Recruitment and Selection As It Relates Enhancing Diversity in the Workforce
Abstract
The paper presents the outline on the following theme “Recruitment and selection as it relates enhancing diversity in the workforce”. It is evident that when organizations conduct the recruitment and selection of diverse workforce, they have to face multiple challenges and questions. Enhancing diversity in the applicant pool, bias issue in the evaluation of diverse candidates, and comparing local education credential with foreign educational documents are the challenges. Some other challenges organizations face while recruiting and selective diverse workforce include cultural misunderstanding and presenting positive environment during the selection process. While facing these challenges, some questions also arise. Such as organizations often confuse that, which approaches should be adapted to recruit and select applicants and avoid bias in the evaluation process. It is hard for companies to decide that what skills are needed to be learned most and how the foreigners are evaluated as educational standards of all countries are different. The paper presents some recommendations to deal with these issues.
Introduction
The aim of the paper is to present the overview of the statement “Recruitment and selection as it relates enhancing diversity in the workforce”. The objective of the paper is to find out the five challenges and five questions that businesses face during the process of recruitment and selection of the diverse workforce and present the ten recommendations.
For the attainment of the objective, the paper is divided into three sections. The first section presents a comprehensive overview of selected theme. The second section highlights the challenges and questions companies face during recruitment and selection processes of diversity workforce. However, third sections elaborate on measures that can be taken to deal with challenges and questions.
Overview of selected theme
Organizations that have moved to 21st century need capitalization of the talented workforce from diverse backgrounds because diversity in the workforce just not enrich and expand organizations, but also offer a competitive advantage. Recruitment and selection processes play an immense role in enhancing workplace diversity (The Wall Street Journal, 2016). Companies recruit and select diverse people because either they truly value diversity, or they comply with legislations. Recruitment is the basic step that helps organizations in being the true diverse place. Recruiting diverse people provides organizations an opportunity to select the most suitable and most qualified workforce from the wider range of applicant pool. The more the option will be available the more the companies will be able to have the opportunity to get effective and efficient workforce. Companies due to globalization face immense pressure in handling different clients. Recruiting and selection of candidates belong to different backgrounds serves organizations with immense benefits (Babalola & Marques, 2013; DeSimone & Werner, 2012).
Challenges and questions related to the theme
Challenge
Bringing diversity in an organization is not a simple task it requires time and resources. In bringing diversity, companies have to face several challenges and questions that are essential to resolve. If these challenges are not handled appropriately, and questions are not answered correctly then despite having diversity, organizations may not stay diverse place for long. It has been realized that several organizations are struggling with workforce diversity, and this is because they are continuously misunderstanding or neglecting the research on staffing. Therefore, it is essential to identify the recruitment and selection challenges and questions of workforce diversity as it would allow the companies to respond the issues appropriately.
Lack of specialist, qualified, and technical staff has been the challenge for companies due to lack of these applicants in applicant pool (Cooper, 2015). Enhancing the diversity in applicant pool is a challenge for businesses, companies do not know that how they can enhance the diversity in the pool of applicants. In other words, they do not know that how to recruit the diverse range of people for a particular position. Without having diversity in the pool of candidates, it is not possible for organizations to select the varied people and bring the mixture of talented employees at the place of work (Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, 2012).
Evaluation of the candidates applying for the job is an important part of the process of recruitment. When organizations evaluate people, the potential issue that is more likely to occur is the discrimination and biasness. These issues occur due to blind evaluation processes. Companies can make a significant difference if they avoid bias in their recruitment processes (The World Economic Forum, 2013). Biases can be based on races, genders, age, and so on. Therefore, for bringing diversity into the workplace, it is essential for companies to work on bias issue (CRT & OJP, 2015).
Interviewers are the face of the organization for applicants, most of the time firms lose candidates during the interviewing process. The cultural misunderstanding and lack of interviewing skills of interviewers are amongst the major challenges companies face when they recruit people from different backgrounds (The Institute for Diversity Certification, 2016).
