Recruitment and Selection

Recruitment can be described as all the required efforts to source and attract people who are involved in a qualified candidates pool for the best choice. Recruitment mainly refers to finding qualified candidates and attracting them to the organization.

Selection is to choose the most suitable and best matching candidate from the pool. This choice is made based on the accurate assessment of the job performance of the candidates by considering their strengths and weaknesses. Selection is the combination of the processes in which one or more people are preferred to perform one or more tasks.

Human resources department and line managers are responsible for the recruitment and selection process. Line managers know the position requirements to be fulfilled by the skilled candidates who meet cultural aspects for the organization. Thus, line managers must be involved in the all phases of the recruitment and selection process by providing support and information.

During the personnel selection process, social and legal requirements should be considered as well as the individuals and the organizations. The factors in terms of demographic issues such as age distribution and the sexual, ethnic, and cultural composition of the workforce should be balanced in the organization.

When deciding on the recruitment need within the organization, some other options for fulfilling the open position can be considered. The organizational policies and strategies influence the available options. Some of the options are; Promoting, Redeployment, Overtime working, Flexible working.

The organizational policies and strategies influence the available options.

The existing employees can be promoted by training and motivation for additional responsibility in the working environment. This option can increase job satisfaction by presenting a positive career path for the motivated employees.

Job analysis would be seen as a cornerstone of the human resources management activities. useful information is gathered from the job analysis process for effective decision making as a recruitment and selection application to choose the best candidates As a result of the advanced information technologies, new jobs and new trends in current jobs require a better, resilient and methodological job analysis.

Job analysis focuses on the required knowledge, skill, and capacity level to perform a job.

Job analysis aims to define;

• The role purpose,
• Tasks and responsibilities of the job performer,
• The skills, knowledge and abilities for effective performance,
• Performance measurement objectives.

There are some methods which are used commonly for job analysis. These are;

Observation, Diaries and logs, Job analysis interviews, Critical incident technique, Repertory grid and Checklist/inventories.

Job description, as a product of job analysis, is list of tasks, responsibilities, reporting relations, working conditions, and auditing responsibilities of a job. It defines the minimum required qualifications for an employee to perform a job.

Person specification is used to advertise the job for the potential applicants seeking further information. Generally, the following common items are described in the specification:

• Skills required to perform the job such as planning, communication and team working,
• Knowledge requirements such as computer familiarization, statistical handling, report writing,
• Experience related to the position and past jobs,
• Educational qualifications, professional qualifications, technical skills,
• Special requirements such as shift work, physical demands of work.

Traditional recruitment by advertisements can be made in the entertainment and published media and occupational environment. The developments in information and social networking technologies have a big impact on recruitment approaches for both sides of the process as recruiters and applicants. Job vacancies can be reached from all over the world by using the internet and networking applications. These are; Online Recruiting, Gamification of Recruiting, Social Media and Recruiting, and Video Résumés.

The decision about the form of the recruitment, i.e., from the inside or outside of the organization, is determined by the needs and requirements of the operational environment, training scope and duration, career strategies, laws and regulations, labor agreements. The open positions can be filled by the current employees of the organizations. They can be low level employees and motivated for higher positions. On the other hand, some employees can be recruited from other departments. The inbreed recruitment can sometimes be useful for efficient source allocation. It can be easier to hire a person already known in the organization can be easy to adopt for the new position because s/he shares the same culture and familiar organizational policies and procedures.

Selection is a process of phases in which candidates have to be examined thoroughly. In this process, information about individuals is collected and evaluated. Selection as a process can be discussed in two sections: The first one is about the definition of the individual differences required for the selection of the candidates who are highly likely to be successful in the job. The Second one is about bringing the individuals and the job together.

The advantages for the selection process can be listed as the following:

• Reduction in potential costs,
• Developing globalization and workforce environment,
• Objective selection by advanced information technologies,
• Improving the efficiency of the selection systems by automation.

There are two main principles having a role in the selection procedures of the qualified workforce:

• Individual differences between people in their aptitudes, values, skills and other personal qualities should be considered
• Future behavior of the people should be at least somehow predictable. All the selection activities should serve the future performance of the candidate.

Selection rate is ratio of the quantity of the open position to the quantity of the candidates who applied for the job.  Success rate is the benchmarking ratio of successful employees with all employees in the job of organization.

Psychometrics tests and measurements are performed for mental purposes of the selection activities.

The potential benefits of using psychometrics can be listed as the following:

• Maximizing organizational performance by improved accurate selection,
• Improving employee retention by better balance between individuals and jobs,
• Better financial and cost effect by avoiding poor recruitment decisions,
• Optimizing people’s capacity by focused activities,
• Better career management by matching individual aspects and organizational opportunities.

Three main objectives of a good interview can be listed as:

1. Evaluating the candidates accurately and fairly for the best individual(s) who will add most value to the job,
2. Interacting with candidates professionally and courteously so they want to work in the organization,
3. Guiding the candidates to understand job details so they can decide working in the organization

An Assessment center is a combination of the various selection tools and methods. Generally, it includes work samples, simulations, interviews, and psychometric tests