Executive Summary
The process of recruiting, selecting and evaluating employees for this project will take an approach that would enhance success for the project awarded to DataCo by the government of Singapore. Singapore Elite HR Company has been keen to ensure that it balances the projects needs and the law and regulations in this country.
This assessment team was keen to ensure that employees with the desired skills and ability to perform are the ones selected in this project. It is through this that the project can be considered a success. In this project, Elite will ensure that employees that DataCo require in different position are gotten using a competitive process. Also important is to ensure that this recruitment process is done within the budget limits.
This would help ensure that the entire process is undertaken within the expectations of DataCo. The evaluation process would further enhance the ability of the management and the hired employees to work in an integrated environment where giving directions would be easier.
Introduction
Human resource forms an important aspect of any project. According to Boselie1, for any project to succeed, there must be a carefully selected workforce that will carry out various duties within the project.
This scholar further reiterates the importance of selecting the workforce that understands the project properly as a way of making work easier, and cutting such costs as that which would be incurred when the workforce has to undergo some form of training in order to understand the requirements of the project.
DataCo must realize these facts in order to succeed in this massive project that has been awarded by the government of Singapore. This two year project should be carefully planned by having the right workforce that will be able to meet the targets set by the project management team.
As Singapore Elite HR Company, we offer a solution to DataCo by helping in the selection of the most appropriate workforce that will be able to help this firm meet its objectives.
Given that the positions have already been identified, Singapore Elite HR Company has a comprehensive plan on how to select various officers depending on the importance of the office. According to Budhwar2, every level of office has a different selection plan that is most appropriate.
This scholar says that the selection procedure used when hiring a secretary will always be different from that used when hiring a projects manager. Singapore Elite HR Company took this into consideration when coming up with this plan. All the planed recruitments are expected to be complete by 1st June 2013. This project must be based on the budget of $65,000 which has been assigned to it.
Job and Person Descriptions
According to Cutcher3, before determining who to employ in every given position within a project, it is important to describe the job of that particular parson. Job description entails what the office should achieve, roles and responsibilities of the occupier of the office, the person the officer in that office will be answerable to and the remuneration that the office caries.
Evans4 says that job description helps in matching the skills of the occupier of the office, and the expectation of the entire project. It helps in determining the office that will be responsible for every single activity within the implementation process. Job description form is attached in this document at the appendix (Appendix A).
Fey5 says that person description involves describing the person that would hold a particular office within the project. This scholar says that when describing the person, care should be taken to ensure that there is a match with job description.
Person description would simply be the characteristics of the person who would be fitting into an office whose requirements have clearly been stated. The characteristics of the person would always be analyzed based on the descriptions given when describing the job. Person description form is attached in this document at the appendix (Appendix A).
Recruitment Method
Recruitment is a very important stage in looking for the right workforce for a given project. According to Grobler6, recruitment involves gathering a pool of potential employees who have the capacity to undertake a given duty within a firm.
This means that when recruiting, the human resource officer must ensure that all the necessary qualities of the potential candidates for every position is gotten from the final list of the candidates to be selected.
Singapore Elite HR Company has a comprehensive plan of how to recruit the most qualified candidates for various positions within the project. Given the nature of the job market in Singapore, the management plans to use three methods in recruiting potential candidates for various positions in this project.
Advertisement using the Newspapers
Most of the job seekers in Singapore always rely on newspapers to get job opportunities.7 This is especially so with those who have advanced level of education. In this project, the newspapers will be used when recruiting Data Entry Team Leader (DETL) and Data Entry Operators (DEO).
Newspaper will reach many people within a very short time. The newspaper will be appropriate for this position because of its geographical coverage. The leading national newspapers have a national coverage. Given the nature of these two positions, the candidates would be sourced from any part of this country. The newspaper will help in reaching the right candidates from all over the country.
The management plans to use Strait Times newspaper in reaching out for these candidates. Guest8 observes that this newspaper is one of the widely read newspapers in this country.
Online Advertisements
According to Guest9 most of the job seekers are currently relying on the online job advertisements when looking for jobs such as CareerOne. Online advertisement is suitable for all the five identified positions for this project. This is because of the fact that through this means, it is possible to reach a wide number of people. Guest10 says that online advertisement would always reach people with or without computing background.
With the emergence of the Smartphone, online advertising has proven to be very appropriate when there are need to higher the right candidates within a shorter period of time, and with limited finance for the recruitment process. This is the predicament where Singapore Elite HR Company is in currently.
According to Guest11, most of the job seekers in this country have turned into the social media and the internet in general when looking for jobs. They have signed up to various agencies which would send them updates of the available jobs on a daily basis through their e-mails.
