Recruitment and Staffing

Internal recruitment does not always produce the number or quality of personnel needed; in this case, the organisation needs to recruit from external sources, either by advertising vacancies in newspapers, magazines and journals, and the visual and/or audio media; using employment agencies to “head hunt”; advertising on-line via the Internet; or through job fairs and the use of college recruitment.

1.1                Posting Vacancies

As said earlier, job posting refers to publicising an open job to employees (often by literally posting it on bulletin boards) and listing its attributes, such as criteria of knowledge, qualification, skill and experience. The purpose of posting vacancies is to bring to the attention of all interested persons (inside or out of the organisation) the jobs that are to be filled.

There are good reasons for recruiting from sources within the organisation:

• “Insiders” know the organisation, its strengths and weaknesses, its culture and its people.
• Promotions from within build motivation and a kind of commitment to the

organisation.

• Internal recruitment is cheaper and quicker than advertising and interviewing “outsiders”. Time spent in training and socialisation is also reduced.

At the same time there are also disadvantages:

• Sometimes it is difficult to find the “right” candidate within the organisation.
• If the vacancies are being caused by too fast expansion of the organisation there is an insufficient supply of qualified individuals above the entry level.

1.2                Recruiting from external sources

External recruiting methods can be divided into two classes: informal and formal.

Informal recruiting methods enter a smaller market than formal methods. These methods may include rehiring former employees and choosing from among those

applicants whose unsolicited résumés had been saved on file. The use of referrals also belongs to an informal hiring method. Because they are relatively inexpensive to use and can be implemented quickly. Former students for instance who participated in internship programmes may also be easily and cheaply accessed.

Formal methods of external recruiting are searching the labour market more widely for candidates with no previous connection to the organisation. These methods have traditionally included newspaper/magazine/journal advertising, the use of employment agencies and executive search firms, and college recruitment. More often, now, job/career fairs and e-Recruiting are reaching the job seeker market.

Posting vacancies externally through the media or via employment agencies reaches a wider audience and may turn up a greater number of potential candidates from which the organisation can choose.

At the same time, this method is relatively expensive and time-consuming as the organisation works through advertisements in newspapers, periodicals and journals will continue to be an important way to reach potential candidates.

Recruiting agencies are gaining in popularity, especially when searching for management level positions. Recruiting via this medium is expensive. Executive search firms tend to find candidates for jobs faster that most organisations can, because the recruiting firms/employment agencies have larger databases of people.

It is often said that the best jobs are not advertised; their availability is communicated by word of mouth. Networking, therefore, is a method for recruiting, especially at the senior management level in certain industries.

In many instances, networking is a strategy used by the recruitment agencies.

1.3                Online applications on the internet

Using the Internet is faster and cheaper than many traditional methods of recruiting. Jobs can be posted on Internet sites for periods at no additional cost and are available twenty-four hours a day. Candidates can view detailed information about the job and the organisation and then respond electronically.

The Internet speeds up the hiring process:

•  Faster posting of jobs
• Faster applicant response

Companies that are likely to advertise on-line usually have a website that allows potential candidates to learn about the company before deciding whether to apply, and lowering the incidence time-wasting through the submission of unsuitable applications.

Internet recruiting is not all positive, though:

• Some applicants still prefer face-to-face interactions in the hiring

process.

• Companies are overwhelmed by the volume of résumés posted on the Internet.

1.4                Fairness/equity in the recruitment process

It is often difficult to ensure fairness/equity in the recruitment process although, there are laws that protect individuals and groups from discrimination. Detailed processes exist or must be established to minimise discrimination.

Mostly following groups receive special notice: women, visible minorities and the disabled are usual targets.

Managers’ responsibilities for employment equity should be following:

• Ensuring effective overall performance and continuous progress of the

employment equity goals within the operation;

• Achieving, fostering and maintaining a representative workforce;
• Showing leadership in employment equity and demonstrating commitment to it by ensuring that discrimination and stereotyping are not tolerated.

•  Informing and educating employees in the organisation about employment equity and diversity.

1.5                International Recruitment Trends

The increasing globalisation of the marketplace combined with an increasing shortage of skilled staff and advances in technology have resulted in large scale changes to recruitment practices throughout the world.

Attracting staff from overseas remains a challenge for human resources, due to a low rate of labour market mobility. 

Deciding how best to publicise a vacancy is just one element of how to devise a successful international recruitment strategy.

It is important to remember that most workers don’t automatically think about looking for a job abroad. It is only when they see a vacancy that they might seriously consider relocating.

