Chapter 4
Recruitment
Author Chapter Notes
This chapter addressed the critical components of the recruitment process. Our chapter on recruitment starts with conducting of job analysis, writing the job description, and specifications.
This chapter also addresses the need for accurate forecasting and how to create forecasts, which then allow us to develop our recruitment plan.
Section 1 Learning Objectives
1.
Discuss the need for forecasting human resource needs and techniques for forecasting.
2.
Explain the steps to an effective recruitment strategy.
3.
Develop a job analysis and job description.
Section Notes

Recruitment is defined as the process that provides the organization with a pool of qualified applicants.

Forecasting must be done first to determine how many people we need to hire.
Within our forecast, we need to consider both internal and external factors.

With our forecasts, we can develop a recruitment strategy. We can do this by determining our needs (staffing plan), writing the job analysis and job descriptions, developing a system to recruit and review candidates, determining the best strategies for the position, and then implementing our plan.

A job analysis is a formal system used to determine what tasks are performed in specific jobs.
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The purpose of a job analysis is to make sure the fit is right between the employee and the job.

A job analysis questionnaire is often given to employees to help write the job analysis.

A task-based analysis focuses on the duties of the job while a competency-based analysis focuses on abilities needed to perform the job.

Based on the job analysis we can write the job description.
Key Takeaways
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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 his or her 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.
Exercises and Solutions
1.
Do an Internet search for “job description.” Review three different job descriptions and then answer the following questions for each of the jobs:
1.
What are the job specifications?
2.
Are the physical demands mentioned?
3.
Is the job description task based or competency based?
4.
How might you change this job description to obtain more qualified candidates?
Answers: Will vary depending on the information the students find. This could be a group exercise, or one performed in class if students have Wi-Fi and laptops.
If not, consider assigning this exercise in class within a computer lab.
2.
Why do the five steps of the recruitment process require input from other parts of the organization? How might you handle a situation in which the employees or management are reluctant to complete a job analysis?
Answer: HR is a function that requires input from all areas in order to be successful. When HR operates “alone” they do not get the best data, nor may not be viewed as a strategic part of the company. Getting buy-in for the job analysis, explaining how they will be used and the importance of them are ways to increase responses when asking for this type of information.
Extra Discussion Questions
1.
What do you see as the advantages and disadvantages to a task-based job analysis versus a competency-based job analysis?
Answer: A task-based job analysis provides specific information about a specific job. It may be appropriate when the job is very straightforward and may not require as much initiative. A competency-based job analysis may be best for higher-level jobs, where actual day-to-day tasks may not be straightforward and when a set of skills, as opposed to duties is needed.
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2.
How do you know what external factors may affect your recruiting processes?
Answer: By reading! The best way to determine things such as population shifts and changes in law are to be part of a professional organization and to constantly be reading news to determine how recent news (such as unemployment rates) may affect your plan.
Key Terms recruitment
A process that provides the organization with a pool of qualified job candidates from which to choose. internal candidate
Someone who applies for a position within the company who is already working for the company. bidding system
A system or a process in which job advertisements may be posted internally through a predetermined method so all employees have access to them. job analysis
A formal system developed to determine the tasks people actually perform in their jobs. 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 description
A list of tasks, duties, and responsibilities of a job. job specifications
The skills and abilities the person must have to perform the job.
Section 2 Learning Objective
1.
Explain the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA), Patriot Act, and Equal
Employment Opportunity (EEO) laws and how they relate to recruiting.
Section Notes
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
The Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) was adopted in 1986.
 The law requires employers to attest to their employees’ immigration status.

IRCA makes it illegal to hire illegal immigrants.

The purpose of the law is to preserve jobs for those who have legal documentation to work in the United States.

Applied to subcontractors as well, and holds the company accountable for documented workers when subcontracting work.

HR professionals must verify ones ability to work in the United States, using an I-
9 form.

If an audit is done, you must be able to show I-9 forms for all workers.

The Patriot Act was a response to 9/11 and gave more power to the Federal
Government to conduct domestic and international investigations and surveillance.

As a result of this act, HR professionals needed to develop systems which balance privacy but also provides requested information by the Federal Government.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is a federal agency charged with the task of enforcing federal employment discrimination laws, including those involved in the recruitment process.

HR is required to post EEOC information on job announcements.

BFOQ is a quality or attribute that is reasonably necessary to the normal operation of the business and may be a basis for hiring only specific individuals.

Disparate impact occurs when an organization discriminates through the use of a particular process, such as testing.

Disparate treatment involves one person intentionally being treated different as a result of gender, age, race, etc.
Key Takeaways

IRCA stands for Immigration and Reform Act . This law requires all employers to determine eligibility of an employee to work in the United States. The reporting form is called an I-9 and must be completed and kept on file (paper or electronic) for at least three years, but some states require this documentation to be kept on file for the duration of the employee’s period of employment.

The Patriot Act allows the government access to data that would normally be considered private, for example, an employee’s records and work voice mails and e-mails (without the company’s consent). The HR professional might consider letting employees know of the compliance with this law.

The EEOC is a federal agency charged with ensuring discrimination does not occur in the workplace. They oversee the equal employment opportunity (EEO) set of laws. Organizations must post EEO laws in a visible location at their workplace and also include them on job announcements.

Related to the EEOC, the bona fide occupational qualification (BFOQ) makes it legal to discriminate in hiring based on special circumstances, for example, requiring the retirement of airline pilots at a certain age due to safety concerns.
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Exercises and Solutions
1.
Describe the difference between disparate treatment and disparate impact.
Answer: Disparate impact means that something in the process of recruitment is unfair to certain groups, while disparate treatment refers to different treatment of a specific individual.
2.
Explain a situation (other than the ones described in this section) in which a BFOQ might be appropriate. Then research to see if in the past this reasoning has been accepted as a BFOQ.
Answer: It might be appropriate in a religious college, for example, to only hire professors of that faith. Clothing stores that sell only one gender’s clothing may not be required to hire people of the other gender. Race has never been considered a valid reason for a BFOQ, and customers having a specific preference for one gender over another have never been a valid reason as well.

