Personnel Selection and Placement Stages Report (Assessment)

Introduction

Recruiting is an important stage of the work with personnel, including calculation of staff requirements, model building of workplaces, professional recruitment and formation of the reserve. The essential element of the hiring can be called an adequate definition of the employer’s needs. Documented basis for the development of the requirements is job description or professiogram. They contain a number of employees’ qualifications and skills required for the achievement of the goals set by the company and the terms of the employment for this or that position.

Staff Recruitment

There are two sources of recruitment: internal, due to the employees of the organization, and external due to the resources of the external environment. External sources are the most common, as the company’s resources are limited, and even if the substitution for the vacant position can be found within the corporation, his previous position becomes vacant and company needs to find the person to take it. External sources can be divided into two classes: cheap and expensive (Heather 37).

Low-cost sources include, for example, state employment agencies, contacts with universities. High-priced sources include, for example, recruitment agencies, publications in mass media, etc. Besides, there are external sources of potential job candidates, the use of which is free to the organization. First of all, there are different free Internet portals devoted to the publication of vacancies and resumes of applicants.

The company also may receive resumes from applicants themselves conducting an independent job search without recourse to intermediaries. Even under conditions of high unemployment, it is rather difficult to find a highly qualified expert, and companies resort to expensive sources of recruitment (Honkaniemi, Tolvanen, and Feldt 377). As for posts that do not require high qualifications, the company can recruit staff in cheaper ways. There are the following external sources:

The recruitment of candidates for the vacant position is realized on the recommendations of friends and relatives working in the firm. This method is quite efficient and is common in small organizations. Thus, often the hiring of new employees is carried out through recommendations and advice. This approach is typical for companies operating in narrow sectors, where the number of specialists is limited, and the searches for candidates in the labor market can be long and inefficient. However, this method has a serious drawback, the risk to take an unskilled specialist (Taufen 39).

“Independent” candidates are people that search for work without recourse to the agencies and the employment services. They send the applications, CVs and resumes to the organizations. As a rule, they choose the firm due to its leading position in the market. Even, if an organization does not need the services of such candidate now, the information about him still worth preserving, so that they can recruit him in the case of need. Many companies arrange open days and participate in job fairs and exhibitions to attract “independent” candidates.

The most common technique of recruitment is positioning of advertisements about the vacancy in mass-media. In this case, the applicant addresses directly to the employing organization. The most traditional media for posting vacancy announcements are periodicals and the Internet. Such media as television and radio are rarely used (Selvam par. 12). Periodicals (newspapers and magazines) that publish vacancy announcements can also be divided into two categories: general publications and specialized professional publications. Editions of general profile publish information about vacancies in various fields and for a broad range of professions. Specialized professional publications are focused on the problems of a particular industry or profession.

The same situation may be observed on the Internet. There are servers dedicated to employment where job seekers post their resumes, and employers publish the information about the vacancies. Also, a publication of information on careers and placement summary is possible on specialized sites representing a virtual professional community. The use of specialized professional publications and Internet portals is considered effective in the case company is searching for experts in highly-focused disciplines. Search for candidates on common positions without hard industrial dependence is usually carried out through publications on employment in various fields.

Posting job advertisements is useful and costly tool for an attraction of candidates (Henderson 6). However, it may be ineffective in the case of an inrush of applicants, which do not possess the required qualities. It is necessary to make short outline of the key requirements preventing the flow of resumes of candidates unsuitable for this position; the announcement should be published in the appropriate publication (the local press or in specialized journal); The company should analyze the number of responses received from placing advertisements in various publications that allow to choose the most effective medias for specific types and areas of work.

Many organizations are focused on the recruitment of university graduates with no work experience. Toward this end, the employer conducts presentations at the institutes, as well as takes part in job fairs. The peculiarities of the graduates’ recruitment are related to the fact that in the absence of the professional competencies, personal competencies such as the ability to plan, analyze, personal motivation, etc. are evaluated by the companies.

The state employment service (workforce exchange). The governments of most countries contribute to the high level of employment, creating special bodies engaged in search of work for unemployed citizens. There are the databases containing the information about the applicants, their biographical facts, qualification characteristics, and the position that interests them. Organizations have access to such databases and can search the candidates at low cost. However, this method does not provide a broad coverage of the applicants, since not all applicants are registered in the public employment services.

