ACCA F1 Accountant in Business - 2010 - Study text

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Chapter 10: Recruitment and selection

Recruitment is therefore concerned with quantity – getting candidates to apply for

job vacancies – and selection is concerned with quality – choosing the individual

who seems the best for the job.

An outline of the recruitment and selection process is shown in the following

flowchart.

1.3 Roles and responsibilities for recruitment and selection

In a large organisation with a human relations (HR) department, the roles and

responsibilities for recruitment and selection are normally shared between:

 operational management (‘line’ management) and

 staff in the HR department (‘staff’ specialists).

Operational managers should be involved in the recruitment and selection process

in several ways:

 They should report any vacancies arising in their department or section, or

should agree any vacancies with the management responsible for the human

resources plan.

 They should identify individuals working for them at the moment who might be

suitable candidates for a job vacancy, as part of the process of developing and

promoting staff internally.

 They should be involved in specifying the nature of the job, and the skills that

the job holder should have in order to do the work properly.

 They should normally be involved in the process of selecting individuals from

the candidates who have applied for a job in their department or section.

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HR ‘staff’ specialists should be involved in the recruitment and selection process in

a larger organisation in the following ways.

 They should be involved in HR planning, and identifying the vacancies that are

expected to arise throughout the organisation in the future.

 They should have specialist skills in recruitment and selection. They may know

more than operational management about the best methods of recruiting for

particular job vacancies and about advertising job vacancies. They should also

have specialist knowledge about selection methods.

 Typically, they work with line management, taking on responsibility for

ensuring that enough candidates apply for vacancies. They are also involved in

the selection process. For example, HR staff may arrange selection interviews

and carry out selection interviews jointly with line management colleagues.

In some cases, an organisation might use the services of an external recruitment

agency (or firm of ‘head hunters’) to identify potential candidates for job vacancies.

However, although the recruitment process may be delegated to an external agency,

the selection process should be the responsibility of the organisation’s own

management.

1.4 Recruitment and the HR plan

Large organisations may have a human resources plan for the organisation. This is a

plan for:

 how many employees the organisation expects to have by the end of the

planning period

 what types of job they will be doing

 how many employees the organisation has now

 how many employees it expects to lose, for example due to resignation or

retirement.

The plan will also include estimates of the number of job vacancies that are likely to

be filled by internal promotion, and so how many jobs will need to be filled by

external recruitment.

Before advertising a job vacancy, a check should therefore be made with the HR

department to confirm that recruiting to fill a job vacancy is consistent with the HR

plan.

1.5 Reasons for ineffective recruitment and selection

The recruitment and selection process might be ineffective, with the result that not

enough people apply for job vacancies, unsuitable individuals are selected, or

individuals do not stay in the job for long after their appointment.

There are several reasons for poor recruitment and selection procedures.

Chapter 10: Recruitment and selection

Poor recruitment

The reasons for a failure to attract a sufficient number of suitable applicants for a job

may be any of the following.

 The requirements of the job are not properly considered before the job is

advertised, so that the vacancy is advertised to individuals with unsuitable

skills. (In other words, there is a failure to do a proper job analysis.)

 There is a failure to agree the minimum acceptable requirements for the job,

only the ideal requirements. Potential applicants may be deterred because of the

high level of skills and experience that the employer says it wants from the

successful applicant for the job.

 The job itself is not attractive enough, or the pay is too low, so that not many

people apply for the vacancy.

 The job vacancies are advertised in an unsuitable way, so that the vacancy does

not come to the attention of people who might apply if they knew about it.

Poor selection

The reasons for poor selection could be any of the following.

 The application form for the vacancy is badly-designed, and applicants do not

provide enough relevant information about themselves. A candidate may

therefore be offered the job when there is insufficient relevant information about

him or her.

 The selection techniques are inappropriate.

 The individuals making the selection (for example, the individuals doing the

selection interviews) are not trained in selection, and do not have the necessary

skills to do the task well.

 The effectiveness of the selection process is not monitored and reviewed

regularly, so that the need to improve the selection system is not recognised.

As a result, the best applicants are not selected, and in some cases unsuitable

candidates are offered the job.

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Effective recruitment

 A plan for the recruitment process

 Advertising the vacancy

 Methods of advertising vacancies

 Job application form

 References

2 Effective recruitment

2.1 A plan for the recruitment process

Recruitment should be properly planned. The main aspects of recruitment are as

follows:

Job analysis

A job analysis involves looking at a job and identifying what it consists of (or what it

will consist of). The purpose of a job analysis is to recognise what tasks the job holder

will be expected to do, and what tasks will take up most of the job-holder’s time. An

analysis of the job will also show what particular skills are required to do the job.

The purpose of a job analysis is to:

 produce a detailed specification of the job (a ‘job description’) and

 produce a specification of the qualities needed from the individual who will do

the job (a ‘person specification’).

Job descriptions and person specifications are described in more detail later.

Chapter 10: Recruitment and selection

2.2 Advertising the vacancy

Jobs must be brought to the attention of individuals who might want to apply for

them.

