Recruitment and Selection

Recruitment and Selection

Introduction

The recruitment and selection processes are often seen as one single action. However, two clear processes are involved. Recruitment is the overall process whereby companies employ staff to fill available or new positions whereas the selection process includes a series of actions to best identify the most suitable candidate for the specific vacant post. This paper discusses the main risks to both the candidates and the organisation of inadequate recruitment and selection process and how can these be overcome.

Discussion

Some of the main aims and objectives of the recruitment and selection process are to ensure that all recruitment and selection procedures meet the terms of the equal opportunities policies. If the selection process is used inappropriately it may have the potential to discriminate against certain groups, for example, young/old, gender, people with disabilities etc. Moreover the process should also ensure that appointments are made on merit and that the candidate has the skills, qualities, abilities and experience necessary to do the job successfully(Shervey, 2006, 28-30).

The Recruitment and Selection process consists of:

Job requisition

Analysis

Attracting Candidates

Selection

Job requisition

Stage one in the recruitment and selection process is the job requisition. During this stage Human Resources should first consider if the post is actually needed as in some cases a new employee is not always the answer. For instance, some tasks may not be necessary, some tasks could be incorporated into another post while others could be completed in different ways, for example, by machine or computer, which may also save time. In addition, the work could perhaps be done on a part-time basis, flexi-time or job share basis or even be contracted out. To distinguish the tasks required to make up the job, it is wise to invest some time in clearly defining the role and expected outputs of the post and after that try to establish the range of skills and qualities candidates will have to possess. For example, you may want to list the most important job tasks required of the post holder, the capabilities required to do the tasks and then rank them in terms of how important they are for completing the tasks. We may even consider speaking to the existing post holder because he or she should have the most practical view of the job (Claydon & Beardwell, 2007, 141-485). Failure to do this preliminary stage thoroughly can lead to a vast number of inappropriate candidates applying, and if the wrong candidate is chosen serious difficulties can come up later in the relationship.

Job Analysis

A Job Analysis is a very important part of the recruitment process as it provides a framework to base your decisions on. For instance, if you decide that a third level qualification is required for a particular job then you can dismiss all application forms from candidates who are below this level. Begin specific in this way means you do not fall foul of equal opportunities policies (Claydon & Beardwell, 2007, 141-485).

Job Description

Now that you have decided that you require another ...