1.0. Introduction
Human resource management in the modern times is at divergence from its classical model. Over the past few decades, it has evolved remarkably, as several new considerations have been included in its mechanism (Vani, 2011). Of such concern is recruitment that refers to the process of evaluating and hiring new talent on the basis of the preset criteria defined in relation to organizational objectives. In other words, the purpose of the recruitment process is to determine the contribution of a potential applicant to the process accomplishing the overall goals and objectives of the organization.
The importance of human resource has increased in the modern world due to the expansion of technology and changing environment. However, due to the advancement of human resource, there are major challenges which arise in the human resource activities. One such challenge is the incorporation of technological advancements in the recruitment process. Organizations are looking for different methods and sources of recruitment in order to enhance their workforce and talent pool. One important aspect in this regard is of social recruitment. Along with this, the method of outsourcing the recruitment process is also being used by several organizations. Another source of recruitment used by the organizations is the online job portals.
This report sets out to investigate the impact of technological modifications and different novel approaches on human resource recruitment from different critical angles. Mainly, the paper is divided into three sections where initial part deals with the theoretical background of the underlying subject matter along with coverage of important studies in the existing literature. Next phase consists of critical discussion that is followed by recommendations built on the basis of insight derived from the study.
2.0. Literature Review
2.1. Sources of Recruitment
One of the most important activities in the overall recruitment process is of identifying the sources of recruitment. According to Muscalu (2015), there are both internal and external sources of recruitment. He is of the idea that most of the organizations use both internal and external sources of requirement. In this way, organizations are able to attract talented candidates and at the same time are able to train and enhance the internal talent and employees. Muscalu (2015) presented the idea that the decision of selecting internal or external sources of recruitment should be carefully based on the organizational environment, culture, and goals. For instance, the organizations which are doing business in the highly competitive industry should focus on external or foreign sources of recruitment in order to attract new and competitive talent. On the other hand, the organizations which are doing business in the slow and less competitive environment should focus on developing required set of talent from the internal sources of recruitment (Muscalu, 2015).
Both external and internal sources of recruitment have different costs associated with them. The external sources of recruitment like placement and recruitment agencies, universities, online recruitment portals, and mass communication have considerable charges and expenses. On the other hand, the internal sources of recruitment like job rotation, promotions, employees’ database, and employees’ references require organizations to invest in training and development of the internal employees in order to enhance their abilities and skills and to ensure their competence. To equip employees in order to accomplish the requirements of organization, a firm entails interventions of training and development. The training cost should be balanced with the fact of those specific employees who quit before the firm recognizes the investment from the intervention of training. Hence, the organizations should select the sources of recruitment keeping in mind the costs and benefits associated with them.
2.2. Social Media and Recruitment
According to Doherty (2010), LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter are among some most popular social media platforms which are being used by the organizations as one of the sources of identifying and contacting potential candidates for the job. Doherty (2010) has highlighted the challenge being faced by the human resource recruitment in the modern era. The author has been more particular about the issue that has been highlighted by the new techniques and approaches to recruitment that incorporates the social media as a source for hiring employees. It is important to highlight here that with respect to this new approach towards recruitment, several issues can arise if there is the inadequate usage of technology or if there is no technical knowledge in this domain. Hence, the author has identified some of the problems which can be encountered by the human resource department in the process of recruitment from social media. These problems include; privacy issues, discrimination, and lack of fair play (Doherty, 2010).
Gibbs, MacDonald, & MacKay (2015) in their research study tried to identify and evaluate different negative aspects of using social media in the recruitment process. According to them, one of the major issues associated with the use of the social media for recruitment is that the data obtained from the social media platform is not reliable and relevant. This can directly impact the efficiency of the selection process. It is also important to acknowledge here that the data placed on social media platforms is more of social and personal nature and hence, does not contribute in gathering insights regarding the work abilities and performance. Like Doherty (2010), Gibbs, MacDonald, & MacKay (2015) are also of the view that the social media recruitment can result in discrimination, and biased results as these platforms are not able to reflect the actual demographics of the overall population.
Hence, it can be said that using social media as one of the recruitment sources can be cost effective on one hand, but it also have some drawbacks and negative aspects associated with it. So the main challenge for the organizations is to devise such optimal recruitment strategy which results in capitalizing on the positive aspects of social media recruitment and is aligned with the organizational goals and objectives.
