MEANING OF RECRUITMENT:

According to Edwin B. Flippo, “Recruitment is the process of searching the

candidates for employment and stimulating them to apply for jobs in the
organisation”. Recruitment is the activity that links the employers and the
job seekers. A few definitions of recruitment are:
• A process of finding and attracting capable applicants for employment.
The process begins when new recruits are sought and ends when their
applications are submitted. The result is a pool of applications from which
new employees are selected.

• It is the process to discover sources of manpower to meet the requirement

of staffing schedule and to employ effective measures for attracting that
manpower in adequate numbers to facilitate effective selection of an
efficient working force.

Recruitment of candidates is the function preceding the selection, which

helps create a pool of prospective employees for the organisation so that the
management can select the right candidate for the right job from this pool.
The main objective of the recruitment process is to expedite the selection
process.

Recruitment is a continuous process whereby the firm attempts to develop a

pool of qualified applicants for the future human resources needs even
though specific vacancies do not exist. Usually, the recruitment process
starts when a manger initiates an employee requisition for a specific vacancy
or an anticipated vacancy.

RECRUITMENT NEEDS ARE OF THREE TYPES

• PLANNED i.e. the needs arising from changes in organization and
retirement policy.
• ANTICIPATED: Anticipated needs are those movements in personnel,
which an organization can predict by studying trends in internal and
external environment.
• UNEXPECTED: Resignation, deaths, accidents, illness give rise to
unexpected needs.
Purpose & Importance of Recruitment

• Attract and encourage more and more candidates to apply in the

organisation.
• Create a talent pool of candidates to enable the selection of best
candidates for the organisation.
• Determine present and future requirements of the organization in
conjunction with its personnel planning and job analysis activities.
• Recruitment is the process which links the employers with the
employees.
• Increase the pool of job candidates at minimum cost.
• Help increase the success rate of selection process by decreasing
number of visibly under qualified or overqualified job applicants.
• Help reduce the probability that job applicants once recruited and
selected will leave the organization only after a short period of time.
• Meet the organizations legal and social obligations regarding the
composition of its workforce.
• Begin identifying and preparing potential job applicants who will be
appropriate candidates.
• Increase organization and individual effectiveness of various
recruiting techniques and sources for all types of job applicants.

Recruitment Process

The recruitment and selection is the major function of the human resource
department and recruitment process is the first step towards creating the
competitive strength and the strategic advantage for the organisations.
Recruitment process involves a systematic procedure from sourcing the
candidates to arranging and conducting the interviews and requires many
resources and time. A general recruitment process is as follows:

Identifying the vacancy:

The recruitment process begins with the human resource department
receiving requisitions for recruitment from any department of the company.
These contain:

• Posts to be filled
 • Number of persons
• Duties to be performed
• Qualifications required
 Preparing the job description and person specification.
 Locating and developing the sources of required number and type
of employees (Advertising etc).
 Short-listing and identifying the prospective employee with
required characteristics.
 Arranging the interviews with the selected candidates.
 Conducting the interview and decision making

• Identify vacancy
• Prepare job description and person specification
• Advertising the vacancy
• Managing the response
• Short-listing
• Arrange interviews
• Conducting interview and decision making
The recruitment process is immediately followed by the selection process
i.e. the final interviews and the decision making, conveying the decision and
the appointment formalities.
Sources Of Recruitment
Every organisation has the option of choosing the candidates for its
recruitment processes from two kinds of sources: internal and external
sources. The sources within the organisation itself (like transfer of
employees from one department to other, promotions) to fill a position are
known as the internal sources of recruitment. Recruitment candidates from
all the other sources (like outsourcing agencies etc.) are known as the
external sources of recruitment.

