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What’s it: Recruitment is the act of looking for prospective employees to be hired in a company. It is a function under human resource management and is vital to ensure the company has qualified personnel supporting it to achieve its objectives. It starts with identifying gaps, writing people specifications, advertising vacancies, selection, and negotiation. And the human resources department (HR department) is responsible for it all.
Why is recruitment important?
Building and sustaining competitive advantage requires the right human resources. They don’t just play a role in operating the day-to-day business. However, some also contribute to setting targets, designing strategies, and directing the company.
Human resources are assets and flow economic benefits to the company. Along with the organizational structure and culture, the knowledge and skills of individuals within the company can form core competencies if they lead to a competitive advantage. These intangible assets are more difficult for competitors to imitate than tangible assets such as machinery or equipment, which are easy to imitate.
And, to ensure the company has the right personnel, it requires recruitment as an initial screener. Then, it determines how qualified the recruited employees are.
Several reasons explain why recruitment is important:
- Determine the quality of personnel. The HR department ensures the employees recruited are suitable for the business, whether related to their talents, skills, knowledge, or passion.
- Avoid operation interruption. Companies need to recruit new employees to replace those who leave or to support business growth, where they need more staff to carry out day-to-day activities.
- Addressing skill gaps. Some businesses may lack the skills necessary to achieve targets or execute strategies. So, recruiting is a way other than training.
- Increase company productivity. It is done through selective recruitment by selecting only the best.
- Expand diversity and new perspectives. It is important to build innovation within the company, which is often brought by new employees.
- Save time and cost. Quality employees are more adaptable, work effectively in their new roles, and develop skills without a large investment – at least if it costs money for training, companies can earn higher returns through increased productivity and motivation.
What are the types of recruitment?
Hiring can fall into two categories based on where the candidate comes from. The first is internal recruitment. Candidates come from within the company – and as such, are common to large companies. In other words, companies fill vacancies with their current employees.
The process can be faster and requires less training with the skills and knowledge already engraved. In addition, candidates also understand the business and how it works, making it easy to adapt. Recruiting internally also increases motivation as it promotes employees to more senior roles.
The second is external recruitment, where candidates come from outside the organization. While it may be expensive and relatively time-consuming, external candidates can bring new ideas and perspectives. In addition, they can fill current skills gaps and contribute to expanding diversity to support innovation within the company.
What are the stages in the recruitment process?
Recruitment involves several processes such as identifying the need for new employees, writing application requirements, advertising vacancies, reviewing applications, screening, and selecting the right candidates.
Identifying gaps
Identifying gaps requires the HR department to analyze jobs within the company. It aims to determine what activities and responsibilities are, how important they are to the company, what qualifications are required, and what kind of performance is expected in each position. Then, department staff determines which positions require new employees and what qualifications are needed.
The next step is to write the analysis output into the job description. It outlines aspects such as how many and the qualifications or skills required by the company today. In addition, it also contains positions, responsibilities, duties, working hours, and salaries for vacant positions.
Preparing applicant specifications and advertising them
Job descriptions are important for specifying requirements for applicants. It accompanies the job advertisement and tells the candidate what they should have or prepare for, possibly related to education and skills.
The company then announces the existing vacancies to the target. It could be through advertising in local media or the internet for external recruitment. Alternatively, it could also be via bulletin boards or company intranets for internal recruiting.
Early screening
Human resources staff manage application forms, such as curriculum vitae and professional certificates. They then list those who apply, screen, and select those who meet the requirements. It’s cheaper and saves time than having to interview every candidate.
The selected candidate then proceeds to the next stage. Human resources staff notify candidates to follow the next selection process by email or phone.
Selecting applicants
Candidates selected in the previous stage may have to take related tests and interviews. This stage usually takes more time and involves many activities.
Tests are useful for testing a candidate’s abilities. For example, it can be an ability test to test the candidate’s ability in the skills required by the company. Others are psychometric tests, intelligence tests, and personality tests. In addition, some companies also conduct physical tests to test how capable the candidate is of performing the physical work required in the workplace.
Candidates who pass the test are then invited to be interviewed. It could be through a face-to-face meeting or over the phone. Candidates may face one person or several company representatives during the interview. This stage may also involve negotiating and deepening the candidate’s expectations about salary and benefits.
Informing successful candidates
Some candidates may pass the test but not during the interview because, for example, their desired salary does not match the company’s expectations. Company staff then contact the qualified candidates via email, phone, or mail.
Some candidates may agree with the offer from the company and look forward to the day to start working in the company. Others may refuse for reasons such as a paycheck or have found a better job elsewhere.
