8.10 Key Takeaways & Terms

• The recruitment process provides the organization with a pool of qualified applicants.
• Some companies choose to hire internal candidates—that is, candidates who are already working for the organization. However, diversity is a consideration here as well.
• A job analysis is a systematic approach to determine what a person actually does in their job. This process might involve a questionnaire to all employees. Based on this analysis, an accurate job description and job specifications can be written. A job description lists the components of the job, while job specifications list the requirements to perform the job.
• HR professionals must have a recruiting plan before posting any job description. The plan should outline where the job announcements will be posted and how the management of candidate materials, such as résumés, will occur. Part of the plan should also include the expected cost of recruitment.
• Many organizations use recruiters. Recruiters can be executive recruiters, which means an outside firm performs the search. For temporary positions, a temporary or staffing firm such as Kelly Services might be used. Corporate recruiters work for the organization and function as a part of the HR team.
• Campus recruiting can be an effective way of recruiting for entry-level positions. This type of recruiting may require considerable effort in developing relationships with college campuses.
• Almost every profession has at least one professional association. Posting announcements on their websites can be an effective way of targeting for a specific job.
• Most companies will also use their own website for job postings, as well as other websites such as Monster.
• Social media is also a popular way to recruit. Usage of websites such as Twitter and Facebook can get the word out about a specific job opening, or give information about the company, which can result in more traffic being directed to the company’s website.
• Recruiting at special events such as job fairs is another option. Some organizations have specific job fairs for their company, depending on the size. Others may attend industry or job-specific fairs to recruit specific individuals.
• SIGs, or special/specific interest groups, are usually very specialized. For example, project managers may have an interest group that includes a discussion board for posting of job announcements.
• Employee referrals can be a great way to get interest for a posted position. Usually, incentives are offered to the employee for referring people they know. However, diversity can be an issue, as can nepotism.
• Our last consideration in the recruitment process is recruitment costs. We can determine this by looking at the total amount we have spent on all recruiting efforts compared to the number of hires. A yield ratio is used to determine how effective recruiting efforts are in one area. For example, we can look at the number of total applicants received from a particular form of media, and divide that by the number of those applicants who make it to the next step in the process (e.g., they receive an interview).

Competency-based analysis: an analysis that focuses on the specific knowledge and abilities an employee must have to perform the job.

Corporate recruiter. A corporate recruiter is an employee within a company who focuses entirely on recruiting for his or her company. Corporate recruiters are employed by the company for which they are recruiting. This type of recruiter may be focused on a specific area, such as technical recruiting.

Employee orientation has the purpose of welcoming new employees into the organization. An effective employee orientation can help reduce start-up costs, reduce anxiety for the employee, reduce turnover, save time for the supervisor and colleagues, and set expectations and attitudes.

Employee referral programs (ERPs): when a current employee refers a friend or someone they know in exchange for incentives

Employee training and development is the framework for helping employees develop their personal and organizational skills, knowledge, and abilities. Training is important to employee retention.

Executive search firm. These companies are focused on high-level positions, such as management and CEO roles. They typically charge 10–20 percent of the first year salary, so they can be quite expensive. However, they do much of the upfront work, sending candidates who meet the qualifications.

External training is any type of training not performed in-house; part of the last training step, external training can also be ongoing. It can include sending employees to conferences or seminars for leadership development or even paying tuition for a class they want to take.

In-house training program: any type of program in which the training is delivered by someone who works for the company. This could include management or HR. Examples might include sexual harassment training or ethics training. In-house training can also include components specific to a job, such as how to use a specific kind of software. In-house training is normally done as a second and ongoing step in employee development.

Internal candidates are people who are already working for the company

Job analysis is a formal system developed to determine what tasks people actually perform in their jobs

Job description: a list of tasks, duties, and responsibilities of a job

Job design refers to how a job can be modified or changed to be more effective—for example, changing tasks as new technology becomes available

Job specifications: discuss the skills and abilities the person must have to perform the job

Mentor: a seasoned employee who is paired with a new employee to train them.

Nepotism means a preference for hiring relatives of current employees, which can also lead to lack of diversity and management issues in the workplace

Onboarding is the process of integrating a new employee with a company and its culture, as well as getting a new hire the tools and information needed to become a productive member of the team

Professional associations are usually nonprofit organizations whose goal is to further a particular profession

Recruitment is defined as a process that provides the organization with a pool of qualified job candidates from which to choose.

Recruitment process: a process that provides the organization with a pool of qualified job candidates from which to choose

Selection process: the process of interviewing candidates.

Staffing plan: a comprehensive plan comprised of six steps that is developed to obtain the right talent, at the right place and at the right time

Task-based analysis: an analysis that focuses on the duties of the job

Temporary recruitment or staffing firm. Utilizing the services of a temporary recruitment firm to send you qualified candidates who are willing to work shorter contracts.

Trend analysis examines past employment levels against selected business variables to predict future staffing requirements