Preliminary Report on Selection and Recruitment

Executive summary

The recruitment and selection functions aim to attract and hire the best candidate for the position. All potential candidates undergo a multi-stage process that involves submitting applications, attending interviews and undergoing an array of tests including psychometric testing and medical examinations. This is to determine which candidates meet the required selection criteria for the position. HR and line managers have to decide whether to recruit either internally or externally as well as choosing between the compensatory approach and the successive hurdles approach to selection. HR and line managers not only use the organisation’s recruitment and selection policy to assist them in finding the best candidate for the position, but to also assist them in achieving the organisation’s strategic objectives.

Introduction

Human resources management (HRM) plays an integral, yet unheralded role in organisations throughout the world. HRM refers to the management of the employer-employee relationship with the aim of the employees assisting in the aim of achieving the strategic objectives of the organisation whilst satisfying their individual needs (Stone 2013). Managing this relationship involves ‘…exercising discretion by both the employer and employee (Heneman III, Judge & Kammeyer-Muller 2012). The HRM function is comprised of a multitude of activities including job analysis, human resources planning, recruitment, selection, performance appraisal, career planning and development and remuneration. This report focuses on two key components that form part of the HRM function; recruitment and selection. In addition, best practice towards the recruitment and selection will also be examined.

Recruitment

‘The traditional philosophy of recruitment can be best summarised as the practice of “selling” the organisation to outsiders’ (Wanous 1992, p. 41). Recruitment, according to Gusdorf (in Mondy 2008) refers to the process that aims to lure a number of qualified applicants to the organisation in sufficient numbers through the utilisation of various sources for selection. There are many recruitment sources available to the organisation to satisfy such needs. These sources include current employees (internal recruitment), referrals from current employees, former employees, print advertisements (newspapers), internet advertising and career sites (e.g. seek.com.au), employment agencies and temporary help agencies (Balkin, Cardy & Gomez-Mejia 2001). Social networking sites such as twitter and Facebook have become more prevalent sources of recruitment since their inception. The HR manager in most cases has to make a strategic decision whether to recruit internally or externally (unless an approach is stipulated in the recruitment