Dissertation proposal "Critically evaluate recruitment and selection process in employment agencies in UK with reference to Life Search and Selection"
UWIC BUSINESS SCHOOL
Dissertation proposal
"Critically evaluate recruitment and selection process in employment agencies in UK with reference to Life Search and Selection"
Name: Sanket L. P. Dube
Student no: ST04003628
Campus: Colchester Avenue
Course: MBA (full-time)
Tutor: Richard Adlam
Academic year: September 2004-05
Submitted: 02-08-2006
Provisional title
"Critically evaluate recruitment and selection process in employment agencies in UK with reference to Life Search and Selection"
Introduction
Recruitment agencies are a part of the ever changing world. As the world moves closer to become one, recruitment agencies play a pivotal role in helping in mass transmission of human resources from one part of the world to another. There was a time when people were happy to work in their own community. But nowadays things have changed dramatically. A lot of people travel to different parts of the world to get experience by working in alien environments. This change in the attitude of the general masses around the world has encouraged the local employment agencies to expand globally in order to make the route of recruitment and selection easier. Furthermore the expansion of the European Union has allowed people from the poorer but skilled countries like Poland, Romania and Bulgaria to travel to the UK for jobs and a better way of life. New legislations have also helped in allowing people from various parts of the EU to travel to UK and seek out opportunities.
Recruitment and selection process is concerned with identifying, attracting and choosing suitable person to meet organisations human resource requirements. (Anderson, 1994)
A useful definition of Recruitment is 'searching for and obtaining potential job candidates in sufficient numbers and quality so that the organisation can select the most appropriate people to fill its job needs. (Dowling and Schuler, 1990); whereas Selection is more concerned with predicting which candidates will make the most appropriate contribution to the organisation - now and in the future'. (Hackett, 1991)
Unemployment is not equally distributed across the UK labour force. Age, qualifications, gender, ethnicity and location all have an impact on whether or not people become unemployed and the length of time people spend on work. (Social Trends, 2002)
Examining the organisation's ability to recruit various types of employee that may be required is one of the major aspects of manpower planning. Shortages of the right kind of employee may result in failure to meet production plans and even to major revisions of marketing plans. But predicting this ability to recruit is one of the most speculative areas of manpower planning. It is not possible to calculate an accurate number to represent the rate at which certain types of specialist may be recruited in the future. The more stable and unchanging the situation, the more feasible such a calculation would be since it would then involve extra extrapolating present recruitment rates. But it is very unlikely that all the factors which may affect recruitment in the organisation itself, in the economy, in the technology, in education, training and other fields would remain constant for many length of time. (Angela M. Bowey, 1978 p:60)
Literature review
The specialist skill of external recruitment advertiser has been used for many years by personnel departments looking outside for design skills and up to date knowledge of more successful media. Agencies have also been used for temporary recruitment of staff to cover for periods when full timers are on absent or on holidays.
Recently, however, the reasons for using third parties in recruitment have intensified. With the move towards increasing the proportion of non-permanent contracts, a greater number of temporary staff is being recruited at all levels. Some evidence suggests that the number of temporary managers is increasing by 25% percent per year, to oversee specific projects as well as to fill temporary vacancies (People Management, 1996, pg 96). Agencies are becoming increasingly involved in working with organisations where strategic decision to resource prior a third party is being taken. For example, Reed Employment has recently won a contract to provide ...
