UNIT-3

Employee Engagement
Employee engagement is a property of the relationship between an organization and
its employees. An "engaged employee" is defined as one who is fully absorbed by and
enthusiastic about their work and so takes positive action to further the organization's reputation
and interests. An engaged employee has a positive attitude towards the organization and its
values.[1]
An organization with "high" employee engagement might therefore be expected to outperform
those with "low" employee engagement
Employee engagement first appeared as a concept in management theory in the 1990s,
[2]
 becoming widespread in management practice in the 2000s, but it remains contested. It stands
in an unspecified relationship to earlier constructs such as morale and job satisfaction. Despite
academic critiques, employee-engagement practices are well established in the management
of human resources and of internal communications.
Drivers of engagement
Some additional points from research into drivers of engagement are presented below:

 Employee perceptions of job importance – "...an employee's attitude toward the job's
importance and the company had the greatest impact on loyalty and customer servicethan all
other employee factors combined."[17]
 Employee clarity of job expectations – "If expectations are not clear and basic materials
and equipment are not provided, negative emotions such as boredom or resentment may
result, and the employee may then become focused on surviving more than thinking about
how he can help the organization succeed."[18]
 Career advancement / improvement opportunities – "Plant supervisors and managers
indicated that many plant improvements were being made outside the suggestion system,
where employees initiated changes in order to reap the bonuses generated by the subsequent
cost savings."[19]
 Regular feedback and dialogue with superiors – "Feedback is the key to giving employees
a sense of where they’re going, but many organizations are remarkably bad at giving
it."[18] "'What I really wanted to hear was 'Thanks.[20] You did a good job.' But all my boss did
was hand me a cheque.'"[15]
 Quality of working relationships with peers, superiors, and subordinates – "...if
employees' relationship with their managers is fractured, then no amount of perks will
persuade the employees to perform at top levels. Employee engagement is a direct reflection
of how employees feel about their relationship with the boss."[21]
 Perceptions of the ethos and values of the organization – "'Inspiration and values' is the
most important of the six drivers in our Engaged Performance model. Inspirational
leadership is the ultimate perk. In its absence, [it] is unlikely to engage employees."
 Effective internal employee communications – which convey a clear description of "what's
going on". "'
Preparing a recruitment plan:-
How you plan your recruiting is important not only to ensure you find the right person for a job
opening, but also because the costs of bad recruitment decisions can be very high in terms of
both time and money.

The following steps can help make sure your business has an effective recruitment plan:

1-DETERMINE YOUR RECRUITMENT GOALS

A recruitment plan should be based on your business goals.  For example, are you planning to
expand or change your business?  What skills are required to accomplish this objective?  From
there, you should establish specific recruitment goals. One goal will be attracting the best people
to work in your business. The best people will make a direct difference to your bottom line,
helping to raise your service and quality level. People who are less than dedicated to your
business can compromise customer experiences.

Some other recruitment goals may be:

 Attracting a higher standard of candidate

 Attracting a candidate who has skills you currently do not have in your organization
 Promoting your company as a dynamic place where people want to work
Determine your overall recruitment needs through having well established business goals.

2-REVIEW JOB DESCRIPTIONS

Take time to review the job description, which may need to be changed since the last person was hired. Or, if it
is a new position, you may need to create a new job description. You may want to talk to the previous person
in the position and get their input on how the job description could be improved, and what the highlights of the
job were. Make sure the description includes all of the critical job related components.

3-CONSIDER PEOPLE-FINDING STRATEGIES

How you find staff for your business can be divided into short-term and long-term recruiting
techniques. Short-term techniques are designed to generate an immediate selection of candidates.
Long-term techniques involve developing relationships with key people and the community, and
promoting your company as a rewarding place to work. The focus is on keeping long-term
relationships with people who have the potential to work for your organization.

4-USE ALTERNATIVE LABOUR POOLS 

Have you considered hiring co-op students, immigrants, aboriginals, people on social assistance
or EI, persons with disabilities, or baby boomers? Sometimes the right person for the job may not
be from the most obvious pool of applicants.

5-APPRECIATE THE PERCEPTION OF YOUR WORKPLACE FROM THE OUTSIDE

How your workplace is perceived or positioned will affect how candidates respond to job
postings. To stand out in the job market, employers must offer something different from
competitors. For example, many tourism employers provide seasonal hiring; an inability to offer
permanent, full-time positions can set limits on the selection of candidates. Yet this can be turned
into something more appealing by offering ongoing summer employment from year to year.

6-KEEP A SHORT LIST

Once your job ads are posted, be sure that you are clear about your selection criteria. What skills
do you need to add to your business? How will you choose one candidate over another?

