MEANING OF RECRUITMENT: According to Edwin B. Flippo, “Recruitment is the process of searching the candidates for employment and stimulating them to apply for jobs in the organisation”. Recruitment is the activity that links the employers and the job seekers. A few definitions of recruitment are:• A process of finding and attracting capable applicants for employment. The process begins when new recruits are sought and ends when their applications are submitted. The result is a pool of applications from which new employees are selected.

• It is the process to discover sources of manpower to meet the requirement of staffing schedule and to employ effective measures for attracting that manpower in adequate numbers to facilitate effective selection of an efficient working force.

Recruitment of candidates is the function preceding the selection, which helps create a pool of prospective employees for the organisation so that the management can select the right candidate for the right job from this pool. The main objective of the recruitment process is to expedite the selection process.

Recruitment is a continuous process whereby the firm attempts to develop a pool of qualified applicants for the future human resources needs even though specific vacancies do not exist. Usually, the recruitment process starts when a manger initiates an employee requisition for a specific vacancy or an anticipated vacancy.

RECRUITMENT NEEDS ARE OF THREE TYPES PLANNED i.e. the needs arising from changes in organization and

retirement policy. ANTICIPATED: Anticipated needs are those movements in

personnel, which an organization can predict by studying trends in internal and external environment.

UNEXPECTED: Resignation, deaths, accidents, illness give rise to unexpected needs.

Purpose & Importance of Recruitment

Attract and encourage more and more candidates to apply in the organisation.

Create a talent pool of candidates to enable the selection of best candidates for the organisation.

Determine present and future requirements of the organization in conjunction with its personnel planning and job analysis activities.

Recruitment is the process which links the employers with the employees.

Increase the pool of job candidates at minimum cost. Help increase the success rate of selection process by decreasing

number of visibly under qualified or overqualified job applicants. Help reduce the probability that job applicants once recruited and

selected will leave the organization only after a short period of time. Meet the organizations legal and social obligations regarding the

composition of its workforce. Begin identifying and preparing potential job applicants who will be

appropriate candidates. Increase organization and individual effectiveness of various

recruiting techniques and sources for all types of job applicants.

Recruitment Process

The recruitment and selection is the major function of the human resource department and recruitment process is the first step towards creating the competitive strength and the strategic advantage for the organisations. Recruitment process involves a systematic procedure from sourcing the candidates to arranging and conducting the interviews and requires many resources and time. A general recruitment process is as follows:

Identifying the vacancy: The recruitment process begins with the human resource department receiving requisitions for recruitment from any department of the company. These contain:

Posts to be filled Number of persons Duties to be performed

Qualifications required Preparing the job description and person specification. Locating and developing the sources of required number and type

of employees (Advertising etc). Short-listing and identifying the prospective employee with

required characteristics. Arranging the interviews with the selected candidates. Conducting the interview and decision making

Identify vacancy Prepare job description and person specification Advertising the vacancy Managing the response Short-listing Arrange interviews Conducting interview and decision making

The recruitment process is immediately followed by the selection process i.e. the final interviews and the decision making, conveying the decision and the appointment formalities.

Sources Of RecruitmentEvery organisation has the option of choosing the candidates for its recruitment processes from two kinds of sources: internal and external sources. The sources within the organisation itself (like transfer of employees from one department to other, promotions) to fill a position are known as the internal sources of recruitment. Recruitment candidates from all the other sources (like outsourcing agencies etc.) are known as the external sources of recruitment.

SOURCES OF RECRUITMENT:

Internal Sources Of Recruitment

TRANSFERS: The employees are transferred from one department to another according to their efficiency and experience.

PROMOTIONS: The employees are promoted from one department to another with more benefits and greater responsibility based on efficiency and experience.

Others are Upgrading and Demotion of present employees according to their performance.

Retired and Retrenched employees may also be recruited once again in case of shortage of qualified personnel or increase in load of work. Recruitment such people save time and costs of the organisations as

the people are already aware of the organisational culture and the policies and procedures.

The dependents and relatives of Deceased employees and Disabled employees are also done by many companies so that the members of the family do not become dependent on the mercy of others.