Organizations during the recruitment and selection process also face challenges in presenting the work environment that can engage the new candidates and motivate them to join the companies. The work environment is the factor that multiple organizations ignore, and businesses do not care about during the process of hiring (The Institute for Diversity Certification, 2016).
Questions
In traditional job recruitment, companies were used to select the candidates based on their will of working at a diverse place and their technical skills. However, it has been determined that this approach is not going to guarantee the performance and adjustment of employees at the diverse workplace. Therefore, now it has become the dilemma that what approach the human resource department should adapt when recruiting and selecting employees because the importance of technical skills cannot be ignored as well (Babalola & Marques, 2013).
When organizations attempt to reduce the biasness in selecting the candidates, they have to face the dilemma in selection the most appropriate approach. Firms face difficulties in deciding that what approach they should adopt through which they can reduce the biasness and hire the best-suited candidate for their business (World Economic Forum, 2013).
When companies assess the foreign credentials, they have to face the questions that how these qualifications are compared with their standards of qualification as different countries hold different education system (HR Council of Canada, 2016).
The quandary is that interviewers and organizations find hard to decide on that what need to be learned for being efficient in recruiting and selecting the diverse workforce. In some cases, it is determined that companies even have no idea to prepare tests that can be understood by candidates. Even mostly managers place misleading advertisements and misrepresent the particular job requirements (SHRM, 2012).
It has become the concern of most of the organizations that how they should represent themselves or portrayed the work environment that can engage candidates towards the organization (The Institute for Diversity Certification, 2016).
Recommendations
It is suggested that the corporations or public executives ought to broaden the selection criteria and should include competencies and stable attributes. Stable attributes include dispositional factors and emotional intelligence. Dispositional factors like being culturally flexible, people oriented and task oriented.
It is recommended to the public executives that they should make their recruiting and selection process transparent that will enable them to deal with bias issue. Executives should make sure that they comply with established laws that will help the organization in not to indulge in discriminatory practices (CRT & OJP, 2015).
As it has been observed that firms face issues in selecting appropriate evaluation strategies; therefore, it is recommended to companies that they should build clear evaluation criteria. They should set some rules and policies such as rather evaluating on experiences; candidates should be evaluated on their potential for diversity, growth, and accomplishment that will bring a unique mixture of talent to the organizations.
Give training to managers so they can better understand the benefits of workplace diversity and they can fully support the practices of diversity at the workplace.
Give the new candidates the reason to stay at workplace by giving them equal efforts and time
For enhancing the diversity in the applicant pool, it is suggested that the executives should enhance their understanding of marketplace that will help them in understanding where to search the target for having the yield of diverse entrants. Companies should not place misleading advertisements and misrepresent the position’s requirements (Society for Human Resource Management, 2012). Even, organizations can advertise their positions through multiple channels and contact with professional companies that have the reach to the variety of population.
For enhancing the assessment capabilities for the assessment of foreign candidates, companies can use their international credential services of assessment that will enable firms to enhance their comfort level and familiarity with international credentials.
If organizations are not clear that how the qualification of foreign candidates is compared with their own educational standards, then they can use some selected criteria. For example, they can assess the candidate on the basis of the years of experience in performing the particular task. Take a test to have the demonstration of their skills, and written examination for understanding their knowledge level (HR Council of Canada, 2016).
For attracting more applicants, portraying a positive image of the organization, and for making the process more effective and efficient, it is essential that interviewers are trained and taught about diverse cultural backgrounds.
It is made sure that applicants are met in welcoming and respectful manners; it represents the environment of the corporation. Work environment leaves impact over candidates, and work environment is the thing that all applicants notice. Therefore, diversity seeing is important for applicants.
