Chapter 8 Recruitment, Selection and Training of

workers
 The Role of the H.R. (Human Resource) Department
 Recruitment and selection: attracting and selecting the best candidates for job posts
 Wages and salaries: set wages and salaries that attract and retain employees as well as motivate them
 Industrial relations: there must be effective communication between management and workforce to solve
complaints and disputes as well as discussing ideas and suggestions
 Training Programmes: give employees training to increase their productivity and efficiency
 Health and safety: all laws on health and safety conditions in the workplace should be adhered to
 Redundancy and dismissal: the managers should dismiss any unsatisfactory/misbehaving employees and
make them redundant if they are no longer needed by the business.

 Recruitment and selection.

All businesses will, at some point, have to recruit new workers. Recruitment is time-consuming and costly.
However, it is important to hire the right people. When a business is looking to fill in a vacancy, they can look for
someone in its existing workforce – internal recruitment – or search outside the business – external

Internal recruitment: Filling a vacant post with External recruitment: Filling a vacant post with
someone already employed in the business. somebody not already employed in the business.

Advantages: Advantages:
 Saves time and money- no need for advertising  Brings new ideas and improve effectiveness
and interviewing and efficiency.
 Person already known to business  Wider choice of applicants.
 Person knows business’ ways of working  Avoids upsetting existing workers and creating
 Motivating for other employees to see their jealousy.
colleagues being promoted- urging them to Disadvantages:
work hard  Takes longer to fill the vacancy.
Disadvantages:  More expensive than internal recruitment due
 No new skills and experience coming into the to advertisement costs and interviewing outside
business candidates.
 Jealousy among workers  External candidates require training increasing
 There will still be a vacancy to fill, as the expenses.
workers previous job becomes redundant.
 A more qualified person may be available
outside the business.

recruitment.

 Main Stages in recruitment and selection of staff

1. The business identifies the need for a new worker and carries out a job analysis.
2. A job description is produced.
3. A person specification is produced.
4. The job is advertised.
5. Send out application forms and job details.
6. Receive completed applications.
7. Select a shortlist from all the applicants.
8. Interview short listed candidates.
9. Select the right candidate
 Job Analysis
 A job analysis identifies and records the tasks and responsibilities relating to the job. It will tell the
managers what the job post is for.

Job Description
Then a job description is prepared that outlines the responsibilities and duties to be carried out by
someone employed to do the job. It will have information about the conditions of employment (salary, working
hours, and pension scheme), training offered, opportunities for promotion etc. This is given to all prospective
candidates so they know what exactly they will be required and expected to do.
 A job description may have:
Job Title: eg: Sales Executive
Main duties of the post – eg: budgeting
Responsibilities – what the job holder is responsible for.
Accountability – who do you report to?

Person Specification
A list of qualifications, skills, experience and personal qualities looked for in a successful applicant.

Advertising a job
When advertising a job, the business needs to decide what should be included in the advertisement, where it should
be advertised, how much it will cost and whether it will be cost-effective. When a person is interested in a job, they
should apply for it by sending in a curriculum vitae (CV) or resume, this will detail the person’s qualifications,
experience, qualities and skills.The business will use these to see which candidates match the job specification. It
will also include statements of why the candidate wants the job and why he/she feels they would be suitable for the
job. With internal recruitment the vacancy can just be emailed, put on notice board or put in office newsletter. With
external recruitment, local or national newspapers, website, magazines etc maybe used.

Selection
Applicants who are shortlisted will be interviewed by the H.R. manager. They will also call up the referee provided
by the applicant (a referee could be the previous employer or colleagues who can give a confidential opinion about
the applicant’s reliability, honesty and suitability for the job). Interviews will allow the manager to assess:

 the applicant’s ability to do the job

 personal qualities of the applicant
 character and personality of applicant

In addition to interviews, firms can conduct certain tests to select the best candidate. This could include skills
tests (ability to do the job), aptitude tests (candidate’s potential to gain additional skills), personality tests (what kind
of a personality the candidate has- will it be suitable for the job?), group situation tests (how they manage and work
in teams) etc.
When a successful candidate has been selected the others must be sent a letter of rejection.
The contract of employment: a legal agreement between the employer and the employee listing the rights and
responsibilities of workers. It will include:
 the name of employer and employee
 job title
 date when employment will begin
 hours to work
 rate of pay and other benefits
 when payment is made
 holiday entitlement
 the amount of notice to be given to terminate the employment that the employer or employee must give to
end the employment etc.

