The closed internal recruitment system can be very efficient. However in order for this system to work effectively there are a few steps to follow. Files for the potential candidates should be pooled in the HR employees’ database, where they can be accurately matched with a job that matches their knowledge, skill, attitudes and other attributes (KSAO’s). The steps which are critical in the closed internal recruitment system are as follows:
1.) Mangers notify the Human Resource Department of the vacancies which exist within their respective departments. At this stage managers should do a requisition and sign it for the HR department to begin the process of recruitment.
2.) The Human Resource Manager then searches the respective candidates’ files. In the case of the target position (Operations Manager) the HR department will have an idea of the employees’ files that should be reviewed.
3.) The Human Resource Department provides a short list of candidates to the departmental managers. At this stage the files are reviewed and the qualified persons for the job are recommended.
4.) Finally the departmental manager interviews the candidates and then selects the most suitable candidate(s).
The advantages of a closed internal recruitment system are that it is relatively inexpensive in terms of searching cost for candidates when compared to other internal recruitment or external methods. Secondly, using closed internal recruitment system facilitates a quicker response to fulfill a vacancy, the HR department usually has a skills inventory for candidates within the organization, therefore it is easy for them to analyse the KSAO’s required for the position and select the best candidate. Thirdly, the method will ultimately require fewer candidates to be interviewed using the closed internal recruitment system because they are usually unaware of the promotions or vacancies that exist within the firm. Fourthly, based on the critical review of the KSAO’s of the potential candidates, the HR department will eventually select those candidates with whom their KSAO’s match the designated position.
On the other hand, the disadvantages of a closed internal recruitment system is that the system may lead to an increase in labor migration, which could possibly cause problems for the firm , where by experts or specialists may leave a difficult or core functional area of the firm’s operation. JPS must ensure that the internal labour market can satisfy the individual need. The new vacancy that will now be available is also a key functional area of the organisation’s operations and will need to be filled as soon as possible after the employee in the current position leaves. An individual or employee will have to be selected to act in the position until it is filled. Secondly, employees may feel discriminated against because of the fact that they think not all employees were given a fair opportunity and therefore the selection method may be questionable in regards to bias.
There are two other internal recruitment methods that an organisation can use Open or Targeted in order to recruit candidates internally.
Open Internal Recruitment System
An Open internal recruitment system tends to differ from the closed internal recruitment system, because in this system the employees are aware of the job vacancies. Usually this is accomplished by a job posting and bidding system. This method generally gives employees a chance to measure qualification against those required for advancement. It also reduces the possibility of supervisors selecting only favorite employees for a promotion or transfer. This method should be considered for filling the new position that will now arise as a result of the promotion of an individual to the position of Operations Manager.
Sources of Applicants
In internal recruiting, applicants may be sourced through Job posting which may be defined as a means of publicizing an open job to employees in this case the position of Shift Charge Supervisor or Operations Engineer which will need to be filled after the target position Operations Manager is filled. In job posting, the job’s attributes, such as qualifications, supervisory relationships, work schedule and pay rate should be listed.
There are disadvantages associated with job posting. The first is called a “bagged” job where employees believe that an applicant was selected before the job was posted.
Job openings can be made known to employees by using the intranet where the applicants chosen will be sent an individual e-mail of the vacancy and if interested persons will reply by sending their application letter and résumé to the HR department. The intranet is a much quicker way to source applicants in a quicker time span.
Another method to source applicants is through skills inventory which is the method used to fill the position of Operations Manager. The KSAO’s that are used in making advancement decisions are stored in a skills inventory. The inventory consists of manual files or computer files for each employee. Skills inventory also has several problems. One such problem is the very careful and tedious record keeping required to keep the files up to date and useful. Maintenance of these files is critical as qualified candidates may be bypassed if current files are not maintained. Managers are often overwhelmed by the sheer volume of files, and as a result, may be resistant to using a skills inventory. A final problem that must be confronted in maintaining a skills inventory is that the files must be user friendly, therefore, files must be of the same standard and employees should be able to understand the files which must be accepted by the system users.
JPS should maintain their records of applicants so as to make the process of accepting eligible applicants easier. When and if applicants are accepted, supervisors should retain their files to maintain a record of the progress of current employees and also to observe the areas in which they need improvement.
