1. Recruitment of Applicants
Part 4
Human Resource Recruitment
CHAPTER
Recruitment of Applicants 8

2. Selection and Recruitment
Purposes of Recruitment
To develop an appropriate number of applicants (e.g., ten for each open position) while keeping costs reasonable.
To meet the organization’s legal and social obligations regarding the demographic composition of its workforce.
To help increase the success rate of the selection process by reducing the percentage of applicants who are either poorly qualified or have the wrong skills.
©2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

3. Impression Management
Definition – Those actions applicants take to make themselves appear attractive to recruiting organizations
Examples of actions
Improving personal appearance
Exaggerate previous job titles, responsibilities, achievements
Respond “Open” when in fact geographical limits exist
Organizational impression management to create a favorable impression among job seekers
Imply that applicants would be on career fast-track
Employment brochures depicting most desirable locations
©2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

4. FIGURE 8.1 Conflicts Between Organizations and Job Seekers
©2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

5. Conflicts Between Organizations and Job Seekers
Conflict A - applicants avoid gathering information they would like for selecting organizations
Conflict B - organizations accentuating only positives create expectations that differ from reality
Conflict C - – job seekers engaging in activities to make themselves appear more attractive while organizations need accurate information in order to choose among applicants
Conflict D - conflicting objectives between organization activities involving attracting and selecting individuals
©2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

6. FIGURE 8.2 The Recruitment Process & Interplay with Selection
©2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

7. Determining Recruitment Objectives
How many individuals do we want to attract for how many positions?
What KSAs do we want them to possess?
What demographic diversity do we desire?
When should the positions be filled?
©2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

8. Recruitment Strategy Addresses:
Which recruitment activities the organization will use
When and how these will be done
Whom to use as recruiters
What theme or message to convey
©2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

9. Recruitment Strategy Targeted recruiting
Aimed at specific types of individuals who are willing to apply or accept a position if offered
Aimed at groups defined by certain demographic and/or psychological characteristics
Organizational branding
Tailor strategies and methods to communicate image they wish to portray
Positively influences applicants’ early perceptions of the organization
©2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

10. Recruitment Activities
Recruitment sources
how potential applicants are reached
Recruitment personnel
who does the recruiting
Content of the recruitment message
what information is presented
Administration of recruitment
when activities are done
©2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

11. Table 8.1 Characteristics of Recruitment Sources
©2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

12. Table 8.1 Characteristics of Recruitment Sources (cont’d)
©2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

13. Formal vs. Personal Recruiting
Personal sources
Referrals from current employees, family, friends, rehires
Valued by potential applicants because it is thought to be more accurate and complete
Helps reduce voluntary turnover
Formal sources
Newspaper ads, employment agencies
Past evidence suggests minorities use formal sources more than informal ones
©2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

14. Word-of-Mouth Recruitment
Definition – personal communication about an employer, independent of the employer, that is received by a potential job applicant
Applicants receiving word-of-mouth information about an employer early in the recruitment process tend to view that employer as more attractive and are more likely to submit an employment application
Be careful that word-of-mouth recruiting does not lead to minority underrepresentation
Recruitment sources should complement one another
©2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

15. Table 8.2 Avoiding Discrimination when Recruiting
©2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

16. Using the Internet for Recruiting
Use individuals who know your firm to refer applicants to it
Develop a recruiting website
Create a dedicated job information/career center site
Use employee testimonials on the Web site
Take job applications via the Web site
Find the best active candidates
Search specialized job board for recruits
Find passive candidates
Identify potential applicants employed by others through Linkedin.com, Boolean searches, flip searching, and web crawling
©2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

17. Factors in Choosing a Recruiting Source
Cost of
Recruiting Sources
Nature of the Job
External Image of the Company
Current Employee Attitudes
Demographic Mix of Applicants
©2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

18. Importance of Recruitment Personnel
Influence early opinions and behaviors of recruits but have little effect on actual acceptance decision
Race and gender similarity of recruiters and recruits has neither strong nor consistent effect
Job and organization characteristics have a stronger influence on recruits than do recruiters
Recruiter training in interviewing and the management of the social interaction of recruitment interview is important
Recruiters are often seen as less trustworthy and credible than members of the work group
Recruiters can have strong, negative influence on applicants
©2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

19. Message Content – Realistic Job Previews (RJP)
Applicants given both negative and positive aspects of the job
Positive effects on applicants when:
they have not formed an opinion about the job
they are able to predict how they will react to the job based on characteristics presented in the RJP
they have self-sight and know how they will react to job characteristics presented to them in RJP
©2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

20. Metrics for Evaluating Recruitment Effectiveness
New employee job performance
New employee turnover
Manager satisfaction with new employees
New employee training success
Cost per hire
©2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

21. Other Factors Affecting Attraction of Applicants
Inducements offered by the firm
Salary, benefits, flexibility, career path, etc.
Firm’s targeted applicant pool
Education level, experience, applicant demographics, etc.
External labor market conditions
Job and organizational characteristics
©2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

22. Summary Recommendations for Recruitment
Carefully consider the sometimes competing objectives of attracting vs. selecting job seekers
Identify specific objectives of a recruitment program
Formulate a specific strategy for accomplishing recruitment program objectives
Insure that recruitment screens reflect the desired job-related characteristics of job candidates
Use targeted recruitment to identify underrepresented protected groups
Develop a recruitment Web site that is attractive, easy to navigate, and easy to use for submitting application materials
©2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

23. Summary Recommendations for Recruitment (Cont’d)
Incorporate color, pictures, audio, and video on a recruitment Web site; all narrative content on the site should be well written in an engaging style; all materials (including pictures and themes presented) must accurately reflect the true nature of the organization
Consider using resume screening and applicant tracking software to manage the number of resumes that must be individually reviewed and applicant contacts that must be made
Evaluate an organization’s image being communicated by recruitment and related media to insure that image is the desired organizational “brand”
©2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

24. Summary Recommendations for Recruitment (Cont’d)
Consider using recruitment Web sites for organizations searching for employees
Encourage referrals of potential applicants from employees
Select recruiters on characteristics associated with dealing with people
Using technology to aid in recruiting is an asset; however, use more personal means of communications to applicants who are particularly desirable and stay in touch with them throughout the recruitment process
Use realistic job previews (RJPs)
Use metrics and other measures to evaluate recruitment programs and associated activities to identify “what works”
©2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

25. Key Terms and Concepts Recruitment Boolean search Flip searching
Web crawlers
Job candidates
Hires
Recruitment strategy
Realistic job preview
Impression management
Selection vs. hiring
Recruitment conflicts
Applicant population
Applicant pool
Organizational branding
Targeted recruiting
Recruitment activities
Recruitment message
© 2008 Thomson/South-Western. All rights reserved.