SOURCES OF RECRUITMENT:

Internal Sources Of Recruitment

• TRANSFERS: The employees are transferred from one department to

another according to their efficiency and experience.
• PROMOTIONS: The employees are promoted from one department
to another with more benefits and greater responsibility based on
efficiency and experience.
• Others are Upgrading and Demotion of present employees according
to their performance.
• Retired and Retrenched employees may also be recruited once again
in case of shortage of qualified personnel or increase in load of work.
Recruitment such people save time and costs of the organisations as
the people are already aware of the organisational culture and the
policies and procedures.
• The dependents and relatives of Deceased employees and Disabled
employees are also done by many companies so that the members of
the family do not become dependent on the mercy of others.

External Sources of Recruitment

• PRESS ADVERTISEMENTS: Advertisements of the vacancy in

newspapers and journals are a widely used source of recruitment. The
main advantage of this method is that it has a wide reach.
• EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTES: Various management institutes,
engineering colleges, medical Colleges etc. are a good source of
recruiting well qualified executives, engineers, medical staff etc. They
provide facilities for campus interviews and placements. This source
is known as Campus Recruitment.
• PLACEMENT AGENCIES: Several private consultancy firms
perform recruitment functions on behalf of client companies by
charging a fee. These agencies are particularly suitable for recruitment
of executives and specialists. It is also known as RPO (Recruitment
Process Outsourcing)
• EMPLOYMENT EXCHANGES: Government establishes public
employment exchanges throughout the country. These exchanges
provide job information to job seekers and help employers in
identifying suitable candidates.
• LABOUR CONTRACTORS: Manual workers can be recruited
through contractors who maintain close contacts with the sources of
such workers. This source is used to recruit labour for construction
jobs.
• UNSOLICITED APPLICANTS: Many job seekers visit the office of
well-known companies on their own. Such callers are considered
nuisance to the daily work routine of the enterprise. But can help in
creating the talent pool or the database of the probable candidates for
the organisation.
 • EMPLOYEE REFERRALS / RECOMMENDATIONS: Many
organisations have structured system where the current employees of
the organisation can refer their friends and relatives for some position
in their organisation. Also, the office bearers of trade unions are often
aware of the suitability of candidates. Management can inquire these
leaders for suitable jobs. In some organizations these are formal
agreements to give priority in recruitment to the candidates
recommended by the trade union.
• RECRUITMENT AT FACTORY GATE: Unskilled workers may be
recruited at the factory gate these may be employed whenever a
permanent worker is absent. More efficient among these may be
recruited to fill permanent vacancies.

Factors Affecting Recruitment

The recruitment function of the organisations is affected and governed by a

mix of various internal and external forces. The internal forces or factors are
the factors that can be controlled by the organisation. And the external
factors are those factors which cannot be controlled by the organisation. The
internal and external forces affecting recruitment function of an organisation
are:

FACTORS AFFECTING RECRUITMENT

Internal Factors Affecting Recruitment

The internal forces i.e. the factors which can be controlled by the
organisation are:

1. RECRUITMENT POLICY
The recruitment policy of an organisation specifies the objectives of
recruitment and provides a framework for implementation of recruitment
programme. It may involve organizational system to be developed for
implementing recruitment programmes and procedures by filling up
vacancies with best qualified people.

FACTORS AFFECTING RECRUITMENT POLICY

• Organizational objectives
• Personnel policies of the organization and its competitors.
• Government policies on reservations.
• Preferred sources of recruitment.
• Need of the organization.
• 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 FIRM
The size of the firm is an important factor in 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
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 Affecting Recruitment

The external forces are the forces which cannot be controlled by the
organisation. The major external forces are:

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. IMAGE / GOODWILL
Image of the employer 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. For example finance was taken up by fresher MBA’s when many
finance companies were coming up.
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 effect the recruitment
function of the organisations. To face the competition, many a times the
organisations have to change their recruitment policies according to the
policies being followed by the competitors.

