The availability of competent human resources capable of solving the posed organisational problems is the determining factor that influences a company’s competitiveness, economic growth, and effectiveness. However, in the current situation in the labour market, the demand for highly professional personnel often exceeds the supply. Consequently, it becomes more difficult to find a high-quality specialist. Therefore, the company’s attitude to recruitment and selection of personnel is of great importance.
The purpose of this work is to investigate the theoretical and practical aspect of the recruitment and selection process. To achieve this goal, we will reveal the essence and significance of the recruitment and selection procedures, determine the factors for successful search and selection of personnel, investigate the sources of search, and analyse the system of recruitment and selection of staff in the existing enterprise.
Recruitment
Meaning and Importance
Recruitment is the process of creating a reserve of personnel to fill available vacancies. It includes procedures for calculating staff requirements, models of workplaces, methods and principles for professional selection of personnel. Professional recruitment practices allow organisations to increase profits and productivity. Moreover, they support the overall growth of the company. Conversely, an unprofessional approach to hiring may result in the inability to complete tasks promptly, the decline in the company’s revenues, and disruptions in many other business processes. In this way, errors in the recruitment system may significantly increase the company’s expenses.
Process
The first step in the recruitment process is the identification of gaps in personnel skills and development of staff requirements. It is suggested that this procedure is most effective only if the manager clearly understands what kind of employee he/she needs and what problems should be solved with the help of a new specialist (O’Meara & Petzall 2013). Thus, defining and formulation of employee requirements should be completed before the start of candidate selection. To do so, the analysis of current situation and job requirements should be carried out. Such an analysis allows HR practitioners to clearly define the tasks and functions without which the business cannot effectively develop.
When the needs to hire new personnel are determined, HR managers should develop a workplace model for the future specialist in order to ensure he/she will fit in perfectly. The workplace model usually includes such qualitative and quantitative characteristics as work experience, professional knowledge and skills, personal qualities, salary, social guarantees, and so on. The detailed characteristics allow formulating the minimum and maximum requirements for a specific vacancy.
The third stage of the recruitment process is the design of standardised procedures for the selection of personnel (O’Meara & Petzall 2013). Typically, it implies the description of the selection processes, timeframes, people responsible for implementing the activities and the necessary documents. The system should be approved by the head of the department, and its implementation should be enforced among all HR employees. This stage is especially important in companies with a complex structure in which the decision to accept a candidate for a position is proceeded in a gradual manner and involves different categories of managers.
Sources of Recruitment
There are two major types of the recruitment sources: internal (search and selection of candidates from the existing employee pool) and external (when employees are recruited from the external environment). External sources are used most frequently because the company’s internal resources are limited.
The common tools for external recruitment are as follows:
- Advertising in the media: organisations may place an advertisement about available vacancies in the media; in this case, the applicant contacts the HR department directly (Arthur 2012).
- Contacts with educational institutions: many large companies are focused on recruiting talented university graduates; the given method requires organisations to conduct presentations in specialised universities and participate in job fairs (Arthur 2012).
- Recruitment agencies: agencies maintain their databases and search for candidates following the requirements of employers; they carefully study the requirements that the company has to applicants, select candidates, conduct testing and interviews (Arthur 2012).
Selection
Employee selection implies a purposeful work aimed to attract candidates who have qualities and skills necessary to meet the organisation’s current and long-term needs. In other words, it is the search and evaluation of individuals who can and want to work, and who have knowledge and competencies that are needed by the employer and, at the same time, allow them to fit into the corporate culture.
Process
The decision to employ an individual is usually made after the completion of several assessment steps: preliminary selection and conversation, evaluation of questionnaires, job interviews, knowledge and skill testing, document verification, and medical checkup (Hunt 2014). The initial stage of recruitment is associated with the primary identification of candidates capable of performing the required functions, the maximum narrowing of the range of applicants, and the formation of the candidate reserves. The major task during this phase is a holistic and comprehensive assessment of the candidate focusing on both his or her personal and professional traits.
