Chapter-Four

By Hussa. A (MBA)
Recruitment & Selection
 RECRUITMENT

Is the process of attracting individuals on a

timely basis, in sufficient numbers and with
appropriate qualification, and encouraging
them to apply for jobs with an organization.
 The objective of recruitment process is to
provide a sufficiently large group of qualified
candidates so that suitable employees can be
selected from out of them.
• This process begins when new recruits are
sought, and ends when applicants have
submitted application forms or resumes.
 The result of the process of recruitment is a
pool of job-seekers from which the firm can
then select the most qualified.
The need for recruitment arises out of the
following situations:
i. Vacancies due to transfer, promotion,
retirement, termination, permanent disability
or death;
ii. Vacancies due to expansion, diversification,
growth or job re-specification.
 Sources and methods of recruitment

Recruitment sources are the locations where

qualified individuals can be found. The sources
of recruitment can be classified into two types,
internal and external, each with its own relative
advantage and disadvantage.

 Recruitment methods are the specific means by

which potential employees can be attracted to the
firm.
 Sources of Recruitment
The various sources of recruitment are generally
classified as internal source and external source.
i. Internal Recruitment Sources and Methods.
Internal Sources: This refers to the recruitment from
within the company. The various internal sources are
promotion, transfer, past employees and internal
advertisements.
• Internal recruitment offers a number of advantages.
First of all internal recruitment improves the
probability of a good selection since all the necessary
information on employee’s performance and behavior
is readily available. moreover, it has the following
advantages;
Advantages of Internal source of Recruitment:-
i. It tends to increase the moral of employees who
perceive possibilities of promotion and growth;
ii. It motivates present employees to strive for
better work performance and prepare themselves
for Promotion;
iii. Internal candidates do not need the extensive
familiarization with organizational Policies and
politics;
iv. Internal recruiting efforts are much less
expensive than external efforts.
A policy of filling vacant positions using the
internal recruiting approach has its own
disadvantages. Some of the major once are:-

i. Internal recruits may not bring the new or

innovative ideas that external recruits bring.
ii. The employee tends to demonstrate on the
job only what s/he has learned in the
organization and has few new ideas.
 Internal recruitment methods

Management should be able to identify current

employees who are capable of filling position
as they become available. Helpful methods
used for internal recruitment include:-
i. Skills inventories,
ii. Job posting, and
iii. Bidding procedures.
 Skills inventory: maintaining information on non-managerial
employees in a company regarding their availability and
preparedness to move there laterally or into higher-level positions.
 Generally included in a skills inventory is this information about a
worker:-
i. Background and biographical data
ii. Work experience
iii. Specific skills and knowledge
iv. Licenses or certifications held
v. Training programs completed
vi. Previous performance appraisal evaluations.
 A properly designed and updated skills inventory system permits
management to readily identify employees with particular skills
and match them as well as possible to the changing needs of the
company.
 Job posting: is a procedure for informing employees internally that
job opening exist.
 Job bidding: the process whereby employees within an
organization can apply for vacant positions if they believe they
are qualified. Employees are notified of vacancies through job
postings.
• Job bidding is a technique that permits employees who believe they
possess the required qualifications to apply for a posted job. The
purpose of job posting is to notify all employees of available
positions within the organization. The positions are posted on
employee bulletin boards or are announced in company newsletters
or brochures. Employees who believe they are qualified are
encouraged to apply for the position.
• The job posting and bidding procedure minimizes the complaint
commonly voiced in many companies that insiders never hear of a
job opening until it has been filled. It reflects an openness that most
employees generally value highly.
 External recruitment Sources and Methods
External recruitment source
 External recruitment is attracting applicants from various
sources outside the organization. The vacancy is usually
announced on mass medias like: - Television, Radio,
Internet, Newspaper, Magazines, etc.
• At times, an organization must look far beyond itself to find
employees, particularly when expanding its work setup.
 The following circumstances require external recruitment:
 To fill entry level jobs
 To acquire skills not possessed by current employees; and
 To obtain employees with different backgrounds to provide
new ideas.
Advantages of external recruitment are:-