External Sources of Recruitment

PRESS ADVERTISEMENTS: Advertisements of the vacancy in newspapers and journals are a widely used source of recruitment. The main advantage of this method is that it has a wide reach.

EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTES: Various management institutes, engineering colleges, medical Colleges etc. are a good source of recruiting well qualified executives, engineers, medical staff etc. They provide facilities for campus interviews and placements. This source is known as Campus Recruitment.

PLACEMENT AGENCIES: Several private consultancy firms perform recruitment functions on behalf of client companies by charging a fee. These agencies are particularly suitable for recruitment of executives and specialists. It is also known as RPO (Recruitment Process Outsourcing)

EMPLOYMENT EXCHANGES: Government establishes public employment exchanges throughout the country. These exchanges provide job information to job seekers and help employers in identifying suitable candidates.

LABOUR CONTRACTORS: Manual workers can be recruited through contractors who maintain close contacts with the sources of such workers. This source is used to recruit labour for construction jobs.

UNSOLICITED APPLICANTS: Many job seekers visit the office of well-known companies on their own. Such callers are considered nuisance to the daily work routine of the enterprise. But can help in creating the talent pool or the database of the probable candidates for the organisation.

EMPLOYEE REFERRALS / RECOMMENDATIONS: Many organisations have structured system where the current employees of the organisation can refer their friends and relatives for some position in their organisation. Also, the office bearers of trade unions are often aware of the suitability of candidates. Management can inquire these leaders for suitable jobs. In some organizations these are formal

agreements to give priority in recruitment to the candidates recommended by the trade union.

RECRUITMENT AT FACTORY GATE: Unskilled workers may be recruited at the factory gate these may be employed whenever a permanent worker is absent. More efficient among these may be recruited to fill permanent vacancies.

Factors Affecting Recruitment

The recruitment function of the organisations is affected and governed by a mix of various internal and external forces. The internal forces or factors are the factors that can be controlled by the organisation. And the external factors are those factors which cannot be controlled by the organisation. The internal and external forces affecting recruitment function of an organisation are:

FACTORS AFFECTING RECRUITMENT

Internal Factors Affecting Recruitment

The internal forces i.e. the factors which can be controlled by the organisation are:

1. RECRUITMENT POLICYThe recruitment policy of an organisation specifies the objectives of recruitment and provides a framework for implementation of recruitment programme. It may involve organizational system to be developed for implementing recruitment programmes and procedures by filling up vacancies with best qualified people.

FACTORS AFFECTING RECRUITMENT POLICY Organizational objectives Personnel policies of the organization and its competitors. Government policies on reservations. Preferred sources of recruitment. Need of the organization. Recruitment costs and financial implications.

2. HUMAN RESOURCE PLANNINGEffective human resource planning helps in determining the gaps present in the existing manpower of the organization. It also helps in determining the number of employees to be recruited and what qualification they must possess.3. SIZE OF THE FIRMThe size of the firm is an important factor in recruitment process. If the organization is planning to increase its operations and expand its business, it will think of hiring more personnel, which will handle its operations.4. COSTRecruitment incur cost to the employer, therefore, organizations try to employ that source of recruitment which will bear a lower cost of recruitment to the organization for each candidate.5. GROWTH AND EXPANSIONOrganization will employ or think of employing more personnel if it is expanding its operations.

External Factors Affecting Recruitment

The external forces are the forces which cannot be controlled by the organisation. The major external forces are:

