Meaning:

Recruitment is a positive process of searching for prospective employees and stimulating

them to apply for the jobs in the organisation. When more persons apply for jobs then there

will be a scope for recruiting better persons.

The job-seekers too, on the other hand, are in search of organisations offering them

employment. Recruitment is a linkage activity bringing together those with jobs and those

seeking jobs. In simple words, the term recruitment refers to discovering the source from

where potential employees may be selected. The scientific recruitment process leads to higher

productivity, better wages, high morale, reduction in labour turnover and enhanced

reputation. It stimulates people to apply for jobs; hence it is a positive process.It is the

development and maintenance of adequate man- power resources. This is the first stage of the

process of selection and is completed with placement.

Definition:

According to Edwin B. Flippo, “It is a process of searching for prospective employees and

stimulating and encouraging them to apply for jobs in an organisation.” He further elaborates

it, terming it both negative and positive.

He says, “It is often termed positive in that it stimulates people to apply for jobs, to increase

the hiring ratio, i.e. the number of applicants for a job. Selection, on the other hand, tends to

be negative because it rejects a good number of those who apply, leaving only the best to be

hired. ”

In the words of Dale Yoder, Recruitment is the process to “discover the sources of manpower
to meet the requirements of the staffing schedule and to employ effective measures for
attracting that manpower in adequate numbers to facilitate effective selection of an efficient
working force.”
Factors Affecting Recruitment

INTERNAL FACTORS
The internal factors also called as “endogenous factors” are the factors within the
organization that effect recruiting personnel in the organization.
The internal forces i.e. the factors which can be controlled by the organization are:

1. Recruitment Policy
The recruitment policy of an organization specifies the objectives or recruitment and provides
a framework for implementation of recruitment program.It may involve organizational
system to be developed for implementing recruitment programs and procedure by filling up
vacancies with best qualified people.

Factors Affecting Recruitment Policy

 Need of the organization.

 Organizational objectives
 Preferred sources of recruitment.
 Government policies on reservations.
 Personnel policies of the organization and its competitors.
 Recruitment costs and financial implications.

2.Human Resource Planning

Effective human resource planning helps in determining the gaps present in the existing
manpower of the organization. It also helps in determining the number of employees to be
recruited and what qualification they must possess.

3. Size of the Organization

The size of the organization affects the recruitment process. If the organization is planning to
increase its operations and expand its business, it will think of hiring more personnel, which
will handle its operations.

4. Cost involved in recruitment

Recruitment incur cost to the employer, therefore, organizations try to employ that source of
recruitment which will bear a lower cost of recruitment to the organization for each
candidate.

5. Growth and Expansion

Organization will employ or think of employing more personnel if it is expanding its
operations.

EXTERNAL FACTORS
1.Supply and Demand
The availability of manpower both within and outside the organization is an important
determinant in the recruitment process. If the company has a demand for more professionals
and there is limited supply in the market for the professionals demanded by the company,
then the company will have to depend upon internal sources by providing them special
training and development programs.

2. Labour Market
Employment conditions in the community where the organization is located will influence the
recruiting efforts of the organization. If there is surplus of manpower at the time of
recruitment, even informal attempts at the time of recruiting like notice boards display of the
requisition or announcement in the meeting etc. will attract more than enough applicants.

3.Goodwill / Image of the organization

Image of the organization is another factor having its influence on the recruitment process of
the organization. This can work as a potential constraint for recruitment. An organization
with positive image and goodwill as an employer finds it easier to attract and retain
employees than an organization with negative image. Image of a company is based on what
organization does and affected by industry. Managerial actions like good public relations,
rendering public service like building roads, public parks, hospitals and schools help earn
image or goodwill for organization.

4. Political-Social- Legal Environment

Various government regulations prohibiting discrimination in hiring and employment have
direct impact on recruitment practices. For example, Government of India has introduced
legislation for reservation in employment for scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, physically
handicapped etc. Also, trade unions play important role in recruitment. This restricts
management freedom to select those individuals who it believes would be the best
performers. If the candidate can’t meet criteria stipulated by the union but union regulations
can restrict recruitment sources.