Reaching out for these agencies and using them to send these job opportunities to various job seekers within the country would offer this firm the best opportunity to recruit the best employees in the market.
Use of Professional Associations
Guthrie12 says that use of the professionals associations to get the right candidates for various tasks offers the best opportunity for a firm to get the best qualified candidates. In these associations, there is always opportunity to pass a communication of the availability of jobs in various firms.
Members can easily be reached using this forum. Database administrator, specialist librarian, and IT help desk operator can be found through this means. According to the report by Guthrie13, most of the professional bodies are always trusted by the experts. Using this forum will help in convincing the best workforce to make application for the various positions available.
The specialist librarian positions will be advertised through Library Association of Singapore (LAS). This is a large and respected body of professional librarians within Singapore. This body will help reach out for candidates with enough experience in this industry. This body has a bulletin blog where it posts various events and job opportunities as they arise within the country.
The IT Help Desk Operator and Database Administrator position will be advertised through Singapore Computer Society (SCS). This society’s membership includes all the computer engineers and technicians who have qualified to work within this country. Through its daily bulletins, it would be easier to reach specialists that would be very appropriate for various positions within this project.
Selection Method
According to Guthrie14, selection of the employees from the potential candidates is one of the most challenging tasks in the process of hiring employees. This scholar says that care should always be taken to select the best qualified candidates out of the applicants of the job. Hamill15 affirms that the selection panel should always be in a position to determine the best candidates within the short period available following the closure of the application period.
The decision should always be based on the testimonials of the candidates, ability to present and express self before the panel and the physical attributes. In this selection process, the panel will select The Data Entry Team Leaders and Data Entry Operators using Compensatory Point Method.
This will be done using Multiple Regression Prediction Equation. Hamill16 says that this approach helps in selecting the best candidates who will be satisfied with the compensation that the firm offers. This will eliminate cases of dissatisfaction of the employees once they are hired.
The specialists librarian, IT help desk operator and Database administrator will be selected using Successive Huddle Approach. In this strategy the applicants would be subjected to screening at various stages, starting with the simplest stages where most are expected to pass, to the most complex stage where only the best qualified specialists can pass.
The selection can then be done based the best qualified candidates, is described as the last man standing.
DETL and DEOs Compensatory Scorecard Approach
Hamill17 says that when short listing candidates for an interview, it is always important to assume that three out of four will be disqualified, while one out of every three will be disinterested with the job when the salary is specified. As such, it is always important to shortlist at least seven for every single position that is available.
The management based the selection approach on this theory, and shortlisted 35 applicants for the five positions of DEOs and another 35 applicants for the position of DETL. The shortlisted candidates will receive application forms which will be sent online. The applicants will then be subjected to an online personality and skill test after which they will undergo a telephone interview.
The candidates will be awarded scores using Multiple Regression Method. The selection team will then rate the employees based on their scores. The team will select the applicants based on their position on the scorecard. In any case an applicant declines the offer the next best candidate would be given that position.
The approach will be used to select five candidates for each of the two positions. Application form is attached in the appendix (Appendix B)
Successive Hurdles Approach for the other three positions
The positions for Database administrator, IT help-desk operator and the librarian will be selected using this strategy. This is demonstrated in the appendix (Appendix C). This approach would help get the most qualified candidate for these positions. This approach is very appropriate when selecting a few candidates out of a large list of applicants.
Substantiating the Selection Methods
Reviewing Resumes and Application Forms
The selection panel will review the resumes of all the applicants for various positions to determine the levels of education and their experience in the various positions applied for within this project. Resumes always help employers understand an employee from the employee’s perspective. This is because it is in the resume that an employee will try to explain self in the best approach possible.
The resume presentation will also help understand the personality of an applicant. Grobler18 says that the resumes also help in understanding two most important qualities of an applicant: level of education and experience. This scholar says that the level of education of an employee would determine the approach taken in handling various tasks within the firm.
Experience is also very important in determining how well an employee can perform a given task. Employees with experience in a given field are always more efficient and can perform assigned tasks within a shorter period of time.
The resumes also help in determining an employee’s language, logic and mathematic skills based on their education and experience in a given field. This activity is further described in the appendix (Appendix D).
Testing of the Skills
Grobler19 says that it is always important to test the skills of applicants whenever this is possible. In this selection plan, the DEOs skills will be determined using Alpha-Numeric Data Entry Test. The test will be administered online and the scores will be in words per minute, and with a minimum allowable error rate of 98 percent. The applicants will be assessed at Assessment Center by relevant authorities.