Recruitment Policy Of a Company

In today’s rapidly changing business environment, a well defined

recruitment policy is necessary for organizations to respond to its human
resource requirements in time. Therefore, it is important to have a clear and
concise recruitment policy in place, which can be executed effectively to
recruit the best talent pool for the selection of the right candidate at the right
place quickly. Creating a suitable recruitment policy is the first step in the
efficient hiring process. A clear and concise recruitment policy helps ensure
a sound recruitment process.

It specifies the objectives of recruitment and provides a framework for

implementation of recruitment programme. It may involve organizational
system to be developed for implementing recruitment programmes and
procedures by filling up vacancies with best qualified people.

COMPONENTS OF THE RECRUITMENT POLICY

• The general recruitment policies and terms of the organisation
• Recruitment services of consultants
• Recruitment of temporary employees
• Unique recruitment situations
• The selection process
• The job descriptions
• The terms and conditions of the employment

A recruitment policy of an organisation should be such that:

• It should focus on recruiting the best potential people.
 • To ensure that every applicant and employee is treated equally with
dignity and respect.
• Unbiased policy.
• To aid and encourage employees in realizing their full potential.
• Transparent, task oriented and merit based selection.
• Weightage during selection given to factors that suit organization
needs.
• Optimization of manpower at the time of selection process.
• Defining the competent authority to approve each selection.
• Abides by relevant public policy and legislation on hiring and
employment relationship.
• Integrates employee needs with the organisational needs.

FACTORS AFFECTING RECRUITMENT POLICY

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

Recent Trends in Recruitment

The following trends are being seen in recruitment:

OUTSOURCING
In India, the HR processes are being outsourced from more than a decade
now. A company may draw required personnel from outsourcing firms. The
outsourcing firms help the organisation by the initial screening of the
candidates according to the needs of the organisation and creating a suitable
pool of talent for the final selection by the organisation. Outsourcing firms
develop their human resource pool by employing people for them and make
available personnel to various companies as per their needs. In turn, the
outsourcing firms or the intermediaries charge the organisations for their
services.

Advantages of outsourcing are:

• Company need not plan for human resources much in advance.
• Value creation, operational flexibility and competitive advantage
 • turning the management's focus to strategic level processes of HRM
• Company is free from salary negotiations, weeding the unsuitable
resumes/candidates.
• Company can save a lot of its resources and time

POACHING/RAIDING
“Buying talent” (rather than developing it) is the latest mantra being
followed by the organisations today. Poaching means employing a
competent and experienced person already working with another reputed
company in the same or different industry; the organisation might be a
competitor in the industry. A company can attract talent from another firm by
offering attractive pay packages and other terms and conditions, better than
the current employer of the candidate. But it is seen as an unethical practice
and not openly talked about. Indian software and the retail sector are the
sectors facing the most severe brunt of poaching today. It has become a
challenge for human resource managers to face and tackle poaching, as it
weakens the competitive strength of the firm.

E-RECRUITMENT
Many big organizations use Internet as a source of recruitment. E-
recruitment is the use of technology to assist the recruitment process. They
advertise job vacancies through worldwide web. The job seekers send their
applications or curriculum vitae i.e. CV through e mail using the Internet.
Alternatively job seekers place their CV’s in worldwide web, which can be
drawn by prospective employees depending upon their requirements.

Advantages of recruitment are:

• Low cost.
• No intermediaries
• Reduction in time for recruitment.
• Recruitment of right type of people.
• Efficiency of recruitment process.
E-Recruitment

The buzzword and the latest trends in recruitment is the “E-Recruitment”.

Also known as “Online recruitment”, it is the use of technology or the web
based tools to assist the recruitment process. The tool can be either a job
website like naukri.com, the organisation’s corporate web site or its own
intranet. Many big and small organizations are using Internet as a source of
recruitment. They advertise job vacancies through worldwide web. The job
seekers send their applications or curriculum vitae (CV) through an e-mail
using the Internet. Alternatively job seekers place their CV’s in worldwide
web, which can be drawn by prospective employees depending upon their
requirements.