5.Unemployment Rate
One of the factors that influence the availability of applicants is the growth of the economy
(whether economy is growing or not and its rate). When the company is not creating new
jobs, there is often oversupply of qualified labour which in turn leads to unemployment.

6.Competitors
The recruitment policies of the competitors also affect the recruitment function of the
organizations. To face the competition, many a times the organizations have to change their
recruitment policies according to the policies being followed by the competitors.

Types of recruiting techniques

 Internal recruitment. Post open positions on the internal career site so current

employees can apply.
 Contingency recruiting. Similarly, this option involves using a third party to recruit on
your behalf, but you only pay a fee if a qualified candidate is hired.

 Recruitment process outsourcing (RPO). In this case, the organization completely

outsources its recruitment function to a third party. The primary goal is to reduce the cost
of the recruiting process.

 Temporary recruitment professional. The company hire a temporary employee or

consultant to help your recruitment team occasionally rather than hiring a full-time
recruiter.

 Career fairs. Whether in person or virtual, these events give your organization an

opportunity to meet qualified candidates and market your employer brand.

 Campus recruiting. Participating in campus recruiting events can help in recruiting new

grads or students.

 Employee development and succession planning. Developing employees and preparing

them for a new role is an excellent opportunity for the employees and reduces the risks
associated with external candidates.

 Partnering with outside organizations. Companies might do this to attract a more

diverse workforce or support underrepresented communities, such as immigrants and
minorities.

 Networking. Meeting other people in the community provides an opportunity to share

information about your organization.

 Social media. Posting open positions on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn is a popular

choice. Search engine ads that pop up in response to a query are another option.
 Recruitment sources
Internal Recruitment External Recruitment

Promotions College recruitment

Transfers Competitors and other firms
Employee Referrals Employment agencies
Former Employees Labour unions
Retrenched Employees Executive search firms
Compassionate appointments Professional associations
Internet recruitment
Media sources
Internal Recruitment Sources
1. Promotion and Transfer
Many organizations choose to fill vacancies through promotions or transfers from within
whenever possible. Although most often successful, promotions from within have some
drawbacks as well. The person’s performance on one job may not be a good predictor of
performance on another, because different skills may be required on the new job. For
example, not every good worker makes a good supervisor. In most supervisory jobs, an
ability to accomplish the work through others requires skills in influencing and dealing with
people that may not have been a factor in nonsupervisory jobs.
2. Job posting
An organization can also use the policy of job posting as a internal recruitment source. In the
job posting system the organization notifies its present employees about job openings through
the use of bulletin boards, company publications, or personal letters. The purpose of the job
posting is to communicate that the job opening exists. An effective job posting system
involves the following guidelines:
Job posting should be prominent. Clear job specification should be communicated so that
applicants assess themselves either they are eligible to apply or not. Once the decision is
made, all applicants should be informed about the decision. Job posting systems generally
work quite well.

3. Contacts and Employee Referrals

At least 65 per cent of recruiters are using their employee referral programmes to get talent
people in India, according to a recruitment trends survey conducted by LinkedIn, shared with
Economic Times.The India Recruiting Trends 2019 study was conducted among 298 Indian
recruiters or talent acquisition decision makers who work in a corporate HR department and
have some authority in their company's recruitment solutions budget. These individuals focus
exclusively on recruiting, manage a recruiting team, or are HR generalists.
Indian recruiters were also the most confident about measuring the quality of their hires (54
per cent) as opposed to recruiters in markets like China (20 per cent) and Australia (19 per
cent). Nearly 39 per cent agreed that quality of hire was the most valuable performance
metric, 55 per cent said employee referral programmes were the top source of quality hires,
37 per cent either shared or contributed to employer branding with other functions, and 36 per
cent said employee retention was top priority.
Employee referrals are more trustworthy and help hire good quality skills in the
system.Experts have claimed that employee referral schemes have helped them enhance
the retention levels and mitigate recruitment costs.
Many firms have found that their employees can assist in the recruitment process. Employees
may actively solicit applications from their friends and associates. Before going outside to
recruit employees, many organizations ask present employees to encourage friends or
relatives to apply for the job openings. Contacts and referrals from the present employees are
valuable sources of recruits. Employee referrals are relatively inexpensive and usually
produce quick responses. However some organizations are concerned about problems that
result from hiring friends of employees for example, the practice of hiring friends and
relatives favoritisms, cliques etc.