The Cognitive Test
Cognitive test refers to the process of testing the strength of the mind. Evans20 describes this process as a test of the mind. In all the five positions, there will be a need to conduct a cognitive test in order to determine the mental capacity of the applicants. There are various scientific approaches that can be used in testing the mental capacity of an individual.
Cognitive test is always important in determining the capacity of an individual to perform a given duty within a specified time. This test is very important for managerial positions. This is because these positions would always demand that an individual makes a decision that will affect other employees and the firm in general. These individuals must, therefore, be in a position to make decisions that are rational.
The Database administrator and the librarian would be subjected to this test in order to ensure that only the best candidate for this position gets elected.
Personality Testing
According to Budhwar21 testing the personality of an applicant is always important in determining how effective an employee would be within a firm. This scholar says that personality testing helps determine how an employee would manage himself or herself within the firm when faced with varying situations. The selection team will use NEO PI-R test.
This test will help in understanding such qualities of the applicants as the attitude, the emotions, motivational style among other personality traits. This will help identify candidates with the capacity to control their emotions and attitude even when faced with difficult situations.
Data Entry Team Leader will be subjected to this test because of his or her role in this project. Anyone in the leadership position should always have strong personality that would enable them meet the challenges that come with their position. They should be able to control their emotions and be able to motivate others to work effectively.
Assessment Centre
The process of assessing these employees will happen within the assessment centers. The assessment centers will be under direct supervision of Lee and Vicky, the two permanent Human Resource assistants. Under them will be six temporary HR assistant. Lee and Vicky will ensure that the other HR assistants, who will be the assessors, understand the assessment strategies that are appropriate when assessing the applicants.
They should understand the matrix method used to assess innovation, influence, analysis, and empathy of the employees. These assessors will be focusing on the candidates’ leadership capabilities, oral skills, attention to details and persuasive skills. This is shown in the appendix (Appendix F).
Interviews
According to Evans22, interviews have the highest validity of all the selection methods if done correctly. This makes it the most common tool for selecting the right candidates. The candidates will be subjected to interviews to increase validity and reliability of the selection process. This will improve chances of coming up with the right candidates for the identified positions.
The interview will take the structured format which will be guided by a series of questions. Evans23 says that structured interviews have higher validity levels as opposed to unstructured interviews. This approached is elaborated in the appendix (AppendixG).
Background and Reference Checking
According to Baruch24, reference checking is always important in the selection process. This scholar says that referencing helps in confirming the details given by the applicant with the help of the external sources. The assessors will confirm the details of the applicants by contacting external sources to determine the previous performance and academic qualifications.
Budgets and Timelines
The Budget
The selection process will take place within the constraints of finance that were assigned to it. A detailed budget for this process is given in the appendix (Appendix H). The recruitment costing is broken down in this table.
Timelines
The timeline for various activities which were carried out in this project are described in the Gantt chart in the appendix (Appendix K)
Evaluation of the Project
According to Barney25, selection method should be evaluated to determine its effectiveness in achieving the desired result. The method should be fair, reliable, acceptable, valid, easy to use and cost effective. Evaluation will look at these factors to determine appropriateness of the selected method. It is only through this that the process will be considered fair and acceptable.
The method taken should be able to evaluate the aptitude test taken when selecting the candidates for various duties. Arthur26 says that the final employees should be 85 percent or higher in performance of their respective duties. An average employee should be performing at a percentage higher than 50%. In this case, the percentile would be used to defined standard deviation below and above mean (SD). This is demonstrated in the appendix (Appendix J)
Training Evaluation
The training that will be given to the successful applicants after the selection process should be assessed. These employees should be in a better position to perform their duties then they were before the training. This will also help in analyzing the selection method validity.
The final applicants should be able to understand the instructions given during the training with a lot of ease because they were selected as the best following a rigorous recruitment and selection process.
Conclusion
Selecting the most appropriate employees for a given project is always a complex process. In this report, Singapore Elite HR Company has clearly stipulated a comprehensive process of recruiting, selecting and evaluating methodologies for the project awarded to DataCo. The report has clearly followed the strict timeline and the budget of $65,000 which was awarded.
The entire process is based on the laws and regulations put in place by the government of Singapore and other agencies that takes care o the interest of employees. Emphasis was placed on selection of the best qualifying candidates who would demand the fairest remuneration. In all the five posts, care was taken to hire candidates with reputation of good performance. This would make it easy for the project to be a success.
Bibliography
Arthur, Joan. “Effects of human resource systems on manufacturing performance and turnover.” The academy of management journal 37, no. 3 (2008): 670-687.
Barney, John. “Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage.” Journal of management 17, no. 1 (2010): 99.