The internet penetration in India is increasing and has tremendous potential.

According to a study by NASSCOM – “Jobs is among the top reasons why
new users will come on to the internet, besides e-mail.” There are more than
18 million resume’s floating online across the world.

The two kinds of e- recruitment that an organisation can use is –

• Job portals – i.e. posting the position with the job description and the
job specification on the job portal and also searching for the suitable
resumes posted on the site corresponding to the opening in the
organisation.
• Creating a complete online recruitment/application section in the
companies own website. - Companies have added an application
system to its website, where the ‘passive’ job seekers can submit their
resumes into the database of the organisation for consideration in
future, as and when the roles become available.
• Resume Scanners: Resume scanner is one major benefit provided by
the job portals to the organisations. It enables the employees to screen
and filter the resumes through pre-defined criteria’s and requirements
(skills, qualifications, experience, payroll etc.) of the job.
Job sites provide a 24*7 access to the database of the resumes to the
employees facilitating the just-in-time hiring by the organisations. Also, the
jobs can be posted on the site almost immediately and is also cheaper than
advertising in the employment newspapers. Sometimes companies can get
valuable references through the “passers-by” applicants. Online recruitment
helps the organisations to automate the recruitment process, save their time
and costs on recruitments.

Online recruitment techniques

• Giving a detailed job description and job specifications in the job
postings to attract candidates with the right skill sets and
qualifications at the first stage.
• E-recruitment should be incorporated into the overall recruitment
strategy of the organisation.
• A well defined and structured applicant tracking system should be
integrated and the system should have a back-end support.
• Along with the back-office support a comprehensive website to
receive and process job applications (through direct or online
advertising) should be developed.
Therefore, to conclude, it can be said that e-recruitment is the “Evolving
face of recruitment.”

Recruitment Vs Selection
Both recruitment and selection are the two phases of the employment
process. The differences between the two are:
• Recruitment is the process of searching the candidates for
employment and stimulating them to apply for jobs in the organisation
WHEREAS selection involves the series of steps by which the
candidates are screened for choosing the most suitable persons for
vacant posts.
• The basic purpose of recruitments is to create a talent pool of
candidates to enable the selection of best candidates for the
organisation, by attracting more and more employees to apply in the
organisation WHEREAS the basic purpose of selection process is to
choose the right candidate to fill the various positions in the
organisation.
 • Recruitment is a positive process i.e. encouraging more and more
employees to apply WHEREAS selection is a negative process as it
involves rejection of the unsuitable candidates.
• Recruitment is concerned with tapping the sources of human
resources WHEREAS selection is concerned with selecting the most
suitable candidate through various interviews and tests.
• There is no contract of recruitment established in recruitment
WHEREAS selection results in a contract of service between the
employer and the selected employee.

Types Of Job Seekers

• Quid Pro Que: These are the people who say that “ I can do this for
you, what can you give me” These people value high responsibilities,
higher risks, and expect higher rewards, personal development and
company profiles doesn’t matter to them.
• I will be with you: These people like to be with big brands.
Importance is given to brands. They are not bothered about work
ethic, culture mission etc.
• I will do you what you want: These people are concerned about how
meaningful the job is and they define meaning parameters criteria
known by previous job.
• Where do you want me to come: These people observe things like
where is your office, what atmosphere do you offer. Career prospects
and exciting projects don’t entice them as much. It is the
responsibility of the recruiter to decide what the employee might face
in given job and thus take decision. A good decision will help cut
down employee retention costs and future recruitment costs.

Recruitment Management System

Recruitment management system is the comprehensive tool to manage the
entire recruitment processes of an organisation. It is one of the technological
tools facilitated by the information management systems to the HR of
organisations. Just like performance management, payroll and other systems,
Recruitment management system helps to contour the recruitment processes
and effectively managing the ROI on recruitment.

