Recruitment

Why Businesses recruit employees?

Businesses recruit workers for a number of reasons, such as:
 to acquire particular skills, for example in a new technology.
 to get more staff for expansion or new products or markets.
 to replace staff who leave due to retirement or to move to another job (staff turnover).

Put the recruitment and selection process into the correct order below:

application forms, interview, job advertised in appropriate media, job description, selection
short-listing , vacancy arises, vacancy filled, workforce planning

Different types of employees: Full-time, part-time and temporary employees

A full time employee works a number of hours equal to a normal working week, usually between 35 and 40 hours
each week. Recruiting full-time employees gives an entrepreneur advantages: the employees are available for a
lot of hours and can carry out a large number of tasks during that time. They will also become more
experienced in how the business works and may be able to make decisions and make suggestions for
improvements. This can help the business become successful. Giving empowerment (enabling them to make
decisions) to employees means they are going to be more motivated and therefore more productive. However,
they are more expensive for a business to have full time employees as their total pay will be high than that of
someone who works fewer hours.
Part time employees only work for a limited number of hours and certainly for less than the normal working
week. For example, a person who has to look after school-age children may only work when the children are at
school. This may mean only working for 20hours a week. Part time employees will be paid less as they do not
work as many hours as full-time employees. However, they can help a business at busy periods during the week.
Temporary employees are only employed for a certain period of time, perhaps 1 or 2 months. Their employment
might be part time or full time during this period. A business will recruit temporary employees to help out
during busy periods. E.g. during Christmas time in shops.

Advantages of Full - time workers Advantages of Part – time workers

Fewer staff in total will be needed as they work more The number of customers may not justify a full-time
hours per week worker, so a part-time workers saves on wages

Lower recruitment and training costs Two workers may be more flexible than one full-time
worker (e.g. able to cover for absence)

Easier to manage and control fewer staff Part-time workers can be asked to work at busy times of
the day or week. This could lead to better customer
service and a competitive advantage.

Workers may feel more secure and motivated having a Some workers may prefer part-time employment, for
full-time job and earning more money than if they example, if they have children to look after.
worked part time.

If a worker has two separate part-time jobs they may

have divided loyalties – this should not be a problem
with full time workers

Job description & Job specification

A job description is a brief description of a job and its duties which is given to job applicants.

Write a job description for the position of a sales assistant at Topshop. The information that may be
included in the job description is job title, department, function and responsible to.

A job specification shows a profile of the type of person needed to do the job.

Write a job specification for the position of a sales assistant at Topshop. The job specification may include
qualifications, specialised skills, interests and personal qualities.

Recruitment methods

The methods of recruitment open to a business are often categorised into:

 Internal recruitment is when the business looks to fill the vacancy from within its existing workforce.
 External recruitment is when the business looks to fill the vacancy from any suitable applicant
outside the business.

  Advantages Disadvantages

Internal Cheaper and quicker to recruit Limits the number of potential applicants
Recruitment

People already familiar with the business and No new ideas can be introduced from outside the
how it operates business

Provides opportunities for promotion with in May cause resentment amongst candidates not
the business – can be motivating appointed

Business already knows the strengths and Creates another vacancy which needs to be filled
weaknesses of candidates

External Outside people bring in new ideas Longer process

Recruitment
More expensive process due to
Larger pool of workers from which to find
the best candidate advertisements and interviews required

People have a wider range of experience Selection process may not be effective enough to
 reveal the best candidate

The four most popular ways of recruiting externally are:

1. Job centres - These are paid for by the government and are responsible for helping the unemployed
find jobs or get training. They also provide a service for businesses needing to advertise a vacancy and
are generally free to use.
2. Job advertisements - Advertisements are the most common form of external recruitment. They can be
found in many places (local and national newspapers, notice boards, recruitment fairs) and should include
some important information relating to the job (job title, pay package, location, job description, how to
apply-either by CV or application form). Where a business chooses to advertise will depend on the cost
of advertising and the coverage needed (i.e. how far away people will consider applying for the job

3. Recruitment agency - Provides employers with details of suitable candidates for a vacancy and can
sometimes be referred to as ‘head-hunters’. They work for a fee and often specialise in particular
employment areas e.g. nursing, financial services, teacher recruitment

4. Personal recommendation - Often referred to as ‘word of mouth’ and can be a recommendation from a
colleague at work. A full assessment of the candidate is still needed however but potentially it saves on
advertising cost.

Methods of internal recruitment:

1. The owner or manger tells employees about the job vacancy (personal recommendation from within the
business)
2. Certain employees are invited to apply

3. Advertising in the businesses employee newsletter or intranet, email or notice board.

Interviews

An interview is the most common form of selection and it serves a very useful purpose for both employer and job
candidate.  The main benefits of an interview include:
For the Employer:

 Information that cannot be obtained on paper from a CV or application form

 Conversational ability - often known as people skills
 Natural enthusiasm or manner of applicant
 See how applicant reacts under pressure
 Queries or extra details missing from CV or application form

For the Candidate

 Whether job or business is right for them

 What the culture of company is like
 Exact details of job

There are though other forms of selection tests that can be used in addition to an interview to help select the best
applicant.  The basic interview can be unreliable as applicants can perform well at interview but not have the qualities
or skills needed for the job. 

Other selection tests can increase the chances of choosing the best applicant and so minimise the high costs of
recruiting the wrong people.  Examples of these tests are aptitude tests, intelligence tests and psychometric tests (to
reveal the personality of a candidate). 
Once the best candidate has been selected and agreed to take up the post, the new employee must be given an
employment contract. This is an important legal document that describes the obligations of the employee and
employer to each other (terms and conditions) as well as the initial remuneration package and a number of other
important details.