i. Outside people can often bring new and

innovative ideas to the workplace;
ii. External recruitment may be less expensive
to hire a well trained specialist or
professional from outside the organization
than to train and develop existing personnel.
Disadvantages of external recruitment are:-
i. Better motivation and increased morale associated with
promoting own employees are lost to the organization.
ii. External recruitment is costly.
iii. If existing employees reject the new comers, then the
newcomer may learn not to contribute or learn that
his/her expectation will not be met;
iv. An externally recruited employee requires a great deal
of time to become initiated into the way things are in
the organization;
v. When newcomers are selected over popular “insiders,”
the work group may resent (feel bitterness) their
presence and attempt directly or indirectly to force
them to leave.
 Organizations may attract employees from a variety of external
sources:-
i. High schools and Vocational schools: Organizations concerned
with recruiting clerical and other entry-level operative employees
often depend on high schools and vocational schools.
ii. Colleges and Universities: Colleges and Universities represent a
major recruitment source for many organizations. Potential
professional, technical, and management employees are found in
these institutions.
iii. Competitors and Other Firms: Competitors and other firms in the
same industry or geographic area may be the most important source
of recruits for positions in which recent experience is required.
iv. The Unemployed: Qualified and experienced people may become
unemployed for various reasons. Companies may go out of business,
cut back/reduce operations, or be merged with other firms, leaving
qualified workers without jobs. Employees may sometimes fired
simply due to difference on ideas with their bosses.
 Methods of external recruitment

 Advertisement: Advertising communicates the firm’s

employment needs to the public through media such as radio,
newspapers, television, magazines and other publications.
However, these advertisements generally attract a large
number of unqualified applicants, and increase the cost and
time involved in processing them. The advertisement should
therefore, be specific and include sufficient detail.
 Employment Agencies: An employment agency is an
organization that helps firms recruit employees and, at the
same time, aids individuals in their attempts to locate jobs.
These agencies perform many recruitment and selection
functions that have proven quite beneficial to many
organizations. Ethiojobs.net is a best example here…
 Internship: An internship is a special form of recruiting in which a
student is placed in a temporary job. In this arrangement, there is no
obligation by the company to hire the student permanently or by the
student to accept a permanent position with the firm following
graduation. An internship typically involves a temporary job for the
summer months or a part-time job during the school year.
 Employee Referrals Programs: An employee referral program (ERP)
is basically a word-of-mouth technique in which present employees
refer candidates from outside the organization. This technique is
relatively inexpensive and can be quite effective in quickly finding
candidates in particular skill areas that may be needed within the
organization.
 Internet Recruiting: Finding well-qualified applicants quickly at the
lowest possible cost is a primary goal for recruiters. Recent trends
indicate that, if you're looking for a job in the technical field or to fill
a technical job, you need to consider using the Internet. The same may
will be true for non-technical jobs in the near future.
 Employee Selection

Employee selection: is the process of

determining which individuals, either inside the
organization or outside, are capable to join staff
of the organization.
 The purpose of employee selection is to select
the most valuable candidate/s who can aid the
organization in attaining its objectives.
 Recruitment is related to selection in that a high
selective selection procedure requires the
recruitment program to generate a larger or more
qualified candidate pool.
 Training is, in one sense, a substitute for
selection: if selection does not results in hiring
employees with the necessary skills, training for
internal employees might be used to impart those
skills.
Career: a job for which you are trained and in which
it is possible to advance during your working life.
Career management is a process for enabling
employees to develop their career skills and interests,
and to use these skills and interests for the
achievement of organizational goal.
 Career management focuses on internal selection.
 If a career management system is in operation, the
selection system should identify employees with the
ability to be benefited from the career sequence that is
planned. If there is no formal career planning system,
then the selection system should focus more on
identifying candidates who already have the required
skills.
Compensation: it is a process of providing monetary
value to employees in exchange for work performed.
 It is a critical aid in selection because if pay is not
high enough, the organization will not attract enough
candidates who can pass the selection requirements.
 Labor relations are important in selection because
an effective selection process can contribute to a
positive union-management relationship. Although
union contracts often specify promotion based on
seniority, if the organization does a better job
selection in its initial hiring, it is less likely to have
to promote less-qualified people later on.
 Selection criteria
Being certain you choose the best candidate for
a job and avoiding legal complications means
you have done your hiring criteria carefully.
 Instead of making decisions based on subjective
evaluations, the verified objective qualities of
the candidates can serve as a basis for a
documented, well-supported decision.
 Such a process avoids the expensive and time-
consuming task of having to replace a candidate
who received the job without an evaluation
based on solid criteria.
 Criteria Characteristics