Recruitment agencies. Over the past 30 years, recruiting has become a rapidly developing branch of the economy. Each agency has its database and searches for candidates with the requirements of the employers. The agency carefully studies the conditions that the company requires from applicants, select candidates, conduct test, and interview. In the case of reception of a candidate for employment, agency services are paid by the corporation.

Recruitment agencies can have the different specializations (Taufen 38). Mass recruitment is carried out in the case of opening a new venture when the aim is to find the staff in the short term. A distinctive feature of mass recruiting is the set of the large number of similar vacancies (for example, cashiers, salesmen, porters, etc. if a new supermarket opens). Temporary staffing services are provided by the agencies in cases where the timing of recruitment of a vacancy increase or for the period of temporary disability of permanent employee and if there is no possibility of his replacement by another staff member.

Also, the agencies have personnel leasing services. It occurs when the work of a qualified professional is required by the company on a temporary, not permanent basis. Executive selection (search executives) is an area of recruitment, which is focused on the search for high-level professionals and executives. The method used by these agencies is called headhunting, and the recruiters specializing in executive search are called head-hunters. The principle of this method is based on the following reason, high-level managers do not seek a job through advertisements or through agencies, and most of them are successful in their business and do not even think about changing jobs.

The task of the “hunter” is to offer this candidate more favorable terms than another organization may suggest. The executive recruiters organize their search on the basis of a detailed analysis of the market and potential donor companies. Also, they should know the specifics of enterprises in selected sectors of the market, for example, in oil and gas, banking, etc. The sources of information for headhunters are: reports and brochures published by the firms, the industry publications that publish the ratings of the most successful managers and employees, as well as, articles, reports and other publications, confidential search network.

They carefully address the offer to the selected applicants to change the place of work, discuss its specific conditions (level of pay, social benefits), after that, candidates are introduced to the client company. The executive recruiters conduct a thorough analysis of the vacancy, constitute the conditions and identify the most suitable type of personality. All these actions are made on the basis of requirements for the candidates, formulated by the client company.

The advantages of headhunting are the impact on the relevant target audience (the traditional means of engaging staff not always manage to find the potential candidates for senior position, superintendents ready to consider the proposals for a new job, explain their intentions to the executive recruiters and do not look for job in competing companies; if the selected candidate does not want to change a workplace, he can recommend another employee of the same level. Among the disadvantages of the executive search service there is a devastating impact on organizations established effectively; a firm that used the headhunting service may become their client again.

To prevent this, the firms pay the employee a considerable payment in exchange for the obligation to stay on the post in this organization for a long term; candidate can bribe an executive recruiter with the purpose of recommendation into a good post; for the most efficient search, headhunter may request confidential information from the client company.

The Stages of the Personnel Selection and Placement

The selection of personnel is the natural completion of the staff recruitment process in accordance with the organization’s needs in human resources. The final decision in the selection is usually formed at several stages that should be passed by the applicants. At each stage, some candidates drop out, or they just refuse the procedure, taking other offers (Doyle and Locke 30). As a rule, before decision-making on hiring by the organization, a candidate must go through several selection steps:

1. A pre-qualifying interview may be conducted in various ways. For some activities, it is preferable that candidates come to a future workplace, and then line manager may give a talk, in other cases it is not important, and the interview is conducted by a personnel manager. Its main purpose is the assessment of the applicant’s education level, the appearance, and personal qualities. There is a standard system of rules for the evaluation of the candidates that are advisable for managers and human resources specialists.
2. Applicants who successfully overcame preliminary conversation should fill in the application form and questionnaire. The number of questionnaire items should be minimal, and they should request the information, exploring the productivity of the applicant’s future work. The information may relate to past work, a cast of mind, the situations they had to face, but so that on their basis the applicant could be assessed in full measure. The questions should be neutral and suggest any possible answers, including the possibility of failure of response. Paragraphs should flow one from another (Bowen and Leger 35).
3. The research has shown that most of the decisions on the selection of applicants are made by the US firms on the basis of the outcome of the interview. It is the most common method of evaluating candidates for the position. In the process of interview not only the employer gets the information about the candidate, but the candidate has the opportunity to learn more about the conditions of work (asking questions to the interviewer), and the corporate culture of the organization (Reigle 184). The applicant can make the conclusions about the corporate culture of the employing company, and the compatibility with it by the organization level, the conditions of the interview, and the interviewer professionalism, etc. There are various types of the interview. Biographical interviews are aimed at the clarification of different aspects of candidate’s professional activity that are not disclosed in the resume. A biographical talk does not give the opportunity to evaluate the current situation and the motivation of the applicant. Situational interviews, during which the applicant is offered to solve several practical situations (hypothetical or real problems). This method allows revealing general and analytical abilities of the candidate, the used approaches to the solution of various issues and the readiness to come out of difficult situations. A structured interview is targeted at the identification of professional and personal qualities of the candidate on a pre-designed formal list of questions. It can combine the elements of all other types of interviews. The purpose of the competency-based conversation is to determine the level of compliance of the candidate to the skills required for the work in this organization and in this position. The conversation process refers to the past experience of the candidate to determine the level of competency and possibilities of its development (Reigle 185). Stress interview is a type of interview used to assess the candidate on the subject of qualities such as stress resistance, ability to behave correctly in provocative, stressful situations, the speed and effectiveness of decision-making, etc. During a stress interview, the candidate is asked provocative, improper questions, such as “Are you sure that you deserve the salary you are applying for?” or “Why should we hire you?” etc. usually, this kind of interview is carried out by two or more interviewers to increase stress component. Sometimes, such interviews are conducted in an uncomfortable atmosphere that distracts the applicant and does not allow focusing on the subject of the talk. This methodology is usually applied for the evaluation of candidates for such positions, which demands the work in unusual or stressful situations. As a rule, the interviews are conducted by recruiters or HR staff and line managers. There are several main types of the interview according to their structure. The talks that are held by the scheme are rather limited, available information does not give a broader characteristic of the applicant, the course of the conversation cannot be adapted to the peculiarities of the candidate, and it restricts him and reduces the possibility of obtaining information. Informal type of the interview presupposes the preparation of the main questions only. The interviewer has an opportunity include other, unplanned issues, flexibly changing the course of the conversation. The interviewer should be better prepared to be able to see and note the reaction of candidates to choose from a range of possible questions those that currently deserve more attention. There is one more type of the interview, which is conducted not according to the scheme prepared in advance. It presupposes only a list of topics that should be discussed. This kind of the talk is rather informative for an experienced interviewer.
4. Testing, role-playing, and professional trial are the sources of information that may provide data on the personal features, professional skills, and abilities of the candidate (Holladay, David, and Johnson 492). The results of the talk give the opportunity to describe potential efficiency and goals of the employee and to determine specific ways of working, which he already uses in practice. Testing may allow forming an opinion about the inclination of the candidate to professional and career growth, specifics of motivation, features of the individual style of activity.
5. Information contained in the reference letters or conversations with people, which candidate named as referees may allow to clarify exactly the level of candidate’s qualification and success on the previous places of work, study, residence. However, it is inexpedient to address the organization, in which candidate is working at the present moment. It may promote the distribution of the information, which candidate does not want to share. Thus, he may not give accurate information to HR manager.
6. The medical examination is conducted, as a rule, if the job has specific requirements for the health status of a candidate.
7. Decision-making starts with the comparison of applicants. The results are introduced to the administration that makes the final choice. Usually, the offer to take the position is made in the oral form, and if the applicant accepts it, the firm sends him the official offer. In this letter, the employer must repeat all previously agreed terms of employment, laying special emphasis on the precise formulations, because they will form the basis for the contract of employment (Johnson 117). The worker should be informed of any changes in the working conditions in writing form no later than one month before the actual introduction of changes.

Official placement is the process of appointment of the employee on the first day in a new place, his acquaintance with the rules and procedures of work with the staff and his direct responsibilities, as well as traditions and culture of the organization. It may be considered as the beginning of the period of in-house training or as the final stage of the selection process of staff.

Conclusion

Staffing is one of the essential elements of the human resources department work in any organization, as the quality of the selected staff depends on the efficiency of the corporation as a whole. In this context, mistakes in recruitment can be costly to the company thus, recruiting good employees is a sound investment. It is extremely significant to apply appropriate methods and tools that enhance the predictability of the process. An elaborate evaluation program should be created by the human resources department.

Works Cited

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Taufen, Amber. “9 Steps for Successful Recruiting.” Medical Group Management Association. 13.7 (2013): pp. 38-39. Web.