Short-listing is the first step in identifying the candidates who display the skills and selection
criteria you are looking for. Shortlisting—when done well—can cut down on interviewing time
later on.

7-HONE YOUR INTERVIEWING TECHNIQUE

Before interviewing, develop job-related questions so there are no awkward pauses, and so you
remain in charge of the interview. Be sure to ask open-ended questions that allow the candidate
to tell you about themselves, such as "What are some things you would like to avoid in a job?
Why?" and "In your previous job what kind of pressures did you face?"

8-CHECK THOROUGHLY BEFORE MAKING A JOB OFFER

Have you obtained a signed application, conducted reference checks and scheduled background
checks? Have you determined a salary offer based upon market, qualifications and internal
comparisons?

9-FOLLOW THROUGH AFTER A CANDIDATE HAS ACCEPTED

Have you confirmed the offer in writing and advised other employees within the company? Be
sure to make arrangements for the candidate’s start date well ahead of time. You’ll also want to
advise the other candidates that the position has been filled.

With the right recruitment plan in place, you'll be in a better position to hire the best people for
your company.

List of popular job portals operating in India:-

Here is a list of top 15 online job portals in India in 2017:

15. CareerJet.co.in
14. Careerbuilder.co.in
13. WisdomJobs.com
12. Careesma.in
11. Jobstreet.co.in
10. Iimjobs.com
9. Freshersworld.com
8. Indeed.co.in
7. Glassdoor.co.in
6. FreeJobAlert.com
5. Monsterindia.com
4. Timesjobs.com
3. Shine.com
2. Linkedin.com
1. Naukri.com

Searching and downloading applicant profile by using job portals:-

Search through resumes

Although their traditional role is to post job ads, job boards also serve as resume databases by
encouraging candidates to upload their resumes. Instead of (or, in addition to) posting a job
opening and waiting for incoming resumes, you could search through the portal’s database to
find matching candidates. Set specific criteria to narrow down your resume search: by location,
skills, education level and experience.

Some of the biggest job boards, like Indeed and Beyond use niche technology to provide

employers with qualified resumes. More than that, they allow recruiters to search using multiple
filters to instantly get resumes, without posting a job ad. You could also set up an email alert
or sync with your ATS to get notifications for matching profiles.

Use sourcing tools

Many sites build sourcing-specific tools for recruiters. Monster’s Talentbin is a large resume
database where you could choose from millions of profiles for each position. Along the same
lines, CareerBuilder’s resume database uses boolean logic to provide accurate results
that decrease your search time.

Find relevant job portals for your role

To minimize time spent sourcing candidates through job portals, you need to look in the right
places. We work remotely brings remote workers and employers (from all kinds of industries)
closer together, whereas Mogul is the place to attract more women for tech roles. If you’re
offering paid internships, check out Way Up. You might find local job portals useful when you
want to search in a limited geographical area. For Greek candidates, you should check
out Skywalker, in Ireland, use IrishJobs. Job seekers in Australia
prefer Seek and Cadremploi publishes job opportunities in France. It’s best to research and test
different portals, according to your specific needs. You should experiment and track your results
to identify those sources that bring the most qualified candidates.

Consider non-traditional job boards

Many sites serve as a de-facto job board, without being designed as one. Their advantage is that
they gather people interested in a specific area and allow recruiters to post their job openings and
look through resumes. This is very useful to source candidates with a specific skill set. For
example, Dribbble and Behance are the most common places for designers not only to hang out,
but also to upload their resumes and share their work. Github and StackOverflow have created
job portals where recruiters can get in touch with developers. LinkedIn also falls in the same
category, as a professional social network where employers post their job ads and connect with
potential candidates.

Put your company on the map

Effective sourcing also means that candidates can easily find companies that are hiring. Job
portals offer spaces for advertising: they usually put special banners for companies with current
openings. In addition, they highlight job postings from premium accounts. On Glassdoor,
candidates find both job ads and information about companies they consider applying to. You
should aim to promote your company through Glassdoor to boost your employer brand.
Eventually, you’ll encourage more candidates to consider your job opportunities.

Sources of Recruitment of Employees: Internal and External  Sources (with its Advantages

and Disadvantages)!

The searching of suitable candidates and informing them about the openings in the enterprise is

the most important aspect of recruitment process.

The candidates may be available inside or outside the organisation. Basically, there are two

sources of recruitment i.e., internal and external sources.