The features, functions and major benefits of the recruitment management

system are explained below:
• Structure and systematically organize the entire recruitment processes.
 • Recruitment management system facilitates faster, unbiased, accurate
and reliable processing of applications from various applications.
• Helps to reduce the time-per-hire and cost-per-hire.
• Recruitment management system helps to incorporate and integrate
the various links like the application system on the official website of
the company, the unsolicited applications, outsourcing recruitment,
the final decision making to the main recruitment process.
• Recruitment management system maintains an automated active
database of the applicants facilitating the talent management and
increasing the efficiency of the recruitment processes.
• Recruitment management system provides and a flexible, automated
and interactive interface between the online application system, the
recruitment department of the company and the job seeker.
• Offers tolls and support to enhance productivity, solutions and
optimizing the recruitment processes to ensure improved ROI.
• Recruitment management system helps to communicate and create
healthy relationships with the candidates through the entire
recruitment process.

The Recruitment Management System (RMS) is an innovative information

system tool which helps to sane the time and costs of the recruiters and
improving the recruitment processes.

Outsourcing Recruitment

Outsourcing the human resource (HR) processes is the latest practice being
followed by middle and large sized organizations. It is being witnessed
across all the industries. In India, the HR processes are being outsourced
from nearly a decade now. Outsourcing industry is growing at a high rate.

Human Resource Outsourcing refers to the process in which an organisation

uses the expert services of a third party (generally professional consultants)
to take care of its HR functions while HR management can focus on the
strategic dimension of their function. The functions that are typically
outsourced are the functions that need expertise, relevant experience,
knowledge and best methods and practices. This has given rise to
outsourcing the various HR functions of an organisation. HR Consultancies
such as Ma Foi and Planman Consulting provide such services through
expert professional consultants. Human resources business process
outsourcing (HR BPO) is a major component of the worldwide BPO market.
Performance management outsourcing involves all the performance
monitoring, measurement, management being outsourced from a third party
or an external organisation.

Many organizations have started outsourcing its recruitment process i.e.

transferring all or some part of its recruitment process to an external
consultant providing the recruitment services. It is commonly known as
RPO i.e. recruitment process outsourcing. More and more medium and large
sized organizations are outsourcing their recruitment process right from the
entry level jobs to the C-level jobs.

The present value of the recruitment process outsourcing industry (RPO) in

India is estimated to be $2.5 billion and it is expected to grow at the annual
rate of 30-40 per cent for the next couple of years. According to a recent
survey, only 8-10 per cent of the Indian companies are complete recruitment
processes. However, the number of companies outsourcing their recruitment
processes is increasing at a very fast rate and so is the percentage of their
total recruitment processes being outsourced.

Outsourcing organizations strive for providing cost saving benefits to their

clients. One of the major advantages to organizations, who outsource their
recruitment process, is that it helps to save up to as much as 40 per cent of
their recruitment costs. With the experience, expertise and the economies of
scale of the third party, organizations are able to improve the quality of the
recruits and the speed of the whole process. Also, outsourcing enables the
human resource professionals of organizations to focus on the core and other
HR and strategic issues. Outsourcing also gives a structured approach to the
whole process of recruitment, with the ultimate power of decision making of
recruiting with the organisation itself. The portion of the recruitment cycle
that is outsourced range from preparing job descriptions to arranging
interviews, the activities that consume almost 70 per cent of the time of the
whole recruitment process.

Outsourcing the recruitment processes for a sector like BPO, which faces an
attrition of almost 50-60 per cent, can help the companies in BPO sector to
save costs tremendously and focus on other issues like retention. The job
seekers are also availing the services of the third parties (consultants) for
accessing the latest job opportunities.
In India, the trend of outsourcing recruitment is also catching up fast. For
example: Vodafone outsources its recruitment activities to Alexander Mann
Solutions (RPO service provider). Wipro has outsourced its recruitment
process to MeritTrac. Yes bank is also known to outsource 50 per cent of its
recruitment processes.
Advantage Of Outsourcing Recruitment
Traditionally, recruitment is seen as the cost incurring process in an
organization. HR outsourcing helps the HR professionals of the
organisations to concentrate on the strategic functions and processes of
human resource management rather than wasting their efforts, time and
money on the routine work.