Once the candidates have been chosen for the position of Operations Manager, they are personally notified by the department manager. The department would need to effectively screen the candidates so as to ensure that the information that has been provided on the requisition form is matching the information on the candidates’ files by conducting a background check on the candidate which may be done by reviewing their résumé.
Targeted Message
A top priority for managing a change in an organisation is carried out through effective employee communication. Whether companies are combining their departments, downsizing their workforce or undergoing a corporate merger, sticking to an effective and results-based message creation strategy can help to ensure the smooth and successful transition from one point to another. One of the more important features of a well-executed employee communication message involves specifically targeting the audience or audiences in question.
In the case of the Jamaica Public Service (JPS), in recruiting for the position of Operations Manager the communication message that should be used is the targeted message in order to attract specific applicants, in that the position requires one to do a lot of intuitive thinking or judgement so therefore applicants need much experience. The targeted message is one that indicates how the job matches the needs of the applicant. This method will not only save money but save time, instead of hiring someone new to the organisation who will need time to get acquainted with the organisations culture, will therefore need more training as this method seeks to attract skilled employees.
With regards to the position of Operations Manager when creating the targeted message this allows the applicant to get a full grasp of the desirability and benefits of the position which would come directly from the job rewards matrix, instead of promises from the manager, in pursuit of obtaining the perfect candidate for the position.
The advantages of using a targeted communications message is that it saves time in the screening process, in that the message is for just a specific group in the organisation, therefore only certain persons will apply. Secondly, it allows for the monitoring of the types of applicants that will apply for the position. Thirdly, applicants would have a better knowledge of the job itself.
Some disadvantages of the targeted communication message would be that it might cause increase turnover in the long run if managers set up false expectations concerning what the life of the job would be. Secondly, a targeted message does not work well if the source is seen as being not credible.
Recruitment Issues
The aim of the Human Resource Department of the Jamaica Public Service Company, Limited is to attract applicants for the position of an Operations Manager by recruiting internally. JPS should identify and attract applicants from among individuals already holding a position within the internal environment of the organisation, with the requisite knowledge, skills, ability and other attribute (KSAO’s) in performing their task efficiently and effectively, so that the firm can be more profitable.
In developing the recruitment process, it involves identifying and attracting applicants internally, there are two issues that the Jamaica Public Service Company, Human Resource Department needs to address, the Organisational Issues and Administrative Issues. The Organisational Issues include Mobility Paths that are of two types: the Traditional Mobility Path and the Innovative Mobility Path and also Mobility Path policies which show the direction of how employees will move in an organisation. Whereas, the Administrative Issues include requisition, timing, the recruitment budget, number, and the type of contacts, and the development of a recruitment guide, this is considered so as to ensure that there are adequate resources to conduct a tremendous recruitment campaign.
Administrative Issues
In the planning stage of recruitment, JPS must take into consideration the Administrative matters. Firstly, where the manager within the particular department sends a requisition form, which is a formal document that authorizes the need for filling a vacant position. A well-developed requisition form will identify clearly both the quantity and quality of the KSAO’s required for the targeted position and also, the qualifications should be based on the job requirement matrix.
The department manager may promote employees into a new position without top management’s consent; hence it may create a feeling of discrimination among the other employees who are not chosen. The advantages of doing a requisition, is that it will ensure that all staffing activities are consistent with the business plan of the organisation and also, guarantee that the qualifications of the job are clearly defined, so that the applicant selected will be a good job/person match. Secondly, coordination is done both internally and externally in the attempt of coordinating and synchronizing the orgainsation’s staffing philosophy. In the recruitment plan for JPS, coordination is very important in the process; if it is not done the result may be a failure. To coordinate activities in this procedure there are two steps that the persons in charge of recruiting at JPS should be aware of. Firstly, the internal staffing specialist position should be selected to see to if internal candidates are recognised in the recruitment process. Secondly, policies are developed that specify the number and type of candidates required both internally and externally.
The disadvantage with coordination, is where an internal recruitment search is conducted, and the results shows that the person that is promoted may not be as qualified as someone from the external market, so as a result of this the HR department should work together as a team with department manager to coordinate this process before the search for candidates begins.
It is very essential that JPS establishes a well-developed recruitment budget. In establishing a recruitment budget, an organisation must gather the information needed to formulate the budget. In collecting this information for the preparation of the budget, JPS can take a top-down or a bottom-up approach. In gathering such data it is recommended that they take the bottom-up approach. The budget for the recruitment activities is set up on the basis of the specific needs of the Operations unit, whiles the top-down approach, is where the budget for recruitment activities are set up by top management on the basis of the business plan for the firm and on the basis of projected revenue.
