Introduction
In an organization, recruitment is one of the core activities or responsibilities of the Human Resource Department. It involves finding, interviewing, selecting, and employing qualified applicants. E-Recruitment is one of the methods used by organizations to find suitable candidates for job positions. It involves recruiting employees with the help of electronic sources, mainly through the internet.
Organizations advertise job positions on online job boards and employment agencies. Online recruitment saves time, reduces cost, and gives organizations an opportunity to select employees from a large pool of talent (Geutal & Stone, 2005). The internet is accessible to many people around the world, and it has the ability to transfer information fast.
This enables organizations to reach out to many people within a short period. E-recruitment has revolutionalized the process of recruitment because it is cheap, fast, and allows organizations to hire employees from a wide assortment of talents from around the world (Geutal & Stone, 2005).
How HR professionals can make online recruitment effective
Organizations can use online recruitment in ways that support recruitment services while at the same time reducing organizational costs. First, they should use their organization’s website to advertise for job opportunities. Some online agencies and websites charge certain fixed fees for job advertisements made by other organizations.
Organizations could post job advertisements on their websites under the careers or job opportunities section. Second, HR professionals should use sites that many people frequently visit or use. Social networks such as Twitter, Facebook, and Messenger are appropriate sites to post job advertisements. Many people are able to access recruitment information from different parts of the world.
Online recruitment is beneficial because it gives organizations an opportunity to source talent from different parts of the world. Thirdly, organizations could use the services of online job boards and online recruitment organizations.
For example, LinkedIn is an effective site to use because it has resumes of potential candidates. It also gives potential candidates an opportunity to contact hiring organization in case they are qualified and interested.
Strategies to alleviate the negative effects of e-recruitment
Several strategies could be used to deal with the negative effects of online recruitment. Examples of consequences associated with e-recruitment include exclusion of minority groups, fraud, recruitment weaknesses, and unauthorized access of recruitment data (Reynolds & Weiner, 2009). Online recruitment mainly involves interviewing candidates through phone interviews or video links.
This may lead to selection of individuals whose personalities and characters fail to meet the requirements of the hiring organization. This problem can be solved by using online recruitment agencies that have access to candidates in various parts of the world. As such, the agency will recruit candidates that match the requirements and standards of the organization.
Online recruitment might exclude minority groups such as people with disabilities and thus risk being discriminative (Reynolds & Weiner, 2009). This problem could be mitigated by using third parties such as non-for-profit organizations to reach out to such groups. In addition, they could set aside few opportunities for minority groups.
A common consequence of e-recruitment is selection of candidates that fail to meet the requirements of the organization (Reynolds & Weiner, 2009). Organizations should use their website to provide information that details their organizational culture and structure in order to avoid hiring unqualified candidates.
Finally, there is risk of fraud that could be perpetrated by individuals posing as human resource professionals form the hiring organization. Fraud tarnishes the image of the organization.
The HR professionals should prioritize using specific vetted agencies to conduct recruitment. In addition, they should link the sites that they advertise on to their website for additional recruitment information. Moreover, they should contact candidates that present their applications through their personal emails that are safe and secure.
Psychological contract and e-recruitment
A psychological contract refers to a representation of perceptions, beliefs, and obligations between an employee and an employer (Cullinane & Dundon, 2006). It determines the type and quality of relationship between the two parties. It also outlines the requirements of a certain job (Wuttke, 2009). Breach of the psychological contract is a common consequence of online recruitment.
To ensure that the psychological contract of a candidate is honored during online recruitment, a candidate should get thorough information about the job being offered. An employee should ensure that they have all the necessary information regarding the job before they agree to the terms of employment.
This will prevent the organization from giving them different or additional jobs. Candidates should obtain information regarding the practicality and requirements of the job before agreeing to the organization’s terms (Cullinane & Dundon, 2006).
How to recruit highly qualified candidates
Several strategies could be used to recruit qualified candidates and applicants from diverse backgrounds. These strategies include advertising jobs on websites of organizations that advocate for the rights of people with special needs, using professional hiring agencies to recruit, and seeking referrals from other organizations.
Many professional recruitment organizations have resumes of potential candidates in their databases (Pfeiffer, 2008). Organizations could use their services to get access to qualified candidates. On the other hand, seeking referrals from other organizations is an effective strategy. Referrals could include former employees or people who have successfully completed internship programmes (Pfeiffer, 2008).
The attributes of an organization’s website such as the design and layout could affect my decision to apply for a job in that organization. The appearance of a website speaks volumes about an organization’s values and work ethic. An attractive website is an indication that the organization pays attention to details and outcomes of projects and organizational activities.
In addition, it shows that the organization values dedication and quality. In contrast, an unattractive website shows that the organization does not care about the outcome as long as an activity is completed. For example, the website of Forbes is well designed and organized.
Every day, the organization posts a motivational quote on the website, which gives insights on different topics. Google’s website is also very attractive. It expresses creativity and innovation.
Security protocols
Security and privacy are some of the common challenges that face online recruitment systems. Organizations should use security controls such as password management, multiple-step authentication, data loss prevention software, and system access and use policies (Kavanagh et al, 2012). One of the most effective security control strategy is use of strong and complex passwords that cannot be easily hacked or manipulated.
Such passwords include a combination of numbers, letters, phrases, and symbols. It is important to use a different password for each system that the organization uses for recruitment. This eradicates the risk of unauthorized access by employees or recruitment staff. Unauthorized access can compromise the transparency and effectiveness of the process.
Establishing multiple steps authentication protocol is also an effective security measure (Kavanagh et al, 2012). The multiple authentication protocol combines both passwords and special codes as requirements that are needed to access a system. Installing data loss prevention software stops unauthorized copying or transfer of information from a system (Wuttke, 2009).
The software monitors transfer of information from one system to another. Finally, organizations should implement policies to control access and use of systems.
This policy could include elements such as a list of individuals who are authorized to access the system, the type of data or information that can be accessed, and guidelines on password management. Guidelines on software installation, storage of personal information on the organization’s computers, and use of remote access networks could also be included in the policy (Wuttke, 2009).
Conclusion
Recruitment is one of the most important activities in any organization. It refers to the process of hiring qualified candidates. Many methods are used for recruitment. However, with recent advancement in technology, e-recruitment is the most widely used and preferred method of recruitment by organizations.
It reduces the cost of hiring, saves time, and offers organizations an opportunity to select qualified candidates from around the globe. Despite these advantages, e-recruitment has disadvantages too. It promotes discrimination and increases risk of unauthorized access to applicants’ personal information. To prevent such occurrences, security measures should be implemented.
These include use of strong passwords, installation of software to monitor flow of information from the organization’s system, and implementation of policies to guide the use of the system. Using complex authentication protocols could also prevent unauthorized access to applicants’ data. Online recruitment is effective especially for recruitment of highly qualified employees from diverse backgrounds.
References
Cullinane, N., & Dundon, T. (2006). The Psychological Contract: A Critical Review. International Journal of Management Reviews, 8(2), 113–129.
Geutal, H., & Stone, D. (2005). The Brave World of eHR: Human Resources Management in the Digital Age. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Kavanagh, M., Thite, M., & Johnson, D. (2012). Human Resource Information Systems. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.
Pfeiffer, M. (2008). E-Recruitment: Analysis of Current Trends. New York: VDM publishing.
Reynolds, D., & Weiner, J. (2009). Online Recruiting and Selection: Innovation in Talent Acquisition. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Wuttke, F. (2009). E-Recruitment Vs. Traditional Recruitment. New York: GRIN Verlag.