(A) Internal Sources:

Best employees can be found within the organisation… When a vacancy arises in the

organisation, it may be given to an employee who is already on the pay-roll. Internal sources

include promotion, transfer and in certain cases demotion. When a higher post is given to a

deserving employee, it motivates all other employees of the organisation to work hard. The

employees can be informed of such a vacancy by internal advertisement.

(B) External Sources:

All organisations have to use external sources for recruitment to higher positions when existing

employees are not suitable. More persons are needed when expansions are undertaken.

Preparing recruitment budget:-

Here are five simple steps that will help you build a recruiting budget:

1. Determine your personnel budget

Employers often ask Glassdoor if they should factor in personnel cost into their cost-per-hire.

This is entirely up to each company’s discretion, but I want to warn you that it can significantly

impact cost-per-hire calculations. Whether you factor this into your cost-per-hire ratio or not,

you must list out each job title needed on the team, include hiring dates, and track salary impact

per head count by quarter to determine an appropriate personnel budget. To accurately forecast

total cost, be sure to add 30% to total to “fully burden” for benefits, taxes, T&E, etc. Also,

include any contractor or part-time employees that you plan to bring on during the year.

2. Factor in program and systems fees

With so many factors, your recruiting budget can easily balloon. Elements include implementing

a CRM system, managing social accounts, posting jobs online, running employee referral
programs, revamping your career site, adding photos and videos that reflect your culture,

installing recruiting analytics tools and investing in your employer brand.

You will need to account for the fees involved with each system and ensure you keep track of

campaign lengths. According to a recent Harris survey of employers, an employer brand alone

can typically amount to a $129,000 annual investment. Ensuring that you have enough budget to

cover recruiting tools and fees is important to win the war for talent!

3. Estimate an annual expected number of hires

Coming up with your recruiting budget breakdown by program requires estimating the number

of job openings per year. Break this down by quarter to see what budget needs to be spent on

each channel when. At Glassdoor, we look at every channel we use for our job ads and determine

what we will spend on each by quarter based on our open number of positions.

4. Track the cost of events

As a marketer, I know that staging events are time consuming and definitely not cheap. Whether

you are a small business looking to build awareness via career fairs or an enterprise looking to

host meet-ups that help candidates in becoming familiar with your brand, it can be an expensive

initiative. Be sure to consider all the events that you will be hosting or attending during the year

to come up with an accurate budget.

5. Include an employee referral bonus program

Last, be sure you consider your spend on employee referral bonus programs. At some

companies, 50% or more of hires can come through employee referrals. Having a strong program

in place ensures success and rewards your employees for introducing you to new candidates. Be

sure to factor in fees that you will pay for hard-to-fill positions then multiply that by half the

openings that you will have throughout the year, depending on the ratio of employees that you

receive through word of mouth.

Employer branding
Employer brand is the term commonly used to describe an organization's reputation as an
employer, and its value proposition to its employees, as opposed to its more general corporate
brand reputation and value proposition to customers. The term was first used in the early 1990s,
and has since become widely adopted by the global management community. Minchington
describes your employer brand as "the image of your organisation as a 'great place to work' in the
mind of current employees and key stakeholders in the external market (active and passive
candidates, clients, customers and other key stakeholders). The art and science of employer
branding is therefore concerned with the attraction, engagement and retention initiatives targeted
at enhancing your company's employer brand."
Formulating Better Recruitment Strategy(specially for managerial/executive
jobs)

Some of the ways to formulate better recruitment strategies for your company are as follows: 1.

Identifying and Prioritizing Jobs 2. Candidates to Target 3. Sources of Recruitment 4. Trained

Recruiters 5. How to Evaluate the Candidates.

1. Identifying and Prioritizing Jobs:

Requirements keep arising at various levels in every organisation; it is almost a never-ending

process. It is impossible to fill all the positions immediately.

Therefore, there is a need to identify the positions requiring immediate attention and action. To

maintain the quality of the recruitment activities, it is useful to prioritize the vacancies—whether

to focus on all vacancies equally or focusing on key jobs first.

2. Candidates to Target:

The recruitment process can be effective only if the organisation completely understands the

requirements of the type of candidates that are required and will be beneficial for the

organisation.

3. Sources of Recruitment:

The strategy should define various sources (external and internal) of recruitment. There is a need

to know the sources to be used and focused for the recruitment purposes for various positions.

Employee referral is one of the most effective sources of recruitment.

4. Trained Recruiters:

The recruitment professionals conducting the interviews and the other recruitment activities

should be well-trained and experienced to conduct the activities. They should also be aware of

the major parameters and skills (e.g., behavioral, technical etc.) to focus while interviewing and

selecting a candidate.

