CHAPTER: $1$

An Introduction to Recruitment and Selection

Chapter Learning Outcomes

After reading this chapter you should::

Appreciate the importance and relevance of recruitment and selection to Canadian organizations

Know where recruitment and selection fit into the organization as a whole and the human resources management system in particular

Understand how changes in technology, global competition, changing labour force demographics, and increasing government regulation and societal pressures for conformity to ethical, environmental, and human rights standards have an impact on recruitment and selection

Be aware of which professional associations and groups in Canada have a stake in recruitment and selection

Become familiar with basic ethical and professional issues in recruitment and selection

Activity: Describe your experience interviewing for a job at a company. Explain what you liked and$/$or did not like about the interview process.

Why Recruitment and Selection Matter:

Best practices:

Involve the ethical treatment of job applicants throughout the recruiting and hiring process

Result from HR professionals following the accepted standards and principles of professional associations

Are legally defensible $($e$.$g$.,$ human rights legislation$)$

Reduce employee turnover and increase productivity

Are responsible for a firm$$s relative profit

Correlate with an organization$$s long$-$term profitability and production ratios

Help to establish employee trust

Improve the knowledge, skills, abilities, and other attributes $($KSAOs$)$ of current and future employees, increase motivation, and retain high$-$quality workers

Class Activity: What is your preferred career track in human resources?

What professional associations would you join and what activities would you engage in$?$

Talent Management:

An organization$$s commitment to recruit, retain, and develop the most talented and superior employees

Involves developing an employee$$s career across the organization and being aware of suitable positions

Human Resources Information Systems $($HRIS$)$: Human Resources Information Systems: computer$-$based systems that track employee data, the needs of HR$,$ and the requirements and competencies needed for different positions, among other functions

Recruitment and Selection:

Recruitment: the generation of an applicant pool for a position or job in order to provide the required number of candidates for a subsequent selection or promotion program

Selection: the choice of job candidates from a previously generated applicant pool in a way that will meet management goals and objectives as well as current legal requirements

Elements of a Recruitment and Selection Action Plan:

Develop Recruitment Strategy

Develop the Applicant Pool

Screen the Applicant Pool

Review and Selection of Job Applicants

Evaluate the Recruiting and Selection Effort

Social$/$Economic Factors Affecting Recruitment and Selection:

Global Competition

Rapid Advances in Technology and the Internet

Changing Workforce Demographics

The Economic Context

Type of Organization

Organizational Restructuring

Redefining Jobs

Unionized Work Environments

Best Practices

Global competition: index is based on economic, social, and political globalization

Increasing globalization has changed the level of competition

Rapid advances in technology and the Internet: employers expect new hires to be computer literate

Hiring through e$-$recruiting Changing workforce demographics: abolition of mandatory retirement at age $65$ creates less room for new entry$-$level employees

The economic context: supply and demand of jobs and people $($e$.$g$.,$ economic booms, recessions$)$

Type of organization:

Public sector: both federal and provincial; formalized recruitment and selection systems

Private sector: may vary depending on the type and size of the business$/$industry

Organizational restructuring: workforce that is approaching retirement, flattening of organizations

Redefining jobs: workers need a wide range of skills in order to do their job

Unionized work environments: negotiated collective agreements generally address issues of recruitment and selection

Best practices: employers must have in place HR strategies for recruiting, identifying, and selecting employees who will contribute to the overall effectiveness of the organization

A Systems View of HR:

Two basic principles underlie the model presented in Figure $1\mathrm{.}1($p$.4)$

Principle $1$: HRM must carefully coordinate its activities with the other organizational units and people if the larger system is to function properly

Principle $2$: HR managers must think in systems terms and have the welfare of the whole organization in mind

Recruitment and Selection and

the HR Profession: HR functions:

Must keep abreast of developments in their field through continuous learning

Responsible for knowing the latest legal and scientific information related to R & S

Responsible for implementing policies and procedures in accordance with accepted professional standards

Reflection i