Introduction to the Topic
The effectiveness of a company is always related to the people who work there. Any modern firm is interested in qualified and conscientious personnel. Recruitment is a set of specific actions to attract candidates for timely and quality staffing following the company’s needs. The problem of staff recruitment arises in almost every organization (Sołek-Borowska and Wilczewska, 2018). Many companies are facing the difficult task of quickly scaling the team, often without staff professionals. Sometimes internal HR specialists of a large corporation cannot cope with the volume of completely different assignments. As a result, a high-quality personnel policy is required, including recruitment systems and further education, training, and adaptation to the new place of work.
Background and Trends
Personnel recruitment has always been one of the critical elements of personnel policy. Despite this fact earlier, not much research was done on this topic. Furthermore, the relevance and objectivity of the current employees’ selection and recruitment methods were not often raised. However, this is a severe problem that needs to be solved by first understanding the existing practices in more detail (Rozario, Venkatraman and Abbas, 2019). The main problem of staff search is that its methods are contrary to the current circumstances. This process is hindered by traditional approaches in the personnel policy of the business, change of mentality, culture; development of market relations; internationalization of economic relations; increasing role of human resources in the economy. These contradictions give rise to many social problems, so recruitment should be carried out using modern and relevant methods and approaches (Tsareva and Kolpakova, 2020). Only then will the company form a team of effective employees, which is valuable for the employer. The research in this direction will help identify weaknesses and find new ways to solve the issue, which is an essential aspect of the academic community.
Goals and Objectives
Personnel is one of the central values of any organization. In today’s practice, human resource management is one of the weakest areas (Maamari and Alameh, 2016). The employer needs to conduct a complete study of the cost of labor, supply, and demand for highly skilled workers of the right profile, changes in work motivation, and other factors in the movement of human resources. This approach will help build a reliable and effective workforce for the company. The study’s objectives are to examine this issue in detail on the example of other research, analysis of relevant literature, scientific articles, and consideration of the topic from different sides. This project aims to identify weaknesses in the recruitment and selection of personnel to find new ways of solving this problem for subsequent application in practice.
Limitations and Scope of the Research
This research project studied the fundamental aspects of the hiring process and existing problems in this area based on the relevant literature. In addition, both employers and employees will be interviewed to look at the issue from a practical perspective and take different opinions into account. A GANTT chart was developed to determine the project plan. The study is nine pages long and includes sections on literature review, research methodology, ethics statement, timeline, summarization, and designation of results. This analysis will make an essential contribution to examining the employee selection process, identifying existing flawed approaches, and considering new hiring practices.
It is necessary to outline the limitations of the project. First and foremost, it is vital to note that data will be collected from the interviewees at a specific time interval. Thus, their answers and results are based on emotions and thoughts at that very moment, which reduces the objectivity of judgments. Another limitation is the sample size and location of the participants. For a more extensive study of this question, it is crucial to consider the opinions of people from other countries, people who are retired or, conversely, who are presently about to enter the workforce for the first time. Due to these limitations, additional literature, academic articles, and research of various kinds have been studied to make this project more objective.
Literature Review
Main Literature and Recent Academic Publications
Existing literature and scholarly publications confirm that the problem of hiring and selecting personnel is still relevant today. Much of the research demonstrates that a correctly set team of employees is a fundamental aspect of the effective operation of an organization. Recruitment is the leading competitive quality and strategic advantage of any company (Hamza et al., 2021). Recent academic research identifies several reasons for problems in hiring employees. They relate to the issue of traditional approaches in the personnel policy of the enterprise; discrimination based on gender, religion, age, ethnicity (Derous and De Fruyt, 2016). External factors are the state of the market and the economy, and internal factors are the organization’s financial capacity and the attractiveness of workplaces (Bilan et al., 2020). Understanding hiring difficulties is vital to promote economic growth and individual success for both companies and employees.
