Recruitment 

Recruitment is the process of identifying, attracting, and screening, short listing and interviewing suitable candidates for jobs (permanent or temporary). In other words, it includes identifying and filling staffing needs. The sources of recruitment can be broadly classified into:

1. Internal Sources
2. External Sources

A. Internal sources 

The company’s best employees can be found within the organization. When a job opening arises, it may be filled by an existing employee. Promotion, transfer, and existing employees are all internal sources. When a deserving employee is promoted, it inspires all other employees to work harder. An internal advertisement can inform employees of a vacancy.The internal sources are discussed below:-

1.Transfer 

Transfer of an employee of an organization from one workplace to another may be used as a source of recruitment to meet personnel demand at the place to which the employee is transferred. “Transfer” of an employee from one place to another does not ordinarily result in any change in the nature of duties or emoluments. It also does not alter the number and kind of employees working in the enterprise.

“Transfer” of an employee from one workplace to another may be:

1. To avoid retrenchment at the place of excess and fresh recruitment at the place of shortage of personnel.
2. To rotate employees between convenient and not-so-convenient workplaces.
3. To correct any faulty placement of workers at the time of selection and
4. To provide varied experiences to employees with a view to their training and development

Merits 

A good transfer policy may result in:Increase in productivity and effectiveness of the organization.

1.  Improvement of skills of employees.
2.  Greater job satisfaction.
3.  Greater motivation and avoidance of monotony arising from working at the same place.
4. Better superior-subordinate relations, and
5.  Development of employees for future promotions.

2. Promotions 

A “promotion” means appointing an employee to a position of greater responsibility or authority. It is yet another internal source to meet personnel demand. While “promotion “brings about a change in the nature of duties and authority of the employee concerned and also his emoluments, it does not alter the number and kinds of employees of the enterprise

3. Present employees

It is an internal source of recruitment of personnel. In the event of any vacancy, employees of the enterprise may be asked to recommend their friends and relatives for employment. It will not only keep the employees happy and in high morale but also ensure recruitment of competent and sincere persons. 

Merits of internal sources of manpower 

1. Increase in morale: It keeps the employees contented and in good morale. They know that they stand the chance of promotion to higher positions. This induces them to take their work more seriously and sincerely. 
2. Better selection: A performance test is the best to determine a person’s suitability for a job. In the case of filling a vacancy from an internal source, the management has up-to-date information about the capability, experience, skills, attitudes, and behavior of each employee. 
3. Economical: Filling a vacancy from internal sources is also quite economical. No time and money need to be spent on calling up persons for written, oral, or aptitude tests. 
4. No need for initiation: A person selected for a job from within the enterprise knows the organizational relationships. As such, he does not have to be briefed about what authority and responsibilities he or his superiors are entrusted with.
5. Self-Development: It encourages self-development as employees can expect to rise in the ranks.

Demerits of internal sources of manpower

1. It deters capable outsiders from joining the cause.
2. There may not be enough qualified candidates to fill all vacancies.
3. This recruitment method cannot be used for jobs requiring innovation and creativity.
4. If seniority is the only criterion for promotion, the person promoted may not be capable.
5. May create internal disharmony, this happens where there are many internal managers qualified for the job, but in the end, only one has to be selected.

B. External sources

1.  Advertisement: This method is suitable for jobs that are commonly available in urban areas, for example, clerks, store-keepers, typists, etc., such jobs are advertised through daily newspapers or weekly general circulation magazines. 
2.  Professional magazines: This source is more suitable for jobs requiring highly skilled or professional level employees like Doctors, Engineers, and Accountants, etc. jobs for qualified accountants are advertised in the magazines of professional accounting bodies.
3.  Educational institutions: Colleges and institutes of management and technology have become a popular source of recruitment for technical and managerial jobs. Such recruitment is called “campus recruitment” many big organizations maintain a close liaison with the universities, vocational schools, and management institutes to recruit personnel for various jobs. 
4.  Professional bodies: Most of the appropriate professional organizations maintain employment resisters of qualified professional people who wish to improve or change their positions, e.g., Accountants, companies, secretaries, etc.
5.  Employment agencies: These are the organizations that try to assist their registered members in obtaining employment or assisting those who wish to improve or change their positions. The use of a private employment bureau saves the time and trouble of advertising and provides ready candidates with priority requirements at short notice.
6.  Personnel consultants: A consulting firm acts as an intermediary between an applicant and the enterprise. It is a specialized agency which, on receiving requisitions from client companies, advertises the job descriptions in leading national newspapers and periodicals without disclosing the name of the client companies concerned
7.  Circular, posters, etc.: For staff in short supply, posters can be displayed outside the factory or office, advertisement boards shown in public places, and circulars distributed in suitable places.
8.  Field trips: An enterprise may send out teams of experts to different places when the kinds of personnel needed by it may be found. But in this case, it is necessary to give wide publicity to the date, venue, and time when such a team would interview candidates at a particular place.
9.  Unsolicited applicants: These are persons who either gather at the factory gate to serve as casual workers or reach the employer by letter, telephone, or in-person with a request for an appointment against a real or presumed vacancy.