4. Recruiting Former Employees and Applicants

Former employees and former applicants are also good internal sources for recruitment. In
both cases, there is a time-saving advantage, because something is already known about the
potential employee.
FORMER EMPLOYEES
Former employees are considered an internal source in the sense that they have ties to the
company. Some retired employees may be willing to come back to work on a part-time basis
or may recommend someone who would be interested in working for the company.
Sometimes people who have left the company to raise a family or complete a college
education are willing to come back to work after accomplishing those personal goals.
Individuals who left for other jobs might be willing to return for a higher rate of pay. Job
sharing and flexitime programs may be useful in luring back retirees or others who previously
worked for the organization. The main advantage in hiring former employees is that their
performance is known.
Some managers are not willing to take back a former employee. However, these managers
may change their attitudes toward high-performing former employees as the employment
market becomes more competitive. In any case, the decision should depend on the reasons the
employee left in the first place. If there were problems with the supervisor or company, it is
unlikely that matters have improved in the employee’s absence. Concerns that employers
have in rehiring former employees include vindictiveness or fear of morale problems among
those who stayed.
FORMER APPLICANTS AND PREVIOUS “WALK-INS”
Another potential source of applicants can be found in the organizational files. Although not
entirely an internal source, those who have previously applied for jobs can be re contacted by
mail, a quick and inexpensive way to fill an unexpected opening.
Applicants who have just “walked in” and applied may be considered also. These previous
walk-ins are likely to be more suitable for filling unskilled and semiskilled jobs, but some
professional openings can be filled by turning to such applications. One firm that needed two
 cost accountants immediately contacted qualified previous applicants and was able to hire
two individuals who were disenchanted with their current jobs at other companies.

5. Compassionate appointments
Compassionate appointment is an appointment/ Job given to legal heir (dependent) who is
wife or son or daughter of an employee who was deceased while in the service or if employee
met with an accident which caused permanent disablement while in the service or went
missing for seven years or more. These sort of appointments are mainly seen in the
government organisations.

External Source of Recruitment

 A broad variety of methods are available for external recruiting. An organization
should are fully assess the kinds of positions it wants to fill and select the recruiting
methods that are likely to reduce the best results.
 There are some employee needs that a firm must fill through external recruitment.
Among them are: filling entry-level jobs, acquiring skills not possessed by current
employees, and obtaining employees with different backgrounds to provide new
ideas.
1. Campus Recruitment
At the college or university level, the recruitment of graduating students is a large-scale
operation for many organizations. Most colleges and universities maintain placement offices
in which employers and applicants can meet. However, college recruiting presents some
interesting and unique problems. The major determinants affecting an employer’s selection of
colleges at which to conduct interviews are:

 Current position requirements
 Experiences with placement offices and previous graduates
 Organizational budget constraints
 Cost of available talent (typical salaries)
 Market competition
 College reputation
College recruiting can be expensive; therefore, an organization should determine if the
positions it is trying to fill really require persons with college degrees. A great many positions
do not; yet many employers insist on filling them with college graduates. The result may be
employees who must be paid more and who are likely to leave if the jobs are not sufficiently
challenging. To reduce some of the costs associated with college recruiting, some employers
and college or university placement services are developing programs using video interviews.
With these systems, students can be interviewed by interviewers hundreds of miles away.
There are advantages for both the companies and students. The firms save travel costs and
still get the value of seeing and hearing students. For students, the system provides a means
of discussing their credentials and job openings without having to miss classes.
IIT Delhi students bag nearly 102 jobs.
The Department of Management Studies of IIT Delhi has finished its final placements for the
year 2016-18 batch. The institute got 56 recruiters- the highest it has seen, claimed by the
institute. A total of 102 job offers were made to 91 students. Of the total students in the batch,
around 25% were offered pre-placement offers (PPOs). The number of first-time recruits
stood at 29 this year.
Among the recruiters were Google, GE, Deloitte, Amazon, Shell, Rockwell Automation,
Maersk Line, Accenture Strategy, Shell and KPMG, among others. Sales and marketing roles
accounted for the highest number of profiles at 30%, followed by IT & consulting at 29% and
finance and general management at 21%. The remaining 20% pertained to the operations
domain.
2. Competitors and other Firms
Competitors and other firms in the industry or geographic area may be the most important
source of recruits for positions in which recent experience is highly desired.

