RECRUITMENT
Recruitment means search of the prospective employee to suit the job requirements as represented by job specification. It is the process of attracting people to apply for jobs in an organisation.
According to Edwin B. Flippo, “Recruitment is the process of searching for prospective employees and stimulating them to apply for jobs in the organisation.”
Factors affecting Recruitment:
The factors affecting recruitment can be classified as Internal and External factors.
The internal factors are:
- Wage and salary policies
- The age composition of existing working force
- Promotion and retirement policies
- Turnover rates
- The nature of operations involved the kind of personnel required.
- The level and seasonality of operations in question
- Future expansion and reduction programmes
- Recruiting policy of the organization
- Human resource planning strategy of the company
- Size of the organisation and the number of employees employed.
- Cost involved in recruiting employees, and finally.
- Growth and expansion plans of the organisation
The external factors are:
- Supply and demand of specific skills in the labour market;
- Company’s image perception of the job seekers about the company
- External cultural factors: Obviously, the culture may exert considerable check on recruitment. For example, women may not be recruited in certain jobs in industry.
- Economic factors: such as a tight or loose labour market, the reputation of the enterprise in the community as a good pay master or otherwise and such allied issues which determine the quality and quantity of manpower submitting itself for recruitment.
- Political and legal factors also exert restraints in respect of nature and hours of work for women and children, and allied employment practices in the enterprise
Sources of Recruitment:
The various sources of recruitment are generally classified as Internal source and External source.
1.Internal Sources:
This refers to the recruitment from within the company. The various internal sources are promotion, transfer, past employees and internal advertisements.
2.External Sources:
External sources refer to the practice of getting suitable persons from outside. The various external sources are advertisement, employment exchange, past employees, private placement agencies and consultants, walks-ins, campus recruitment, trade unions, etc.
The following external sources of recruitment are commonly used by the big enterprises:
1.Direct Recruitment:
An important source of recruitment is direct recruitment by placing a notice on the notice board of the enterprise specifying the details of the jobs available. It is also known as recruitment at factory gate.
2.Casual Callers or Unsolicited Applications:
The organisations which are regarded as good employers draw a steady stream of unsolicited applications in their offices. This serves as a valuable source of manpower.
3.Media Advertisement:
Advertisement in newspapers or trade and professional journals is generally used when qualified and experienced personnel are not available from other sources.
4.Employment Agencies:
Employment exchanges run by the Government are regarded as a good source of recruitment for unskilled, semi-skilled and skilled operative jobs. In some cases, compulsory notification of vacancies to the employment exchange is required by law.
5.Management Consultants:
Management consultancy firms help the organisations to recruit technical, professional and managerial personnel they specialise middle level and top-level executive placements.
6.Educational Institutions or Campus Recruitment:
Big organisations maintain a close liaison with the universities, vocational institutes and management institutes for recruitment to various jobs. Recruitment from educational institutional is a well – established practice of thousand of business and other organisations.
7.Recommendation:
Applicants introduced by friends and relatives may prove to be a good source of recruitment.
8.Labour Contractors:
Workers are recruited through labour contractors who are themselves employees of the organisation. Recruitment through labour contractors has been banned for the public sector units.
9.Telecasting:
The practice of telecasting of vacant posts over T.V. is gaining importance these days. Special programmes like ‘Job Watch’, ‘Youth Pulse’, ‘Employment News’, etc. over the T.V have become quite popular in recruitment for various types of jobs.
10.Raiding:
Raiding is a technical term used when employees working elsewhere are attracted to join organisations. The organisations are always on the lookout for qualified professionals, and are willing to offer them a better deal if they make the switch.
Merits of External Source of Recruitment:
The merits of external sources of recruitment are as under:
1.Qualified Personnel:
By using external sources of recruitment the management can make qualified and trained people to apply for vacant Jobs in the organisation.
2.Wider choice:
When vacancies are advertised widely a large number of applicants from outside the organisation apply. The management has a wider choice while selecting the people for employment.
3.Fresh Talent:
The insiders may have limited talents. External sources facilitate infusion of fresh blood with new ideas into the enterprise. This will improve the overall working of the enterprise.
4.Competitive Spirit:
If a company can tap external sources, the existing staff will have to compete with the outsiders. They will work harder to show better performance.
Demerits of External Sources:
The demerits of filling vacancies from external sources are as follows:
1.Dissatisfaction among Existing Staff:
External recruitment may lead to dissatisfaction and frustration among existing employees. They may feel that their chances of promotion are reduced.
2.Lengthy Process:
Recruitment from outside takes a long time. The business has to notify the vacancies and wait for applications to initiate the selection process.
3.Costly Process:
It is very costly to recruit staff from external sources. A lot of money has to be spent on advertisement and processing of applications.
4.Uncertain Response:
The candidates from outside may not be suitable for the enterprise. There is no guarantee that the enterprise will be able to attract right kinds of people from external sources.
