Reflective Essay Assignment Recruitment and Selection with Observed Skills
We understand that the role of human resource department is very critical in ensuring that the right candidates are chosen for the right position and that the skills and knowledge of employees are up graded as per the market changes and current market needs. The role of recruitment and selection is very important in this regard. Recruitment and selection are the basic functions of human resource department along with other functions such as setting up compensation and benefits packaging and developing career management and career development paths for all employees (Lievens, Filip, and Chapman, 145). The role of recruitment and selection is carried out by HR specialists because it is clearly understood that if the employees of an organization are not chosen carefully and the skills, knowledge and capabilities required to perform the job are ignored, then there are very obvious chances that the organization will not be able to meet its ultimate goals and objectives. Newell suggested that the employees are considered as critical to the success of any business. If the employees possess necessary understanding and knowledge of carrying out their tasks in an organized, innovative and responsible manner, they would not only fulfill their targets effectively but also serves as role models for others in the organization. Many global organizations ensure that they select and recruit their employees after proper tests and screening so that the organization can function effectively in the competitive business arena of today (French, Ray, and Rumbles, 185). Good organizations take care of their employees by offering them the right compensation packages, monetary and non-monetary benefits, career paths and special training so that their skill set can be polished and they can perform their job in a much precise and effective manner.
The literature of human resource management has proposed several definitions for recruitment and selection. Costen proposed that recruitment can be seen as a process of enticing candidates who are believed to match the job specification criteria whereas selection is all about identifying the difference between the personalities and skills of the candidates who apply for a particular vacancy in order to filter out the person whose has the knowledge and right kind of skills to align with the mentioned job profile as well as job description.
Bach presented the concept of recruitment and selection in a very interesting manner by saying that the process of recruitment and selection is based on choosing the right pieces from the jigsaw puzzle meaning the right kind of individuals from the wrong kind of pieces (referring to the individuals whose skills and knowledge does not match with the job description) to fit into the missing areas in the complete jigsaw puzzle. The people who are involved in recruitment and selection can be compared to the gatekeepers who have the role in ensuring that only the relevant people should enter the premises. The gatekeepers of recruitment and selection also ensure that only those candidates are hired to become prestigious employees of the organization who possess the necessary knowledge, experience and skill set to match their job description and have the potential of taking initiatives by leading their team members in the right direction. The responsibility of recruitment and selection is significant in determining the future behavior so that true predictions can be generated about who to hire and who not to and who can or cannot perform the designed tasks in a precise and skillful manner.
I have been asked to discuss my role in the observed skills for a job interview to hire a candidate for the position of a Human Resource Officer of Human Resource Administrator. I requested an organization to let me observe the skills which are identified and evaluated by the interviewers during the interview session. As mentioned, the position for which the recruitment and selection had to be carried out was the HR Officer or HR Administrator. The key task of the interview panel was to ensure that there exists a perfect or close to perfect match between the skills detailed in the job description and the skills possessed by the interviewee. The interviewees already had a good idea of what skills were being searched by the hiring experts. Several questions were asked from the candidates regarding their educational background, past experiences, personal and professional goals and objectives, future plans, career growth and much more. It was mentioned that the candidate must have a masters degree in HR so that he is aware of all aspects of HR and has a clear idea of the core responsibilities of the human resource department. Most of the interviewees held the required degree level. Experience was also one of the main requirements in the job description so as to ensure that the individual knows how to make use of the theoretical knowledge in the practical world. Experience adds up to the prior learning of human resource management and also helps in grooming the skill set of an individual. Most candidates which appeared for the interview had up to five years of experience in the human resource departments of reputed organizations. Details of compensation and benefits package were also shared with those who appeared in the interview and they were encouraged to let the recruitment and selection specialists have a clear idea of their expectations from the organization. Views on career growth and development were also discussed from both sides.