2.3. E-Recruitment and E-Human Resource Management
E-recruitment is the process of posting job openings on online platforms and portals in order to attract potential applicants. According to Dhamija (2012), E-recruitment and the e-HRM system is a modern and innovative technique which results in redesigning the workplace with different technological advancements. These technological innovations or advancements have resulted in automating the overall human resource activities and processes with the help of the database management. Dhamija (2012) is of the view that the evolution of e-recruitment and e-HRM systems has directly influenced the overall human resource environment as it has resulted in making the process of identifying and attracting new talent much easier, efficient, and quick. However, it is important to acknowledge here that in order to take full advantage of the new technology of e-HRM it is important to keep it in line with the overall organizational strategy and culture.
Hence, deciding about the implementation of the e-HRM system and e-recruitment should be done keeping in consideration the requirements of the organization. One more challenge which the human resources face in this regard is to coordinate its human resource activities with the strategic goals of the organization. This requires implementing a bottom-line oriented approach to decision making.
2.4. Outsourcing Recruitment Process
Outsourcing is defined as the process of giving the contract of some non-core activities of the organization to some other company which has expertise in that particular domain. For instance, an organization can hire human resource recruitment agency for conducting interviews in order to select the candidates who suit the job requirements and role. Duggan & Croy (2004), in their research study, focuses on identifying that whether outsourcing recruitment activates is beneficial for organizations or not. According to them, it is important to first evaluate different associated factors like time, expertise, benefits, and costs before taking the decision of outsourcing the recruitment functions or activities.
Duggan & Croy (2004) presented the fact that initially outsourcing work to other firms was perceived as an expensive activity by the organizations. However, modern and new business arena have shifted the focus on outsourcing non-core activities to other firms in order to save the time and focus on other important and core activities. Several organizations and business leaders are of the idea that if the outsourcing strategy is devised in the effective and efficient manner, it can result in saving the time. However, some organizations still have concerns with reference to cost and experience factors associated with the outsourcing (Duggan & Croy, 2004).
Hence, organizations now days are facing the challenge of deciding that whether human resource recruitment activities should be outsourced or not. For this reason, it has become crucial for the companies to critically analyze and evaluate the benefits and costs associated with the process of outsourcing recruitment before taking any decision in this regard.
3.0. Discussion
Studies covered in the section of literature review lead to critical, significant, and insightful findings. First, it is evident that it is essential to hire talented employees in order to make them work utilizing their full potential. Secondly, it is important to identify appropriate sources for recruitment. Thirdly, the new technologies and methods like social recruitment and e-recruitment have reshaped the overall process of hiring and retaining the efficient human resource talent.
The performance of any organization or corporation largely depends on the performance of its workforce. And the performance of workforce depends on how well human resource management of any organization hires and retain its employees. Most companies face the challenge of having the right people prepared at the right place and at the right time. A firm’s human resource is considered to be another source like land or capital. It has become one of the critical sources of gaining competitive advantage.
Despite that, the labor availability generally surpasses the vacant positions, but there always has been a scarcity of talent. Due to the increased competition among the organizations, human resources face a challenge of discovering new ways in order to increase the level of talent. Many knowledge centric organizations rely on the department of human resources for hiring and retaining the appropriate talent.
The hiring of new employees is harder than retaining the existing employees. Human resources search for different ways to retain the talent as the competition increases among the organizations. Likely interventions involve fringe benefits and custom made allowance packages, autonomy, improved working environment, job enrichment, etc.
Another challenge associated with the human resource recruitment is to assure the employee organization fit. A human resource approach requires either to hire employees with appropriate skills or to train the employees according to the skills required in an organization. A firm’s human resources face the challenge of ensuring employee-employer fit.
Methods of assuring employee-organization fit involve:
Choosing employees on the basis of ability for the job.
Hiring employees who give value to the teamwork and are cooperative.
Hiring employees suitable to the values and culture of the organization.
All these challenges can be addressed by designing an optimal recruitment process. The selection of the effective and efficient recruitment approach and sources should be made keeping in mind the desired end results. All new approaches and techniques in reference to the recruitment or hiring process have their own sets of advantages and disadvantages. It is the responsibility of the human resource personnel of the organizations to design and implement such human resource recruitment system which is according to the requirements and needs of organizations. At the same time, it should be ensured that the requirement system or process is capable enough to attract a considerable amount of talent pool. Although, the new recruitment approaches and techniques have made it easier for human resource management to attract the new talent; however, it has also resulted in creating a new set of challenges for the HR personnel and organizations. Hence, in order to create an influential and effective recruitment process, it is important to keep all related costs and benefits in consideration.
The study also shows that a recruitment process, however, is not necessarily influential. Furthermore, it is not necessarily fair and accurate either. Different research studies have highlighted the importance of a transparent and accurate recruitment or employee selection process (Searle, 2002). Searle (2002) have also raised concerns regarding the transparency of the e-recruitment process.