The disadvantage is that, at times internal recruitment can be more costly than external because some of the methods involved in internal recruitment can be quite expensive. This expense arises when internal candidates are considered for the job but not employed, in other words they are being transferred from another branch, and those employees need to be counseled on how to further develop their career to be competitive the next time when recruitment is being done.
When recruiting internally the activities that are involved ought to include the development of a recruitment guide, which is a formal document that JPS, must detail in the process of attracting applicants to a vacant position. This guide should be based on the organisation flow chart and also, must entail information such as time, money, and staffing activities required to fill the job as well as steps to be taken to fill the vacancy. The benefit of the recruitment guide is that it clarifies expectations for both the recruiter and the requesting department as to what the tasks will be like, idea of the cost, and who will be held accountable for the end results. On the other hand, it takes time to produce, time that may be limited in the face of an urgent requisition to be filled. In developing a recruitment guide it will protect the interest of the employees, applicants, and recruiters. Time is a critical factor in recruiting employees for a particular position. The disparity between internal and external recruitment is that, internal recruitment not only fill vacancies but also creates them, so each time a vacancy is filled with an internal candidate, a new vacancy is created in the spots vacated by an internal candidate. So as a result in recruiting from within, incumbents need to plan along internal recruitment.
With timing, issues that JPS need to be address in their internal recruitment plan, will include how long the internal search will take place, whether external recruitment can be done concurrently with internal recruitment, and who will be selected if both an internal and external candidate are identified with relatively equal KSAO’s.
Organisational Issues
Organisational Issues, includes the Mobility path, which consists of employee movements within the internal labor market structure. There are two types of mobility paths traditional and innovative path. The paths identify who are eligible for a new job in the organisation. The difference between traditional and innovative career path is that the innovative path does not place emphasis on upward mobility; instead movement in an organisation that uses this path will undergo multi directional movements. The use of an innovative mobility path will allow for flexibility of workers within the organisation hence leading to greater efficiency and a better person/job match. The existence of a mobility path also has its negatives in terms of legal issues. Employees may think that they are being discriminated against since the filling of a vacant position is virtually being reserved for a particular set of employees only.
There are three main innovative career paths, parallel, lateral and lattice. A parallel track system allow for employees to specialise in technical work or management work and advance within either. Under the parallel track system, both job titles and salaries of technical specialists are elevated to become commensurate with their managerial counterparts. In a lateral track system there may be no existence of upward mobility. An individual may make the greatest contribution to an organisation by staying at a particular point in the organisation.
In order to recruit employees for the position of operations manager a pool of candidates will be selected from existing positions within the organisation. These positions namely Operations Engineer and Shift Charge Supervisor are a part of an existing mobility path that can be seen in Fig. 1. The mobility path enables employees to be clear on their opportunities for growth and development. These positions are appropriate sources or feeders for the target position because these persons should posses the necessary (KSAO’s) to perform all the job task of the position of Operations Manager. Persons who are currently at these feeder positions would have developed the necessary requirements since they have been carrying out similar tasks to that of the target position hence being able to work efficiently if selected. The mobility path of JPS as can be seen in Fig. 1, is similar to a lattice track where upward, lateral and downward movements may occur. This path is based on the company’s organisational chart where replacements may be either from the position of operations engineer or shift charge supervisor at any branch.
The existence of the mobility path also helps in dealing with the administrative issue of a new vacancy emerging as a result of the internal recruitment that was done for Operations Manager. In selecting an individual for the position of Operations Manager it will create a vacancy for one of the feeder positions, either Operations Engineer or Shift Charge Supervisor. This new vacancy should also be filled internally by persons in the position of Unit Controller or Unit Operator which are feeders to these positions. If the candidate chosen for the target position (Operations Manager) was in the position of Operations Engineer then the position of Shift Charge Supervisor will become a feeder position for that vacancy.
Filling the new vacancy of Operations Engineer or Shift Charge Supervisor will also cause other job vacancies since they were filled internally in order to make use of the benefit of acquiring employees who will need less training since they are performing similar tasks. To fill this new vacancy the job will be posted on the intranet. If the first posting is limited to a department, location, or work area and the job is not filled, it will then be posted more broadly even externally and the best candidate will be selected. If a candidate should be selected internally then the new vacancy will be filled externally.
