Chapter 8.
Recruitment, selection and training of employees
Recruitment is the process from identifying that the business needs to employ someone up
to the point at which applications have arrived at the business.
Employee selection is the process of evaluating candidates for a specific job and selecting an
individual for employment based on needs of the organization.
A job analysis identifies and records the responsibilities and tasks relating to a job.
Once a job is analysed a job description will be produced.
A job description outlines the responsibilities and duties to be carried out by someone employed to
do a specific job.
Job description contains information about:
The conditions of employment- salary, hours of work, pension scheme and staff welfare.
Training that will be offered
Opportunities for promotion.
A job specification is a document which outlines the requirements, qualifications, expertise,
physical characteristics, etc., for a specified job.
The requirements will usually include:
The level of educational qualifications.
The amount of experience and type of experience.
Special skills, knowledge or particular aptitude.
Personal characteristics, such as type of personality.
INTERNAL RECRUITMENT IS WHEN A VACANCY IS FILLED BY SOMEONE WHO IS AN
EXISTING EMPLOYEE OF THE BUSINESS.
EXTERNAL RECRUITMENT IS WHEN A VACANCY IS FILLED BY SOMEONE WHO IS NOT AN
EXISTING EMPLOYEE AND WILL BE NEW TO THE BUSINESS.
Advantages of internal recruitment
It saves time and money, compared with recruiting someone from outside the business
(advertising, interviewing, etc.)
The person is already known to the business and their reliability, ability and potential are
known.
The person also knows the organization’s way of working and what is expected from
employees.
It can be very motivating for other employees to see their fellow workers being promoted –
it makes them work harder.
Disadvantages of internal recruitment
No new ideas or experiences come into the business. Other companies may have different
ways of working and these ways may be better in some respects, including making the
business more efficient. Internal recruitment does not allow for these working practices to
be spread.
There may be jealousy and rivalry amongst existing employees.
Advantages of External recruitment
New ideas or experiences come into the business.
Other companies may have different ways of working and these ways may be better in some
respects, including making the business more efficient. Internal recruitment does not allow for
these working practices to be spread.
Disadvantages of External recruitment
There may be jealousy and rivalry amongst existing employees.
It requires time and money, compared with recruiting someone from inside the business.
The reliability, ability and potential are not known.
The person is not aware of the organization’s way of working and what is expected from
employees.
Advertising the vacancy
INTERNAL RECRUITMENT:
Company noticeboard
Company newspaper (if the business is large)
EXTERNAL RECRUITMENT:
Local newspapers
National newspapers
Specialist magazines and journals
Recruitment agencies
Centres run by government (job centres)
Interviews
The main purposes of an interview are to assess , in the shortest possible time:
1. The applicants ability to do the job
2. Any personal qualities that are an advantage or disadvantage.
3. The general character and personality of the applicant.
Training
The process of learning the skills you need to do a particular job or activity.
Importance of training to business
Introduce a new process or new equipment
Improve the efficiency of the workforce
Provide training for the unskilled workers to make them more valuable to the company
Decrease the supervision needed
Improve the opportunity for internal promotion
Decrease the chances of accidents
Types of training
1. Induction training
Is an introduction given to a new employee, explaining the firm’s activities, customs and
procedures and introducing them to their fellow workers.
Advantages of induction training:
a. Helps new employees to settle into their job quickly
b. May be a legal representative to give Health and Safety training at the start of a job
a. Means workers are less likely to make mistakes
2. On-the-job training
On-the-job training occurs by watching a more experienced worker doing the job.
This is suitable for unskilled and semi-skilled jobs.
ADVANTAGES OF ON-THE-JOB TRAINING
a. Individual tution is given and employee does not need to be sent away.
b. There is production from worker whilst they are training.
c. Less costly.
d. Training to specific needs of the business
3. Off-the-job training
Off-the-job training involves being trained away from the workplace, usually by specialist
trainers.
This may be in a different part of the building or it may be at a different place altogether,
such as a specialist training centre.
Advantages of off-the-job training
a. A broad range of skills can be taught using these techniques.
b. If these courses are taught in the evening after work, they are cheaper for the business
because the employee will still carry out normal duties during the day.
c. The business will only need to pay for the course and it will not also lose the output of the
employee.
d. Employees may be taught a variety of skills, they become multi-skilled and this makes them
more versatile- they can be moved around the company when the need arises.
e. It often uses expat trainers who have up-to-date knowledge of business practices.