Apart from being nontransparent, recruitment or selection system can also be subject to inaccuracy that can also lead to different issues. This inaccuracy can be of two types. In the first place, it is possible that some less deserving employees are recognized better by HRM than those who are more deserving and capable of meeting the demands of the job. Secondly, there are chances that the people (whether internal human resource manager or external recruitment agencies) designing the recruitment strategy are not able to understand the goals and objectives of the organizations and results in hiring a wrong pool of employees.
But, when there is a recruitment system that aligns with organizational goals and needs, it results in hiring efficient talent pool. All these findings serve as a base to establish recommendations that are provided in the next part of the paper with regard to the case of the study in the context of modern organizational settings.
4.0. Solution/Recommendations
One of the key recommendations referring to the role of human resource management is to incorporate efficient recruiting process in the set of its policies towards employees. Then, it is also important to keep monitoring the impact of this mechanism of recruitment on overall organizational performance. In its ideal form, it should be in direct relationship with the human resource demands of the organizations. However, the results can be different in other cases. Therefore, it is essential to evaluate and review the overall recruitment process and sources of recruitment on regular individuals.
Organizations should also keep the recruitment system transparent and this transparency comes from the unbiased approach of HRM to all applicants across the board. It should be neutral and purely based on the abilities of applicants against predefined criteria so that it can address HR needs of the organization in the best possible way. The management should make sure that neither there is positive nor negative discrimination in its organizational culture with reference to the internal or external recruitment.
Recruitment system and the process should be accurate. To evaluate its accuracy, human resource management should conduct a thorough investigation of all the sources and techniques being used for the recruitment and selection purpose. A recruitment process or system can only yield desired outcomes if it is established in a transparent and accurate manner.
While incorporating new approaches to recruitment including social recruitment, e-recruitment, and outsourcing, the organizations should be aware of the organizational goals and needs. This will enable the organizations to hire and retain the right set of talent which in turn will contribute in the process of overall growth and performance enhancement of the organizations.
Recruitment system and approaches should also comply with all the state rules and regulations wherein it is being practiced.
Organizations should implement such human resource recruitment system that results in not only attracting talented employees but also results in creating new growth opportunities. This in turn will allow the organization to achieve the preset goals and objectives at much low cost and price as compared to the old traditional approaches of recruitment.
The organizations should train its human resource personnel for adopting new technological techniques and systems in effective and efficient manner.
The decision of outsourcing the recruitment activities should be made on the basis of the cost and benefits analysis. The management should first critically evaluate the benefits associated with the outsourcing and then can outsource some activities that are not central to the business. This in turn will allow the organizations to focus on the main or core activities and to save the overall time and cost associated with the long and tiresome process of recruitment of potential employees.
Social media platforms can be an important source of recruitment if used in effective and efficient manner. Therefore, it is suggested that organizations should devise policies and strategies that result in the process of integration of social media in the recruitment strategies for achieving the organizational goals and objectives.
5.0. Conclusion
Human resource management is no more confined to traditional approaches and methods of recruitment, selection, training, and compensation. In today’s dynamic organizational and business environment, it has involved several new sophistications to cope with emerging challenges. E-recruitment, social media recruitment, and outsourcing are some of the new approaches which are being adopted by the organizations according to their changing needs and demands. It is in the best in the interest of an organization if its human resource management adopts a refined approach to this consideration. In other words, recruitment process and sources should be adopted keeping in view the human resource requirements of the company and overall goals and objectives.
References
Croy, G., & Duggan, B. (2005). The Recruitment Debate: To outsource or not to outsource? Which is the bigger risk. Human Resource Management International Digest, 13(3), 27-29. doi:10.1108/09670730510595012
Dhamija, P. (2012). E-recruitment: a roadmap towards e-human resource management. Journal of Arts, Science & Commerce, 3(2), 33-39
Doherty, R. (2010). Getting Social with Recruitment. Strategic Review, 9(6), 11-15
Gibbs, C., MacDonald, F., & MacKay, K. (2015). Social media usage in hotel human resources: Recruitment, hiring and communication. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 27(2), 170-184. doi:10.1108/IJCHM-05-2013-0194
Muscalu, E. (2015). Sources Of Human Resources Recruitment Organization. Revista Academiei Fortelor Terestre, 20(3).
Searle, R.H. (2002). Organizational justice in e-recruiting: Issues and controversies. Surveillance & society, 1(2), 227-231.
Vani, G. (2011). Evolution of Human Resource Management. Review of Management, 1(2), 127-133
