UniversityRecruit, Select and Induct Staff
The Role of the Recruitment Agencies in the Recruitment Process
Recruitment agencies are intermediaries that conduct selection processes in the name of a company that contracted their services, based on their know-how on attracting people and conducting professional interviews and other selection methodologies meant to test the applicants’ talents, abilities and competencies through task simulation tests, aptitude tests, psychological tests, psychometric tests, etc., depending on the role that needs to be filled (Sutherland and Canwell, 2008). The role of the recruitment agencies is to find particular skills, to assure a fast and efficient selection process, to propose qualified short – listed candidates for the open positions (Brown, 2011).
Internal Recruitment Process
Internal recruitment process implies identifying the vacancies within the company, and developing a process for filling those positions by encouraging the internal employees to apply for the available positions by using the company’s intranet, communication boards, the internal magazines or newsletters, or by communicating them within staff meetings (Sutherland and Canwell, 2008).
The advantage of the internal recruitment process is that the people already employed within the organization that aims to recruit for its available positions are already accustomed with the company’s organizational values, with its goals and mission and understand its business vision, plus, they have developed already relations with the other employees that might become their team colleagues (Sutherland and Canwell, 2008). The internal recruitment process is important for the organization as it implies commitment in the employees’ professional development within the organization, which can stimulate their engagement and dedication in working for the specific company, and implicitly can motivate them into achieving improved results (Sims, 2002). Having motivated staff, who feel appreciated for their jobs as they have advanced on new positions, would improve the organization’s productivity and would generate a positive working climate that would stimulate growth.
Employment Categories in the Hospitality Industry
In hospitality industry, contract workers are routinely employed in activities that involve security of the place, maintenance of the logistics utilized or in transportation services (Lockyer, 2008). Contract work is described within hospitality industry as available for a fixed or determined duration, with specified hours of working and specified free time within a period of four weeks to six months (Bravo Recruitment, “Temporary Hospitality Work”). Ford, Sturman and Heaton (2008) observe that generally the job contracts are limited to less than one year and the contracted employees are paid given an hour rate for their contribution.
Temporary staff are employed in hospitality industry mostly in the touristic seasons, as waiters, cook assistants, cleaning staff, or entertainment staff (“Catering and Hospitality”, Bravo Recruitment, “Temporary Hospitality Work”).
Outsourcing employment represents an intermediary relation between the organization that requires contract or temporary employees and the actual employees, who will be working in the above specified positions, but for whom the outsourcing company will be collecting a fee from the employees’ salaries, resulting in small compensation for the workers (Lockyer, 2008).
E-Recruitment Sites
The e-recruitment websites are modern tools for finding job opportunities and even landing careers. There are various recruitment agencies that have developed this tool, but also end – employers are using this instrument for managing their own recruitment processes.
The competitive websites are permanently uploading the information that they display, while maintaining the company data, the description about the recruitment process, the benefits of working with that specific recruitment agency, or the contact details (Bravo Recruitment, “About”; Lalsat International South Africa).
The information regarding the available positions within the recruiting companies change are updated as they become available and considering the seasonality specificity of the hospitality industry, they are advertised within. While some e-recruitment websites possess solid programming and a user – friendly interface (Viking Cruise, Monster), others are more heavy (Lalsat South Africa) or seem to be less visible and transparent, as they do not provide with a job alert and require for complex navigation for registering and entering the log in information (Bravo Recruitment).
Most of the e-recruitment hospitality agencies provide an “Apply online” section, guiding the candidates on how to complete their application step by step, making the process understandable, although quite complex, due to the multitude of subsections involved, as they imply writing down the entire professional and educational history., along with the skills and qualification, when a simple forward of the resume could have been much simpler. The big, globally renowned companies, as Monster, are also providing tips and tricks for creating a resume and a cover letter, as well as for preparing for interviews when applying for various positions.
There are various advantages to e-recruitment but also disadvantages. E-recruitment implies less costs for advertising the available positions; they have an international reach, meaning it can gather applicants from all over the world, if the positions are destined for global applicability; they are time effective, meaning that if a job is posted today it will immediate receive applications; many people are using the online as the place for searching jobs (Aswathappa, 2007). The disadvantages consist in the fact that many unqualified applicants can apply for the posted jobs and there will be more resumes that will need to be reviewed, making it difficult to spot the qualified candidates (Aswathappa, 2007).
References
Aswathappa, K. (2007) Human resource and personnel management. Tata McGraw-Hill, New Delhi.
Bravo Recruitment (n.d.) Temporary hospitality work, contract hospitality work and casual hospitality work. Retrieved from http://bravogroup.co.nz/index.php?section_id=4.
Brown, J., N. (2011) The complete guide to recruitment: a step-by-step approach to selecting, assessing and hiring the right people. Kogan Page Limited, London.
Catering and hospitality from the directory of employment agencies in Leeds. (2011) Retrieved from http://www.businessandpatents.org/content/files/Catering%20and%20Hospitality%202011.pdf.
Ford, C., R., Sturman, M., C. & Heatin, C., P. (2012) Managing quality service in hospitality. Delmar, Cengage Learning, New York.
Lalsat International South Africa (n.d.) Retrieved from http://www.lalsatinternationalsouthafrica.org.za/.
Lockyer, L., G. (2008) Global cases on hospitality industry. The Haworth Press, Taylor & Francis Group, New York.
Monster (n.d.) Monster.com. Retrieved from http://www.monster.com/.
Sims, R., R. (2002) Organizational success through effective human resources management. Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc., Westport.
Sutherland, J. & Canwell, D. (2008) Essential business studies A level: AS student book for AQA. Folens Publishers, Buckinghamshire.
Viking Cruise (n.d.) Viking Rivers. Retrieved from http://www.vikingrivercruises.com/employment/tcm-43-19250/description.aspx.
