Recruitment and Selection

By Mbonea, D (BA(Hons),MHRM)
November 2015
 Staffing
• The process of manning the organization
structure through proper and effective
recruitment , selection, training and
development of the personnel to fill the
positions created in an organization is referred
to as staffing
 Aspects of Staffing
There are three important aspects of staffing
1. Recruitment
2. Selection
3. Training
 Recruitment
• Recruitment is a positive step which aims at
attracting number of candidates to apply for
the given job.

• The higher the number of people who apply

for a job the higher will be the possibility of
getting a suitable employee.
 Advertising
Advertising is commonly part of the recruitment
process, and can occur through several means
 Newspapers
 Through professional publication
 Through a job centre
 Through compus interviews
 Various Activities Involved with the
Process of Recruitment
The various activities involved with the process
of recruitment includes:
a) Identification of the different sources of
labour supply,
b) Assessment of the validity
c) Choosing the most suitable source or sources
d) Inviting applications from the prospective
candidates, for the vacancies
 Recruitment
The Management may fill the requisite
positions from within the organization or from
outside.
 Sources of Recruitment
There are two sources of recruitment
1) Internal source
2) External source
 Internal Sources of Recruitment
In any organization, existing employees expect
that they will have chances of promotion and
will be considered for higher positions before
outsiders are considered.
Managers, therefore, promote and transfer
existing employees to fill the vacant positions.
This motivates employees to give their best
performance to the organization.
Internal Sources of Recruitment(Continue….......)

There are three important sources of internal

recruitment namely:
a) Transfers
b) Promotions
c) Re – employment of ex- employees.
 Transfers
Transfer is a horizontal movement of an
employee from one job to another, one
department to another or from one shift to
another without a substance change in the
responsibilities and status of the employee.
Transfers may lead to changes in duties and
responsibilities, working condition and so on but
not necessarily salary.
 Promotion
Promotion is a vertical movement of an
employee from lower jobs to higher jobs.
Promotion leads to shifting an employee to a
higher position carrying higher responsibilities,
facilities, status and pay.
Re – Employment of Ex-Employees
Re – employment of ex-employees is one of
internal sources of recruitment in which
business organizations invite and appoint ex-
employees to fill existing vacancies
Merits of internal sources of recruitment

1) Motivation
Internal recruitment acts as an incentive to
employees to work harder and improve their
performance through learning and practice
within an organization
2) Simple process of selection
Internal recruitment simplifies the process of
selection and placement as the employees can be
evaluated more accurately and economically and
are already known the organization
 Merits of internal sources of
recruitment(Continue….)
3) Shorter training period
In the case of internal recruitment employees with
inside knowledge of business operations will need
shorter periods of training and time to ‘fitting’ in.
Also people recruited from inside do not need
induction training
4) Efficient use of human resources
Through internal recruitment, an organization may
shift workforce from the surplus departments to
those where there is shortage of staff
 Merits of internal sources of
recruitment(Continue….)
5) Cheaper source of recruitment
Filling of jobs internally is quicker and less
expensive than recruiting candidates from
external sources.
Demerits of internal sources of recruitment