Baruch, Yusuf. “Response rate in academic studies-A comparative analysis.” Human relations 52, no. 4 (2006): 421-438.
Boselie, Paul. “Commonalities and contradictions in HRM and performance research.” Human Resource Management Journal 15, no. 3 (2005): 67-94.
Budhwar, Prisca. “Rethinking comparative and cross-national human resource management research.” The International Journal of Human Resource Management 12, no. 3 (2006): 497-515.
Cutcher, Gershenfeld. “Impact on Economic Performance of a Transformation in Workplace Relations.” Management Journal 44, no. 2 (2007): 241.
Evans, Paul. The global challenge: international human resource management. New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin, 2011.
Fey, Cecil. “The effect of human resource management practices on MNC subsidiary performance in Russia.” Journal of International Business Studies 32, no. 1 (2012): 59-75.
Grobler, Pieter. Human resource management in South Africa. London: Thomson Learning, 2006.
Guest, Daniel. “Human resource management and performance: a review and research agenda.” The International Journal of Human Resource Management 8, no. 3 (2009): 263-276.
Guest, Edwin. “Human resource management and industrial relations.” Journal of management Studies 24, no. 5 (2001): 503-521.
Guthrie, James. “High-involvement work practices, turnover, and productivity: Evidence from New Zealand.” The Academy of Management Journal 44, no. 1 (2002): 180-190.
Hamill, Jane. “Labour relations decision making within multinational corporations.” Industrial Relations Journal 15, no. 2 (2006): 30-34.
Appendix
A: Job and Person Description forms
DataCo Job Description Form
Last Updated: 28th May 2013
Job Title: Specialist Librarian
Reporting to: General Manager
Level: Specialist level
Salary: To be confirmed
Hours: Full time
Location: Parklane Office
Job summary
The specialist librarian is responsible for developing, cataloguing and classifying documents and records, and making them available for scanning. The specialist must be in a position to accomplish the task using systems and databases, based on the standard legal search and reference tools that will meet the need of the organization.
This specialist should be reachable to other officers who may need his or her service. It is the responsibility of the librarian to barcode and catalogue the document for the purpose of archiving. The specialist should ensure that the conversion of the records is accurate to avoid any cases of contradiction or confusion of the records.
This specialist will be working in the offices located in Parklane building, 35 Selegie Rd in Singapore, with the standard working hours of 38 hours in a week).
Responsibilities and Duties of the Librarian
DataCo Person Description Form
Last Updated: 28th May 2013
Job Title: Specialist Librarian
Qualifications
Work Experience and Skills. Behavioral traits and personal qualities
DataCo Job Description Form
Last Updated: 28th May 2013
Job Title: IT Help Desk Operator
Reporting to: The General Manager
Level: Support level
Salary: To be confirmed
Hours: Full time
Location: Parklane Office
Job summary
Help Desk operator is charged with the responsibility of to assisting staff members with hardware and software difficulties. This may be done through multiple mediums, and the results be documented for purpose of future reference.
This specialist will be expected to train all new members of staff on issues related to software or hardware. The specialist will be to maintain and update software and hardware when there is need. This includes the maintenance of the scanning devices. Help Desk Operator will ensures data is secure by managing and monitoring any issues that may arise.
The IT help Desk will be working from the offices in Parklane Office, and will work within the standard 38 hours a week. The officer will be reporting to the general manager.
Responsibilities and Duties
DataCo Person Description Form
Last Updated: 28th May2013
Job Title: IT Help Desk Operator
Qualifications
Work Skills and Experience
Personal behavioral traits and qualities
DataCo Job Description Form
Last Updated: 1st March 2012
Job Title: Database Administrator
Reporting to: The General Manager
Level: Specialist level
Salary: To be confirmed
Hours: Full time
Location: Parklane Office
Job Summary
The Database administrator shall monitor the performance of oracle database systems using custom made software. The officers will be responsible for ensuring that all staff members have access to desired data. They shall also develop standards for accessing the information and to monitor compliance with the standards.
The officers are also required to test and report any database changes to programmers and analysts in the head office. The Database administrator is expected to train all users and to answer any question that may arise. The officer will ensure that there is a back-up for all the data, and that there is a contingency plan for data recovery whenever there may be need for that.
The Database administrator will work from the Parklane office, within the standard 38 hours a week, and answerable to the general manager
Duties and Responsibilities
DataCo Person Description Form
Last Updated: 28th May 2013
Job Title: Database Administrator
Qualifications
Work Experience and Skills
Behavioral traits and personal qualities
DataCo Job Description Form
Last Updated: 28th May 2013
Job Title: Data Entry Operator Team Leader
Reporting to: To be Confirmed
Level: Supervisory level
Salary: TBC
Hours: Full time
Location: Parklane Offices
Job summary
The Data Entry Operator Team Leader will be responsible for transcription tasks, and digitizing paper copies of documents. This would involve use of barcode tracking equipment and scanning equipment. The officers will also be responsible for motivating junior employees within the team. They will also train new staff members on administrative and systems procedures.