At the next stage, the HR department conducts individual interviews with the selected individuals. The purpose of this interview is to assess the degree to which the candidate meets the portrait of the ideal employee, his ability to fulfil the requirements provided in the job description, potential for professional growth and development; the ability to adapt to the organisational culture, working conditions, etc. (Hunt 2014). It is important to note that the interview is a two-way process: not only does the organisation assess the candidate, but the candidate evaluates the company in terms of its relevance to his or her personal interests and needs (von Walter, Wentzel & Tomczak 2012).
Related Problems
The major errors which the organisation can make in the selection of cadres may be as follows:
- The lack of systematicity in the process and a reliable description of the position requirements;
- False interpretation of the candidate’s information and skills;
- Excess orientation on formal merits;
- Judgment about a person according to one of his or her the qualities and intolerance to unfavourable traits;
- Excessive trust in test results;
- Insufficient accounting of negative information (Cook 2016).
Employee Recruitment and Selection at DP World
Factors Affecting the Approach to Employee Attraction
DP World is a large organisation which performs many activities in logistics and maritime transportation, and it needs to recruit a sufficient number of employees to maintain its operations. Thus, the major factor influencing recruitment is the organisational size. Secondly, the organisation considers the costs of recruitment and tries to hire those candidates whose financial needs will suit the amount the company may offer. Moreover, the company’s recruitment policies are aligned with labour laws and other legal regulations controlling employment age and other criteria.
When speaking of the candidate selection process, it largely depends on the situation in the market, especially the company’s competitive position. When selecting an employee, the company considers if the new recruitment will support organisational aims to outperform its competitors and generate some advantages which would improve its market position.
Recruitment Methods
The company mainly uses internal, online, and agency-mediated recruitment techniques. The internal recruiting is meant to promote one of the hired employees. The primary benefit of this method is that the management already knows what competencies the candidate has and what he is capable of. It is also associated with reduced investment in training and education of the new staff. However, internal recruitment does not allow to increase workforce diversity which is one of the biggest organisational priorities (Rankin 2017). This benefit is gained by DP World through both online and agency-mediated recruitment.
Searching for candidates through the Internet is not costly and provides easy access to large audiences on an almost unlimited territory. By recruiting through an agency, the company obtains an opportunity to reduce time costs associated with employee search. It is especially effective for filling senior positions because specialised firms usually have sufficient expertise and knowledge needed to find a good candidate. However, comparing to other methods, it requires greater financial investments.
Selection Methods
The personal interview is the most commonly used selection tool in DP World. It implies a personalised approach and provides an opportunity to evaluate candidates’ knowledge and communication skills. At the same time, tests help to obtain a more detailed information. Tests are particularly useful in searching personnel to fill jobs requiring high level of expertise, theoretical and practical knowledge. Nevertheless, this type of staff selection cannot be used alone as it does not provide an evaluation of important personal and psychological qualities of individuals.
Conclusion
Recruitment and selection practices are important for organisations because they help to arrange and implement the skills of human resources. Personnel is the “engine” of any company and plays a crucial role in business success. Thus, the improvement of the quality of human resources through professional selection is important for the enhancement of the overall effectiveness of the organisation. An effective recruitment system allows companies to develop competitive advantages, and increase cost-efficiency by decreasing turnover rates.
Reference List
Arthur, D 2012, Recruiting, interviewing, selecting & orienting new employees, AMACOM, New York, NY.
Cook, M 2016, Personnel selection: adding value through people − a changing picture, Wiley/Blackwell, Chichester.
Hunt, S T 2014, Common sense talent management: using strategic human resources to improve company performance, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA.
O’Meara, B & Petzall, S 2013, Handbook of strategic recruitment and selection: a systems approach, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Bingley.
Rankin, W 2017, Case study: DP World. Web.
von Walter, B, Wentzel, D & Tomczak, T 2012, ‘The effect of applicant-employee fit and temporal construal on employer attraction and pursuit intentions’, Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, vol. 85, no. 1, pp.116–135.