Conclusion
The objective of the paper was to present the overview of a particular theme “Recruitment and selection as it relates enhancing diversity in the workforce” and determine the challenges and questions companies face in recruiting and selecting diverse workforce. It has been determined that organizations face multiple issues when they attempt to recruit and hire a diverse workforce and the major reason behind these challenges is the lack of understanding of staffing techniques and knowledge. Companies even make minor mistakes due to which they are not able to hire a diverse workforce. Such as companies do not have a transparent evaluation process, they do not know how to attract diverse applicant, and even sometimes interviewers have not trained that cause to discourage applicants. Even most of the times organizations are not sure on the approaches and techniques they should use to attract, engage, evaluate, and motivate candidates. Therefore, some recommendations have been proposed that will help public executives in overcoming the dilemmas and challenges. The overall paper presents the worthwhile information on the issues of diversity workforce and will be beneficial for readers in enhancing their knowledge and gain some productive insights.
Annotated Bibliography
Babalola, S. S., & Marques, L. (2013). Integrated Approach To Workplace Diversity Through Human Resource Management. Journal of Social and Development Sciences. vol. 4 (9). p. 435-445.
The study focuses on the how the diversity can be managed and enhance through human resource management. The paper calls the improvements in organizational management and on the role of human resource management in creating the accurate work environment and expanding workplace diversity’s selection criteria.
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. (2012). Report to the Congress on the Office of Minority and Women Inclusion. Federal Reserve Government. Retrieved February 21, 2016, from http://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/minority-women-inclusion/files/omwi-report-20120402.pdf
The study of Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, presents the list of policies for diversity workforce and elaborate on benefits of diversity, recruitment and selection issues, training and mentoring, and challenges organizations face. The board presents its initiatives of outreaching the activities in attracting a diverse workforce. The paper is a complete guide that represents the industry overlook.
Cooper, J. (2015). Resourcing and Talent Planning Survey 2015. CIPD. Retrieved February 21, 2016, from https://www.cipd.co.uk/binaries/resourcing-talent-planning_2015.pdf
It is the nineteenth survey of resourcing and talent planning. The survey presents the insights that improvements in economies are affecting the talent management strategies. The survey highlights the increasing trend of recruiting niche but diverse talent. The survey tells that due to lack of qualified candidates in the applicant pool, organizations facing difficulties in acquiring specialists talent.
CRT & OJP. (2015). Diversity In Law Enforcement: A Literature Review. Retrieved February 21, 2016, from http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/pdf/taskforce/Diversity_in_Law_Enforcement_Literature_Review.pdf
The departments placed the recent events in the police department that highlighted the lack of diversity issue. The review presents the importance of diversity, barriers that occur in the attainment of diversity, and practices that can be used to achieve diversity. The document highlights several studies and presents abstracts of each study to clear the facts and present industry based workforce diversity challenges.
DeSimone, R. L. & Werner, J. M. (2012). Human resource development (6th ed). Canada: Cengage Learning.
The book is a complete coverage of human resource development issues; it covers implementation of human resource development programs, team base coverage, employee behaviors, research, training, and statistics. Provides a clear understanding of processes, practices, and concepts and guide in putting the theory into practice.
HR Council of Canada. (2016). HR Toolkit: Diversity at Work. Retrieved February 21, 2016, from http://hrcouncil.ca/hr-toolkit/diversity-recruitment.cfm
The toolkit presents that how through improved recruitment and hiring practices, diversity in the workplace can be increased. The toolkit elaborates on broader recruitment efforts, reduction of bias during the process of selection, and recruitment of foreigners.
Society for Human Resource Management. ( 2012). Recruiting: Ethics: What are some common ethical dilemmas that HR professionals face during the recruiting process? How should we handle them?. SHRM. Retrieved February 21, 2016, from http://www.shrm.org/templatestools/hrqa/pages/ethicaldilemmashrprofessionalsface.aspx
The article highlights some very common ethical issues that organizations face during the process of recruitment and selection of people from diverse background. The editorial highlights some points to deals with these issues and makes the organization effective in recruiting and hiring diverse talent.