This is a preview of the whole essay
Recently, however, the reasons for using third parties in recruitment have intensified. With the move towards increasing the proportion of non-permanent contracts, a greater number of temporary staff is being recruited at all levels. Some evidence suggests that the number of temporary managers is increasing by 25% percent per year, to oversee specific projects as well as to fill temporary vacancies (People Management, 1996, pg 96). Agencies are becoming increasingly involved in working with organisations where strategic decision to resource prior a third party is being taken. For example, Reed Employment has recently won a contract to provide temporary workforce of thousands to retune the videos in millions of UK homes for the new channel FIVE, taking on the responsibility for training, selection and employment. (Overell, 1996)
Employment agencies and consultancies use job analysis to identify the kind of personal characteristics need to perform job adequately. They are described in a profile or person specification which is dependent upon the requirements of the job, identify in a job description which is influenced by many factors. These include technical content, people content and organisational context, described by Hall (1992) as an intangible resource of know-how, personal relationship and culture. (Rosemary Harrison 1993 pg 221)
These assumptions tend to have emerged from experience based on organisation structures that have now passed. The future will involve far more complexity, greater ambiguity, more rapid change and a challenge to the methods that made sense to those managers who constructed the old organisations. This challenge will reduce the meaning and usefulness of traditional methods of recruitment and selection. (Sparrow and Hiltrop, 1994, pg 316)
Number of different people may be involved in recruitment and selection process internally; they could include personnel specialist, line managers, supervisors and team members. Externally, they could include agencies consultants and even customers. Consultants may be used to provide specialist knowledge and expertise which is lacking in an organisation. This is particularly relevant in the use of psychometric test; Newell and Shackleton (1993) found that organisation with no internal trained staff used consultants for administration and interpretation of tests. However, it is also applicable to more traditional approaches to selection; Storey (1992) reported an increased used of consultant - provided packages which offer a method and training support to improve the selection process without abandoning the interview - indeed these programs retain the interview at centre stage. (Len Holden 1997 pg 259)
When firms hire employees they match well with the organisation, the job and their co-workers, there is an increased likelihood of retention. Recent survey research indicates that careful selection is the most widely used method for retaining frontline employees. In addition to the use of selection procedures such as valid test and improved interviewing processes to obtain better job matches between employees job qualification.(Charles R-Greer, 2001, pg -14)
Employment agencies have traditionally used for temporary recruitment of staff cover for periods of when permanent staff has been absent on holidays or through unexpected illness. Recently the reason for using third parties in recruitment has intensified. The increasing use of non-permanent contracts increases the need of temporary or fixed term contract. Culey et al. (1999) indicates that temporary workers are used in 28 percent of work places and that fixed term contracts are now found in 44 percent of work places (Ian Beardwell, 2004, pg-221).
Executive research and selection are two different methods used for recruitment of executives. Search or head-hunting refers to recruitment of executives thru direct or personal contact by specialised consultancy acting as intermediately between the employer and the prospective candidate(s). The individual targeted by executive research consultants' work at senior levels, and responsibility at regional, national or international level. Income generated from executive research in the year 2000 was estimated to exceed $10 billion, of which a third is generated in Europe. The top fifteen multinational consultancies are judged to have at least 25 percent between them (Garrison-Jenn, 1998 P- 38). Key reasons for using executive research and selection consultants include the need for confidentiality, a lack of in house recruitment knowledge and skills at this level, and simply a lack of senior management time to devote to the activity.
Importance of ensuring the section of the right people to join the workforce has become increasingly apparent as they emphasis on people as a prime source of competitive advantage has grown. Firstly, democratic trends and changes in the labour market have lead to a more diverse workforce, which as placed increasing pressure on the notion of fairness and selection. Secondly, the desire of multi-skilled, flexible workforce and an increased emphasis on team working has meant that selection decisions are concerned more with behaviour and attitudes than with matching individuals to immediate job requirements. Thirdly, the emphasis between corporate strategy and people management has led to notion of strategy selection that is , a system that links selection processes and outcomes to organisational goals and aims to match the flow of people to emerging business strategy.(Beaumont,1993). (Tim Claydon, 2004 P 189)
The use of sophisticated techniques to ensure selection of the right people frequently includes bundles of best HR practice. The contribution of effective recruitment and selection to enhance business performance is also illustrated by the findings of empirical study. Many of the traditional methods of recruitment and selection are being challenged by the need of organisation to address the increased complexity, greater ambiguity and rapid pace of change in the contemporary environment. (Tim Claydon, 2004 P 189)
It is becoming increasingly important to understand international differences in recruitment and selection: "Almost without exception, faced with mature 'developed' markets, major companies are turning to Eastern Europe and Asia as the source of their future growth. If they fail to find ways to work in these very different cultures, the most significant opportunities of the next 20 years will be lost to them."(Hall, 1995 p:25) It can be said that people from the East Europe and Asia are travelling to UK mainly because of the economic impact of the British Pound as against the European Euro.
The current state of recruitment selection is complex because of a variety of internal and external factors continue to influence the process. The underline philosophy regarding the management of human resource and the degree of adoption of technological advances affects the way work is organised and the resultant skills needed by the employees. Externally, labour market conditions, legislation and government policies in training and education dictate who is available to fill contemporary jobs. Further complexity is added by growth of multinational enterprises. These factors are constantly changing, and the environment in which the recruitment and selection process operates is uncertain and increasingly ambiguous. However, there is no universal solution to this complexity - no "One size that's fits all" - and this is how one can account for the co-existence of both new and traditional approaches to the recruitment and selection of employees. Employment agencies tend to adopt a wide approach to attract and select employees based on current and future conditions. Thus one will find difference in approaches not only between organisations but also between organisations, depending on the level of vacancies and organisational requirements.