3. Employment Agencies
Every state in any country like every state in the United States has its own state-sponsored
employment agency. These agencies operate branch offices in many cities throughout the
state and do not charge fees to applicants or employers.
Private employment agencies also are found in most cities. For a fee collected from either the
employee or the employer, usually the employer, these agencies do some preliminary
screening for an organization and put the organization in touch with applicants. Private
employment agencies differ considerably in the level of service, costs, policies, and types of
applicants they provide. Employers can reduce the range of possible problems from these
sources by giving a precise definition of the position to be filled.

4. Labor Unions
Labor unions are a source of certain types of workers. In some industries, such as
construction, unions have traditionally supplied workers to employers. A labor pool is
generally available through a union, and workers can be dispatched to particular jobs to meet
the needs of the employers.
In some instances, the union can control or influence recruiting and staffing needs. An
organization with a strong union may have less flexibility than a non-union company in
deciding who will be hired and where that person will be placed. Unions also can work to an
employer’s advantage through cooperative staffing programs, as they do in the building and
printing industries.
5. Executive Search Firms
Executive search (informally headhunting) is the process of recruiting individuals to fill
senior executive positions in organizations especially like chief executive officers or
managing directors. Executive search may be performed by an organization's board of
directors, or by an outside executive search firm hired by the organization. Some executive
search firms are regional, while others are global. Many specialize in a particular sector.
(Companies in India are pumping up hiring at senior management levels again, as a nearly
35% improvement in executive search firms' business in the previous quarter
indicates. )When corporate entities elect to use an outside Executive Search Firm, it is usually
because they lack the internal research resources, networks, or evaluative skills to properly
recruit for themselves. Using an outside firm also allows the corporate entity the freedom of
recruiting from competitors without doing so directly, and the ability to choose among
candidates that would not be available through internal or passive sourcing methodologies.
An executive search firms representatives often visit the clients offices and interview the
company's management. This enables them to gain a clear understanding of the company's
goals and the job qualifications required- After obtaining this information, they contact and
interview potential candidates, check references, and refer the best-qualified person to the
client for the selection decision. Search firms maintain databases of resumes for this process.
Other sources used include networking contacts, files from previous searches, specialized
directories, personal calls, previous clients, colleagues, and unsolicited resumes. The search
firms task is to present candidates that are eminently qualified to do the job and it is the
company's decision whom to hire.

Leading Executive Search firms in India

ABC Consultants: Chairman’s High Circle (CHC) is the executive search arm of ABC
Consultants.
ACCORD GROUP INDIA is a boutique retained executive search firm specializing in CXO
(Chief executive officer) and specialist searches.
Egon Zehnder International was founded in 1964.
EMA Partners International is a 25 year old global search firm , with offices located in
most major markets around the globe.
Spencer Stuart is one of the world’s leading executive search consulting firms. The
company operates out of 53 offices in 29 countries.Founded in 1956.
Executive Access was established in 1988, and is focused on Asia Pacific region. The
company is headquartered in Hong Kong, and has its India office in Mumbai.
Gilbert Tweed Associates Pvt. Ltd., a leading executive search practice in India is an
international partner of Gilbert Tweed International Inc., New York. The company has three
offices in India i.e. New Delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore.

6. Competitions at campus
Many companies are now realising interviews alone are not enough to gauge candidates.
Competitions at campus by companies have become a good source today to identify best
talented candidate. Many companies like Philips, Godrej, HCL Technologies are
conducting Competitions for business management students to identify best talent and who
exactly fits to their organisation. Philips company has launched "Blueprint" Case study
competition that asks students to identify growth areas for the company and propose business
plan. Godrej industries had launched a competition called "LOUD" (Live out your dream
event) for business school students to make presentation about their dream projects and
present a case for why the company should fund it. Through this competition Godrej senior
managers picked seven winners. this company is also conducting campus recruitment based
on case studies are anxious to solve and to show their analytical ability. HCL Technologies
 had launched a contest that asks business schools for suggestions on running tomorrow's
enterprise or driving change through Management innovations.
competitions can help students develop the skills they would later need and the hard work
needed to get success, which is the reason behind competitions at campus.

