The recruitment and selection
process is critical to the success of any organization. If not
effective, organizations will hire many individuals destined
to failure - in many cases through no fault of their own. Poor
hiring decisions also result in an excessive burden on managers
and supervisors who have to cope with the result of those decisions.
In the review of research Carlson et al.
cite a recent survey indicating that the majority of organizations
do not formally evaluate any recruitment outcomes. In the review
they found that evaluation of the recruitment process to be one
of the factors that affects the annual profits and profit growth.
As a result they offer a framework for integrating the outcomes
of the three stages of recruitment and cite the research applicable
to each stage:
- Attraction of applicants;
- Status of maintenance (keeping an applicant
interested); and,
- Job acceptance.
The authors stress it is critical for organizations
to evaluate the effectiveness of each recruitment phase in order
to identify specific causes of recruitment successes and failures.
Much like any quality improvement strategy, an organization can
improve its recruitment process by knowing where to direct improvement
efforts.
The authors also assert that the first
stage, attraction of applicants, is the most crucial to
recruitment and staffing success. The key is to identify the
best applicants in the pool. In this respect, most organizations
engage in some form of "multiple hurdle" selection
process involving the use of several valid selection devices
administered sequentially. For example, many organizations evaluate
the information provided on a resume or application. Others use
a simple sorting of applicants into retain/reject categories.
The authors of this article suggest a new
approach:
…(E)xtending and formalizing organizations'
candidates evaluation activities in order to develop predictor
(i.e., quality) scores for each applicant before less qualified
applicants are removed.
These scores allow for a direct assessment
of attraction outcomes. The authors provide a 7-step procedure
for adopting this approach. An organization should:
- Identify positions it will assess;
- Identify and evaluate current screening
mechanisms;
- Determine strategy for adapting current
screening device(s), if necessary;
- Assess attraction outcomes;
- Match recruitment activities to recruitment
phases, and estimate costs;
- Evaluate attraction outcomes using utility
analysis; and,
- Evaluate the adequacy of current screening
devices.
Managing people is much like constructing
a house. The amount of time and effort one puts into building
the foundation can avoid countless problems. Sometimes that foundation
appears very distant from the more visible items that decorate
the walls and floors. Recruitment and selection may appear distant
from mission related outcomes which staff achieve once hired,
but they are part of the foundation. We want to be no less careful
in the manner we hire staff than we would be in building a basement.