Sources of staff recruitment

1. Introduction

The expectations of the administrators or managers of the companies, the increasing competition at the international level and the increase in diversity in the workforce constitute a challenge for the Human Resources Manager of an organization.

Human resources departments today are more dynamic, in addition to contributing to the objective of increasing the competitive advantage of the organization, they must also cover social, functional and personal objectives.

The study of human resources management must consider the worker as a valuable element which has knowledge, skills and attitudes to grow and develop within the company, which is why recruitment and selection are a very valuable tool to know the potential of the candidates.

2. Definition of recruitment

According to Werther, William B. Jr. (2000), recruitment is the process of identifying and recruiting qualified candidates to fill vacancies in the organization. The recruiting process begins with the search for candidates and ends when job applications are received.

3. Recruitment process

There is a recruiting process that recruiters generally carry out in several steps. The recruiter identifies the vacancy through human resource planning at the request of management. The human resources plan can be especially useful, because it illustrates current and future vacancies.

This plan allows the recruiter to act in a practical way, having information about present and future personnel needs. The recruiter will refer to both the needs of the position and the characteristics of the person who performs it. Whenever deemed necessary, the recruiter should request additional information by contacting the manager who applied for the new position.

It is recommended that area managers submit to the Human Resources department a personnel requisition which contains the requirements and the profile of the candidate being requested. The following chart shows the recruitment process.

Figure 1. Source: Werther William B., Jr.

4. Sources of internal recruitment

Companies have sources of internal recruitment, the employees who work in the company are an essential source of possible candidates for a position. Whether it's a promotion or a lateral move, internal candidates are already familiar with the organization and have detailed information about policies and procedures.

Decisions for promotions and lateral transfers are generally made by line managers, with little involvement from the human resources department in the process.

The most common internal recruiting sources are listed below:

a) Programs to promote information on vacancies

Personnel departments participate in processes of promoting and transferring company personnel through vacancy information promotion programs, through which employees are informed that vacancies exist and what are the requirements to fill them.

This information can be posted on newsletters in areas of continuous circulation, such as the cafeteria or electronic newsletters, in cases where organizations have access to personal computers.

b) Employees who retire

One source of candidates that is often ignored is that of employees who leave the company for a variety of reasons. Many can leave because other obligations do not allow them to fulfill a normal 48-hour work week. Others would remain with the company if they could vary their hours, or have been forced to leave for various legitimate reasons and can rejoin the company.

c) Employee references and recommendations

One of the best sources for obtaining employees who can perform effectively in a position is the recommendation of a current employee. Why? Because employees rarely recommend someone, unless they believe that person can perform well. A recommendation is reflected in the employee who makes it, and when they do so their reputation is at stake, it can be expected to have been based on sound judgment. An employee's referrals can receive more precise information about the potentially desired position to fill.

5. Sources of external recruitment

When vacancies cannot be filled internally, the human resources department must identify candidates in the external job market.

a) Spontaneous candidates

Every human resources department will receive applications over time from people who want to be employed, and certain individuals can simply report to the company's premises for the same purpose. In both cases the most common practice is to ask the person to fill out a job application form to determine their interests and abilities.

b) References from other employees

Current employees of the organization may refer certain individuals to the human resources department. These references have several advantages, that employees specialized in different areas in which it is difficult to obtain applicants can meet other people with similar knowledge.

c) Newspaper ads

Newspapers, and in some cases trade magazines, offer another effective method of identifying candidates. Because notices can reach more people than recommendations from employees or spontaneous candidates.

Personnel application announcements describe employment and benefits, identify the company, and provide instructions on how to apply. They are the most common way to request employees.

Disadvantages. There may be an avalanche of requests or, on the contrary, find little response. Very few people usually show up when asking for door-to-door encyclopedia sellers for example. Potential candidates are most likely already working in the area. Finally, when the employing company is found, it is not possible to search for candidates to replace a current employee. These problems can be avoided by a notice without identification, which asks the candidate to send their resume to the company.

Basic elements of a newspaper ad.

It is important to write press releases from the candidate's point of view. In general, it is wrong to present exclusively the requirements of the company. Since the cost of the ad will be proportional to the length of the text, it is always preferable to be brief and concise.

The ideal notice should include a minimum of three elements:

The responsibilities of the job (and not a title devoid of meaning for the reader, such as assistant or counselor). The way in which the interested party should apply for the job, specifying the channels to be used and the initial information that will be necessary to present. The academic requirements and minimal work to fulfill the function.

d) Employment agency

These companies establish a bridge between the vacancy that their clients communicate to them periodically and the candidates they obtain through advertising or through spontaneous offers. Generally, the agency asks the candidate to appear at the hiring company's personnel offices. Agency payment can come from the hiring company or the candidate. A common rate is one month's salary or in some cases 10% of the employee's annual income. (These rates vary according to the placement agency).

e) Executive level personnel identification companies

Working at a more specialized level than agencies, they only hire certain specific human resources, in exchange for a payment covered by the contracting company. Some companies specialize in finding executive-level personnel, while others specialize in identifying technicians.

f) Educational institutions

Colleges, technical schools, and other academic institutions are a good source of young candidates who will make moderate demands for salaries.

g) Professional associations

They establish programs to promote full employment among their members. Some associations even publish sections of classified ads, magazines and newspapers that they issue. Professionals who actively belong to an association tend to keep very up-to-date in their field, therefore, it is an ideal channel for the identification of high-level experts.

h) Unions

When the recruiter is familiar with union rules and regulations, this channel can be very useful for locating technicians, specialized workers, plumbers, carpenters, etc.

i) Temporary staff supply agencies

They operate by lending staff to a company that requires filling a vacancy for a certain time. Advantages of these types of agencies include their speed in providing key personnel and the relatively reasonable fees they charge for their services.

j) Part-time staff

Although there are notable variations in this market, many companies continue to be reluctant to form an employment relationship that carries all the legal responsibilities for the company without providing full employee services in return.

k) State entities

Often the agencies of official entities keep statistics and diverse information on the levels of employment observed in certain fields and their publications and monographs often allow obtaining essential information on employment conditions in a certain region of the country.

l) Job fairs

An innovative and to some extent little used technique is to encourage the participation of the company in the fairs or exhibitions of job opportunities that are organized in certain communities or industries.

Recruitment should not be taken lightly since it is the beginning of the search for candidates, likewise, the same importance should be given to choosing the most appropriate source of recruitment for the company (whether internal or external) In both cases, it is necessary to assess what is really convenient for the organization, since the success of a good selection and the hiring of the right candidate depends on this, that is, that he meets the desired profile.