You have to be able to evaluate the selection

criteria objectively and match to the
requirements of the job.
 If the position is an existing one, check the
qualifications of the previous employee and
add criteria that address any problems your
company experienced. If it is a new position,
ask your self what employee qualities are
“perfect” for the job.
Qualifications
 Candidate’s qualifications represent a set of criteria that are
critical for the success of the employee and are easy to verify.
 A high school or college degree helps guarantees a level of
education with solid written and oral communication abilities.
A technical degree may come with professional qualifications.
A postgraduate degree is required for some specialties.
 Only specify educational qualifications if you can identify
specific tasks that require the level of education.
 In many cases, you can accept lower formal levels of
education: if candidates have taken courses or can otherwise
demonstrate they have the knowledge and abilities the
position requires.
Skills
Many positions require specific skills that take time to
acquire. Proficiency with computers and the software
that your company uses are often criteria for hiring.
You can determine what software skills the candidate
needs by examining the work required and identifying
the programs your company uses in that context.
Some skills, such as driving a truck or welding, may
require licensing. You can verify other skills, such as
programming or graphic design, by asking how a
candidate would solve a relevant problem.
Skills and their verification are usually mandatory in
selection criteria because if the candidate doesn't have
the skill, he can't do the work.
Experience
A candidate's experience shows how he has applied
his education and skills before and lets you
evaluate more general selection criteria.
For example, if the position requires teamwork and
initiative, check if the candidate’s previous jobs
have required these qualities. If your company has
a culture that values social responsibility, verify
that the candidate has worked for other such
companies. Placing specific experience in your
selection criteria ensures you hire candidates with
a work background that matches your company's
working environment and culture.
 The selection process
The selection process is a series of specific steps
through which job candidates pass.
 Although the sequence of steps may vary from
one organization to another, the following is a
popular procedure and it may be modified to suit
individual situations.
 Step 1: Preliminary selection: Preliminary selection
of applicants is often done by setting minimum
standards for the job, and communicating these
standards to your employees, and agencies who help
you recruit.
 The fact that some potential applicants may not apply
because of their inability to meet the minimum
requirements serves as an initial screening device.
Then, when reviewing resumes and application
forms, firms are further able to screen out
unacceptable job candidates.
 At this point, firms can also assign priorities to the
resumes so that the most promising candidates may
be seen first.
 Step 2: Employment Tests: Selection tests are
often used to assist in assessing an applicant’s
ability and potential for success.
 These selection tests for applicants measure only
employee characteristics.
 The test must ensure that the individual employee
has a meaningful impact on work outcomes.
Properly designed selection tests should have the
following characteristics:
i. Standardization: Standardization refers to uniformity of
the procedures and conditions related to administering
tests.
ii. Objectivity: Objectivity in testing is achieved when
everyone scoring a test obtains the same results.
iii. Norms: A norm provides a frame of reference for
comparing an applicant's performance with that of
others.
iv. Reliability: how consistently the test measures the skills
required for a specific job role.
v. Validity: Validity refers to what characteristic the test
measures and how well the test measures that
characteristic.
 Step 3: Selection Interview: Selecting the best
candidate for the job is the first priority of the
selection process.
 The employment interview is conducted to learn
more about the suitability of people under
consideration for a particular job.
 The interview is one further means of reducing
the number of people who might be eligible for
the job.
• The specific content of employment interview can
vary from organization to organization and from
one job to another.
 However the following general concepts can appear in
employment interview:-
i. Academic achievement: The interview should try to discover
factors related to academic performance.
ii. Personal qualities: Personal qualities normally observed during
the interview include: physical appearance, speaking ability,
vocabulary, poise(graceful), and assertiveness (a healthy way of
communicating).
iii. Occupational experience: Exploring an individual’s
occupational experience requires finding out about the applicant’s
skills, abilities, and willingness to handle responsibility.
iv. Interpersonal competence: This involves assessing how well an
individual works with other employees.
v. Career orientation: Questions about a candidate’s career
objectives may help the employer to determine whether the
applicant’s aspirations are realistic.
 Step 4: Verification of References: Questions
like what kind of person is the applicant and is the
applicant a good and/or reliable worker need
answers to know more about the applicant.
 Step 5: Medical Evaluation: Medical evaluation
is health and accident information of the selected
employee supplemented by a physical
examination. The scope and rigorousness of the
examination would depend upon the job
requirement and could be suitably varied in
intensity.
 Step 6: Supervisory Interview: Since the
immediate supervisor is ultimately responsible
for new workers, he or she should have input into
the hiring decision.
 The supervisor is better able to evaluate the
applicant’s technical capabilities and is in a better
position to answer the interviewee’s job-related
questions.
 Further, the supervisor’s personal commitment to
the success of the new employee if the supervisor
has played a role in the hiring decision.
 Step 7: Realistic Job Preview: The realistic job preview
involves showing the applicant/s the job site in order to
acquaint or familiar them with the work setting,
commonly used equipment, and prospective co-workers. .
 Step 8: Hiring Decision: The actual hiring of an
applicant constitutes the end of the selection process.
 At this stage, successful (as well as unsuccessful)
applicants must be notified of the firm’s decision.
Note: After completing the hiring, the selection process
ought to be evaluated. Here are some considerations in the
evaluation; What about the number of initial applicants?
Were there too many applicants? Too few? Does the firm
need to think about changing its advertisement and
recruiting to get the result?
 Factors governing selection
Different Environmental factors affect the selection
process. These include:
• Legal Considerations: HRM is influenced by legislation,
executive orders, and court decisions.
• Speed of Decision Making: The time available to make the
selection decision can have a major effect on selection
process.
• Organizational hierarchy: Different methods of selection are
taken for filling positions at varying levels in the
organizational hierarchy. For example, extensive background
checks and interviewing would be conducted to verify the
experience and capabilities of the applicant for the sale’s
manager position which is not the case for an applicant for a
clerical position (secretary).
 Factors governing selection…Cont’
• Applicant Pool: The number of qualified applicants
for a particular job can also affect the selection process.
When the applicants are very few, the selection process
becomes a matter of choosing whoever is at hand.
o The number of people hired for a particular job
compared to the individuals in the applicant pool is
often expressed as a selection ratio.

