Getting the Job… Presentation on Recruitment Danielle Beasley and Megan Losito

Why do we need to know about recruitment? “School districts must identify, attract, acquire, and retain competent personnel to be effective as an organization in providing education to America’s youth” (Young, 90). As administrators we have to know how to select the most capable personnel.

What is the difference between recruitment and selection? Recruitment - all the activities that are involved with generating a pool of applicants Selection – all of the activities involved in choosing from among the applicants

Recruitment Recruitment involves both short- and long- term plans. –Short-term activities are needed to fill the existing positions that are available currently. –Long-term activities are needed to ensure that you consistently have highly qualified personnel in your organization.

Recruitment and Human Resources There is a link between positions and individuals. Both elements are dynamic and vary. Recruitment Equation: Personnel Demand – Supply = External Recruitment Task

Recruitment Contexture Recruitment contexture is the set of internal and external environmental circumstances, events or facts that may affect recruiting. –These factors must be looked at long before the recruitment process. –Some of these factors will require policy decisions from the school board. These include public employment policy and system employment policy.

Public Employment Policy All districts must follow mandated public employment legislation. Have to be knowledgeable about federal and state legislation. –Employment legislation is designed to prevent discrimination and sometimes correct past discrimination. –Grants certain citizens protected class status based on gender, sex, age, etc.

Federal Legislation Title VII Civil Rights Act Age Discrimination in Employment Act Americans with Disabilities Act Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act These are minimum guidelines –Districts can add more protected class persons as long as they don’t violate the federal guidelines.

Proactive vs. Reactive School Boards must decide whether they will have a proactive or reactive employment policy. –Proactive – Equal Opportunity Perspective –Reactive – Affirmative Action Perspective Important note: once a board has adopted one policy, they can not go back during that recruitment year.

System Employment Policy This applies to both external and internal factors that affect recruitment. Some terms to remember: –Relevant Labor Market –Stock statistic –Concentration statistic

External Factors The Relevant Labor Market looks at what the composition of a school district should be for protected class groups. It is the distance that an applicant could reasonably be expected to travel for employment consideration. –The area around you that you can form an applicant pool from. Composition of the school staff is not directly related to the composition of the student body.

Internal Factors One internal assessment looks at the distribution of protected class persons employed by the school district. Stock statistic – this is information about the employment of protected class persons in relation to the relative labor market within the district. Concentration statistic – this is information about the assignment of protected class persons within the district. Data from these external and internal factors will determine district policy.

The Recruitment Process Much of what you will do is determined by the policy and organization of your district. There are two features that are a part of most successful recruitment efforts. They are: –Coordinating recruitment with the human resource plan. –Formalizing communication between the system and applicants.

Attracting Applicants Some school districts may have problems attracting applicants and these districts must work particularly hard to attract applicants. Many applicants must be induced to change their place or position of employment through an intensive and extensive recruitment system. The more intensive and extensive the recruitment system, the higher the cost and the greater return on the expenditures (is the hope).

Theories of Recruitment Objective theory of job choice - is a theory that assumes job applicants are economic beings. Subjective theory of job choice - is a theory that looks at applicants from a psychological perspective. Work itself theory - describes individuals as rational beings in the job search process who seek information about the specific job tasks.

Recruitment Message The content of a message will vary based on the theory that a school district favors. Recruitment messages can be designed to reflect both positive and negative attributes. Messages are communicated through several different media including: –Internet –Newspapers –Professional journals –Videos at recruitment fairs

Recruitment Message (cont.) Advertising is a key component to the recruitment process that can save you time and improve the quality of your applicants. Some things to remember when creating a message: –Identify a specific contact person. –Address candidates directly (“you should…”). –Acknowledge applications by a telephone call.

The Recruiter The individual recruiter is crucial to the success of the operation. Effective recruiters possess more personal warmth than ineffective recruiters. Recruitment effectiveness can be increased by considering the race and gender of both the applicants and recruiters.

District Responsibilities For recruitment, school districts should do the following: –Identify those who will be responsible for contacting and discussing with applicants the vacancies. –Make every effort to ensure that the recruiters have the knowledge, the interpersonal competence, and the verbal skills essential to the role. –Standardize the role so that the recruiter will follow definite procedures.

Developing Sources of Applicants The major objective of recruitment is to improve the quality of the staff. When developing a pool of applicants it is necessary to look at whether it is a short- or long-term need. Recruiters also need to look within the system as well as outside for applicants.

Internal Applicants It is sound policy to promote and transfer current staff. Current employees have the most information about the new positions. Two methods generally used are: –Administrative assignment –Position posting

External Applicants There are numerous external personnel sources. In order to be successful, recruitment must produce an excess of applicants for the number of applicants. Some external sources of recruitment are: –Professional associations –Advertising –Colleges –Referrals –Walk-in candidates

Coordinating the Search for Applicants Two dimensions of recruitment are essential concerns: –Control – involves assessing how well the school system’s recruitment plans are being achieved and developing ways to correct flaws. –Effectiveness – involves checking recruitment performance against standards and linking the goals to the recruitment process.

One final word… or maybe two “If educational leaders are not consistently competent in recruiting and selecting qualified and motivated individuals, efforts to improve the quality of education are bound to fail” (qtd. in Young, 91). “One important facet of the human resource function is designing, initiating, and carrying out an effective selection process. Failure to recognize this fact will result in a less than effective recruitment process” (Young, 104).

Resources Young, I. P. & Castetter, W. B. (2004). The Human Resource Function in Educational Administration: Eighth Edition, Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.