Another critical aspect considered in recent research is the relationship of new technologies and the Internet to personnel selection. The development of social media and the Internet, in general, opens new opportunities and methods for human resource management (Slavić, Bjekić and Berber, 2017). The use of Facebook, LinkedIn, and other sources in today’s world is an essential element. Employers’ reluctance to move forward with technological advances can negatively impact not only recruitment but also the organization as a whole (Acemoglu and Restrepo, 2018). E-recruiting is one of the latest innovations in employee search. Online sites can host job openings from organizations themselves as well as employee profiles (Okolie and Irabor, 2017). An evolving trend in technology suggests that this process will continue to expand. Accordingly, to avoid difficulties, companies should use this method to improve the quality and efficiency of recruitment practices.
One more dilemma is matching the capabilities and professionalism of the candidate with the expectations and requirements for a position in a particular organization. The situation can develop in two ways: either the HR department is looking for an employee with the immediate right set of characteristics, or an outstanding candidate is hired with subsequent training for the position. It is obligatory to go through the adaptation process to get used to the place, to the team (Moore, 2017). Thus, the literature review and the study of the topic provide an opportunity to look at this issue more broadly, delve into the subject, and find alternative methods to improve the technique.
Conceptual and Theoretical Framework
The theoretical framework includes both the original empirical and the original theoretical directions of the subject area, as theory cannot exist in isolation from practice. The study’s theoretical basis was the classical and modern works of specialists in various fields of knowledge, devoted to both fundamental problems of personnel selection and the business sphere as a whole. The conceptual framework is a necessary component of scientific research, determining its substantive structure and direction of implementation (Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, 2009). Several essential aspects can be highlighted based on the sources that explored this topic and studied to write the project. The problem of personnel selection and recruitment is still relevant today. The occurrence of difficulties at this stage is due to various factors that exist both within and outside the business environment. It is necessary to find alternative solutions through the interaction of all participants in this process and their direct involvement to solve the problems; this system is presented in Appendix 1 schematically. From this, it can be concluded that this conceptual and theoretical framework supports the project’s direction and the approach to the research process.
Research Methodology
Research Approach and Strategy
Research methodology is an essential element of scientific knowledge; it specifies the theoretical basis of the investigation. It is those theories and data that served as the foundation for new learning. It is necessary to determine the approach and strategy of the study to a state thought in a structured and logical manner. The project will use a mixed strategy to integrate the principles, methods of data collection, and analysis of qualitative and quantitative approaches (Molina-Azorin, 2016). Thus, there will be information gathering, the study of existing studies and surveys, observation and examination methods. Since creating and conducting the project involves studying the works of predecessors, interviewing participants, and analyzing information, it has several approaches; the main ones are empirical, scientific, pragmatic, conceptual. This policy of organizing the work is aimed at obtaining more valid and reliable results.
Data Collection
The methods of data collection in this project include several directions. First, a theoretical framework is established by assembling and researching information from competent sources. The knowledge gained is a tool to develop questions that will be asked of the examination participants. Another critical method in the research is the personal interview (Mann, 2016). Thus, the collected material in the numerical form will be the primary tool for obtaining the necessary information for subsequent analysis when the critical hypotheses regarding the participants’ behavior have already been formed. The pilot study with the questions and answers of the respondents is presented in Appendix 2; one employee and one employer were involved.
It is crucial to determine the order and sequence of components to structure the data collection process. The theoretical information was gathered before writing the project, and the majority of it is presented in the Literature Review section. It was the starting point for the development of the second stage – the interview. After studying the relevant literature and scholarly sources, the main theses were identified, on which the list of questions to the participants was built. The interview will be conducted in a one-on-one meeting, with each respondent assigned a time. Questions will be asked orally, and the answers will be entered into a special questionnaire displayed in the pilot study in Appendix 1.
Population and Sampling
Participants will include employees and employers of different ages, genders, occupations, and positions. Operators who have left their former workplace and are retired will also engage. Random sampling will be used for selection; it assumes homogeneity of the general population, the same probability of availability of all members (Patten and Newhart, 2017). At the same time, a deterministic method will be used. It will provide a priori proportional representation of carriers of fundamental features of the general population in the sample: sex, age, income, education. The interview will be voluntary, and an online survey will be considered to expand the participants and the geographical boundaries of the study. It will open a new channel of access to respondents. This point will be discussed in more detail in the Ethics Statement section.
