What is recruitment?
Recruitment is the process of identifying and attracting capable applicants. The recruitment process finds the right people for the right position at the right time. It is an important part of the acquisition aspect of human resource management. It brings employees and employers close to each other. It is the process of identifying the source of potential employees and encouraging them to apply for their jobs in the organization. The ultimate goal of recruitment is to receive enough qualified candidates from whom the desired people may be selected.
According to Edwin B. Flippo, “Recruitment is a process of searching for prospective employees and stimulating them to apply for a job.”
According to Mondy and Noe, “Recruitment is the process of encouraging qualified people to make application for employment with a firm.”
Thus, it should match employees with jobs. It is necessary for the continued functioning of the organization.
Source of Recruitment
Sources are those where prospective employees are available. When a person is needed to fill a vacant position, this individual may come from inside or outside the company. The sources of recruitment can be viewed as follows.
Internal sources
Internal sources of recruitment can be:
Present permanent employees
Finding qualified applicants within the organization is the main goal of the internal recruitment source. The advantages of such recruitment policies are that internal employees are more familiar with the organization’s people, policies, and procedures. Organizations consider this source when they need candidates for higher-level jobs. It can also be the organization’s policy to motivate the present employees to feel more secure and take an interest in long-term work.
present temporary employees
Organizations find this source to fill the vacancies relatively at the lower level positions. If temporarily working employees are suitable for the position then the organization may hire them. Sometimes, trade unions also put pressure on the management to provide jobs for such temporary employees.
Retired employees
The organization takes the candidates for employment from the retired employees due to obligation, trade union pressure, etc. Sometimes the organizations prefer to re-employ their retired employees as a symbol of their loyalty to the organization.
Dependents of deceased or disabled employees
Some organizations, in an attempt to fulfill their responsibility toward society and humanity, employ the dependents of deceased or disabled employees. Such organizations find this source as an effective source of recruitment.
External sources
External sources of recruitment involve recruitment from outside the organization. May new organizations use these sources. External sources of recruitment can be:
Employment agencies
Employment agencies provide nationwide service and match the demand and supply of human resources. This is a type of middleman activity that brings job seekers into contact with job providers. Such agencies have a list of suitable candidates in their records and charge some reasonable amount for rendering employment services. employment agencies will be reasonable for advertising vacancies, short-listing, selection, placement, counseling, etc.
Walk-ins
When job seekers come to apply for jobs by walking into the organization’s office or at the factory gate, this is now a walk-in. This type of process is relatively informal and less expensive. This is the source of recruitment of unskilled or semi-skilled workers. Walk-ins are an important source of recruitment for labor in Nepal’s road projects and seasonal labor in factories.
Trade unions and associations
Generally, trade associations, unions, and professional associations collect applicants for future selection. They maintain a data bank or list of unemployed persons intending to provide jobs. However, this source is not reliable since trade unions may support a candidate who is not fit for the job.
Colleges and universities
Most of the organizations conduct direct recruitment from educational institutions. Some organizations have already built up relations with these educational institutions to supply a given number of graduates annually. Colleges and universities are the appropriate sources of recruitment of managerial employees. It saves a lot of time and processing costs, and they can choose suitable candidates among the right young graduates.
Methods of Recruitment
Its methods are the means or media by which management contacts prospective employees or stimulates them to apply for jobs. Management uses different types of techniques to stimulate internal and external candidates. Usually, they use mainly two types of methods. They are:
Internal method
There are several internal methods for obtaining job applicants. The most common methods are as follows:
Job posting
The purpose of the job posting is to inform employees about job vacancies. It is an open invitation to all employees in an organization to apply for vacant jobs. It provides equal opportunities for employees’ growth and makes employees aware of the importance of better performance to promote career development in the organization.
Employee referral
This is a method to recruit employees by recommendation of managers or supervisors. Supervisors generally recommend the best-qualified candidates for the vacant jobs. This method is useful for finding highly skilled employees for an organization.
Promotion
Promotion is a way or a technique to hire qualified applicants within the organization by promoting them in the higher position. The benefits of such recruitment are that internal employees are more familiar with the organizations’ people, policies, and take an interest in working in the long term.
Transfers
This is the process of recruiting employees internally without promotion. If the management wishes to transfer them to the place of their choice, they can easily transfer. The practice of internal recruiting is progressive in terms of lower cost of training and lower rate of labor turnover.
External method
External methods of recruitment can be discussed as:
Electronic media
With the advent of interest facilities, computers are used to make recruitment advertisements. Nowadays, local and international organizations increasingly use Internet facilities to recruit for higher-level managerial and professional positions. However, radio and television are expensive and also not that effective for the recruitment processes.
Print media
The most common and formal recruitment method is print media. It is a widely accepted method of recruitment. Job vacancies or advertisements can be given in daily newspapers or magazines which provide information about the job and stimulate candidates to apply for jobs. Information for vacancies or wants should be attractive, specific, and in detail so that a large number of applicants can be recruited.