1. SUPPLY AND DEMANDThe availability of manpower both within and outside the organization is an important determinant in the recruitment process. If the company has a demand for more professionals and there is limited supply in the market for the professionals demanded by the company, then the company will have to depend upon internal sources by providing them special training and development programs.2. LABOUR MARKETEmployment conditions in the community where the organization is located will influence the recruiting efforts of the organization. If there is surplus of manpower at the time of recruitment, even informal attempts at the time of recruiting like notice boards display of the requisition or announcement in the meeting etc will attract more than enough applicants.3. IMAGE / GOODWILLImage of the employer can work as a potential constraint for recruitment. An organization with positive image and goodwill as an employer finds it easier to attract and retain employees than an organization with negative image. Image of a company is based on what organization does and affected by industry. For example finance was taken up by fresher MBA’s when many finance companies were coming up.4. POLITICAL-SOCIAL- LEGAL ENVIRONMENTVarious government regulations prohibiting discrimination in hiring and employment have direct impact on recruitment practices. For example, Government of India has introduced legislation for reservation in employment for scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, physically handicapped etc. Also, trade unions play important role in recruitment. This restricts management freedom to select those individuals who it believes would be the best performers. If the candidate can’t meet criteria stipulated by the union but union regulations can restrict recruitment sources. 5. UNEMPLOYMENT RATEOne of the factors that influence the availability of applicants is the growth of the economy (whether economy is growing or not and its rate). When the company is not creating new jobs, there is often oversupply of qualified labour which in turn leads to unemployment.

6. COMPETITORS

The recruitment policies of the competitors also effect the recruitment function of the organisations. To face the competition, many a times the organisations have to change their recruitment policies according to the policies being followed by the competitors.

Recruitment Policy Of a Company

In today’s rapidly changing business environment, a well defined recruitment policy is necessary for organizations to respond to its human resource requirements in time. Therefore, it is important to have a clear and concise recruitment policy in place, which can be executed effectively to recruit the best talent pool for the selection of the right candidate at the right place quickly. Creating a suitable recruitment policy is the first step in the efficient hiring process. A clear and concise recruitment policy helps ensure a sound recruitment process.

It specifies the objectives of recruitment and provides a framework for implementation of recruitment programme. It may involve organizational system to be developed for implementing recruitment programmes and procedures by filling up vacancies with best qualified people.

COMPONENTS OF THE RECRUITMENT POLICY The general recruitment policies and terms of the organisation Recruitment services of consultants Recruitment of temporary employees Unique recruitment situations The selection process The job descriptions The terms and conditions of the employment

A recruitment policy of an organisation should be such that: It should focus on recruiting the best potential people. To ensure that every applicant and employee is treated equally with

dignity and respect. Unbiased policy. To aid and encourage employees in realizing their full potential. Transparent, task oriented and merit based selection. Weightage during selection given to factors that suit organization

needs. Optimization of manpower at the time of selection process.

Defining the competent authority to approve each selection. Abides by relevant public policy and legislation on hiring and

employment relationship. Integrates employee needs with the organisational needs.

FACTORS AFFECTING RECRUITMENT POLICY Organizational objectives Personnel policies of the organization and its competitors. Government policies on reservations. Preferred sources of recruitment. Need of the organization. Recruitment costs and financial implications.

Recent Trends in Recruitment

The following trends are being seen in recruitment: OUTSOURCINGIn India, the HR processes are being outsourced from more than a decade now. A company may draw required personnel from outsourcing firms. The outsourcing firms help the organisation by the initial screening of the candidates according to the needs of the organisation and creating a suitable pool of talent for the final selection by the organisation. Outsourcing firms develop their human resource pool by employing people for them and make available personnel to various companies as per their needs. In turn, the outsourcing firms or the intermediaries charge the organisations for their services.

Advantages of outsourcing are: Company need not plan for human resources much in advance. Value creation, operational flexibility and competitive advantage turning the management's focus to strategic level processes of HRM Company is free from salary negotiations, weeding the unsuitable

resumes/candidates. Company can save a lot of its resources and time

POACHING/RAIDING“Buying talent” (rather than developing it) is the latest mantra being followed by the organisations today. Poaching means employing a competent and experienced person already working with another reputed

company in the same or different industry; the organisation might be a competitor in the industry. A company can attract talent from another firm by offering attractive pay packages and other terms and conditions, better than the current employer of the candidate. But it is seen as an unethical practice and not openly talked about. Indian software and the retail sector are the sectors facing the most severe brunt of poaching today. It has become a challenge for human resource managers to face and tackle poaching, as it weakens the competitive strength of the firm.

