#6 : Topic 4 : Recruiting and Staffing

The buzzword and the latest trends in recruitment is the ‘e-Recruitment’. It is also known as ‘Online Recruitment’. Edwin B. Flippo (1980) defined recruitment as a process of finding and attracting capable applicants for employment. The process begins when new recruits are sought and ends when their applications are submitted. The result is a pool of applications from which new employees are selected and then making an appointment for interview session. While, according to Schreyer & McCarter (1998) e-recruitment refers to

“the recruitment process, including placing job advertisements, receiving resumes, and building human resource database with candidates and incumbents.”

It is the use of technology or the web based tools to assist the recruitment process. Schreyer & McCarter (2000) stated that the tool can be a job website, the organization’s corporate web site or its own intranet. Hence, I can understand that the job seekers send their applications or curriculum vitae (CV) through an e-mail using the Internet. Alternatively, they will place their CV’s in worldwide web, which can be drawn by prospective employees depending upon their requirements.

Cushway (2011) mentioned some of the advantages of e-recruitment. Firstly, it is cost effective. It is usually considerably cheaper to advertise on the internet than in conventional paper based publications. Next, it gives the organization a better chance of success. Organizations have the ability to reach a much larger target audience as there will be 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, global access to their vacancy information. Plus, Rosita Mohamed Othman and Nadianatra Musa (2006) stated that it is easy and sophisticated. Most job sites and CV databases are very user-friendly and job seekers don’t need to have an in-depth knowledge of IT to post a vacancy advertisement.

On the other hand, Tanya Bondarouk, Huub Ruel and Jan Kees Looise (2011) in Electronic HRM in Theory and Practice stated that e-recruitment also has some disadvantages. E-recruitment may receive too many applications from too many candidates. Since the Internet is available around the world, it can be difficult to limit the amount of applicants. As a result, recruiters can waste valuable time weeding through applications and resumes of people not qualified for the position. Moreover, it is less face-to-face contact. Because of the distance involved, there might be a tendency to perform interviews by telephone instead of in person. Thus, the recruiter still may not get a good read on the candidate's personality or attitude without one-on-one interaction. Furthermore, e-recruitment is a time and cost consuming. It might be necessary to hire additional staff for handling the screening process, thus creating additional expense.

In my opinion, there are some suggestions that can be implemented to overcome these drawbacks. Firstly, the organization should make the job description as specific and detailed as possible to discourage the unqualified from applying. Thus, it will decrease the number of applicants and it also requires less time to review all applications. Secondly, e-recruitment can be used for only looking for junior positions and from recent university graduates. However, traditional recruitment can be used for recruiting top management. It is because executive job applicants still prefer personal contact as communication isn’t just about words. Only 7% of meaning is conveyed by the language used, 38% is transferred as a result of the way the words are spoken, while a massive 55% is down to body language. Lastly, organizations cannot be dependent solely and totally on the online recruitment methods. As I stated above, some executive positions are not suitable to use the e-recruitment because personal contact is necessary to manage the expectations and ensures feedback from the contact is positive. (603)

References:

1. Schreyer, R., McCarter, J. (1998). The Employer's Guide to Recruiting on the Internet Impact. Virginia: Impact Publications Manassas Park.

2. Schreyer, R., McCarter, J. (2000). Recruit and Retain the Best: Key Solutions for the HR Professional. Virginia: Impact Publications Manassas Park.

3. Flippo, E. B. (1980). Personnel Management. Columbus: McGraw-Hill.

4. Cushway, B. (2011). The Employer's Handbook 2011-12: An Essential Guide to Employment Law, Personnel Policies and Precedures. UK: Kogan Page Publishers.

5. Bondarouk, T., Ruel, H., Looise, J. K. (2011). Electronic HRM in Theory and Practice. UK: Emerald Group Publishing.

6. Mohamed Othman, R., Musa, N. (2006). E-recruitment Practice: Pros Vs. Con : Public Sector ICT Management Review. 1(1). 35-40.

7. http://www.inpharm.com/news/careers-voice-online-recruitment-don-t-take-it-face-value