Concept of Recruitment, Policies and Difference between Recruitment and Selection

Concept of Recruitment

Recruitment forms the first stage in the process, which continues with selection and ceases with the placement of the candidate. Recruiting makes it possible to acquire the number and types of people necessary to ensure the continued operations of the organization. Recruiting is the discovering of potential applicants for actual or anticipated organizational vacancies. In other words, it

is a ‘Linking activity’ beginning together those with jobs and those seeking jobs.

According to Decenzo and Robbins, “Recruiting is the discovering of potential candidates for actual or anticipated organizational vacancies.”

According to Dale Yoder, “Recruitment is a process to discover the sources of manpower to meet the requirements of the staffing schedule and to employ effective measures for attracting that manpower in adequate numbers to facilitate effective selection of an efficient working force.”

Factors Influencing Recruitment

There are a number of factors that affect recruitment. These are broadly classified into categories:
Internal Factors
The internal factors also called endogenous factors are the factors within the organization that affect recruiting personnel in the organization. Some of these are mentioned here.

1. Size of the Organization: The size of an organization affects the recruitment process. Experience suggests that larger organizations find recruitment less problematic than organizations with smaller in size.
2. Recruiting Policy: The recruiting policy of the organization i.e., recruiting from internal sources (from own employees) and from external sources (from outside the organization) also affects recruitment process. Generally, recruiting through internal sourcing is preferred, because own employees know the organization and they can well fit into the organization’s culture.
3. Image of Organization: Image of an organization is another internal factor having its influence on the recruitment process of the organization. Good image of the organization earned by a number of overt and covert actions by management, helps attract potential and competent candidates. Managerial actions like good public relations, rendering public services like construction of road, public parks, hospitals and schools help to earn image or goodwill for the organization. That is why blue chip companies attract large number of applications.
4. Image of Job: Just as image of organization affects recruitment, so does the image of a job also. Better remuneration and working conditions are considered the characteristics of good image of a job. Besides, promotion and career development policies of organization also attract potential candidates.

External Factors
Like internal factors, there are some external factors to an organization, which have their influence on recruitment process. Some of these are given below:

1. Demographic Factors: As demographic factors are intimately related to human beings, i.e., employees, these have profound influence on recruitment process. Demographic factors include sex, age, literacy, economic status etc.
2. Labour Market: Labour market conditions i.e., supply and demand of labour is of particular importance in affecting recruitment process. For example, if the demand for a specific skill is high relative to its supply, recruiting employees will involve more efforts. On the contrary, if supply is more than demand for a particular skill, recruitment will be relatively easier.
3. Unemployment Situation: The rate of unemployment is yet another external factor having its influence on the recruitment process. When the unemployment rate in a given areas is high, the recruitment process tends to be simpler. The reason is not difficult to seek. The number of applicants is expectedly very high which makes easier to attract the best qualified applicants. The reverse is also true. With a low rate of employment, recruiting process tends to become difficult.
4. Labour Laws: There are several labour laws and regulations passed by the Central Governments that govern different types of employment. These cover working conditions, compensation, retirement benefits, and safety and health of employees in industrial undertakings.
5. Legal Considerations: Another external factor is legal considerations with regard to employment. Reservation of jobs for the scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, and other backward classed (OUCs) is the popular example of such legal consideration. The Government of Nepal (GON) has also given its verdict in favour of jobs and seats to these groups. 

Development of Recruitment Policies
Legal and labour market issues as a framework for setting recruitment policies, let us consider four different possible company postures.

1. Passive non-discrimination is a commitment to treat all races and both sexes equally in all decisions about hiring, promotion, and pay. No attempt is made to recruit actively among prospective minority applicants. This posture fails to recognize that discriminate practices in the past may black prospective applicants from seeking present job opportunities.
2. Pure affirmative action is a concern effort by the organization actively on expands the pool of applicants so that no one is excluded because of past or present discrimination. However, the decision to hire or to promote is based on the best-qualified individual regardless of race or sex.
3. Affirmative action with preferential hiring goes further than pure affirmative action. It is systematically favours women and minorities in hiring and promotion decisions. This is a “soft-quota” system.
4. Hard quotas represent a mandate to hire or promote specific numbers or proportions of women or minority-group members.

Difference between Recruitment and Selection

Recruitment	Selection
1. Recruitment technically precedes selection.	1. Selection follows requirement.
2. Recruitment refers to the process of identifying and encouraging potential candidates to apply for jobs in the organizations.	2. Selection involves choosing the best out of those recruited.
3. Recruitment is positive as it aims at increasing the number of jobseekers (applicants) for wider choice or increasing the selection ratio.	3. Selection, on the other hand, is said to be negative in its application in as much as it rejects a large number of unqualified applicants in order to identify those who are suitable for the jobs.
4. In sum, recruitment involves searching.	4. Selection involves comparing those already searched.