Internal and external recruitment

A job vacancy might be ‘advertised’:

 within the organisation (internally) to existing employees

 externally, to people outside the organisation

 both internally and externally.

Both internal promotion and external recruitment have their advantages.

Internal promotion advantages External recruitment advantages

Internal promotion can help to improve

the morale and motivation of the work

force.

The organisation might not have

employees with the skills required for

the job.

Internal recruitment may be preferred over

external recruitment in order to provide a

career development opportunity to

existing employees. Good employees

might leave to find work somewhere else

unless they are given promotion

opportunities.

External recruitment may be desirable

to introduce ‘fresh thinking’ and new

ideas into the organisation.

The employer will know quite a lot about

its existing employees – how they have

performed at work so far, and the nature

of their strengths and weaknesses. Making

appointments internally may therefore be

less risky than an external appointment.

Recruits from other organisations will

bring their knowledge and experience

of working practices in those other

organisations.

Existing employees will understand the

culture of the organisation and how it

operates. Training requirements for a

promoted person should not be extensive.

There may not be an existing employee

who is the right person for the job.

Appointments to senior management

positions, for example, are often made

by external recruitment.

The employees may already know the

people they will be working with, if they

are successful in getting the job.

There might be more vacancies than

there are candidates to fill them by

internal promotion.

Internal promotion is an inexpensive

method of recruitment – avoiding the costs

of advertising or recruitment consultants’

fees. Internal recruitment may also be

much quicker.

The vacancies may be for junior jobs

that existing employees do not want to

apply for.

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Internal appointments are often made to

fill the vacancy for a supervisor. This is

because supervisors usually need a

detailed understanding of the operations

and procedures they will supervise.

Existing employees often have this

detailed knowledge.

2.3 Methods of advertising vacancies

The methods used to advertise job vacancies should depend on:

 whether the vacancies are advertised internally or externally, and

 the nature of the job or jobs.

The aim should be to:

 select an effective method of advertising, so that there will be a suitable number

of applicants for the job, and

 avoid excessive spending: choose a cost-effective method of advertising.

Several methods of advertising the same job vacancy (or vacancies) might be used.

You should already be familiar with the various ways of advertising job vacancies.

The main methods are described briefly below.

Recruitment agencies

An organisation may notify its job vacancies to an external recruitment agency. The

agency attracts individuals looking for a job, and tries to match individuals ‘on its

books’ with the job vacancies.

Many recruitment agencies specialise in finding applicants for particular types of

job, such as:

 jobs in book-keeping and accountancy

 secretarial work

 information technology (IT) workers.

Some recruitment agencies (‘head hunters’) specialise in finding suitable external

applicants for senior management positions.

The government may have an employment service for unemployed job seekers, and

vacancies can be notified to the local office of this government service. An

advantage for employers of using a government recruitment service is that it is

likely to be much less expensive than using a commercial recruitment agency.

Chapter 10: Recruitment and selection

Media advertising

An organisation (or a recruitment agency) may advertise job vacancies in the media.

 A national newspaper may be used to advertise vacancies for managers, some

professional staff and some senior technical staff. A specific national newspaper

may be used to advertise vacancies in a particular industry, because many

individuals looking for jobs in that industry buy the newspaper. For example in

the UK, the Financial Times newspaper is often used to advertise senior

vacancies in banking, and the Guardian newspaper is often used by firms in the

media industry to advertise their job vacancies.

 A local newspaper may be used to advertise jobs where only local people are

expected to be interested in applying. Advertisements in local newspapers are

much less expensive than national newspaper advertisements, but the

circulation (number of copies distributed) is also much smaller.

 Specialist journals and magazines are used to advertise job vacancies in

particular industries. Most industries have their own specialist journals or

magazines, that are read or seen by a large number of people in the industry. A

particular advantage of advertising in ‘trade magazines’ is that the advertising is

focused at readers who are involved in the industry, and so who are most likely

to be interested in vacancies for technical jobs in that industry.

 Radio or television might be used to advertise job vacancies, but this unusual –

especially TV advertising. These forms of media are usually very expensive,

because of the large numbers of viewers or listeners. At the same time, many

viewers or listeners will not be interested in any job vacancies that are

advertised. Radio and television advertising are therefore both expensive and

usually ineffective.

Media advertising or recruitment agency?

When jobs are advertised externally, the main methods of recruitment are using a

recruitment agency or advertising the vacancy in the media. Only one, not both, of

these methods should be used for the same job vacancy at any one time.

 Recruitment agencies usually operate on a ‘no win, no fee’ basis. An agency will

charge a high fee if it is successful. However, it is not usually paid a fee unless it

is successful in finding an individual who is subsequently appointed to fill the

job vacancy.

 Advertising is less expensive than using a recruitment agency, but only if it

attracts applicants and only if the job vacancy is then filled. If an advertisement

is unsuccessful, the spending on the advertising is ‘lost’ or ‘wasted’.

Other methods of recruiting

Other methods may be used to attract applicants for job vacancies and identify

individuals to include in the selection process.

 The internet. Many organisations advertise job vacancies – both internally and

externally – on their own web site. Advertising on the organisation’s own web

site is inexpensive. Many recruitment agencies also advertise job vacancies on

the internet, as another way of attracting individuals to contact them and use

their services to find a job.