E-RECRUITMENTMany big organizations use Internet as a source of recruitment. E- recruitment is the use of technology to assist the recruitment process. They advertise job vacancies through worldwide web. The job seekers send their applications or curriculum vitae i.e. CV through e mail using the Internet. Alternatively job seekers place their CV’s in worldwide web, which can be drawn by prospective employees depending upon their requirements.

Advantages of recruitment are: Low cost. No intermediaries Reduction in time for recruitment. Recruitment of right type of people. Efficiency of recruitment process.

E-Recruitment

The buzzword and the latest trends in recruitment is the “E-Recruitment”. Also known as “Online recruitment”, it is the use of technology or the web based tools to assist the recruitment process. The tool can be either a job

website like naukri.com, the organisation’s corporate web site or its own intranet. Many big and small organizations are using Internet as a source of recruitment. They advertise job vacancies through worldwide web. The job seekers send their applications or curriculum vitae (CV) through an e-mail using the Internet. Alternatively job seekers place their CV’s in worldwide web, which can be drawn by prospective employees depending upon their requirements.

The internet penetration in India is increasing and has tremendous potential. According to a study by NASSCOM – “Jobs is among the top reasons why new users will come on to the internet, besides e-mail.” There are more than 18 million resume’s floating online across the world.

The two kinds of e- recruitment that an organisation can use is – Job portals – i.e. posting the position with the job description and the

job specification on the job portal and also searching for the suitable resumes posted on the site corresponding to the opening in the organisation.

Creating a complete online recruitment/application section in the companies own website. - Companies have added an application system to its website, where the ‘passive’ job seekers can submit their resumes into the database of the organisation for consideration in future, as and when the roles become available.

Resume Scanners: Resume scanner is one major benefit provided by the job portals to the organisations. It enables the employees to screen and filter the resumes through pre-defined criteria’s and requirements (skills, qualifications, experience, payroll etc.) of the job.

Job sites provide a 24*7 access to the database of the resumes to the employees facilitating the just-in-time hiring by the organisations. Also, the jobs can be posted on the site almost immediately and is also cheaper than advertising in the employment newspapers. Sometimes companies can get valuable references through the “passers-by” applicants. Online recruitment helps the organisations to automate the recruitment process, save their time and costs on recruitments.

Online recruitment techniques

Giving a detailed job description and job specifications in the job postings to attract candidates with the right skill sets and qualifications at the first stage.

E-recruitment should be incorporated into the overall recruitment strategy of the organisation.

A well defined and structured applicant tracking system should be integrated and the system should have a back-end support.

Along with the back-office support a comprehensive website to receive and process job applications (through direct or online advertising) should be developed.

Therefore, to conclude, it can be said that e-recruitment is the “Evolving face of recruitment.”

Recruitment Vs SelectionBoth recruitment and selection are the two phases of the employment process. The differences between the two are:

Recruitment is the process of searching the candidates for employment and stimulating them to apply for jobs in the organisation WHEREAS selection involves the series of steps by which the candidates are screened for choosing the most suitable persons for vacant posts.

The basic purpose of recruitments is to create a talent pool of candidates to enable the selection of best candidates for the organisation, by attracting more and more employees to apply in the organisation WHEREAS the basic purpose of selection process is to choose the right candidate to fill the various positions in the organisation.

Recruitment is a positive process i.e. encouraging more and more employees to apply WHEREAS selection is a negative process as it involves rejection of the unsuitable candidates.

Recruitment is concerned with tapping the sources of human resources WHEREAS selection is concerned with selecting the most suitable candidate through various interviews and tests.

There is no contract of recruitment established in recruitment WHEREAS selection results in a contract of service between the employer and the selected employee.

Types Of Job Seekers Quid Pro Que: These are the people who say that “ I can do this for

you, what can you give me” These people value high responsibilities,

higher risks, and expect higher rewards, personal development and company profiles doesn’t matter to them.

I will be with you: These people like to be with big brands. Importance is given to brands. They are not bothered about work ethic, culture mission etc.

I will do you what you want: These people are concerned about how meaningful the job is and they define meaning parameters criteria known by previous job.