i. Limited Choice
Internal recruitment reduces the tapping of fresh
talent available in the market outside the
organization. Moreover, internal recruitment
involve the danger of inbreeding by Stopping
infusion of new blood to the organization
ii. Stagnation of skills
The employees may become sluggish if they are
sure of time –bound promotions. This may affect
their skills as well as productivity and efficiency of
an organization in the long run.
 Discourage Competition
Internal recruitment hampers the spirit of
competition among the employees by not giving
opportunity to otherwise competent candidates
from outside the organization.
 Reduce Productivity
Frequent transfers of employees may often
reduce productivity of an organization
 Increase Conflicts
• Internal recruitment may increase the chances
of employee discontent in an organization
 External Sources of Recruitment
1) Direct Recruitment
2) Casual Callers
3) Advertisement
4) Employment exchanges
5) Placement Agencies and Management of
Consultants
6) Recommendations of Employees
7) Labour Contractors
 Direct Recruitment
Under the direct recruitment, enterprise place a
notice on notice board specifying the
information about the jobs available. Job
seekers assemble outside the premises of the
organization on the specified date and selection
is done on the spot.
 Casual Caller
• Many organizations maintains a database of
unsolicited applicants that can be valuable
source of manpower to them. These
organizations prepare a list of such job seekers
and screen the same to fill the vacancies as
they arise. This source of recruitment
minimizes the cost of recruiting workforce in
comparison to other sources.
 Advertisement
• Advertisements in newspapers, journals, television and
internet is the most popular method of inviting
applications and is generally used when a wider choice
is required. The advertisement contains details about
the job, its nature, the qualification required to do the
job, etc
• The advantage of advertising vacancies is that more
information about the organization and the job can be
given in the advertisement, its advantage is that it may
bring in a flood of response, and many times, from
quite unsuitable candidates.
 Employment Exchange
• Employment Exchange is an organization that
helps business enterprises recruit employees and
aids individuals in their attempt to locate jobs.
• Employment exchanges run by the government
are regarded as a good source of recruitment for
unskilled and skilled operative jobs.
• The individuals who are in search of employment
need to get themselves registered with the local
employment exchanges that keep a record of all
such persons in detail.
 Employment Exchange(Continue….)
• Organizations, on the other hand, inform the
exchanges about the vacancies.
• The exchange in turn, identifies the names of
the qualified employment seekers registered
with it, and forwards them to the employer for
consideration.
Placement Agencies and Management
Consultants
• Placement Agencies and Management
Consultants provide a nationwide service in
matching personnel demand and supply.
These agencies register with them the names
of the individuals who are seeking
employment and try to arrange job interviews
for such candidates. Such Agencies charge fee
for their services and they are useful where
extensively screening is required
 Campus Recruitment
• Colleges and institutes of management and
technology have become a popular source of
recruitment for technical, professional and
managerial jobs. The recruitment done through
educational institutions is known as Campus
Recruitment.
• Many big organizations maintain a close liaison
with Universities, Vocational schools and
Management institutions to recruit qualified
personnel for various jobs
 Recommendations of Employees
• An organization may also consider applicants
introduced by present employees, or their
friends and relatives to fill vacant jobs. Such
applicants are likely to be good employees as
their background is sufficiently known.
• The disadvantage of this source is that the
organization has to rely totally on such
people which can later prove to be inefficient
 Labour Contractors
• Labour Contractors are the specialists who
maintain close contacts with labourers and
supply manpower to factories or
manufacturing plants.
• Business organizations appoint workers on
contract basis through these contractors
 Merit of External Source of recruitment

• Qualified Personnel - By using external sources

of recruitment an organization may attract
qualified and trained people from outside
• Wider choice – with the large pool of
applicants, an organization has a wider choice
while selecting the people for employment.
This increases prospects for the selection of
the best candidates.
• Introduce new blood to the organization
Merit of External Source of
recruitment(Continue……….)
• Competitive spirit –If an organization taps
external sources, the existing staff will have to
compete with the outsiders. They will work
harder to show better performance.
Demerits/Limitations of External Source of
recruitment
• Dissatisfaction among existing staff – External recruitment
may lead to dissatisfaction and frustration among existing
employees. With the external recruitment the existing
staff may feel that their chances of promotions are
reduced, this discourage them to do the hard work and
leads to poor productivity of the organization.
• Time consuming process – Recruitment from external
source is a time consuming process as an organization has
to notify the vacancies and wait for applications to initiate
the selection process
• Unfamiliar with the organization -
Demerits/Limitations of External Source of
recruitment(Continue….)
• Costly process – External recruitment is an
expensive process as an organization needs to
spend a lot of money on advertisement and
processing applications.
• Unfamiliar with the organization – The
candidates selected through external
recruitment are not familiar with tasks, job
nature and the international scenario of the
organization.
 SELECTION
• Selection is the process of identifying and
choosing the best person out of a number of
prospective candidates for a job.
 Selection Process
• Preliminary Screening
• Selection tests
• Employment interview
• Reference and Background check
• Selection Decision
• Medical Examination
• Job offer
• Contract of employment
 1. Preliminary Screening

• Screening is the process of checking the

contents of the applications by an organization
to ensure that the minimum eligibility
conditions in respect of age, experience,
necessary qualifications and skills are fulfilled
by the candidates. The purpose of Screening is
to prepare a list of eligible candidates who will
be considered for interview and eliminate
unqualified or unfit job seekers.
 2. Selection Tests
• After screening the applications, the organization
calls the eligible candidates for selection tests, the
purpose of these tests is to measure skills and
abilities of the candidates in terms of the job
requirements.
Some of the tests used by managers are
i. Intelligence tests
ii. Aptitude tests
iii. Personality tests
iv. Trade Tests
v. Interest Tests
 Some of the selection tests used by
managers are
i. Intelligence tests- This is one of the
important psychological tests and an
organization uses intelligence tests to
measure the level of intelligence of
individual. This test indicates the learning
ability or the ability to make decisions and
judgments of a person.
 Aptitude tests