There were a couple of skills I observed in the interviewees in relation to the job description. The first and foremost was communication skills. It is really important for an HR person to have excellent communication skills so that he is able to communicate with his subordinates as well as the members of the top management (Gomez-Mejia, Luis, David and Robert, 89). HR Officer actually acts as a channel between the top management and the workforce so that the strategies and directions are communicated to the team members and the concerns of team members are brought to the attention of the senior management. If the communication skills of an HR officer are not satisfactory then the possibility is that the organization may not function in a smooth and effective manner as there will be a huge communication gap between various levels of the workforce. An HR Officer is also responsible for providing ay to say support function regarding various responsibilities of human resource department such as setting up compensation and benefit packages, identifying training needs of employees in various departments, ensuring that team work in harmony and collaboration with each other, enforcing the proper processes and procedures for a transparent performance management system and its monitoring, ensuring that the personal and professional data of all employees is saved with the human resource department and making updates when necessary as well as helping the HR Director in setting up policies, rules and guidelines for employees. The grip on the knowledge of human resource management is critical in this regard. Multitasking is one of the skills an Hr officer must possess because he has to be involved in several tasks on a simultaneous basis. For instance, scheduling, carrying out internship interviews, resolving issues between teams, working on leaves, remittances and planning on ways to keep the employee satisfied, motivated and committed. Screening the candidates who apply for a particular position and then choosing the right recruitment and selection tool to ensure that there exists a perfect match between the position’s requirements and the individual’s knowledge, experience and skill set. Coaching and mentoring are essential components of and Hr Officer’s job description. The HR Officer has to continuously engage himself into motivating the subordinates and providing them necessary guidance where necessary. Providing accurate, timely and constructive feedback is also of the essential skills a human resource officer or administrator should possess. Know how of human resource information system (HRIS) is also critical because all competitive organizations believe the efficiency of the HR department can be increased by the incorporation of technology- also, the loss of any data can be prevented by using HRIS. So proficiency in HRIS is one skill the employers are looking for. Other skills which the interviewer might be looking for include the readiness and eagerness to apply the learned knowledge and skills on HR to the betterment of the organization, managing people with a pleasant personality, developing long-term relationship with employees and employer based on the socialization skills, passion for learning and much more.
There are certain reflective models which I will be making use of to support my learning on the observed skills for interviewing the candidate for hiring him for the position of Hr Officer or HR Administrator. These models include Kolb’s learning model, Gibbs reflection model, or Schon’s approach to reflection.
Kolb’s Learning Model
Kolb came up with about four learning styles as well as a cycle of learning in the decade of eighties. Kolb’s ideas on learning are very comprehensive. He believes that learning is a continuous process which stops only when a person expires. Learning takes different forms, phases, and process but one thing is there that learning keeps on happening. An individual learns from almost all sources present in the external environment (Bergsteiner, Harald, Avery, and Neumann, 39). For instance, social interactions are considered as a great learning source. Kolb also presented the idea that social knowledge and personal knowledge when interact or overlap, immense learning takes place. He views learning as an experiential process rather than an experimental process. Kolb relates the concept of experimental learning with the laboratory setting where some phenomena are observed by keeping some variables constant. Learning, on the other hand, comes with experience. As the individual grows up, he observes the environment and people around him and by involving his brain, creative and thinking abilities; he is able to learn new things and concepts every day. Learning shapes up the personality of an individual which means better and effective form of learning leads to a pleasant and strong personality. Existing literature, environment and social interactions turn out to be great sources of learning but when an individual experiences a situation, he gets to learn more. Vince also supported this concept of learning by mentioning that experience brings people close to the realities of life and prepares them for a challenge in future. Kolb came up with a cycle of experiential learning which I made use of during my learning of observed skills in the interview process of hiring an HR Officer and HR Administrator.
There are four elements of learning which make up a complete learning cycle by Kolb's (Loo, 100). An individual has to pass through all these phases to get a good grasp on learning. These phases of learning are named as concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization and active experimentation.
Concrete Experience
The first phase of the Kolb’s learning cycle is called Concrete Experience. In this stage, an individual is supposed to get into a real experience which could be in any form. For instance, meeting a famous personality for the first time in life or getting poor marks in exams due to nonserious attitude or even getting stabbed in the back by a closed one (mistrust and betrayal). Learning starts to happen after one engages oneself into a real situation. In the given scenario, I engaged myself in getting to know what skills are required by an organization when they are looking for someone to hire for the position of HR Officer or HR Administrator. I ensured my physical presence during the interview session so that I could observe how the candidates’ skills and experience match with the details of the job description.
Reflective Observation
Reflective Observation is about reflecting or thinking about the experience. Before actually reaching to making concepts and ideas, an individual reviews the experience and analyzes what he has learned from it and how he can use this learning to shape up his thinking and personality. He also reflects on how learning extracted from the experience encountered in the first phase can be employed to modify his personal and professional goals.
In the given scenario where I participated in observing skills of the candidates being hired during the interview session, I made reflective observation by making linkages based on the skills required to perform the tasks of HR Office or HR Administrator
Abstract Conceptualization
When reflection has been made on the experience which the individual got himself into, the next step is of abstract conceptualization. In this step, the individual forms concepts and opinions based on learning and reflection. In my case, I was able to learn about the skills which are required by HR Officer and HR Administrator to perform their duties. Also, I broadened by knowledge on human resource management and learned about the role of human resource department in the success of any organization. I also got a clear idea that during recruitment and selection, it is really important that the hiring experts ensure that there exists a perfect or even close to perfect match between the skills required and the skills possessed by the candidate being interviewed.