Disparate impact refers to a policy that may limit a protected EEO group from receiving fair treatment. Disparate impact might include a test or requirement that negatively impacts someone based on protected group status. An example is requiring a high school diploma, which may not directly impact the job. Disparate treatment refers to discrimination against an individual, such as the hiring of one person over another based on race or gender.
Extra Discussion Question
1.
Research job announcements online and discuss the presence of an EEO statement.
Answer: Answers will vary, but it is highly likely that almost every job announcement will include a statement. If a job description does not include a statement, lead a discussion on why this may be.
Key Terms
Immigration Reform and Control Act (ICRA)
A law adopted by Congress in 1986 that requires employers to attest to their employees’ immigration status.
Patriot Act
Signed in response to the September 11, 2001, attacks, the Patriot Act introduced legislative changes to enhance the federal government’s ability to conduct domestic and international investigations and surveillance activities.
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bona fide occupational qualification (BFOQ)
A quality or attribute employers are allowed to consider when making decisions during the selection process. disparate impact
When an organization discriminates through the use of a process, affecting a protected group as a whole, rather than consciously intending to discriminate. disparate treatment
When one person is intentionally treated differently than another, not necessarily impacting the larger protected group as a whole, as in disparate impact.
Section 3 Learning Objective
1.
Explain the various strategies that can be used in recruitment.
Section Outline

Recruiters are people who have the specific job of filling positions. Examples include executive search firms, temporary or staffing firms, and corporate recruiters.

Many companies engage in campus recruiting, since there are many entry-level people available.

Professional associations are also places where positions may be posted, either in newsletters or on websites.

Labor unions can also be a source of qualified candidates.

Websites, such as Monster.com or your own company website, are also options of places to post jobs.

Social media, such as Facebook and LinkedIn, are good places to post job opportunities.

Job fair events and Special Interest Groups, such as Women in Project
Management, can also be a good place to post jobs.

Many companies use referrals from employees as a way to recruit qualified candidates.

Cost of recruiting is a consideration, as is yield ratio from each method.
Key Takeaways

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 to manage candidate materials, such as résumés. Part of the plan should also include the expected cost of recruitment.
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
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 and CareerBuilder.

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, female 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).
Exercises and Solutions
1.
Perform an Internet search on professional associations for your particular career choice. List at least three associations, and discuss recruiting options listed on their websites (e.g., do they have discussion boards or job advertisements links?).
Answer: Answers will vary. Consider asking students to get into small groups to discuss, then ask them to choose the most interesting from their group to share with the rest of the class.
2.
Have you ever experienced nepotism in the workplace? If yes, describe the
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experience. What do you think are the upsides and downsides to asking current employees to refer someone they know?
Answer: Upsides are that good employees usually refer friends who are qualified and can also make excellent employees. The downside with this strategy is possible issues with lack of diversity.
Extra Discussion Question
1.
Get into groups of four to five. Rank each of the recruitment methods listed as most effective to least effective if recruiting for an administrative assistant position. Then, do the same if recruiting for a VP of Sales. Be prepared to defend your rankings.
Answer: No wrong or right answers here. Once the students are done in their groups, consider asking them to list their rankings on the board then discuss and compare what each group came up with. This exercise is good in getting students to think about how recruitment methods should be different, depending on the type of job.
Key Terms nepotism
A preference for hiring relatives of current employees. employee referral program (ERP)
A type of recruitment strategy that involves a planned program to access current employee referrals. yield ratio
The percentage of applicants from one source who make it to the next stage in the selection process.
Chapter Case
The Author discusses the case for Chapter 4: http://blip.tv/play/sDyCpvgZAA%2Em4v
Additional Case Study Exercise
Please read the following article on Google Recruiting, then answer the questions that follow. http://www.ere.net/2005/12/05/a-case-study-of-google-recruiting/
1.
Why does the author say Google has “changed the recruiting game forever?”
2.
How does the work employees perform impact the recruiting methods?
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3.
Why does Google spend so much money on recruiting?
4.
Of the list of “perks” which would you like to have the most?
Answers: Google has made itself so well known and attractive, its “disruptive recruiting” is one that has been emulated over and over. The need for recruiting permeates the entire organization and is a main driver and focus of all employees and managers. The impact of work, that is, creating a culture where people want to work there because the work itself is interesting is different from most recruiting strategies.
They focus on interesting work, continuous learning, employees feeling they are constantly challenged and adding value. Google has, according to this article, 1 recruiter for every 14 employees. Cisco came close in the 1990s with 1 recruiter for every 65 employees. Student’s answers will vary on perks.
Useful Outside Resources
The Human Resource Certification Institute: http://www.hrci.org/
Society for Human Resource Management: http://www.shrm.org/Pages/default.aspx
YouTube videos:
Google’s Recruitment Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcXF1YirPrQ
Zappos Recruitment Videos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDibqLZnQHU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGb7YF3rx3k&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iizceAKHh6k&feature=related
8 Steps to Recruitment Success, by Mike Moore: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mI-2Q8UWCPA&feature=related
Funny recruiting video (cartoon): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jAbAcEb9Qs&feature=related
Recruitment plans are like planning a road trip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QuzzUbnV5Q&feature=related
SHRM Interview on Recruiting: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r596kymIPwI
Writing a job description by Gloria Campbell: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEhEfKJVc6o
Why job descriptions are needed by Victoria Mavis:
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXR7av9WT7U
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