5. How to Evaluate the Candidates:

The various parameters and the ways to judge them i.e., the entire recruitment process should be

planned in advance. Like the rounds of technical interviews, HR interviews, written tests,

psychometric tests etc.

Selection process

Steps Involved in Selection Procedure:

A scientific and logical selection procedure leads to scientific selection of candidates. The

criterion finalized for selecting a candidate for a particular job varies from company to company.
Brief details of the various steps in selection procedure are given as follows:
1. Inviting applications:

The prospective candidates from within the organization or outside the organization are called

for applying for the post. Detailed job description and job specification are provided in the

advertisement for the job. It attracts a large number of candidates from various areas.

2. Receiving applications:

Detailed applications are collected from the candidates which provide the necessary information

about personal and professional details of a person. These applications facilitate analysis and

comparison of the candidates.

3. Scrutiny of applications:

As the limit of the period within which the company is supposed to receive applications ends, the

applications are sorted out. Incomplete applications get rejected; applicants with un-matching job

specifications are also rejected.

4. Written tests:

As the final list of candidates becomes ready after the scrutiny of applications, the written test is

conducted. This test is conducted for understanding the technical knowledge, attitude and interest

of the candidates. This process is useful when the number of applicants is large.

Many times, a second chance is given to candidates to prove themselves by conducting another

written test.

5. Psychological tests:

These tests are conducted individually and they help for finding out the individual quality and

skill of a person. The types of psychological tests are aptitude test, intelligence test, synthetic test

and personality test

6. Personal interview:

Candidates proving themselves successful through tests are interviewed personally. The

interviewers may be individual or a panel. It generally involves officers from the top

management.

The candidates are asked several questions about their experience on another job, their family

background, their interests, etc. They are supposed to describe their expectations from the said

job. Their strengths and weaknesses are identified and noted by the interviewers which help them

to take the final decision of selection.

7. Reference check:

Generally, at least two references are asked for by the company from the candidate. Reference

check is a type of crosscheck for the information provided by the candidate through their

application form and during the interviews.

8. Medical examination:

Physical strength and fitness of a candidate is must before they takes up the job. In-spite of good

performance in tests and interviews, candidates can be rejected on the basis of their ill health.

9. Final selection:

At this step, the candidate is given the appointment letter to join the organization on a particular

date. The appointment letter specifies the post, title, salary and terms of employment. Generally,

initial appointment is on probation and after specific time period it becomes permanent.

10. Placement:

This is a final step. A suitable job is allocated to the appointed candidate so that they can get the

whole idea about the nature of the job. They can get adjusted to the job and perform well in

future with all capacities and strengths.

Assessment centre
Assessment Centres are an alternative method of recruiting to the usual interview structure. They
have gone in and out of favour – when are they the best solution to a recruitment need, and what
should they consist of?

In an ideal world, when recruiting for positions we would have the opportunity to "try before you
buy" and see an individual actually at work before you hire them.

The use of assessment centres

 They are far more accurate than a standard recruitment process as they allow a broader range
of selection methods to be used during the process
 They enable interviewers to assess existing performance as well as predict future job
performance
 They give the opportunity to assess and differentiate between candidates who seem very
similar - in terms of quality - on paper
 They give the candidates a better insight into the role as they are tested on exercises, which
are typical for the role they have applied for
 They help employers build an employer brand. Candidates who attend assessment centres
which genuinely reflect the job and the organisation are often impressed by that company,
even if they are rejected
 The cost of an assessment centre is usually cheaper compared with the potential cost of many
recruitment phases and the cost of recruitment errors
 They are a fair process – they complement an organisation’s diversity agenda and ensure that
people are selected on the basis of merit alone.

Selection errors

Selection errors is the bias introduced by the selection of individuals, groups or data for analysis
in such a way that proper randomization is not achieved, thereby ensuring that the sample
obtained is not representative of the population intended to be analyzed. It is sometimes referred
to as the selection effect.

There are two types of selection error. In the "false positive error," a decision is made to hire an
applicant based on predicted success, but failure results. In the "false negative error," an
applicant who would have succeeded is rejected based on predictions of failure.

Top 10 selection errors and minimizing selection errors:-

To help you reduce your turnover and improve your bottom line, below are solutions to the top
10 employee selection mistakes.

1. Use only a "gut feel" approach

No relationship has been found between years of experience hiring people and effective
selection, so the experienced manager is no more effective than the rookie manager.
 Experienced managers tend to rely more on gut feel and stray from validated practices for
effective selection.
Experience and intuition are important, but so are more reliable and valid ways to collect
data such as testing, simulations and work samples. No one aspect of the selection
process should be relied on exclusively; rather they should be weighted based on the
company's values and the job requirements.