 Selection ratio = Number of persons hired to fill a particular job

Number of available applicants
 A selection ratio of 1 indicates that there is only one
qualified applicant for each position.
 Orientation (induction)

Orientation: is the process of informing new

employees about what is expected of them in the
job and the organization and helping them with the
stresses of transition.
 A new employee's first few days on the job may be
spent in orientation.
 Orientation programs are designed basically for
new employees. Many of these new employees are
inexperienced in the organization and have
anxieties about entering the organization.
 An effective orientation program can do much to
reduce these anxieties.
Orientation is a systematic and planned
introduction of employees to their jobs, their co-
workers and the organization.
 Typically Induction (orientation) conveys three
types of information:-
i. General information’s about the daily routine
work.
ii. A review of the organization’s history detailed
presentation, perhaps in a brochure of the
organization’s policies, work rules and
iii. Employee benefits.
 Purpose of orientation
o Orientation has three primary purposes:-
i. Easing the New Employee's Adjustment to the Organization.
Orientation helps the new employee adjust to the organization,
both formally (to enhance productivity) and informally (to reduce
anxiety and turnover).
ii. Providing Information Concerning Tasks and Performance
Expectations. Employees also should be provided with specific
information about task and performance expectations. Employees
want and need to know precisely what is expected of them.
iii. Creating a Favorable Impression. A final purpose of orientation
is to create a favorable impression on new employees of the
organization and its work.
 Doubts may arise after employees begin their new jobs. The new
employee may begin to wonder, "Did I make the right decision?"
The orientation process can do much to alleviate any such fears.
End of Chapter four
Thank you!