• ii. Aptitude tests: An organization uses

aptitude test to measure individuals’ potential
for learning new skills.
• This test is the indicator of individuals’
capacity to develop and is a good index of a
person’s future success score.
 Personality tests
• iii. Personality tests provide clues to a
person’s emotions, reactions, maturity and
value system etc.
• These tests examine the overall personality of
individuals and hence, are difficult to design
and implement.
 Trade Tests

• iv.Trade tests: An organization may measure

the existing skills of individuals through trade
tests. These tests measure the level of
knowledge and proficiency in the area of
professions or technical training
 Interest Tests

• V.Interest tests: Managers may use interest

tests to know the pattern of interests or
involvement of the potential candidates.
 3.Employment Interview
• Interview is a formal, face to face and in-
depth conversation conducted to evaluate
applicant’s suitability for the job.
 4. Reference and Background Checks
• In addition to the required education
qualifications, skills and experience an
organization expects the potential candidates
must have qualities like balanced temperament,
honesty, loyalty etc.
• Managers can not judge these qualities on the
basis of any test.
4. Reference and Background Checks(Continue….)

• Hence, many employers request

names,addresses and telephone numbers of
references for the purpose of verifying
information and gaining additional information
on an applicant. Previous employers, teachers
and university professors can act as references.
5.Selection Decision
• An organization takes the final decision among
the candidates who pass tests, interviews and
reference checks. In the final selection the
views of consulting managers is genuine
considered as he/she will responsible for the
performance of the new employee.
6.Medical Examination
• After the selection decision, the candidates are
required to undergo a medical examination
and get certificates of medical fitness. The
medical examination indicates whether the
selected candidates are physically fit for the
job. Such steps in selection process is essential
for the jobs such as police and the army where
physical fitness is very important.
7. Job Offer
• Job offer for those candidates who have
cleared for medical examination
• A job offer by an organization generally
contains a date by which the appointee must
report on duty, details regarding salary, terms
of employment, employment bond if any etc.
• The candidate is given sometime to think of
the offer to accept or reject
8. Contract of Employment
• If the candidates accept the job offer, certain documents
need to be executed by the employer and the candidates.
Once such document is the attestation form which
contains certain vital details about the candidate, which
are authenticated and attested by him or her.
• A written contract of employment may contain the
following headings: job title,duties,responsibilities, date
when continuous employment starts and basis for
calculating service, rates of pay, allowances, hours of
work, leave rules, sickness, grievance procedure,
disciplinary procedure, work rules, termination of
employment
Training and Development
• Training is the process of improving the skills,
capabilities and knowledge of the current or
future employees for doing a particular job.
Through training and development an
organization increases an employees ability to
perform to learning usually by changing the
employee’s attitude or increasing his/her skills
and knowledge. Training is good to both
employers and employees in the organization.
An employee will become more efficient and
productive if is trained well.
Benefits of training and development to an
organization
• Training is a systematic learning. It reduces the wastage of
efforts and money
• Training leads to higher profits as it enhances employee
productivity both in terms of quantity and quality.
• Training equips the future manager who can take over in
case of emergency
• T&D help organizations to improve the quality of work
done by their employees. Training programme concentrate
on specific areas. There by improving the quality of work in
that area.
• Training helps in obtaining effective response to fast
changing environment, technological and economic.
Benefits of training and development to
Employees
• Training improves skills and knowledge of employees which lead to
better career
• Adaptation : T&D programme greatly help new employees to get
accustomed to new methods of working, new technology, the work
culture of the company, to name a few,
• Performance Level: Training increases the level of performance by an
individual and helps him to earn more.
• Efficiency: Training makes the employee more efficient to handle
machines. This helps to improve the health and safety measures in
the organization
• Satisfaction and Morale: Training increases the satisfaction and
morale of employees and reduces absenteeism and employee
turnover.
• Through T&D the employees remain up to date with new technology
and the fear being thrown out of the job is reduced