1. Recruitment, selection & training
Lesson objective:
To understand the recruitment and selection process
To be able to explain internal and external recruitment

2. Recruitment
When businesses hire new employees they need to attract and appoint the best people – those with the right skills and appropriate experience
This is called recruitment and selection
In a small business this can be done informally, in a large business the HR department is likely to be responsible for recruitment

3. Reasons for needing new staff
The business is expanding and more labour needed
People are leaving and need to be replaced
Positions have become vacant due to promotion
People are required to cover temporary absence, e.g. for maternity leave or long term absence

4. Video
We are going to watch a quick video that runs through the recruitment and selection process for a business, including reasons for hiring and the stages a firm will go through

5. Recruitment process
Identify the type and number of staff needed
Prepare job description and person specification
Advertise the job using appropriate media
Evaluate applicants and select a shortlist for interview
Carry out interviews
Evaluate interviews and make appointment
Provide feedback for unsuccessful candidates
Conduct some research into what happens at each of these stages - include definitions of all key terms, e.g. what a job description is, why used etc… how do people usually apply? What assessment methods can a business use etc… THIS NEEDS TO BE DETAILED

6. Internal and external recruitment
You may want to allocate tasks – you have 20 mins
You need to conduct research into the following;
What is internal recruitment
How can a business advertise internally (both small and large scale firms)
Advantages/disadvantages of recruiting internally
What is external recruitment
What are the advantages/disadvantages of recruiting externally
What are the following methods of external recruitment and why would they be used
Word of mouth
Direct application
Advertising
Private employment agencies
Headhunting
Job centres
Government funded training programmes
You need to work in groups of no more than 4 and create a fact sheet that all members of your group could use informing them about internal and external recruitment. I will then photocopy these for you to all have a copy

7. Internal vs external recruitment
Internal (workers already in the business can apply for a new position)
External (workers outside of the business can apply)
Staff can be attracted to a new position through the company newsletter
Workers may be invited to apply for promotion positions
New vacancies may be announced in meetings or pinned to notice boards
Internal candidates favoured as their track record and skills are already known
Internal candidates are already loyal to the business and can be more productive quickly as they don’t have to be inducted
Internal candidates will already fit with company culture, no expense of a new person not fitting in, leaving and having to be replaced – therefore less risky and cost effective to recruit
Less expensive – no cost of advertising
Internal candidates may not have skills set required for a new position – as these might not be able to be trained in. For example a new chemistry teacher would need a degree in science, hard to train up a maths teacher at short notice.
Vacancy may have to be advertised externally
Fresh candidates bring new ideas and enthusiasm to the business
External candidates have not become tired or bored with the business and are enthusiastic so possibly likely to work harder

8. Costs of recruitment, selection and training
At each stage of the recruitment process a business will incur costs. These costs can be significant and underline the importance of retaining staff
Recent research puts the average cost for recruiting new staff at around £1,850 per employee
There are 2 elements to this cost
Lost output while a replacement is found and inducted
Process costs of recruiting and selecting a new worker

9. Costs incurred during recruitment & selection
Time (monetary) for HR to plan the recruitment
Admin costs of checking job adverts/descriptions, person specs, handling applications etc…
Cost of the advert
Cost of agency fees for a temp to cover the position until it is filled
Cost of the wage of the new employee
Loss of productivity while new employee is inducted (on average takes 24 weeks from hiring to optimum productivity)
Loss of management time taken up with the recruitment process (can take weeks for the entire process)
Hidden costs – up to half of al new employees leave in the first year, the average is 20%

10. Cost of training
The costs of training can be so high that businesses can be reluctant to invest heavily in it
Some training costs, like Health and Safety are essential and have to be paid for by the business. Other training costs include;
Training courses and other resources – external training is very expensive but often more specialised, internal training can also be expensive if you need to purchase special equipment to do it
Loss of output – if workers are involved in off-the-job training they will not be producing anything = lower production levels
Employees leaving – businesses are likely to be frustrated if they spend a lot of money training someone only for them to leave and work for a rival, some businesses prefer to hire people already trained to avoid this

11. Training
The purpose of training is to help employees to develop existing skills or gain new ones
Benefits
Costs
It increases the level and range of skills available to the business, leading to improvements in productivity and quality
It can be expensive, in terms of both providing the training itself and the cost of evaluating its effectiveness
It increases the degree of flexibility within a business, allowing it to respond quickly to changes in demand
Production may be disrupted while training is taking place, leading to lost output
It can lead to a more motivated workforce by creating opportunities for development and promotion
Newly trained workers may be persuaded to leave and take up new jobs elsewhere

12. Task Organise yourselves into 3 groups
Your presentation must be no longer than 10 minutes long and all members of the group must participate – there will be a prize for the best one!
Organise yourselves into 3 groups
Each group is going to be given a type of training. You then need to create a presentation that could be given to the rest of the class including;
A definition of your training method – including ways in which it could happen
The advantages and disadvantages of your method
Reasons for carrying out your method of training
Information about the costs of your training method
Examples of when your method would be used
Any other information you feel is relevant
You can include videos/images etc… to make it interesting, you could even set the rest of the class a task to do – you are after all the teacher for this task!
Induction, on-the-job, off-the-job

13. Benefits of training
Although its expensive a number of people will benefit from training
Person
Benefit
Managers
Workers will be more motivated and satisfied – makes them more co-operative to work with. Workers will be better at their job = easier to manage. Providing training may improve company image, making it easier to recruit and retain staff
Owners
Productivity could go up as workers will be more efficient = lower costs = competitive edge = increased profits
Employees
Able to do their jobs more effectively. Makes them more satisfied = better morale = less likely to leave as they feel valued. Enables them to develop skills which will help them get a promotion and/or better job
Customers
Customers will receive better quality products as less mistakes. Improved customer service due to better quality staff

14. Five whys and a how
Why do some companies offer holiday jobs to university students?
Why might a company try to avoid getting a lot of applicants for a job?
Why might a company include someone from personnel on a selection panel?
Why might one retailer use mainly on-the-job training, while another prefer off-the-job training?
Why do some firms go on providing staff training, even for those over 60?
How might a large business such as Tesco recruit a new Chief Executive?