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 An organisation may keep a list of individuals who have written in the past to

ask for a job, or who applied for a vacancy in the past and were not employed

because a better candidate was offered the job. These individuals can be

contacted, asked if they are still looking for a job and invited to apply for the

vacancy that now exists.

Identifying candidates for internal recruitment and selection

When vacancies are filled by internal recruitment, the following methods may be

used, individually or together:

 Performance reports and appraisals of individuals. Senior managers might

recommend, as part of the regular process of performance appraisal of staff,

whether particular employees are now ready for promotion. Employees who are

ready for promotion may be invited to apply for a more senior job when a

vacancy arises.

 The ‘in-house’ or company magazine. Some organisations publish an in-house

magazine. This may be used to advertise job vacancies internally.

 The organisation’s website. The website can be used to advertise job vacancies

to existing staff as well as externally.

2.4 Job application form

Applicants for a job are often asked to fill in a job application form. This is usually a

standard application form, used by an organisation for all its job vacancies. Each

applicant for the job fills in an application form, providing some basic information

about himself or herself. In many cases, the applicant for a job is also asked to write

a covering letter to accompany the job application form, stating briefly why he or

she is applying for the job.

An application form usually asks questions about the following.

 Personal details about the applicant – name, address, contact telephone number

or e-mail address, age.

 Details of education and educational qualifications, or other formal

qualifications (diplomas, certificates and so on).

 Details of the individual’s current job (possibly including details of the

applicant’s current wage or salary) and previous work experience

 The applicant’s social and leisure interests and activities.

An application form also includes a question asking the applicant to explain why he

wants the job, or what he is hoping to achieve in his future career. The form should

leave enough space for the applicant to provide a lengthy answer to this type of

question.

Chapter 10: Recruitment and selection

The purpose of a job application form

A job application form serves several useful purposes.

 It provides basic details about the applicant for a job, so that the organisation is

able to contact him or her.

 It gives the applicant for a job an opportunity to ‘sell’ himself or herself to the

organisation. The way in which the application form is filled in, and the

information it provides, could make the difference between getting a selection

interview and not being invited to an interview.

 When a job is advertised externally, there are often many more applicants than

the organisation has time or resources to interview. The job application forms

from all the applicants are compared, and the numbers invited for an interview

can be restricted to a manageable number.

 The organisation is able to use the job application forms from all the applicants

to make an initial comparison of the candidates, and to rank them in order of

preference for interview into:

- ‘probables’: candidates to invite for interview

- ‘possibles’: candidates to invite for interview only if the ‘probables’ decide

not to come for interview or if the ‘probables’ are interviewed and none of

them are found suitable

- ‘definitely not’ – individuals who are clearly unsuited for the job, for

example because they are not sufficiently qualified.

The effectiveness of a job application form

Job application forms have only a limited value.

 They usually contain only superficial information about the applicant. Although

this information might be used to rank the applicants, and identify individuals

who are clearly not suitable for the job, the application forms cannot be used to

identify the best candidate for the job. For example, they cannot be used to

assess the qualities of the applicants, such as their intelligence, motivation and

social/inter-personal skills.

 Applicants might provide false information, particularly about their

qualifications and experience. It is impractical to check every application form

for honesty. However, checks ought to be carried out on the information that has

been provided by the individual who is eventually selected to fill the vacancy –

simply to make sure that it is correct.

2.5 References

On a job application form, applicants for a job are often asked to provide the name

and address of one or two ‘referees’. The preferred referees are typically:

 a former employer, senior manager or supervisor that the applicant has worked

for in the past, or the applicant’s current employer or boss, or

 if the applicant has not had a job before, a senior teacher or course tutor who has

taught the individual, or

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 an eminent person who knows the applicant socially, such as a religious leader,

a solicitor, a doctor or an accountant.

The application form might state that the organisation reserves the right to contact

the referee to obtain a reference about the individual, and an opinion about the

suitability of the individual (the applicant for the job) for employment. The

organisation should normally ask for these references only if it intends to offer the

job to the individual. Alternatively, an individual may be offered the job ‘subject to

satisfactory references’.

A reference is usually in a form of a letter from the referee. Alternatively, the referee

might be asked to complete a special questionnaire.

A reference may provide useful information about the applicant, and may:

 confirm matters of fact that the applicant has stated in the application form and

in the selection interview, such as facts about his or her education, qualifications

and previous employment

 confirm impressions about the character of the individual and his or her

suitability for the job. For example, a previous employer may give an opinion

about the applicant’s skills and attitudes towards work, and about his or her

performance in the previous job.

The problem with references

The main problem with references is that the referee may not give an honest opinion

about the individual. In particular, a referee may be reluctant to write anything

critical about the individual, not wanting to damage his or her chances of getting the

job. (There may also be a risk of legal action against the referee by the applicant, if

the information in the reference is unfair. This concern may prevent the referee from

writing anything worse than mildly critical.)

ACCA F1 Accountant in Business - 2010 - Study text - Emile Woolf Publishing

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