Outsourcing the recruitment process helps to cut the recruitment costs to 20

% and also provide economies of scale to the large sized organizations.

Outsourcing is beneficial for both the corporate organisations that use the
outsourcing services as well as the consultancies that provide the service to
the corporates. Apart from increasing their revenues, outsourcing provides
business opportunities to the service providers, enhancing the skill set of the
service providers and exposure to the different corporate experiences thereby
increasing their expertise.

The advantages accruing to the corporates are:

• turning the management's focus to strategic level processes of HRM
• accessibility to the expertise of the service providers
• freedom from red tape and adhering to strict rules and regulations
• optimal resource utilisation
 • structured and fair performance management.
• a satisfied and, hence, highly productive employees
• value creation, operational flexibility and competitive advantage
Therefore outsourcing helps both the organisations and the consultancies to
grow and perform better.
Changing Role of Recruitment Intermediaries
Recruitment consultancies, agencies or intermediaries are witnessing a boom
in the demand of their services, both by the employers and the job seekers.
With an already saturated job market, the recruitment intermediaries have
gained a vital position acting as a link between the job seekers and the
employers.

But at the same time, one of the major threats faced by this industry is the
growing popularity of e-recruitment. With the changing demand,
technologies and the penetration and increasing use of internet, the
recruitment consultancies or the intermediaries are facing tough competition.
To retain and maintain their position in the recruitment market, the
recruitment intermediaries or consultants (as they are

commonly known) are witnessing and incorporating various changes in

terms of their role, functions and the services.

According to a survey amongst top employers, most of them agree with the
growing influence of technology and the Internet on the recruitment
processes. 70 per cent of employers reported the use of application portal on
their company’s official website. Apart from that, the emerging popularity of
the job portals is also growing.

But the fact that the intermediaries or the consultants are able to provide
their expert services, economies of scale, up to 40 percent savings in the
recruitment costs, knowledge of the market, the candidates, understanding of
the requirements, and most importantly, the assess to the suitable and
talented candidates and the structured recruitment processes. The
recruitment intermediaries save the organisations from the tedious of
weeding out unsuitable resumes, co-coordinating interviews, posting
vacancies etc. give them an edge over the other sources of recruitment.

To retain their position as the service providers in the recruitment market,

the recruitment intermediaries are providing vale added services to the
organisations. They are incorporating the use of internet and job portals,
making their services more efficient.

Despite of the growing use of the internet, the recruitment intermediaries are
predicted to continue dominating the recruitment market in the anticipated
future.
Outsourcing Process:
How To Select A Recruitment Consultant
If an organisation decides to outsource its recruitment processes or activities,
it is very important to find and select a suitable recruitment consultant or
consultancies, which can deliver results according to the needs of the
organisation. Today, there are thousands of consulting firms (consultancies)
as well as freelance consultants working independently. An organisation
looks for various considerations and qualities before selecting the suitable
recruitment consultant.
• The reputation of the consulting firm in the job market (based on
expertise and experience).
• Who are the consultant’s or firm’s past and present clients?

• Consultant’s expertise and experience (from how long has he/firm

been in the business)
• Does the recruitment consultant have the requisite resources to
complete the targets on time?
• Get the idea of the effectiveness and the services of the recruitment
consultant from its current and past clients.

Qualities of an independent recruitment consultant:

Some of the qualities or characteristics looked in recruitment consultants
are:
• Marketing skills
• Flexibility and adaptability
• Wisdom
• Exuberance
• Ability to prioritise
• Ambition
• Resourcefulness
• Diplomacy/ delicacy
Selecting the right recruitment consultant is essential for the effective
recruitment processes. A successful Recruitment consultant is someone who
is determinative, focused, and able to create opportunities for him, works
harder and smarter than competitors and continually set and achieve higher
standards.
Recruitment Strategies

Recruitment is of the most crucial roles of the human resource professionals.