Employment contracts can be part-time or full-time. 

Part-time employment is often considered to be between 1 and 30-35 hours a week whereas full-time
employment will usually work 35 hours or more a week.

Advantages to employer of part-time employment (disadvantages of full-time employment to employer):

 more flexible hours of work
 easier to ask employees just to work at busy times
 easier to extend business opening/operating hours by working evenings or at weekends
 works lesser hours so employee is willing to accept lower pay
 less expensive than employing and paying full-time workers.
Disadvantages to employer of part-time employment (advantages of full-time employment to employers)
 less likely to be trained because the workers see the job as temporary
 takes longer to recruit two part-time workers than one full-time worker
 can be less committed to the business/ more likely to leave and go get another job
 less likely to be promoted because they will not have gained the skills and experience as full-time
employees
 more difficult to communicate with part-time workers when they are not in work- all work at different times.
  Training

Training is important to a business as it will improve the worker’s skills and knowledge and help the business
be more efficient and productive, especially when new processes and products are introduced. It will improve the
workers’ chances at getting promoted and raise their morale.

The three types of training are:

1. Induction training: an introduction given to a new employee, explaining the firm’s activities,

customs and procedures and introducing them to their fellow workers.

Advantages Disadvantages

- Helps new employees to settle into Time-consuming

their job quickly
- May be a legal requirement to give
health and safety training before the
start of work
-Less likely to make mistakes
Wages still have to be paid during
training, even though they aren’t
working
Delays the state of the employee
starting the job

2. On-the-job training: occurs by watching a more experienced worker doing the job

Advantages Disadvantages

It ensures there is some production
from worker whilst they are training
It usually costs less than off-the-job
training
It is training to the specific needs of
the business
The trainer will lose some production
time as they are taking some time to
teach the new employee
The trainer may have bad habits that
can be passed onto the trainee
It may not necessarily be recognized
training qualifications outside the
business

3. Off-the-job training: involves being trained away from the workplace, usually by specialist
trainers

Advantages Disadvantages

A broad range of skills can be taught Costs are high

using these techniques
Employees may be taught a variety
of skills and they may become multi-
skilled that can allow them to do
various jobs in the company when
the need arises.
It means wages are paid but no work
is being done by the worker
The additional qualifications mean it
is easier for the employee to leave
and find another job
Workforce Planning

Workforce Planning: the establishing of the workforce needed by the business for the foreseeable future in terms
of the number and skills of employees required.
They may have to downsize (reduce the no. of employees) the workforce because of:
- Introduction of automation
- Falling demand for their products
- Factory/shop/office closure
- Relocating factory abroad
- A business has merged or been taken over and some jobs are no longer needed

They can downsize the workforce in two ways:

Dismissal: where a worker is told to leave their job because their work or behavior is unsatisfactory.
Redundancy: when an employee is no longer needed and so loses their work, through not due to any fault of theirs.
They may be given some money as compensation for the redundancy.

Worker could also resign (they are leaving because they have found another job) and retire (they are getting old and
want to stop working).

 Legal Controls over Employment Issues

There are lot so government laws that affect equal employment opportunities. These laws require businesses to
treat their employees equally in the workplace and when being recruited and selected- there should be no
discrimination based on age, gender, religion, race etc.
Employees are protected in many areas including

 against unfair discrimination
 health and safety at work (protection from dangerous machinery, safety clothing and equipment, hygiene
conditions, medical aid etc.)
 against unfair dismissal
 wage protection (through the contract of employment since it will have listed the pay and conditions). Many
countries have a legal minimum wage– the minimum wage an employer has to pay its employee. This
avoids employers from exploiting its employees, and encourages more people to find work, but since costs
are rising for the business, they may make many workers redundant- unemployment will rise.

An industrial tribunal is a legal meeting which considers workers’ complaints of unfair dismissal or discrimination at
work. This will hear both sides of the case and may give the worker compensation if the dismissal was unfair.