This officer will work from the Parklane office for the standard 38 hours a week. The reporting chain has yet to be established.
Duties and Responsibilities
DataCo Person Description Form
Last Updated: 28th May 2013
Job Title: Data Entry Operator Team Leader
Qualifications. Behavioral traits and Personal qualities
DataCo Job Description Form
Last Updated: 28th May 2013
Job Title: Data Entry Operator
Reporting to: Data Entry Operator Team Leader
Level: Subordinate level
Salary: To be confirmed
Hours: Full time
Location: Parklane Office
Job summary
The Data Entry Operator is responsible for transcribing of tasks, digitizing the paper copies of documents. This will involve using of barcode tracking equipment and scanning equipment.
The Data Entry operator will work from the Parklane Office within the standard 28 hours a week. He or she will be directly answerable to the Data Entry Operator Team Leader.
Responsibilities and Duties
DataCo Person Description Form
Last Updated: 1st March 2012
Job Title: Data Entry Operator
Qualifications
Work Experience and Skills
Personal qualities and behavioral traits. DEO Compensatory scorecard
Successive hurdles breakdown
Data Entry Operator Team leaders
IT Help Desk Operator
Specialist Librarians
Database Administrator
Resume and Application form sifting scoring charts
DEO, DEOTL and IT Help Desk
Database Administrator
Specialist Librarian
Application Form
DataCo DEO Application Form
Kindly note that all the information you will provide in this form will be thoroughly verified. Education, work experience and criminal records will be verified using relevant authorities. Ensure that you do not omit any important information, while ensuring that the content is true to the best of your knowledge.
Educational Background
DataCo DEO Application Form
Work Experience
Assessment Centre Material
Assessment Centre Matrix
Rating Form and Scale
Interview Material
Multimodal Interview Format. Interview Questions
Reference Check Questions
Budgets
Full Budget
Recruitment Costs Breakdown
Selection Costs breakdown
Pyramid Yields
IT Help Desk Operator
Specialist Librarians
DEOTL
Database Admin
Rational Estimates Selection Equation
Footnotes
1 Paul, Boselie. “Commonalities and contradictions in HRM and performance research.” Human Resource Management Journal, 15.3 (2005): 67-94.
2 Prisca, Budhwar. “Rethinking comparative and cross-national human resource management research.” The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 12.3 (2006): 497-515.
3 Cutcher, Gershenfeld. “Impact on Economic Performance of a Transformation in Workplace Relations.” Management Journal, 44 (2007): 241.
4 Evans, Paul. The global challenge: international human resource management. New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin, 2011
5Fey, Cecil. “The effect of human resource management practices on MNC subsidiary performance in Russia.” Journal of International Business Studies, 32.1 (2012): 59-75.
6 Grobler, Pieter. Human resource management in South Africa. London: Thomson Learning, 2006.
7 Guest, Daniel. “Human resource management and performance: a review and research agenda.” The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 8.3 (2009): 263-276.
8 Ibid
9 ibid
10 Guest, Edwin. “Human resource management and industrial relations.” Journal of management Studies, 24.5 (2001): 503-521.
11 Ibid
12 Guthrie, James. “High-involvement work practices, turnover, and productivity: Evidence from New Zealand.” The Academy of Management Journal, 44.1 (2002): 180-190.
13 ibid
14 Ibid
15 Hamill, Jane. “Labour relations decision making within multinational corporations.” Industrial Relations Journal, 15.2 (2006): 30-34.
16 ibid
17 Ibid
18 Grobler, Pieter. Human resource management in South Africa. London: Thomson Learning, 2006.
19 Ibid
20 Evans, Paul. The global challenge: international human resource management. New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin, 2011.
21 Budhwar, Prisca. “Rethinking comparative and cross-national human resource management research.” The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 12.3 (2006): 497-515.
22 Evans, Paul. The global challenge: international human resource management. New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin, 2011.
23 Ibid
24 Baruch, Yusuf. “Response rate in academic studies-A comparative analysis.” Human relations, 52.4 (2006): 421-438.
25 Barney, John. “Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage.” Journal of management, 17.1 (2010): 99.
26 Joan Arthur. “Effects of human resource systems on manufacturing performance and turnover.” The academy of management journal, 37.3 (2008): 670-687.