The level of performance of and organisation depends on the effectiveness
of its recruitment function. Organisations have developed and follow
recruitment strategies to hire the best talent for their organisation and to
utilize their resources optimally. A successful recruitment strategy should be
well planned and practical to attract more and good talent to apply in the
organisation.

For formulating an effective and successful recruitment strategy, the strategy

should cover the following elements:
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. This covers the following parameters
as well:
• Performance level required: Different strategies are required for
focusing on hiring high performers and average performers.
• Experience level required: the strategy should be clear as to what is
the experience level required by the organisation. The candidate’s
experience can range from being a fresher to experienced senior
professionals.
• Category of the candidate: the strategy should clearly define the target
candidate. He/she can be from the same industry, different industry,
unemployed, top performers of the industry etc.

3. Sources of recruitment
The strategy should define various sources (external and internal) of
recruitment. Which are 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.: behavioural, 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.

HR Challenges In Recruitment
Recruitment is a function that requires business perspective, expertise,
ability to find and match the best potential candidate for the organisation,
diplomacy, marketing skills (as to sell the position to the candidate) and
wisdom to align the recruitment processes for the benefit of the organisation.
The HR professionals – handling the recruitment function of the
organisation- are constantly facing new challenges. The biggest challenge
for such professionals is to source or recruit the best people or potential
candidate for the organisation.

In the last few years, the job market has undergone some fundamental
changes in terms of technologies, sources of recruitment, competition in the
market etc. In an already saturated job market, where the practices like
poaching and raiding are gaining momentum, HR professionals are
constantly facing new challenges in one of their most important function-
recruitment. They have to face and conquer various challenges to find the
best candidates for their organisations.

The major challenges faced by the HR in recruitment are:

• Adaptability to globalization – The HR professionals are expected and
required to keep in tune with the changing times, i.e. the changes
taking place across the globe. HR should maintain the timeliness of
the process
• Lack of motivation – Recruitment is considered to be a thankless job.
Even if the organisation is achieving results, HR department or
professionals are not thanked for recruiting the right employees and
performers.
 • Process analysis – The immediacy and speed of the recruitment
process are the main concerns of the HR in recruitment. The process
should be flexible, adaptive and responsive to the immediate
requirements. The recruitment process should also be cost effective.
• Strategic prioritization – The emerging new systems are both an
opportunity as well as a challenge for the HR professionals.
Therefore, reviewing staffing needs and prioritizing the tasks to meet
the changes in the market has become a challenge for the recruitment
professionals.

Recruiting Expatriates
Expatriate is a person who leaves his country to work and live in a foreign
country. Generally, expatriates are the nationals from the other countries
than the host and the MNC’s parent country, i.e. expatriates are the third
country nationals.
The unavailability of the required skills and talents takes the organisation to
source talent from other countries. The procedures and processes of
recruiting and selecting the human resources are never uniform even within
a single organisation. The procedures vary according to the post, the skill set
required, the nature of work etc. More of it is seen in the case of recruitment
of expatriates. The recruitment and selection procedures and considerations
are drastically different for expatriates than that of the domestic employees.
Recruitment of expatriates involves greater time, monetary resources and
other indirect costs. Improper recruitment and selection can cause the
expatriates to return hastily or a decline in their performance.

A mismatch between job (its requirements) and people can reduce the
effectiveness of other human resource activities and can affect the
performance of the employees as well as the organisation.

Recruiting expatriates require special considerations and skills to select the

best person for the job. Except for a few expatriate selection policies, the
expatriate selection criterion is generally organisation and nation specific.

