explain.
Agree. Promotion from within encourages current employees to do well in their present jobs with the hope of reward in terms of advancement within the firm. This prospect builds morale, helps define purpose and meaning at work. Corporate values and culture are more defined and upheld in promote–from–within organizations. As long as the firm is developing the skills and abilities it needs, this arrangement is a desirable one.
Disagree. Organizations who only promote from within are getting new ideas and new blood only at the entry level, the lowest level of the organization. Stagnation and complacency can result in the strategic planning function as a result. If innovation and adaptability to external circumstances are desirable, then promote– from–within is not good. If the current workforce is not diverse, organizational efforts to increase diversity will be hampered.
3. When you go looking for a job after graduation, what sources do you expect to use? Why?
The discussion will vary depending on the institution, its location, career goals and the experience levels of the students. A good way to manage the discussion is to start a chart on the blackboard with rows identified as
Placement Center
Want Ads
Professional Organizations
Private Employment Agencies
Public Employment Agencies
Parents, friends
Company Web sites
Internet recruiting firms
and to let the students relate positive and negative anecdotes about such resources.
Another approach is to identify a particular job, "HR Generalist for a small firm," "Compensation analyst," or "Anything entry level in HR." Then, build a specific list for that job. Finally, summarize an approach to using these resources effectively. Students will enjoy this activity if you let them identify the job you will explore, especially if the focus is their target job post-graduation.
4. The emphasis on leased and temporary employees in an organization will only lead to a decrease in employee morale. These employees come in, do their jobs, and then leave it up to the full-timers to handle the details. Build an argument supporting this statement, and an argument against this statement.
Agree. Temporary and leased employees do not have loyalty to the organization, and do leave to go elsewhere. Therefore, they may not fix problems as conscientiously as an employee who has to live with the solution. Also, temporary and leased employees do not have the experience or cultural sensitization to know the probable approaches to situations that an insider would have. If they leave unsolved problems, morale for survivors may suffer.