Where do you want me to come: These people observe things like where is your office, what atmosphere do you offer. Career prospects and exciting projects don’t entice them as much. It is the responsibility of the recruiter to decide what the employee might face in given job and thus take decision. A good decision will help cut down employee retention costs and future recruitment costs.

Recruitment Management SystemRecruitment management system is the comprehensive tool to manage the entire recruitment processes of an organisation. It is one of the technological tools facilitated by the information management systems to the HR of organisations. Just like performance management, payroll and other systems, Recruitment management system helps to contour the recruitment processes and effectively managing the ROI on recruitment.

The features, functions and major benefits of the recruitment management system are explained below:

Structure and systematically organize the entire recruitment processes. Recruitment management system facilitates faster, unbiased, accurate

and reliable processing of applications from various applications. Helps to reduce the time-per-hire and cost-per-hire. Recruitment management system helps to incorporate and integrate

the various links like the application system on the official website of the company, the unsolicited applications, outsourcing recruitment, the final decision making to the main recruitment process.

Recruitment management system maintains an automated active database of the applicants facilitating the talent management and increasing the efficiency of the recruitment processes.

Recruitment management system provides and a flexible, automated and interactive interface between the online application system, the recruitment department of the company and the job seeker.

Offers tolls and support to enhance productivity, solutions and optimizing the recruitment processes to ensure improved ROI.

Recruitment management system helps to communicate and create healthy relationships with the candidates through the entire recruitment process.

The Recruitment Management System (RMS) is an innovative information system tool which helps to sane the time and costs of the recruiters and improving the recruitment processes.

Outsourcing Recruitment

Outsourcing the human resource (HR) processes is the latest practice being followed by middle and large sized organizations. It is being witnessed across all the industries. In India, the HR processes are being outsourced from nearly a decade now. Outsourcing industry is growing at a high rate.

Human Resource Outsourcing refers to the process in which an organisation uses the expert services of a third party (generally professional consultants) to take care of its HR functions while HR management can focus on the strategic dimension of their function. The functions that are typically outsourced are the functions that need expertise, relevant experience, knowledge and best methods and practices. This has given rise to outsourcing the various HR functions of an organisation. HR Consultancies such as Ma Foi and Planman Consulting provide such services through expert professional consultants. Human resources business process outsourcing (HR BPO) is a major component of the worldwide BPO market. Performance management outsourcing involves all the performance monitoring, measurement, management being outsourced from a third party or an external organisation.

Many organizations have started outsourcing its recruitment process i.e. transferring all or some part of its recruitment process to an external consultant providing the recruitment services. It is commonly known as RPO i.e. recruitment process outsourcing. More and more medium and large sized organizations are outsourcing their recruitment process right from the entry level jobs to the C-level jobs.

The present value of the recruitment process outsourcing industry (RPO) in India is estimated to be $2.5 billion and it is expected to grow at the annual

rate of 30-40 per cent for the next couple of years. According to a recent survey, only 8-10 per cent of the Indian companies are complete recruitment processes. However, the number of companies outsourcing their recruitment processes is increasing at a very fast rate and so is the percentage of their total recruitment processes being outsourced.

Outsourcing organizations strive for providing cost saving benefits to their clients. One of the major advantages to organizations, who outsource their recruitment process, is that it helps to save up to as much as 40 per cent of their recruitment costs. With the experience, expertise and the economies of scale of the third party, organizations are able to improve the quality of the recruits and the speed of the whole process. Also, outsourcing enables the human resource professionals of organizations to focus on the core and other HR and strategic issues. Outsourcing also gives a structured approach to the whole process of recruitment, with the ultimate power of decision making of recruiting with the organisation itself. The portion of the recruitment cycle that is outsourced range from preparing job descriptions to arranging interviews, the activities that consume almost 70 per cent of the time of the whole recruitment process.

Outsourcing the recruitment processes for a sector like BPO, which faces an attrition of almost 50-60 per cent, can help the companies in BPO sector to save costs tremendously and focus on other issues like retention. The job seekers are also availing the services of the third parties (consultants) for accessing the latest job opportunities.