It is therefore crucial to not just post a job somewhere and wait until candidates reply, but rather to tailor each vacancy according to the factors that motivate the potential applicants that are targeted. This research reveals that those motivations vary from country to country so any international recruitment strategy must be informed by these cultural differences.
Cultural and language differences are the biggest barriers for international recruitment strategies (43%), followed by legislative problems (31%) and the difficulty in checking candidate qualifications and references (26%).
Companies in mainland Europe prefer to recruit from neighbouring countries, whereas firms in the UK have no particular preference regarding the country of origin of their foreign employees.
Almost 40% of British people would be amenable to working in another country for more than five years. However those from Nordic countries (Norway, Sweden and Denmark) prefer to return home within two years.

                        

2.                Employee appraisal and development

Managing employee performance is an integral part of the work that all managers perform throughout the year. It is as important as managing financial resources because employee performance, or the lack thereof, has a significant effect on both the financial and program components of any organization.

Managers need to identify organizational goals to be accomplished, communicate individual and organisational goals to employees that support the overall strategic mission.

Performance management generally includes following processes:

•  planning work and setting expectations

•  continually monitoring performance

•  developing the capacity to perform

•  periodically rating performance in a summary fashion; and

•  rewarding good performance

2.1                Planning and monitoring

In an effective organisation, work should be planned in advance. This includes expectations and goals for individuals in order to compare efforts with achieving organisational objectives. Involving employees in the planning process is essential to their understanding of the goals of the organisation, what needs to be done, why it needs to be done, and expectations for goals. When developing performance elements and standards, managers should keep in mind that these are measurable, understandable, verifiable, equitable, and achievable.

They must be focused on results and include credible measures such as:

 

• Quality, addresses how well the employee is expected to perform the work and/or the accuracy or effectiveness of the final product. It refers to accuracy, appearance, usefulness, or effectiveness. Measures can include error rates (such as the number or percentage of errors allowable per unit of work) and customer satisfaction rates (determined through a customer survey/feedback).

• Quantity addresses how much work the employee is expected to produce. Measures are expressed as a number of products or services expected, or as a general result to achieve.

• Timeliness addresses how quickly, when, or by what date the employee is expected to produce the work.

Effective and timely feedback during the performance appraisal period is an essential component of successful performance management. Employees need to know on a regular basis how well they are performing. They need to be told what they are doing well and if there are areas needing improvement. Feedback can come from many different sources: observation by managers or input from customers, for example.

2.2                Employee Development

Providing employees with training and developmental opportunities encourages good performance, strengthens job-related skills and competencies, and helps employees keep up with changes in the workplace, such as the introduction of new technology.

During planning and monitoring of work, deficiencies in performance become visible and can be addressed. Areas for improving good performance also stand out, and action can be taken to help successful employees improve even further.

Employee development can be either formal or informal. Formal development may include:

• traditional training in courses

• self-study courses

While managers have a large influence over formal training, they have even greater impact on creating for informal employee development, which can take different forms:

• Feedback is a natural part of the monitoring process of performance management, but specific and timely feedback to employees about their performance against established expectations also provides the foundation for discussing developmental needs.

• Job rotations challenge employees and broaden their understanding of the organization.

• Using the manager as an informal teacher acknowledges that managers consciously teach employees through their own model, habits, and system of values.

• Learning teams can form to meet regularly to focus on improving performance.

2.3                Rating

Within the context of appraisal requirements, rating means evaluating employee performance against the elements and standards in an appraisal plan. The rating of record is based on work performed during the entire 12-month appraisal period. The rating assigned reflects the level of the employee’s performance as compared to the standards established.

2.4                Rewarding

Rewarding performance means providing recognition of employees for their performance and acknowledging their contributions to the organisations mission. Recognition is an ongoing, natural part of day-to-day experience. Good performance should be recognized without waiting. Awards may come in many forms, including cash, time off, non-monetary items, honor awards, etc.

At any time in the performance period that an employee’s performance is not meeting performance expectations, it is important that to take appropriate action to deal with the poor performance. This includes contacting the Human Resources Department for advice.

There is a difference between poor performance and misconduct. Poor performance (can’t do) is failure of the employee to do the job at an acceptable level that is at least fully successful. Misconduct (won’t do) is generally failure to follow a workplace rule (whether written or unwritten). Examples of misconduct are: tardiness, absenteeism, unprofessional/discourteous conduct; damaging/destroying government property; falsification, etc. Also a conduct problem is when an employee is capable of performing his/her duties at an acceptable level but chooses not to. Sometimes, misconduct can result in poor performance.

Table of Sources

Armstrong, Michael
Performance management: key strategies and practical guidelines
Kogan Page, 2000


Fletcher, Clive
Appraisal: routes to improved performance
London, Institute of Personnel and Development, 1997

Hunt, Nigel
Conducting staff appraisals: a practical handbook for every
manager today
How to Books, 1997

Dessler, Gary 

Human Resource Management

Eighth Edition. New Jersey, USA, 2000        

Schuler, Randall S.

Personnel and Human Resource Management

Third Edition. 1987                

        

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