Taking into account the way in how RFC are trying to recruit through their job advertisements from the case study. It is identified that there is large amounts of information missing and that they have not taken into account the legislation which accompanies recruitment. While recruiting there are many areas of legislation which must be considered by the organisation so that no prejudice or discrimination occurs. These areas are as follows;
- Sex Discrimination Act 1975 – an employer cannot discriminate against an employee or future employee regarding their sex or marital status.
- Racial Relations Act 1976 – employees must be offered equal opportunities and must not be discriminated against regarding their race, colour, nationality, national or ethic origins
- Ageism – no discrimination must be shown regarding the age of an employee or applicant
- Equal Pay Act 1970 – male and female workers must be receive the same pay for like work.
- Disability Discrimination Act 1995 – no person should be discriminated against if they are disabled
- Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 – no discrimination should be shown to persons with spent convictions under this act.
(adapted from Foot, M et al (1999))
Regarding the job advertisements that RFC have put together there are several examples of discrimination concerning the legislation of recruitment. RFC have a vacancy on the reception desk and the advertisement reads ‘Two Ladies required…..’ Already it can be seen that this is in breach of the Sex Discrimination Act. The advertisement also talks about ‘looking the part,’ this again can be seen as discrimination as ‘if the face doesn’t fit don’t bother applying’ is the message which comes across. In the second advert it talks about wanting to attract ‘fit young people’ to work on the assembly line. This again is a form of discrimination, in this instance being Ageism. RFC are quite clearly discriminating against the older generation, even if those people can do that specific job advertised they are getting overlooked as they are not in the target age group which RFC are advertising for. With this in mind RFC could be overlooking certain persons who have adequate experience for the specific job. The third vacancy is for a trainee upholsterer, RFC specify that the person applying be of a strong stature. Once again RFC are showing signs of not abiding by the recruitment legislation. In this case they maybe are discriminating against the disabled, the older generation of persons and are showing signs of sexism.
Not only are there signs of discrimination within RFC’s advertisements there is also large amounts of information missing. The following information should be contained within a job vacancy advertisement;
- Name and address of company
- State whether position is full or part time
- Closing date for applicants
- Some kind of job description
- Qualifications, skills or experience required
- Whether training is offered
- Annual salary that the position holds
From the advertisements which RFC have produced it can be seen that the information provided is quite a way short of what is recommended to be included in a job advertisement.
Below is a re-draft of the RFC advertisement which demonstrates good practice in the recruitment of new employees.
Receptionist/Administrators
Location: 347, City Road, Sunderland, UK
Salary: £10,000 – £12,000 (35 – 40 hours/week)
The position is based mainly within the administration department. You will carry out tasks such as word processing clerical support duties, also offering with secretarial support throughout the company.
Good communication skills are required as you will be talking to the public often. Excellent word processing skills and a good understanding and knowledge of word are important. A professional and efficient manner and the proven ability to work with minimal supervision while adhering to strict deadlines is essential
Position is full time, working Monday – Friday.
Apply to: Human Resources Department, 347, City Road, Sunderland, UK, SD1 7LN
Telephone: 01456 348901 if you require further information.
Assembly Workers
Location: 347, City Road, Sunderland, UK
Salary: £9,000 - £14,000 ( 35 – 40 hours/week)
The position will be based in the assembly department. You will carry out tasks which include assembling the wooden frames of our products.
Previous experience of carpentry would be of advantage, full training is provided however. Good sense of working under pressure and meeting strict deadlines is essential
Position is full time, working Monday – Friday
Apply to: Human Resources Department, 347, City Road, Sunderland, UK, SD1 7LN
Telephone: 01456 348901 if you require further information.
Trainee Upholsterer
Location: 347, City Road, Sunderland, UK
Salary: £7,000 - £8,500 (25 – 35 hours/week)
Based mainly within the production department of the organisation, minimal or no experience required due to full training being provided.
Must show a good sense of willingness to learn and developing skills.
This position is full time, working 5 days a week. Non specific
Apply to: Human Resources Department, 347, City Road, Sunderland, UK, SD1 7LN
Telephone: 01456 348901 if you require further information.
