Recruitment, Selection and Retention
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Understand the major steps and decisions
involved in designing and implementing a
recruitment effort
Discuss the factors considered by people in
deciding to accept a job offer
Describe he relationship of requirements to
other human resources management
functions
Design a recruitment and selection effort for
a particular job
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Address the advantages and disadvantages of
internal and external recruitment and other
sources of job applicants
Explain the concepts of person – organization fit
and its relevance to recruitment and selection
Offer alternative selection tools and how they can
be used in the selection process
Articulate the concept of validity in the use of
selection tools
Indentify the most important factors related to
turnover and retention and strategies that can
improve retention.
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The Factors that Influence Job Choice
Applicant
◦ Applicant own competiveness.
◦ First impression (usually the recruiter).
◦ Applicants consider if this is a place that can work
for many years.
 See article “Recruiting Tips from Cisco”
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Employer
◦ Employers go through a similar process in selection
as the applicant
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Applicants want to work for organizations
that share their own beliefs
Employers want applicant who chare their
own beliefs
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Individual Characteristics
◦ These are personal issues that influence a persons
decision
 IE: life stage, family
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Vacancy Characteristics
◦ These are issues associated with the job
 IE: salary, responsibility, advancement opportunity
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Compensation
◦ Studies show that compensation is a complex topic
when it comes to recruitment
 Money may encourage someone to leave
 Money may encourage someone to stay
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Responsibility
◦ The amount of responsibility is another factor to
consider
 Studies show that professionals tend to seek out jobs that
grant them greater responsibility.
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Job Security
◦ Applicants will consider stability when selecting a job
◦ The healthcare market is undergoing many mergers and
acquisitions that may shake applicants confidence.
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The Recruitment Process
◦ The recruiter – needs to have a full understanding
as to the needs of the open positions.
◦ External Environment – An examination of the
external environment should be conducted to
ascertain available applicants and competition.
◦ Review Past Recruitment Efforts – look to similar
position to determine the best course of action.
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Expenses
◦ Recruitment can be very costly!!
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Advertising
Agency Fees
Staff time
Processing costs
Travel / Lodging
Training
Orientation
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Recruitment Sources
◦ Early in the process you should identify where you will
look for applicants
 Internal
 Pros – may improve morale, greater assessment of abilities,
may be faster, motivator for current employees
 Cons – conflict among internal candidates, may cause ripple
effect in vacancies, possible morale problem
 External
 Pros – Brings new ideas, may be less expensive, comes with
not ties to the organization
 Cons – may identify technical skills but does not fit into the
organization, moral problems by non-selected internal
candidates
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The Peter Principle
◦ This is a common phenomenon in which successful
employees are promoted until they reach one
position above their level of competency
◦ This is common in healthcare where staff who are
good clinicians are promoted to supervisory
positions.
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Content of the Recruitment Message
◦ Applicant Qualification
◦ Job Basics
◦ Application process
◦ Organization and Department Basics
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Evaluating the Recruitment
◦ Quantity of Applicants
◦ Quality of Applicants
◦ Overall Recruitment Cost and Cost Per Applicant
◦ Diversity of Applicants
◦ Recruitment time or time to fill
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The Question of Fit
◦ This is the process of ensuring the applicant values
match those of the organization
◦ This may mean that the selection process should
not always be based on concrete data
◦ Organizations should be careful that “fit” also
produces quality job performance
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Organization Culture Profile
◦ This is used to test an applicant will fit in the
organization
 Very labor intensive to use
◦ It is important that an organization ensure that is
selections criteria adapts to the change in
organizational culture over time.
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Job Requirements and Selection Tool
◦ Selection tools – refers to any procedure or system
used
◦ The use of a selection tool should be based on a
full range knowledge of the job requirements
◦ Critical Incidents Analysis – This is a process for
discovering hidden or less formal aspects of job
performance
 This should be done by individuals who are experts in
the job
 Job expert should identify good and poor performance
of the job
 Brake the job down into similar “dimensions”
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Reliability and Validity of the Selection Tool
◦ Criterion Related Validity – the extent a selection tool is
related to job performance
 Concurrent Strategies – this is used to test the reliability of
the selection tool by using the tool on current employees
 Predictive Validity – This is used on a group of job
applicants. Over time you are able to gather data regarding
the tool.
 Content Validity – the extent to which the tool represents
sample content of the job. If sufficient enough of job
content are present the tool is valid
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Reference Checks
◦ 87% of HR directors use reference checks.
 Studies test the validity of reference checks.
 Researchers used inter-rater reliability for different respondents for
references.
 The reliability factor of references is relatively poor!!
 Reliability improves if:
 It is the most recent employer
 The reference giver had adequate time to review the applicant
 Job functions are similar
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Job Interviews
◦ Often this has the greatest weight in the hiring
process
◦ Typically, interview have low reliability
 Why? – candidates are not given the questions in
advance and are not able to prepare. This is not how
the applicant would work in the organization
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Unstructured Interviews
◦ Tend to be very subjective and less reliable
◦ However, it allows the interviewers free rein,
potentially making the interview more effective.
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Structured Interviews
◦ Usually based on job requirements
◦ Allow interviewers to determine quality of
performance
◦ Allow interviewers to score applicants.
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Applications and Resumes
◦ Contain basic information about the applicant
◦ May misrepresent qualifications
 To reduce this, ask applicants to complete an
addendum that is specific to the job.
 This allow the applicant to highlight specific knowledge or
experience.
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Ability and Aptitude Tests
◦ These test several areas including:
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Personality
Honesty
Integrity
Cognitive Reasoning
Fine Motor Coordination Tests
◦ For reliability, it is important to ensure the tests are
actually representative of the job.
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Assessment Centers
◦ This is a center that administer a series of
assessment procedures and has them
professionally scored
◦ There is a high correlation between the use of
assessment centers and job performance
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Growth in demand for nurses will outpace the
supply!!
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A nurse shortage will be experienced
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The shortage is not cyclical but chronic
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Turnover v. Retention
◦ Turnover – a ration that tells the summary of gross
movement in and out of the organization. (See Article
“How to Reduce Turnover” and “Want to Keep Your Best -Keep ‘Em
Interested”)
◦ Retention – looks a specific individuals and the
length of time they have been there. (See Article “How to
Reduce Turnover” and “Motivation Expert Bob Nelson on Keeping Workers
Interested”)
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Studies on Nursing Turnover
◦ The average annual turnover rate for hospital workers is
20%.
◦ RN’s and LPN’s turnover rate in Nursing Home is about
50%
◦ Dissatisfaction is the leading cause of nurse turnover
 Lack of decision making ability, problems with supervisors,
poor work conditions, inadequate compensation, job security
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Retention Strategies
◦ It is important to develop a culture of retention
◦ Managers should emphasis sincere caring for their
staff
◦ Retention is not only influences by just the
organizations efforts. The market still drive
turnover
◦ Compensation and job structure are motivator for
retention (See the article “Firms Let Sleeping Dogs Lie at Office”)
◦ Implement strong leaders. People quit their
supervisors not their job