According to Flippo (2013), there is no single approach to develop a successful recruitment strategy. Organisations embark upon various recruitment strategies to achieve their desired objectives in terms of enhanced organisational performance, sustained business growth, increased profit margins and efficiency. It is important to note that recruitment is one of the lifeblood of any organisation and it is imperative to exercise due diligence when recruiting employees of different levels into your organisation. Unfortunately, many organisations use recruitment systems which are loop-holed and their organisations end up being dumping sites for incompetent employees and consequently incur huge costs.
In the words of Flippo (2013) recruitment is a process that involves searching for potential employees by motivating and inspiring them to apply for vacant positions in organisations. According to Swanepoel, Erasmus, Van Wyk and Schenk (2007), recruitment refers to those activities in Human Resources Management which are carried out by organisations to recruit sufficient skilled employees who possess the required potential, competencies and traits. Alternatively, Elbert and Hatfield (2011), describe recruitment as a process of recruiting skilled employees who are available and possess the required qualifications as well as experience to occupy vacant positions in organisations.
Recruitment if executed properly will bring significant benefits to your organisation. There are two types of recruitment which are internal and external. Any organisation must have a clear recruitment policy that states when an internal or external recruitment method should be used. Sahoo et al. (2011) posit that well-executed recruitment avoids the risks, costs and time wasted in locating and attracting the right skilled employees and it further meets the needs of candidates and that of the organisations.
Recruitment should not only be concerned with how gaps will be filled but should rather focus on bringing the required skills and experiences in the organisation particularly those which cannot be developed internally within an organisation.
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According to Flippo (2013) employees of an organisation act as the key strategic drivers in the implementation of the declared organisational strategy and human resources strategy. Therefore, organisations need to implement effective recruitment and retention strategies. The human resources functions could be integrated with the organisational strategy and structure to form a comprehensive strategic management policy, which could help to gear organisational performance (Shafique, 2012).
There are so many challenges that are encountered when recruiting employees. According to Heraty et al (1998), organisations fail because they do not link their recruitment and selection policies with human resources strategy and with the broader business and institutional goals. There is a need that staffing practices adopted by organisations should be coherent and consistent with its business strategies and with its Human Resources (HR) functions such as the Human Resource Development and HR Management Systems. (Wickramasinghe,2007).
Flowing from the above it is clear that any organisation needs to come up with a proper and effective recruitment strategy that is aligned to its organisational strategy. If your recruitment strategy is divorced from your organisation strategy it will not yield any meaningful results to your organisation.
Sources:
Armstrong, M. (2014). Armstrong's Hand Book of Human Resource Management Practice, London: Kogan Page Limited.
Flippo, E.B. (2013). Principles of Personnel Management: (3rd ed.). New York: Mc Graw Hill International Editions: Management Series.
Newturn Wikirefu is the Talent Acquisition Manager at Industrial Psychology Consultants (Pvt) Ltd a management and human resources consulting firm.
Phone +263 4 481946-48/481950/2900276/2900966 or cell number +0784 597343 or email: newturn@ipcconsultants.com or visit our website at www.ipcconsultants