The most appropriate recruitment and selection techniques will continue to be those that balance the requirements of organisations with those of current and prospective employees, and the approach adopted is likely to be determined, at least in part, by external circumstances. If predictions about the demise of 'jobs for life' and the growth of portfolio careers, are true, then the experience of recruitment and selection may become an increasing feature in all our lives, regardless of the techniques involved.(Claydon 2004, p:224)
Employment agencies have traditionally been used in the recruitment and selection of temporary and permanent workers, but changing circumstances, especially the growth in fixed term and temporary contracts, may lead to a greater reliance on them in the future.
Aims
The aim of the study is to critically evaluate the process of recruitment and selection in UK with reference to Life Search and Selection Agency.
Objectives;
) To assess the legal, moral and business objectives of a recruitment agency in UK.
2) To examine the techniques and processes which comprise the prescriptive approach to recruitment and selection?
3) Fair and consistency in recruitment and selection policies and procedures
4) To highlight the contemporary issues and controversies in the field of recruitment and selection.
5) To differentiate between public agencies and private agencies.
6) To find out the problems faced by the recruitment agencies while employing people from European Union and other foreign countries.
Design and Methodology
The external research will be carried out by referring to the published data and electronic media. Questionnaires will be used and there will be a requirement for conducting interviews, however this cannot be confirmed until the research data has been analysed. Of the many ways of conducting qualitative research the author will conduct one to one depth interview with the Managing director of Life research, Cardiff, UK. The interview will be casual and will aim to reduce the items non response error to almost nil. The question will be broad based initially and will be more specific as they get to the end of the questionnaire and special emphasis on the process and manner in which domestic and international recruitment is carried out will be analysed.
Source and Acquisition of Data
The information on the topic comprises of
) Primary
2) Secondary
The method of collection of primary data will be through questionnaires and in-depth interviews. Data will be also collected through observation and in-depth research into the various developments in the sphere of operations of third party employment agencies. The interview will be semi structured in nature .the questionnaire will contain questions relating to the recruitment and selection.
The secondary data the author will rely on academic journals, books, articles on the subject such as papers and recruiter magazines and the Internet. This will be included in the literature review section of the research.
The ethical issues will be taken into consideration during the research;
a) the permission will be taken from the respondents during the collection of the data
b) confidential matters will be taken into special care
Method of Data Analysis
The dissertation will consist of both qualitative and quantitative data which needs to be analysed. The primary qualitative research method will be used for the research and the quantitative research method will be used to give up further support. The primary data will be sourced from interviews and questionnaires and also from the literature readings as well as sources from the net. The research will be carried out on most of the major employment agencies and after thorough analysis the related information will be added in the dissertation. Special care will be taken during the research to ensure that the data relating to companies privacy is highly confidential.
There are different sources of primary data so only the best sources are selected so that unwanted data may be eliminated.
Forms of Presentation
. Introduction
2. Review of literature
3. Methodology
4. Analysis and interpretation
5. Summary, suggestion and conclusion
The dissertation will be presented in the written form and the topic will be the same as stated in the proposal. The text within the dissertation will be properly referred; the literature review will contain the research in the field of recruitment and selection in the employment agencies in UK. The actual findings and analysis of the research will be included in the data analysis chapter. Recommendations will be provided and there will be a final conclusion.
References
. Garrison-Jenn, 1998 "The Global 200 Executive Recruiters", San Francisco, California, Joccey - Bass
2. Rosemary Harrison (1993), .Human Resource Management: Issues and Strategies, Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, England
3. Angela M. Bowey, A Guide to Man Power Planning (1978), Macmillan Press Limited Ltd. London.
4. Ian Beardwell and Len Holden, 2nd Edition (1997) Human Resource Management: A Contemporary Perspective, Pitman Publishing, Great Britain
5. ACAS (1983), Recruitment and Selection, Advisory Booklet No. 6, Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service, London
6. Ian Beardwell, Len Holden and Tim Claydon, 4th Edition (2004) Human Resource Management: A Contemporary Approach, Prentice Hall, Great Britain
7. H T Graham and R Bennett, 7th Edition (1992) Human Resource Management, Pitman Publishing, London
8. Gary Dessler, 8th Edition (2000), Human Resource Management, Prentice Hall International, UK.
9. John Storey, (993), Developments in the Management of Human Resources, Blackwell Publishers, UK
0. P. Sparrow and J-M Hiltrop (1994), European Human Resource Management in Transition, Prentice Hall, New York
2