Data Analysis
In addition to collecting and examining data from competent sources, the research project will also conduct post-interview data analysis to increase the validity of the information. The processing consists of two parts: quality control and review. First, it is necessary to assess whether the information meets four criteria: completeness, relevance, validity, relevance (Woodall, Borek and Parlikad, 2016). It will help to avoid some mistakes already in the first stages. The next step is frequency analysis: the number of responses from respondents. Quantitative processing of data obtained for closed questions can be reduced to the construction of frequencies of selected answer choices, to a description on their basis of the study group of examinees. However, this analysis will be only a part of the processing: answers to open-ended questions need to be examined by the qualitative method, which requires a meaningful interpretation of respondents’ replies.
The first step in the qualitative processing is the interview transcription, providing it in written form. This action will start during the interview itself to avoid inaccuracies in the reflection of participants’ answers. Further processing will be reduced to obtaining quantitative data on the frequency of occurrence of specific categories (Assarroudi et al., 2018). Depending on the responses received, it will be possible to derive classes, for example, employers, employees, pensioners, and display the correlation of answers in tables or diagrams.
It is necessary to provide information clearly and consistently to make a quality presentation of the study and its results. In this case, it can be used the Minto pyramid – this tool is to group ideas into clusters that support and reveal the central thesis (Gray, 2021). The scheme starts with the critical problem, moves on to supporting arguments, and ends with details. This method will help convey the primary purpose of the study and visualize the findings.
Since qualitative data analysis is a process that is dependent on the researcher, and the results are affected by subjectivity, how to verify the reliability and validity of the results is critical. To increase the validity of the conclusions, one can compare the data obtained with the results set forth by other authors. It is also possible to invite respondents themselves to comment on the analysis of results and interpretations they have made. Sometimes respondents can offer valuable remarks, such as pointing out that essential elements were not considered and analyzed.
Statement of Ethics
While conducting interviews, it is vital to follow ethical principles. First, permission must be obtained from the management of the organization. Since the process will be voluntary, there should not be any problems with the respondents’ access. Participants will be scheduled for an appointment time to avoid additional difficulties. Before the survey and interview, the respondents should sign a document where they consent to collecting and processing data (Melville and Hincks, 2016). The consent should include clear information about the survey’s purposes, procedures, and conclusions and the voluntary participation aspects, confidentiality, and data protection protocols in place. Names will not be included in the results, which means that the principle of anonymity will be respected. It is essential that interviews are conducted privately and that all questions are answered only by the respondent. The participant will have the right to refuse to answer the question. All refusals will be registered; however, before accepting the rejection, the purpose of the question will first be explained to the respondent. These aspects will help avoid various difficulties in the future and demonstrate a respectful and responsible attitude towards the participants and the process itself.
Timeline
Planning for project activities is characterized by regular refinements, adjustments to methods, and constant updating. The Gantt chart is a planning, task management tool invented by the American engineer Henry Gant (Geraldi and Lechter, 2012). It looks like horizontal bars positioned between two axes: a list of tasks vertically and dates horizontally. Presented in the form of a Gantt chart, the calendar workflow schedule gives an instrumental opportunity better to evaluate the resource compositions and interrelationships of activities. It reduces the number of subsequent changes during the implementation of project activities. Such a diagram for the research project is presented in Appendix 3.
Conclusion
Recruitment is one of the essential functions of the administration cycle performed by an organization’s management team. Today, it is vital for human resource departments to fill vacancies promptly and keep production levels up. The system of work with personnel should be planned in such a way as to achieve a constant increase in the staff of the enterprise of those people who have sufficient knowledge, skills, physical characteristics. In addition, it is necessary to ensure that such workers are more in each division. As a result, a coordinated personnel policy can be developed, including systems for recruitment, training, improvement, remuneration, and a management-employee relations policy.
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