The Institute for Diversity Certification. (2016). CDP Exam Study Guide. Retrieved February 21, 2016, from https://books.google.com.pk/books?id=-J-iAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA110&lpg=PA110&dq=cultural+misunderstanding+and+lack+of+interviewing+skills+are+the+recruitment+challenges&source=bl&ots=lc8W1BlcO1&sig=VA98j76UYWW-pvpymhUIw2AzfuY&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=cultural%20misunderstanding%20and%20lack%20of%20interviewing%20skills%20are%20the%20recruitment%20challenges&f=false
The book highlights the issues of diversity and discusses that how the diversity issue got recognition. The book presents complete look over the role diversity plays in companies, challenges, issues, and resolutions of recruiting and selection of workforce from different backgrounds.
The Wall Street Journal. (2016). How to Increase Workplace Diversity. Retrieved February 21, 2016, from http://guides.wsj.com/management/building-a-workplace-culture/how-to-increase-workplace-diversity/
The article discusses the hiring issue of a diverse workforce that most of the organizations face. The article provides some tips on enhancing the knowledge on minorities and guide on managing workplace diversity. It reflects on the organizational culture that encourages workforce diversity.
The World Economic Forum. (2013). Global Agenda Council on Women’s Empowerment 2011 – 2012. Five Challenges, One Solution: Women. World Economic Forum. Retrieved February 21, 2016, from http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GAC_WomensEmpowerment_FiveChallangesOneSolution_Compendium_2013.pdf
The paper presents the view that how avoiding gender bias and bringing diversity, the organizations can resolve the issues and overcome global challenges that include democracy, leadership, food security, sustainability and resource scarcity, and conflict. The report relates each challenge to the empowerment of women and gender parity and presents recommendations.
References
Babalola, S. S., & Marques, L. (2013). Integrated Approach To Workplace Diversity Through Human Resource Management. Journal of Social and Development Sciences. vol. 4 (9). p. 435-445.
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. (2012). Report to the Congress on the Office of Minority and Women Inclusion. Federal Reserve Government. Retrieved February 21, 2016, from http://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/minority-women-inclusion/files/omwi-report-20120402.pdf
Cooper, J. (2015). Resourcing and Talent Planning Survey 2015. CIPD. Retrieved February 21, 2016, from https://www.cipd.co.uk/binaries/resourcing-talent-planning_2015.pdf
CRT & OJP. (2015). Diversity In Law Enforcement: A Literature Review. Retrieved February 21, 2016, from http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/pdf/taskforce/Diversity_in_Law_Enforcement_Literature_Review.pdf
DeSimone, R. L. & Werner, J. M. (2012). Human resource development (6th ed). Canada: Cengage Learning.
HR Council of Canada. (2016). HR Toolkit: Diversity at Work. Retrieved February 21, 2016, from http://hrcouncil.ca/hr-toolkit/diversity-recruitment.cfm
Society for Human Resource Management. ( 2012). Recruiting: Ethics: What are some common ethical dilemmas that HR professionals face during the recruiting process? How should we handle them?. SHRM. Retrieved February 21, 2016, from http://www.shrm.org/templatestools/hrqa/pages/ethicaldilemmashrprofessionalsface.aspx
The Institute for Diversity Certification. (2016). CDP Exam Study Guide. Retrieved February 21, 2016, from https://books.google.com.pk/books?id=-J-iAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA110&lpg=PA110&dq=cultural+misunderstanding+and+lack+of+interviewing+skills+are+the+recruitment+challenges&source=bl&ots=lc8W1BlcO1&sig=VA98j76UYWW-pvpymhUIw2AzfuY&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=cultural%20misunderstanding%20and%20lack%20of%20interviewing%20skills%20are%20the%20recruitment%20challenges&f=false
The Wall Street Journal. (2016). How to Increase Workplace Diversity. Retrieved February 21, 2016, from http://guides.wsj.com/management/building-a-workplace-culture/how-to-increase-workplace-diversity/
The World Economic Forum. (2013). Global Agenda Council on Women’s Empowerment 2011 – 2012. Five Challenges, One Solution: Women. World Economic Forum. Retrieved February 21, 2016, from http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GAC_WomensEmpowerment_FiveChallangesOneSolution_Compendium_2013.pdf