Merits of external sources of recruitment 

1. The selection can be made by a much greater number of people.
2. It brings individuals into the organization who have different backgrounds and who can perhaps help the enterprise maintain vitality.
3. Outside recruitment is used to give an organization a totally new direction. 
4. The selection of persons from outside sources will have the benefit of new ideas. 
5. Internal sources, sometimes, may not be able to supply suitable persons from within. External sources do give a wide choice to the management. 

Demerits of external sources of recruitment 

1. Heart–burning among existing employees: External hires cause a lot of heartburn and demoralization among existing employees. This is especially true if an outsider is appointed to a key position that would otherwise go to an existing employee.
2. Expensive: Recruiting staff from outside sources can be costly. Press advertising is expensive. Written tests and personal interviews are also costly. Candidates from outside may be charged train or bus fares.
3. Orientation: Introducing a new employee to the company’s work patterns can be costly. He may learn after considerable time and material waste.
4. Danger of maladjustment: If an external candidate fails to adapt to the work environment or proves to be an idler or a squabbler, he may be fired, resulting in additional expenses.
5. Lack of cooperation: The old staff may not cooperate with the new employees because they feel robbed. This issue will become more acute when higher-ranking personnel is hired from outside.

Selection

Selection is the process of choosing the best candidate for a job opening. It is the process of identifying and hiring candidates to fill vacancies. It involves screening or evaluation of applicants to identify those who are best suited to perform the jobs which have fallen vacant in an organization. It divides the candidates who offer themselves for appointment into two categories: those who will be employed and those who will not be employed. 

Significance of selection

Selection of employees is very important because the costs of induction and training have increased, and it is very difficult to terminate the services of an employee once he is confirmed on the job. If the suitable types of persons are not selected, the employer will have to suffer a massive loss in terms of quantity and quality of work. 

Selection of employees must be made very carefully because mistakes in selection may prove to be very costly later on. In addition, if the selected function is not performed efficiently, labor absenteeism and turnover will be high. Whenever unsuitable candidates have been employed, the efficiency of the organization will go down. Such persons will frequently be absent from work, and they will neglect their jobs.

 The significance of selection is as follows:-

1. Proper selection and placement of employees will go a long way towards building a stable working force.
2. When selected personnel are suitable for the job requirements, their efficiency and productivity will be high.
3. Properly selected people will have high job satisfaction and high morale.
4. It saves money and time.
5. It helps avoid bias when hiring the best candidate.
6. It aids in weeding out candidates who lack knowledge, ability, or proficiency.
7. It guides the evaluation of candidates through verification and reference checks.
8. It helps compare candidates’ abilities, knowledge, skills, experience, work attitude, etc.
9. Training is less necessary for properly selected personnel because their suitability for their assigned jobs has already been determined.
10. Proper selection leads to reduced labor turnover:

Steps in the selection procedure

The selection process is lengthy and complex, requiring several steps before making a final decision. The selection procedure varies by industry, company, and even department. Every company designs its selection process based on the urgency of hiring and the job requirements. The selection process includes the following systematic steps:

1. Preliminary Interview:A preliminary interview is used to screen candidates who do not meet the organization’s minimum eligibility criteria.The candidates’ academic credentials, skills, family backgrounds, and desire to work for the firm are assessed here. The preliminary interview is less formal and is used to weed out unsuitable candidates before a full-fledged selection process is conducted.
2. Receiving Applications: After passing the preliminary interview, the applicant must complete the application form as instructed. This application contains candidate data like age, education, and experience. This information helps the interviewer form questions to learn more about the candidate.
3. Screening applications. Applications are screened by the screening committee, who then prepare a list of candidates for interviews. Age, sex, qualification, and experience may be short listing criteria. After preparing the list, qualified candidates are contacted for interviews via registered mail or email.
4. Employment tests. Several tests are administered to assess an individual’s mental and skill set, like intelligence, aptitude, interest, psychological, and personality tests. These tests are used to assess a candidate’s job suitability.
5. Employment Interview: A one-on-one meeting with the candidate to learn more about him. The interviewer asks questions to learn more about the applicant and to give him a better idea of the job. Also, certain organizational policies are briefed, which is vital in job performance. An interview allows the employer to assess the candidate’s communication skills and his level of confidence.
6. Checking References:Firms usually ask for references to verify the candidate’s claims. These references could be from the candidate’s previous employer or his educational institution. References are checked to determine a person’s character and ability to learn new skills.
7. Medical Examination: This determines the candidate’s physical and mental fitness for the job. In some organizations, the medical examination occurs before the final selection, while in others, it occurs after. So, this stage is flexible and can occur at any time. The medical examination is an important part of the selection process because it determines the applicant’s physical ability to perform the job.
8. Final Selection: The candidate who has passed all rounds of selection is offered a position with the firm.