In India, the trend of outsourcing recruitment is also catching up fast. For example: Vodafone outsources its recruitment activities to Alexander Mann Solutions (RPO service provider). Wipro has outsourced its recruitment process to MeritTrac. Yes bank is also known to outsource 50 per cent of its recruitment processes.Advantage Of Outsourcing RecruitmentTraditionally, recruitment is seen as the cost incurring process in an organization. HR outsourcing helps the HR professionals of the organisations to concentrate on the strategic functions and processes of human resource management rather than wasting their efforts, time and money on the routine work.

Outsourcing the recruitment process helps to cut the recruitment costs to 20 % and also provide economies of scale to the large sized organizations.

Outsourcing is beneficial for both the corporate organisations that use the outsourcing services as well as the consultancies that provide the service to the corporates. Apart from increasing their revenues, outsourcing provides business opportunities to the service providers, enhancing the skill set of the service providers and exposure to the different corporate experiences thereby increasing their expertise.

The advantages accruing to the corporates are: turning the management's focus to strategic level processes of HRM accessibility to the expertise of the service providers freedom from red tape and adhering to strict rules and regulations optimal resource utilisation structured and fair performance management. a satisfied and, hence, highly productive employees value creation, operational flexibility and competitive advantage

Therefore outsourcing helps both the organisations and the consultancies to grow and perform better.Changing Role of Recruitment IntermediariesRecruitment consultancies, agencies or intermediaries are witnessing a boom in the demand of their services, both by the employers and the job seekers. With an already saturated job market, the recruitment intermediaries have gained a vital position acting as a link between the job seekers and the employers.

But at the same time, one of the major threats faced by this industry is the growing popularity of e-recruitment. With the changing demand, technologies and the penetration and increasing use of internet, the

recruitment consultancies or the intermediaries are facing tough competition. To retain and maintain their position in the recruitment market, the recruitment intermediaries or consultants (as they are

commonly known) are witnessing and incorporating various changes in terms of their role, functions and the services.

According to a survey amongst top employers, most of them agree with the growing influence of technology and the Internet on the recruitment processes. 70 per cent of employers reported the use of application portal on their company’s official website. Apart from that, the emerging popularity of the job portals is also growing.

But the fact that the intermediaries or the consultants are able to provide their expert services, economies of scale, up to 40 percent savings in the recruitment costs, knowledge of the market, the candidates, understanding of the requirements, and most importantly, the assess to the suitable and talented candidates and the structured recruitment processes. The recruitment intermediaries save the organisations from the tedious of weeding out unsuitable resumes, co-coordinating interviews, posting vacancies etc. give them an edge over the other sources of recruitment.

To retain their position as the service providers in the recruitment market, the recruitment intermediaries are providing vale added services to the organisations. They are incorporating the use of internet and job portals, making their services more efficient.

Despite of the growing use of the internet, the recruitment intermediaries are predicted to continue dominating the recruitment market in the anticipated future.Outsourcing Process:

How To Select A Recruitment Consultant

If an organisation decides to outsource its recruitment processes or activities, it is very important to find and select a suitable recruitment consultant or consultancies, which can deliver results according to the needs of the organisation. Today, there are thousands of consulting firms (consultancies) as well as freelance consultants working independently. An organisation looks for various considerations and qualities before selecting the suitable recruitment consultant. The reputation of the consulting firm in the job market (based on

expertise and experience). Who are the consultant’s or firm’s past and present clients?

Consultant’s expertise and experience (from how long has he/firm been in the business)

Does the recruitment consultant have the requisite resources to complete the targets on time?

Get the idea of the effectiveness and the services of the recruitment consultant from its current and past clients.

Qualities of an independent recruitment consultant:Some of the qualities or characteristics looked in recruitment consultants are:

Marketing skills Flexibility and adaptability Wisdom Exuberance Ability to prioritise Ambition Resourcefulness Diplomacy/ delicacy

Selecting the right recruitment consultant is essential for the effective recruitment processes. A successful Recruitment consultant is someone who is determinative, focused, and able to create opportunities for him, works harder and smarter than competitors and continually set and achieve higher standards.