7. Internet Recruiting
[Using the Internet for job-hunting reduces time spent unemployed by an average of 25%.]
Organizations first started using computers as a recruiting tool by advertising jobs on a
“bulletin board service” from which prospective applicants would contact the company. Then
some companies began to take e-mail applications. Now some employers are not only posting
jobs and accepting resumes and cover letters on-line but also are conducting employment
interviews on-line. Advantages for such Internet recruiting by employers include:

 Reaching more applicants
 Having lower costs and faster response time frames
 Tapping an applicant pool conversant with the Net

Tata Consultancy Services switches to online test to recruit engineering graduates - 2018-
Sep
India's largest IT services Company Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) conducted an online
campus hiring initiative aimed at identifying engineers for multi-skilled, multi-functional
roles in the company.
The National Qualifier Test (NQT) was conducted on its digital platform, TCS iON and
received over 2.8 lakh registrations across 100 cities.
NQT was open to graduates and post graduates of the year 2019 batch, across all engineering
colleges in India. This re-imagination of the campus hiring process, using sophisticated
technology platforms, has transformed traditional recruitment models and reinforces TCS'
philosophy of being an equal opportunity employer. TCS, through its NQT, followed an
unprecedented democratic process in IT recruitment - giving all students, regardless of their
institute and location, an equal opportunity to prove their passion for technology.
The TCS iON Digital Assessment platform has assessed more than 115 million candidates for
over 2,490 unique examinations held for institutions across India.
8. Media Sources
Media sources such as newspapers, magazines, television, radio, and billboards are widely
used. Almost all newspapers carry “Help Wanted” sections, and so do many magazines. For
example, The Wall Street Journal is a major source used to recruit managerial and
professional employees nationally or regionally. Whatever medium is used, it should be tied
to the relevant labor market and provide sufficient information on the company and the job.
Newspapers are convenient because there is a short lead time for placing an ad, usually two
or three days at most. For positions that must be filled quickly, newspapers may be a good
source. However, there can be a great deal of “wasted circulation” with newspaper
advertising because most newspapers do not aim to reach any specialized employee markets.
Some applicants are only marginally suitable, primarily because employers who compose the
ads do not describe the jobs and the necessary qualifications very well. Many employers have
found that it is not cost efficient to schedule newspaper ads on days other than Sunday, the
only day many job seekers read them.
In addition to newspapers, other media sources include general magazines, television and
radio, and billboards. These sources are usually not suitable for frequent use but may be used
for one-time campaigns aimed at quickly finding specially skilled workers.
9. unsolicited candidates.
Persons who voluntarily come for attending interview or apply for the jobs, or Persons who
are uninvited attending for interview or applying for the job are unsolicited sources of
employees. Today this source has become one of the major sources for employers, especially
many employers are receiving unsolicited e-mails from the candidates seeking job.
Employers are also able to find out competent employees and candidates who meet their
requirements for the filling of job available. Employers are getting most of unsolicited
candidates from e-recruitment that is through job websites and e-mails which has become
widely used source of recruitment of employees. Few employers believe that unsolicited
candidates have competence compared to solicited candidates, Some employers feel that
unsolicited candidates have confidence and apply for the job because they themselves believe
that they are competent and suits to Job.
McDonald use Snapchat to recruit
People of age 20-25 are very much active on Snapchat. The digital natives younger
generation is active on this app and the organization can grab their attention to include them
in workforce. Snapchat is now used as way to create a employer brand and attract young
people towards the job opening. It is now a full blown recruiting strategy used by big
companies like McDonald and Grubhub. McDonald used video ads and applications to
convey the prospective employees about the job vacancy in the organization.

McDonald has also released 10-second video ads in which their current employees are
featured and they are talking about their experience to work with McDonald. The person who
is interested in the job can swipe up the video and they will be redirected to the career
webpage of the company. The interested candidate can also try virtually the uniform of
McDonald and send a 10 second video to the employer about why they will be great
employee of the company.