The workforce of a company is crucial towards its development and expansion. The individuals possess skills that assist in the accomplishment of the objectives of the firm. Hence, it is vital to ensure that throughout the hiring process only the best and talented applicants are selected. The procedure requires various elements such as interviews, practical sessions, projects, etc., for it to be conducted in an efficient manner. Through the case study of Southwood School, this essay will shed more light concerning ways to improve the recruitment and selection programs in different organizations particularly the use of interviews. The firm should observe all the fundamental guidelines of the process depending on their applicability in the corporation.
The case of Southwood School helps in the comprehension of the complexities and factors involved in an efficient selection and hiring procedure. The fictionalized setup is based on the concepts of a real firm. Many of the issues presented in the study are similar to various sectors and countries. The setup comprises of several factors such as the staff size of 120 workers (40 non-teaching and 80 teaching), a student body of 800 pupils, the UK public sector industry, and the organization’s annual revenue of 1 million Euros. The aim is to review the selection and recruitment process articulated by the school (Robson, 2008).
Currently, Southwood learning institution faces high labor turnover that has led to increased hiring activities. The aspect calls for a detailed analysis of the processes they utilize to gain workers and the reasons for the high turnovers. Their recruitment procedures include mock training sessions, formal and informal interviews, newspaper advertisements, and applications via the school’s website. There is a tremendous concern that the organization is not using the best-practice methods to fill vacant jobs. Also, the inefficiency of the methods leads to the recruitment individuals who are not skilled adequately (Lagorio-Chafkin, 2015).
The areas that need improvement are increasing the modes of hiring to attract more candidates, providing better employment packages to encourage people to join the firm, and updating the selection methods to keep up with upcoming developments in the industry. The firm should use an objective tallying and scoring system and train the panel to ask appropriate and less discriminatory questions (Sackett, 2014). Also, the school should develop internal promotions by giving members opportunities to further their careers. The interviews instituted by the panel previously focused on the ability of the applicant to provide a good session instead of addressing the individual’s teaching abilities and style.
It was also decided that the candidates for the tutoring jobs would give brief teaching lessons so that the panel could assess their delivery styles, relationships with learners, communication skills, the engagement with the students, creativity, and subject knowledge. Feedback would also be mandatory to gather the applicants’ experiences in the recruitment and selection procedures. Through this, the human resource department could make relevant changes if necessary. The candidates would also be offered information about the learning institution, area, and department to ensure that they had an equal footing throughout the hiring process (Robson, 2008).
The interview questions also had to be changed to focus on the candidate’s skills (Quast, 2013). Examples of queries asked in the past include why the person applied for the job, reasons for pursuing teaching, their weaknesses, and strengths, etc. The new updated questions will help focus more on tutoring and the benefits that the individual will provide to the learners and the entire school. The new queries that would emphasis on the tutoring abilities include:
How will you ensure that you maintain the attention of the learners during lessons?
How will you support students will lower capabilities?
What are the essential traits of a good teacher?
What creative techniques have you enforced in your previous classrooms?
How will you change the teaching department in the school?
References
Lagorio-Chafkin C. (2015). How to Improve Your Hiring Practices. Retrieved February 7, 2016 from http://www.inc.com/guides/2010/04/improving-hiring-practices.html.
Robson F. L. (2008). Southwood School: A Case Study in Recruitment and Selection. Alexandria: Society for Human Resource Management.
Sackett J. (2014). Four Ways Technology Can Improve the Hiring Process. eSchool News. Retrieved February 7, 2016 from http://www.hanoverresearch.com/insights/four-ways- technology-can-improve-the-hiring-process/?i=k-12-education.
Quast L. (2013). 4 Ways To Improve Your Hiring Process. Forbes. Retrieved February 7, 2016 from http://www.forbes.com/sites/lisaquast/2013/12/17/4-ways-to-improve-your-hiring- process/#3fcb1da12c5f.