Recruitment Strategies

Recruitment is of the most crucial roles of the human resource professionals. The level of performance of and organisation depends on the effectiveness of its recruitment function. Organisations have developed and follow recruitment strategies to hire the best talent for their organisation and to utilize their resources optimally. A successful recruitment strategy should be well planned and practical to attract more and good talent to apply in the organisation.

For formulating an effective and successful recruitment strategy, the strategy should cover the following elements:1. Identifying and prioritizing jobs Requirements keep arising at various levels in every organisation; it is almost a never-ending process. It is impossible to fill all the positions immediately. Therefore, there is a need to identify the positions requiring immediate attention and action. To maintain the quality of the recruitment activities, it is useful to prioritize the vacancies whether to focus on all vacancies equally or focusing on key jobs first.2. Candidates to targetThe recruitment process can be effective only if the organisation completely understands the requirements of the type of candidates that are required and will be beneficial for the organisation. This covers the following parameters as well:

Performance level required: Different strategies are required for focusing on hiring high performers and average performers.

Experience level required: the strategy should be clear as to what is the experience level required by the organisation. The candidate’s experience can range from being a fresher to experienced senior professionals.

Category of the candidate: the strategy should clearly define the target candidate. He/she can be from the same industry, different industry, unemployed, top performers of the industry etc.

3. Sources of recruitmentThe strategy should define various sources (external and internal) of recruitment. Which are the sources to be used and focused for the recruitment purposes for various positions. Employee referral is one of the most effective sources of recruitment.4. Trained recruitersThe recruitment professionals conducting the interviews and the other recruitment activities should be well-trained and experienced to conduct the

activities. They should also be aware of the major parameters and skills (e.g.: behavioural, technical etc.) to focus while interviewing and selecting a candidate.5. How to evaluate the candidatesThe various parameters and the ways to judge them i.e. the entire recruitment process should be planned in advance. Like the rounds of technical interviews, HR interviews, written tests, psychometric tests etc.

HR Challenges In RecruitmentRecruitment is a function that requires business perspective, expertise, ability to find and match the best potential candidate for the organisation, diplomacy, marketing skills (as to sell the position to the candidate) and wisdom to align the recruitment processes for the benefit of the organisation. The HR professionals – handling the recruitment function of the organisation- are constantly facing new challenges. The biggest challenge for such professionals is to source or recruit the best people or potential candidate for the organisation.

In the last few years, the job market has undergone some fundamental changes in terms of technologies, sources of recruitment, competition in the market etc. In an already saturated job market, where the practices like poaching and raiding are gaining momentum, HR professionals are constantly facing new challenges in one of their most important function- recruitment. They have to face and conquer various challenges to find the best candidates for their organisations.

The major challenges faced by the HR in recruitment are: Adaptability to globalization – The HR professionals are expected and

required to keep in tune with the changing times, i.e. the changes taking place across the globe. HR should maintain the timeliness of the process

Lack of motivation – Recruitment is considered to be a thankless job. Even if the organisation is achieving results, HR department or professionals are not thanked for recruiting the right employees and performers.

Process analysis – The immediacy and speed of the recruitment process are the main concerns of the HR in recruitment. The process should be flexible, adaptive and responsive to the immediate requirements. The recruitment process should also be cost effective.

Strategic prioritization – The emerging new systems are both an opportunity as well as a challenge for the HR professionals. Therefore, reviewing staffing needs and prioritizing the tasks to meet the changes in the market has become a challenge for the recruitment professionals.

Recruiting ExpatriatesExpatriate is a person who leaves his country to work and live in a foreign country. Generally, expatriates are the nationals from the other countries than the host and the MNC’s parent country, i.e. expatriates are the third country nationals. The unavailability of the required skills and talents takes the organisation to source talent from other countries. The procedures and processes of recruiting and selecting the human resources are never uniform even within a single organisation. The procedures vary according to the post, the skill set required, the nature of work etc. More of it is seen in the case of recruitment of expatriates. The recruitment and selection procedures and considerations are drastically different for expatriates than that of the domestic employees. Recruitment of expatriates involves greater time, monetary resources and other indirect costs. Improper recruitment and selection can cause the expatriates to return hastily or a decline in their performance.