Active Experimentation
In this final step of the Kolb’s learning cycle, the individual puts his learning into practice in several ways. Active experimentation indicates that learning has taken place, concept formation has been done and now it can bring to practical use. Based on my experience, reflection and conceptualization on recruitment and selection, I came to the conclusion that ensuring that the right kind of talent is chosen to be inducted into the organization so that the organization can get rich in terms of knowledge and human skills and ultimately reach its objectives in a smooth and effective manner.
Another model which can further help me in developing reflection about recruitment and selection could be Gibbs reflection model. The model of Gibbs reflection is based on a series of six steps through which an individual passes one by one and by the final step, learning has been acquired and can be implemented successfully. The six steps of this model are mentioned below
Experience
It all starts when an individual engages himself into some kind of experience because the very effective form of learning occurs during or after an experience. In my case, the experience was observing the candidate’s skills for the position of HR Officer or HR Administrator and ensuring that there occurs a fit between the required and existing skills.
Feelings
It is natural that the individual has some feelings towards an experience which can be pleasant or unpleasant. If the experience resulted in something positive or constructive, then the individual will feel positive towards the experience otherwise the experience will be shadowed with negative feelings. In my case, I felt really honored to experience the interview session as I knew I would learn more by engaging myself into an actual experience of recruitment and selection.
Evaluation
Gibbs reflection model states that there is a need to evaluate an experience in terms of being useful or not useful (Henry, 33). Evaluation is really important as it makes regards an experience as valid or invalid. In the given situation, I evaluated my experience in the recruitment and selection process as constructive and beneficial for my future goals.
Analysis
Analysis has to be carried out in order to make sense of the experience or situation at hand. Some experiences are very significant and contribute to permanent changes in one’s personality whereas other experiences are of trifle importance. So analysis needs to be conducted in order to ensure the reliability and implication of the experience. I analyzed the experience I encountered and learned that recruitment and selection is one of the crucial functions of human resource professional as the success and bright future of an organization depends on the skills and knowledge of its people.
Conclusion and Action Plan
Swallow and Hazel wrote in their book that the steps of conclusion and action plan in the Gibbs reflection cycle bring the entire learning from the experience to an end and inferences are made as to what else could have been done in its place or how could maximize he learning by making the experience valid. I came to the conclusion that certain skills are vital to ensure that human resource department in an organization functions smoothly and I decided to further strengthen my concepts on recruitment and selection.
Based upon my reflection based learning of the concepts of recruitment and selection, I believe that if I enhance my learning on the topic and get in touch with people who are engaged in performing the duties of hiring candidates for specified job in human resource, I will be able to get a good grasp on the techniques and insight required for recruitment and selection. I have decided to take up international courses in recruitment and selection so that I can get to know about the specific business models required to ensure that right candidates are hired for right jobs. I wish to have a career in HR specifically in the area of recruitment and selection because I believe that internal customers of the organization that is the employees are responsible for the organization’s success. If the employees possess ample knowledge of their work area, are skillful, well trained, possess exceptional communication and negotiation skills, believe in leading the team and anxious in providing feedback, coaching and guidance where necessary and making it certain that all the team members work in harmony and collaborative environment and deliver the maximum output, only then an organization can lead the competition (Gerber, Piet, and Pieter, 77).
Ensuring that the right talent is injected into an organization is the responsibility of the human resource department (Phillips, Jack, and Edwards, 55). Birt, Wallis, and Winternitz mentioned in their research that attracting the right talent by providing a safe and conducive work environment with opportunities for growth, offering flexibility in work, opportunity to learn from employees working in a diverse environment and most of all, offering attractive salary and benefits in the form of incentives, bonuses, promotions and stock options.
Phillips, Jack, and Edwards discussed that retaining the employees is one of the top most challenges in the competitive business world of today. It has been seen that loyalty of employees towards the organizations they work for is decreasing day by day because better growth opportunities are emerging from all parts of the world. Global companies are always searching for employees who can bring in maximum skills, experience and know-how of things to help them run the system in a better and fast manner. So retaining employees by having a strong retention policy is important. Clarke suggested that keeping the employees motivated by listening to their concerns and demands is what a good organization should and must do. It is the duty of HR specialists to ensure that they attract the best talent from the pool and train them, groom their personality and retain them by offering the best working environment, perks and career growth and development opportunities.
References
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