The recruiters for recruiting the expatriates should be carefully selected and
trained. The recruitment strategies for expatriates should be aligned with
requirements of the job. The interviews of expatriates are designed in a
manner to judge their:
• Adaptability to the new culture
 • Intercultural interaction
• Flexibility
• Professional expertise
• Past international work experience
• Tolerance and open-mindedness
• Family situation
• Language ability
• Attitude and motivation
• Empathy towards local culture
A few researches in this field also suggest that women are morel likely to be
successful in certain positions as expatriates as they are more sensitive
towards new culture and people. Recruitment of expatriates should be
followed by cultural and sensitivity training, and language training.

Head Hunting
Headhunting refers to the approach of finding and attracting the best
experienced person with the required skill set. Headhunting involves
convincing the person to join your organization.

Headhunting Process
Forms Of Recruitment
The organisations differ in terms of their size, business, processes and
practices. A few decisions by the recruitment professionals can affect the
productivity and efficiency of the organisation. Organisations adopt different
forms of recruitment practices according to the specific needs of the
organisation. The organisations can choose from the centralized or
decentralized forms of recruitment, explained below:

CENTRALIZED RECRUITMENT
The recruitment practices of an organisation are centralized when the HR /
recruitment department at the head office performs all functions of
recruitment. Recruitment decisions for all the business verticals and
departments of an organisation are carried out by the one central HR (or
recruitment) department. Centralized from of recruitment is commonly seen
in government organisations.

Benefits of the centralized form of recruitment are:

• Reduces administration costs
 • Better utilization of specialists
• Uniformity in recruitment
• Interchangeability of staff
• Reduces favoritism
• Every department sends requisitions for recruitment to their central
office

DECENTRALIZED RECRUITMENT
Decentralized recruitment practices are most commonly seen in the case of
conglomerates operating in different and diverse business areas. With
diverse and geographically spread business areas and offices, it becomes
important to understand the needs of each department and frame the
recruitment policies and procedures accordingly. Each department carries
out its own recruitment. Choice between the two will depend upon
management philosophy and needs of particular organization. In some cases
combination of both is used. Lower level staffs as well as top level
executives are recruited in a decentralized manner.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Equal opportunity employment refers to the approach of the employers to
ensure the practice of being fair and impartial in the employment process.
*The term "Equal Opportunity Employment" was first given by President
Lyndon B. Johnson when he signed Executive Order 11246 which was
created to prohibit federal contractors from discriminating against
employees on the basis of race, sex, creed, religion, color, or national
origin*. The scope of the order also covered the discrimination on the basis
of the minority status.

Discrimination in employment
Discrimination refers to the any kind of prejudice, biasness or favoritism on
the basis of
• disability
• race
• age
• sex
 • sexuality
• pregnancy
• Marital status
in employment. No person should be treated less favourably than any other
on the basis of the specified issues above. Many countries (like SA) have
already implemented Equal Opportunity Act, making it against the law to
treat anybody unfairly.

Diversity in workforce
With the globalization and the increasing size of the organisations, the
diversity in the workforce is increasing i.e. people from diverse
backgrounds, educational background, age groups, race, gender, abilities etc
come together to work for one organisation and common objectives.
Therefore, it is the responsibility of the employer to create an equality-based
and discrimination-free working environment and practices.

Equal opportunity means treating people equally and fairly irrespective of

their race, religion, sex, age, disability etc. Giving women an equal treatment
and access to opportunities at the workplace. Any employee should be ill-
treated or harassed by the employer or other employees.

Equal Employment Opportunity principles help to realize and respect the

actual worth of the individual on the basis of his knowledge, skills, abilities
and merit. And the policy should cover all the employees of an organisation
whether permanent or temporary, contractual etc.

Equal employment opportunity is necessary to ensure:

• To give fair access to the people of all development opportunities
• To create a fair organisation, industry and society.
• To encourage and give disadvantaged or disabled people a fair chance
to grow with the society…..