A mismatch between job (its requirements) and people can reduce the effectiveness of other human resource activities and can affect the performance of the employees as well as the organisation.

Recruiting expatriates require special considerations and skills to select the best person for the job. Except for a few expatriate selection policies, the expatriate selection criterion is generally organisation and nation specific.

The recruiters for recruiting the expatriates should be carefully selected and trained. The recruitment strategies for expatriates should be aligned with requirements of the job. The interviews of expatriates are designed in a manner to judge their:

Adaptability to the new culture Intercultural interaction Flexibility Professional expertise Past international work experience Tolerance and open-mindedness

Family situation Language ability Attitude and motivation Empathy towards local culture

A few researches in this field also suggest that women are morel likely to be successful in certain positions as expatriates as they are more sensitive towards new culture and people. Recruitment of expatriates should be followed by cultural and sensitivity training, and language training.

Head HuntingHeadhunting refers to the approach of finding and attracting the best experienced person with the required skill set. Headhunting involves convincing the person to join your organization.

Headhunting Process

Forms Of RecruitmentThe organisations differ in terms of their size, business, processes and practices. A few decisions by the recruitment professionals can affect the

productivity and efficiency of the organisation. Organisations adopt different forms of recruitment practices according to the specific needs of the organisation. The organisations can choose from the centralized or decentralized forms of recruitment, explained below:

CENTRALIZED RECRUITMENTThe recruitment practices of an organisation are centralized when the HR / recruitment department at the head office performs all functions of recruitment. Recruitment decisions for all the business verticals and departments of an organisation are carried out by the one central HR (or recruitment) department. Centralized from of recruitment is commonly seen in government organisations.

Benefits of the centralized form of recruitment are: Reduces administration costs Better utilization of specialists Uniformity in recruitment Interchangeability of staff Reduces favoritism Every department sends requisitions for recruitment to their central

office

DECENTRALIZED RECRUITMENTDecentralized recruitment practices are most commonly seen in the case of conglomerates operating in different and diverse business areas. With diverse and geographically spread business areas and offices, it becomes important to understand the needs of each department and frame the recruitment policies and procedures accordingly. Each department carries out its own recruitment. Choice between the two will depend upon management philosophy and needs of particular organization. In some cases combination of both is used. Lower level staffs as well as top level executives are recruited in a decentralized manner.

Equal Employment OpportunityEqual opportunity employment refers to the approach of the employers to ensure the practice of being fair and impartial in the employment process. *The term "Equal Opportunity Employment" was first given by President

Lyndon B. Johnson when he signed Executive Order 11246 which was created to prohibit federal contractors from discriminating against employees on the basis of race, sex, creed, religion, color, or national origin*. The scope of the order also covered the discrimination on the basis of the minority status.

Discrimination in employmentDiscrimination refers to the any kind of prejudice, biasness or favoritism on the basis of

disability race age sex sexuality pregnancy Marital status

in employment. No person should be treated less favourably than any other on the basis of the specified issues above. Many countries (like SA) have already implemented Equal Opportunity Act, making it against the law to treat anybody unfairly.

Diversity in workforceWith the globalization and the increasing size of the organisations, the diversity in the workforce is increasing i.e. people from diverse backgrounds, educational background, age groups, race, gender, abilities etc come together to work for one organisation and common objectives. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the employer to create an equality-based and discrimination-free working environment and practices.

Equal opportunity means treating people equally and fairly irrespective of their race, religion, sex, age, disability etc. Giving women an equal treatment and access to opportunities at the workplace. Any employee should be ill-treated or harassed by the employer or other employees.

Equal Employment Opportunity principles help to realize and respect the actual worth of the individual on the basis of his knowledge, skills, abilities and merit. And the policy should cover all the employees of an organisation whether permanent or temporary, contractual etc.

Equal employment opportunity is necessary to ensure:

To give fair access to the people of all development opportunities To create a fair organisation, industry and society. To encourage and give disadvantaged or disabled people a fair chance

to grow with the society…..