Solution: Design and train on a selection process that contains various forms of data
collection (qualitative and quantitative). Design your process and weight each selection
component based on your company's values.

2. Don't know what you are looking for

It is hard to find "it" when you do not know what you are looking for. 

Solution: Like most decision-making, employee selection is fundamentally emotional.

Therefore, it is important to define and prioritise the Critical Success Factors (CSFs) for
the job in advance. This enables clear thinking to establish a specific position profile.
Yes, it takes time, but it is an effective use of time versus "shooting in the dark". See the
following Applicant Evaluation Tool to help you avoid this mistake.

3. Screen in vs. screen out

Most interviewers inherently look for characteristics that match the company culture and
job requirements. They want to find a winner – a match! This perspective subtly but
significantly makes us filter in good attributes and rationalise why negative attributes will
not be a problem if we hire this person. 

Solution: View your job as an investigator who is looking for any little clue, any reason,
why this candidate will not be wildly successful.

4. Talk 80% and listen 20%

The reverse should be true. If you are talking too much, then you are selling the job (see
below) instead of screening the candidate.

Solution: The interviewer should listen 80% of the time.

5. Take candidates at their word

Do not settle for vague general responses to be polite. 

 Solution: You are on a data collection mission. Probe for specific examples and
situations where the candidate has demonstrated the success factors you are looking for.
Let the candidate know at the beginning of the interview that your goal is to fully and
specifically understand his / her capabilities.

6. Give in to work and market pressures

The vast majority of managers hire too quickly and fire too slowly. In a tight labor
market, it is not uncommon for a hiring manager to meet the candidate only once then
make an offer. And when candidate supply is plentiful, managers tend to miss the
opportunity to sift through lots of candidates to find the very best fit due to "lack of
time". Interesting that these same managers can find the time to deal with performance
issues resulting from poor selection - again, pay me now or pay me later. 

Solution: Use the 3x3x3 Rule: 3 employees interview 3 candidates 3 different times. You
are thinking, "All that time for one hire?" You will spend much more time than that if
you make the wrong hire.

7. Selling the job

This is another mistake that can be exacerbated in a tight labor market. Managers want to
sell the candidate on their company because they know that the candidate likely has an
offer on the table from a competing company. 

Solution: The effective, long-term objective is to look for a good "fit" for the job and the
company, regardless of the labor market conditions.

8. Oblivious to the legal Do's and Don'ts

This may not prevent you from making the right selection decision, but it sure will
increase your company's liabilities. 

Solution: Ignorance is no excuse. Know, train, and enforce the law in your selection
processes.

9. Go with the Flow

This comes down to lack of preparation and relying on those "favorite questions" and gut
feel. Most interviewers do not take control of the interview.

Solution: Once you have identified the success factors and prioritised them, then prepare
questions (and appropriate follow-up questions / probes) that will extract the necessary
information from the candidate. Remember, it is your interview. You set the process,
timing, roles, pace and questioning - not the candidate. This requires thoughtful
preparation.
 10. Listen only to the candidate's words

90+% of all communication is nonverbal, so being attuned to the multitude of nonverbal

cues provides an interviewer with much richer information about the candidate. 

Solution: Don't stop at the traditional cues: eye contact, posture, facial expressions and
gestures. Consider intonation, pacing of speech, energy level, self-confidence. How did
you feel after the interview? Enthused, tired, impressed? Perhaps those who work with
the candidate will feel the same way.

Test reliability
Reliability refers to how dependably or consistently a test measures a characteristic. If a
person takes the test again, will he or she get a similar test score, or a much different
score? A test that yields similar scores for a person who repeats the test is said to measure
a characteristic reliably.

How do we account for an individual who does not get exactly the same test score every
time he or she takes the test? Some possible reasons are the following:

 Test taker's temporary psychological or physical state. Test performance can

be influenced by a person's psychological or physical state at the time of testing. For
example, differing levels of anxiety, fatigue, or motivation may affect the applicant's
test results.
 Environmental factors. Differences in the testing environment, such as room
temperature, lighting, noise, or even the test administrator, can influence an
individual's test performance.
 Test form. Many tests have more than one version or form. Items differ on each
form, but each form is supposed to measure the same thing. Different forms of a
test are known as parallel forms or alternate forms. These forms are designed to
have similar measurement characteristics, but they contain different items. Because
the forms are not exactly the same, a test taker might do better on one form than on
another.
 Multiple raters. In certain tests, scoring is determined by a rater's judgments of the
test taker's performance or responses. Differences in training, experience, and frame
of reference among raters can produce different test scores for the test taker.