Movement in the organization is determined by the existing mobility policy that exists. This policy serves to make it clear to employees and management on the possible movements in the organization. It is in the best interest of the organization that persons who are selected for a job is the best people/job match and also the best person/organization match. When persons are needed within the organization to fill a particular job vacancy the best possible feeder position should be identified and the message should be communicated to the holder of such position either by direct email or posting on the intranet. Information posted on the intranet should consist of all the necessary skills and abilities that the applicant should posses. Employees at the feeder positions in all locations should be considered to acquire the right pool of candidates. Employees’ opportunity for development is dependent to a great extent of the flow of the organizational chart. Movement in the organization is not necessarily an upward one but can be multidirectional in order for persons to be well rounded in order to create a good organization match. The benefits and compensation package should be clearly defined. It is the duty of supervisors to ensure that the HR department is informed of the vacant position and the requirements needed to fill such position. After employees are notified of the job vacancy they should then apply for the position and send a résumé with their qualifications and experiences. Before selecting a candidate for the job each applicant should be interviewed by both HR personnel and the supervisor of the target position.
Recruitment Guideline
A recruitment guide is one of the administrative issues that affect the recruitment process. A recruitment guide is a formal document that was developed by the HR department of the Jamaica Public Services Limited that gives a detailed process to be followed to attract applicants to a vacant position. This should include factors such as the time money and activities that should be carried out by the staff to fill such a position.
Recruitment Guideline for Operations Manager
Objective: to transfer or promote qualified applicants to the vacant position with the required knowledge, skills, attitudes and other attributes (KSAO’s) within the specified timeline and the required budget.
Assumptions: the most appropriate method of internal recruitment is the closed internal system; based on this method the applicants are not aware of the vacant position only the manager and the HR department are aware of this. Based on this method the employees who have the necessary KSAO’s will be chosen and then notified.
Hiring Responsibility: Director of Generations
Other Resources: Entire Human Resource Department.
Position available and qualification summary:
The position available at the Jamaica Public Service Limited is the position of Operations Manager. To qualify for this position the employee should have:
Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical, Electrical or Chemical engineering or an equivalent.
Training in power station management and management overall
Strong analytical skills and sound judgment
A minimum of five (5) years experience in power station plant operations
A minimum of three (3) years should be at a senior management level.
Transfer request Guidelines: the internal candidates must submit an internal transfer request and an accompanying cover page listing all positions for which they are applying and for which they have applied, in order of preference. These requests must be completed and signed by the employee and the supervisor in this case could be the Operations Coordinator, Efficiency Engineer, Station Chemist or the Station services supervisor. The candidates cannot apply for more than three (3) positions.
Candidate qualification review process: transfer or promotion requests from the applicants will be reviewed weekly. Any candidate that does not fulfill the requirements of the position or does have the necessary KSAO’s they will be notified by one of the various methods of communication that is either by telephone or an e-mail or may be advised on further training to improve upon their weakness (es). These transfer requests and cover pages will be filed by the position (s) accordingly, if it is done for more than one position, a copy will be in each file.
Once all the files have been assessed, this information will be copied and transmitted to the manager (s) of JPS for further deliberation and the selection of candidates to be interviewed. Based on the number of applicants, the managers will choose the applicants with the necessary skills and qualifications matching the position to be filled, they will then communicate this information to the HR department of JPS, of the candidates they have selected for the interview.
Selection Guidelines: whenever possible, the best qualified candidates will be selected for any available position that may arise. There are certain rules that the managers of JPS should reserve their right on, these matters may be the right of not selecting an employee who is currently on disciplinary probationary period.
The employee should be slotted in a position with a salary grade comparable to their current salary grade. Employee’s salaries shall not be reduced due the involuntary nature of the job reassignment.
Notification of non- selection: the candidates that were not selected for the particular position in this case Operations Manager will be notified by an electronic message or a telephone call.
Selection notifications: the candidate (s) that was selected for the position of Operations Manager will be informed by the HR department and will be given a confirmation letter specifying the starting date, the position, the reporting relationship which takes into consideration who the individual will report directly and indirectly to and the salary.
Recruitment Guideline for Operations Engineer
Objective: to transfer or promote qualified applicants to the vacant position with the required knowledge, skills, attitudes and other attributes (KSAO’s) within the specified timeline and the required budget.