Task 2
Selection is a method which allows an organisation to identify the most appropriate candidate for a specific job within the organisation.
Foot et al (1999) believes ‘selection is choosing the best person for the job.’
There are many different methods of selection that an organisation can use to determine which candidate is best suited to the job, they range from everything from one on one interviews to group testing of future employees.
For an organisation to make sure that their selection techniques are running smoothly a ‘selection system’ has been designed. This allows the organisation to follow the selection method and hopefully reducing any problems which might be incurred during the process. Below shows the selection system diagram which an organisation may use.
The above diagram shows how a selection system should work, as along as the organisation follows this system then there should hopefully be minimal problems which they incur when selecting the appropriate candidate.
Regarding the selection procedure for RFC when recruiting a new receptionist they should take into account the different approaches of selection. For instance Storey (1992) suggests ‘systematic techniques, such as testing, to assess behavioural and attitude aspects, are being used by employers to control the type of employee recruited.’ Williams et al (1993) however has discovered that ‘many companies use psychological techniques to select staff who will conform with the existing or desired commitment culture.’
The selection method which may be best for RFC would be one which incorporates psychometric testing as RFC seem to have a loyalty factor within their organisation.
This type of testing is a ‘standardised administration of tests meaning that all applicants will be asked the same questions in the same conditions, and the scoring means that the scores are not open to individual interpretation as in the case with an interview.’ Foot, M et al (1999)
Using psychometric testing and interviews it would give RFC a more accurate idea of which candidates were best suited for the vacancy which is available.
Using the interview technique it will give RFC the chance not only to find out about their applicant but will also give RFC the chance to sell their company to that applicant.
Interviews give an organisation a chance to predict the future performance and behaviour of a candidate. This can be vitally important for an organisation especially if they are a market leader. It also gives the organisation the chance to persuade the candidate to accept the job offer instead of looking else where.
It would be beneficial for RFC to use the interview method as it offers;
- Low costs – company doesn’t lose out on mush of its capital when conducting the interviews
- Opportunity to meet candidate on a one on one basis
- Negotiation of issues – start dates, salary etc.
Since RFC see them being a loyal organisation then psychometric testing could be used to determine the commitment of the candidate. This psychometric testing may cover the following areas;
- Intelligence
- Ability
- Interest
- Motivation
- Personality
With those five areas being measured it would certainly give RFC the chance to gain some idea of their potential employee regarding loyalty to the company.
Even though these two selection methods may seem the best to use when acquiring a new employee, RFC must be careful to ensure that the reliability and validity of these methods are up to scratch. Foot, M et al (1999) believes that ‘many questions have been raised about the predictive validity of interviews, ie. do interviews result in good decisions?’ the major problem with interviews is that people can become bias to candidates and this can affect their final decision. Even if there is more than one person conducting the interview, two different conceptions of the interviewee can arise. This is why Foot, M (1999) believes ‘that structured interviews and psychometric testing can go some way to correcting these interview faults.’
It may be worth considering whether there are other methods of selection that which in turn improve validity and reliability within the selection process.
Conclusion
The conclusion which can be drawn from the following report is that RFC are a long way off providing a first class recruitment and selection process. It would be in their best interests to review their whole practice when it comes to recruitment and selection as not only are they not attracting the best candidates but they are also in breach of recruitment legislation.
Bibliography
Foot. M, Hook. C (1999) Introducing Human Resource Management 2nd Ed, Addison Wesley Longman Limited, Edinburgh
Torrington. D, Hall. L, Taylor. S (2002) Human Resource Management 5th Ed, Pearson Education Limited, England
Hartman, Gerald S. Winter 1980/1981, Management Personnel Practices: The Do’s and Don’ts of EEO Compliance, EEO Today New York, Vol. 7, Iss. 4
Martha Frase-Blunt, June 2004, Short Term Executives, HRMagazine Alexandria, Vol. 49, Iss. 6
Persaud, Joe. November 2000, Can I offer you a job with your cappuccino? Human Resources
Recruitment Guide – competency-based recruitment – Identifying competencies for recruitment purposes, 28/02/2005,
Legislation and Legal Rights for recruitment and selection, 28/02/2005,