The Ultimate Guide to Recruitment and Training

Posted on Sep 6, 2024 in Economy

External Recruitment

Most vacancies are filled with external recruitment, which always involves advertising the vacancy. Here are some suitable media of advertising:

  • Local newspaper: Usually for office and manual workers. These jobs are plentiful since they do not require specialized skills.
  • National newspaper: Used to find workers for senior positions that require a high level of skill. It can be read by people anywhere in the country or overseas.
  • Specialist magazines: Used for particular technical specialists such as physicists. Can be used to hire people in the home country or abroad.
  • Recruitment agencies: Keep details of qualified people and will send suitable applicants to interviews when a business asks for a worker. Many businesses prefer to use recruitment agencies to find workers because it is easier. However, it is expensive since their fee is based on a percentage of the worker’s pay.
  • Government job centers: Places where businesses can advertise their vacancies. These vacancies are usually for unskilled or semi-skilled workers.

Possible Effects of Government Legislation on the Recruitment Process

Many governments pass laws to create equal employee opportunities. They state that all employees should be treated equally in the workplace and receive the same salary for doing the same job, regardless of sex or disability. Therefore, businesses need to be careful when advertising and treating their employees because they could be prosecuted and fined.

Job Advertisements

This is what a business needs to decide when drawing up an advertisement:

  • What should be included:
    • Job description
    • Job specification
  • Where the ad will be placed (depends on the job).
  • Advertising budget (depends on the job).

Application Forms and CVs/Résumés

When a person applies for a job, they will have to fill out an application form or write an application letter with a CV enclosed. CVs are descriptions of one’s qualifications and skills in a set format.

Businesses will use application forms and CVs to see whether an applicant matches the job specifications. The closest matching applicants are invited to interviews in the selection stage. A short-list is drawn up.

CVs should contain:

  • Name
  • Address
  • Telephone Number
  • Date of Birth
  • Nationality
  • Education and qualifications
  • Work experience
  • Positions of responsibility
  • Interests
  • Names and addresses of references

The letter of application should briefly contain:

  • Why the applicant wants the job
  • Why the applicant feels they would be suitable

Application forms ask for the same information as the application letter and CV but may ask for other types of information.

Interviews

Applicants who are invited to interviews will have provided the names and addresses of their references. These people can give their opinions on the reliability, honesty, and skills of the applicants, and they will be likely to tell the truth because the applicants will not know what they have said.

Interviews are the most popular form of selection. However, interviews are not always the most reliable process of selection. They aim to find out these things:

  • The applicant’s ability to do the job
  • Personal qualities that are advantageous and disadvantageous
  • General characteristics – whether they can “fit in”

These are likely questions in an interview:

  • Why have you applied for this job?
  • What do you know about this company?
  • What qualities do you have to offer the company?
  • What ambitions do you have?
  • What are your hobbies and interests?
  • Do you have any questions to ask us?

Interviews can be one-to-one, two-to-one, or a panel of people interviewing candidates, which is used to select people for important jobs. Some businesses include tests in their selection.

  • Skill tests: To test the skills of the candidates.
  • Aptitude tests: To test how easily candidates can be trained/learn new things.
  • Personality tests: To test for people who have specific personal qualities that will fit into jobs – e.g., that has a lot of stress; requires you to work with a team.
  • Group situation tests: To test how well applicants work with other people.

Rejecting Unsuccessful Applicants

When applicants fail to get the job, they should be informed and thanked for applying.

Training

Training is often needed to achieve the needs listed below. These needs can be long-term or short-term.

  • Introduce a new process or equipment.
  • Improve efficiency.
  • Decrease supervision needed.
  • Improve the opportunity for internal promotion.
  • Decrease the chance of accidents.

Employees should know the benefits of training for them to take it seriously. Here are some objectives of training:

  • Increase skills.
  • Increase knowledge.
  • Change attitude, raise awareness.

There are three main types of training:

  • Induction training:
    • Introducing a new employee to their business/management/co-workers/facilities.
    • Lasts one to several days.
  • On-the-job training:
    • Employees are trained by watching professionals do a job.
    • Only suitable for unskilled and semi-skilled jobs.
    • Cuts travel costs.
    • The trainee may do some work.
    • The trainer’s productivity is decreased because they have to show things to the trainee.
    • The trainer’s bad habits can be passed to the trainee.
  • Off-the-job training:
    • Workers go to another place for training (e.g., school).
    • Methods are varied and usually more complex.
    • Usually classroom training.
    • Employees still work during the day.
    • Employees can learn many skills.

Workforce Planning

A business will need to forecast the type and number of employees needed in the future. This depends on the firm’s growth and objectives. The forecast can be done by:

  • Finding out the skills of all current employees.
  • Counting out people who are leaving soon (e.g., retirement).
  • Talking to staff about who would want to retrain for new jobs.
  • Providing a recruitment plan (how many new staff are needed, and how they should be recruited, internal or external).

Dismissal and Redundancy

There are some situations when businesses need to reduce the number of employees they have. This can be done in two ways:

  • Dismissal:
    • A worker is fired for unsatisfactory work or behavior.
    • The fault of the employee.
  • Redundancy:
    • Employees are no longer needed.
    • Not the fault of the employee.
    • Some reasons are:
      • A business is closing down a factory.
      • A business wants to cut costs by reducing the number of employees.
      • A business has merged/taken over another, and there are too many staff in certain departments.
      • New machinery replaces workers.
    • Employees are given some money to compensate for their lost job.
      • The money is often negotiated with trade unions.
      • Some governments have laws that make businesses pay their workers this way.
    • If only some employees are to be made redundant, trade unions will agree with the fairest way to see who goes. These terms are negotiated with the HR department.
      • Sometimes there will be voluntary redundancy by members.
        • Older workers.
        • There may be some who want to leave because they have other ideas.