Assumptions: the most appropriate method of internal recruitment is the closed internal system; based on this method the applicants are not aware of the vacant position only the manager and the HR department are aware of this. Based on this method the employees who have the necessary KSAO’s will be chosen and then notified.
Hiring Responsibility: Director of Generations
Other Resources: Entire Human Resource Department
Time Frames:
Position Posted internally: March 3, 2008
Employees may apply until: March 17, 2008
Interviews will be coordinated during the week of: March 18-20, 2008
Interviews will be scheduled for: March 24, 2008
Selections made and communicated by: April 7, 2008
Total number of available positions: 1
Position available and qualification summary:
The position available at the Jamaica Public Service Limited is the position of Operations Engineer. To qualify for this position the employee should have:
Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical, Electrical or Chemical engineering or an equivalent.
Training in power station management and management overall
Strong analytical skills and sound judgment
A minimum of five (5) years experience in power station plant operations
Transfer request Guidelines: the internal candidates must submit an internal transfer request and an accompanying cover page listing all positions for which they are applying and for which they have applied, in order of preference. These requests must be completed and signed by the employee and the supervisor in this case could be the Operations Coordinator, Efficiency Engineer, Station Chemist or the Station services supervisor. The candidates cannot apply for more than three (3) positions.
Candidate qualification review process: transfer or promotion requests from the applicants will be reviewed weekly. Any candidate that does not fulfill the requirements of the position or does have the necessary KSAO’s they will be notified by one of the various methods of communication that is either by telephone or an e-mail or may be advised on further training to improve upon their weakness (es). These transfer requests and cover pages will be filed by the position (s) accordingly, if it is done for more than one position, a copy will be in each file.
Once all the files have been assessed, this information will be copied and transmitted to the manager (s) of JPS for further deliberation and the selection of candidates to be interviewed.
Based on the number of applicants, the managers will choose the applicants with the necessary skills and qualifications matching the position to be filled they will then communicate this information to the HR department of JPS , of the candidates they have selected for the interview and schedule an appointment time of the interviews.
Selection Guidelines: whenever possible, the best qualified candidates will be selected for any available position that may arise. There are certain rules that the managers of JPS should reserve their right on, these matters may be the right of not selecting an employee who is currently on disciplinary probationary period. The employee should be slotted in a position with a salary grade comparable to their current salary grade. Employee’s salaries shall not be reduced due the involuntary nature of the job reassignment.
Notification of non- selection: the candidates that were not selected for the particular position in this case Operations Manager will be notified by an electronic message or a telephone call.
Selection notifications: the candidates that were selected for the position of Operations Manager will be informed by the HR department and will be given a confirmation letter specifying the starting date, the position, the reporting relationship which takes into consideration who the individual will report directly and indirectly to and the salary.
Recruitment Budget for Operations Manager
Administrative Issues
Staff $180,000
Supplies $10,000
Equipment $15,000
$205,000
Recruiter Expenses
Salaries $150,000
Benefits $40,000
Expenses $15,000
$205,000
Candidate Expenses
Travel $5,000
$5,000
Total Recruitment Expenses
$205,000+ 205,000+5,000= $415,000
Total Cost per Hire
$415,000/6 =$69,166
Conclusion
The recommendation made for JPS to utilize a closed system for their internal recruitment system is highly considered as the best way to attract the right applicants for the job vacancy. This choice will reduce the cost of recruiting and the risk of selecting someone that does not match the job or the organisation. These methods however should not be used for recruiting applicants for all positions in the organisation since some position may call for a wider range of applicants to acquire quality candidates.
Reference List
Dessler G., (2005). Human Resource Management, 10th edition. Prentice Hall.
Heneman H. G. III & Judge T, A., (2007). Staffing Organization, 5th edition. McGraw-
Hill Irwin.
APPENDIX
Mobility Path to Position of Operations Manager
Operations Manager
Operations Engineer Shift Charge Supervisor
Unit Controller Unit Operator
Plant Technician
Fig 2
Fig 3
Staffing Organisation 5th edition, 2007
Staffing Organisation 5th edition, 2007.
Staffing Organisation 5th edition, 2007.
Staffing Organisation 5th Edition, 2007
Staffing Organisation 5th Edition, 2007
Staffing Organisation 5th Edition, 2007
Staffing Organisation 5th Edition, 2007
