ASIAN JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT RESEARCH Online Open Access publishing platform for Management Research Copyright 2010 All rights reserved Integrated Publishing association Review Article ISSN 2229 3795 ABSTRACT Impact of Online Recruitment On Recruitment Performance Navdeep Kumar 1, Pankaj Garg 2 1 Mechancial Engineering Department, Thapar University, Patiala, Punjab, India 2 ACS Pvt.. Ltd., India navdeepgarg_tiet@yahoo.com Competitive organizations of the future have to attract and retain the best and outstanding employees to remain competitive in the market. The Internet allows organizations to reach a large number of candidates easily and efficiently. Although the World Wide Web is becoming the hot new recruiting tool, traditional methods, such as newspaper advertising, are not yet obsolete. Local newspapers are the preferred advertising medium for non management positions, and national newspapers are widely used to recruit managerial/professional candidates. This paper identifies Internet recruitment methods from relevant literature, and describes how their benefits can influence the recruitment performance. Keywords: Internet; recruitment; performance, employees. 1. Introduction Recruitment, as a human resource management function, is one of the activities that impact most critically on the performance of an organization. While it is understood and accepted that poor recruitment decisions continue to affect organizational performance and limit goal achievement, it is taking a long time for public service agencies in many jurisdictions to identify and implement new, effective hiring strategies. Acquiring and retaining high quality talent is critical to an organization s success. As the job market becomes increasingly competitive and the available skills grow more diverse, recruiters need to be more selective in their choices, since poor recruiting decisions can produce long term negative effects, among them high training and development costs to minimize the incidence of poor performance and high turnover which, in turn, impact staff morale, the production of high quality goods and services and the retention of organizational memory. At worst, the organization can fail to achieve its objectives thereby losing its competitive edge and its share of the market. The quality of options an organization offers can influence how effective it perceives its recruiting strategies to be. Overwhelmingly, organizations use internal job postings and employee referrals to recruit candidate for both managerial and non managerial positions. Many companies also place job postings on their company web site to attract candidates. These are relatively easy, inexpensive ways to identify candidates both inside and outside the company. Internal job posting programs are also an excellent method of providing promotion opportunities for employees and minimizing employee complaints of unfair treatment and discrimination. The process of recruiting has changed enormously by using the Internet technology. It is increasingly ASIAN JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT RESEARCH 327
being used by both large and small organizations and is becoming a favored medium of both employers and job seekers (Daft RL, 2000 ;Kuhn PK, 2000) 2. Recruitment Recruitment is the process of identifying and attracting potential candidates from within and outside an organization to begin evaluating them for future employment. Once candidates are identified, an organization can begin the selection process. This includes collecting, measuring, and evaluating information about candidates qualifications for specified positions. Organizations use these processes to increase the likelihood of hiring individuals who possess the right skills and abilities to be successful at their jobs. Also related to the success of a recruitment process are the strategies an organization is prepared to employ in order to identify and select the best candidates for its developing pool of human resources. Organizations seeking recruits for base level entry positions often require minimum qualifications and experience. These applicants are usually recent high school or university/ technical college graduates many of whom have not yet made clear decisions about future careers or are contemplating engaging in advanced academic activity. At the middle levels, senior administrative, technical and junior executive positions are often filled internally. The push for scarce, high quality talent, often recruited from external sources, has usually been at the senior executive levels. Most organizations utilize both mechanisms to effect recruitment to all levels. The recruitment process is the first part of the hiring process; the second part of the hiring process is the selection process.( Maarten Veger, JA,2006).Therefore first an applicant pool is built, and out of that pool a selection is made of which applicants will be hired. Daft distinguished four steps in this hiring process: (1) predicting the need for new employees based on the type of vacancies that exists, (2) using recruiting procedures to communicate with potential applicants, (3) selecting from the applicants those persons believed to be the best potential contributors to the organization, and (4) welcoming the new employee(s) into the organization.(daft RL,2000).The first and second steps are relevant in this research: the recruitment planning and the recruitment activities itself. Breaugh and Starke offer a framework of the organizational recruitment process; the steps that they distinguish are listed in figure 1. ( Breaugh, JA, Starke,2000) 2.1 The Traditional Recruitment Process The traditional starting point for recruitment is a job description and a job specification. The job description describes the work activities or job responsibilities of the successful job incumbent. The job specification specifies the qualifications an individual should possess in order to carry out the work. Qualifications are usually expressed as the minimum education, experience, and other requirements necessary to do the job. Some employers also use a job requisition, which justifies the creation of a new position or the replacement of a departing worker. The traditional recruitment process requires HR practitioners to carry out four predictable steps, as shown in Figure 2. (David D. Duboise, William Rothwell,2004) ASIAN JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT RESEARCH 328
Figure 1: Model of the organizational recruitment process of Breaugh and Starke 2.1.1 Step 1: Clarify the position to be filled through recruitment Employers act according to different philosophies of recruitment. One philosophy suggests recruiting continuously that is, without regard to the number of vacant positions. For instance, an engineering firm may recruit engineers all the time so that an appropriate applicant pool is available whenever an opening occurs. According to another philosophy, recruitment should be carried out selectively and only as necessary to fill openings as they occur. For instance, a firm may identify three management trainees as due for promotion, reassignment, or turnover. Recruitment at this firm is then targeted to fill the three openings. 2.1.2 Step 2: Review and update job descriptions and specifications for the position Job descriptions, after all, clarify the tasks successful applicants will perform on the job. Job specifications enumerate the required qualifications. Without current job descriptions and specifications, HR practitioners cannot screen applicants by comparing individual qualifications to work requirements. 2.1.3 Step 3: Identify possible sources of qualified applicants Recruitment is perhaps most often associated with this step. In the broadest sense, of course, applicants may come from inside or outside the organization. There are a number of advantages associated with recruiting from within. Internal recruitment maximizes the return on the organization's investment in its employees. By seeking internal applicants, management gains increased awareness of individuals who are interested in furthering their careers and reduces time spent on orientation and training for persons with whom it is already familiar. Applicants may be found internally through job posting and bidding and by supervisory nominations. Methods of external recruitment include newspaper, radio, and television advertisements; help wanted signs; database searches of previous candidates; public and private employment agencies and search firms; educational institutions; employee referrals; advertisements with professional associations and labor unions; temporary help agencies; and Web site advertisements. ASIAN JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT RESEARCH 329
Position Clarification to be filled through recruitment Review & Update of Job descriptions & Specifications Identifying possible sources of qualified applicants Selection of most appropriate way to communicate Figure 2: Traditional Recruitment Process 2.1.4 Step 4: Selection of most effective means of communication & attracting qualified applicants This step usually involves marketing the organization to prospective applicants. After all, people often self select themselves, which means they choose to apply based on the perception that an organization's image matches their own self image. HR practitioners are familiar with methods of communicating with possible applicants. These include open houses, campus visits, and presentations to groups of possible targeted job applicants, internships, and school to work programs 3. Problem Overview Three critical recruitment processes have been transformed by the Internet: how organizations attract, search for and choose applicants.(searle, RH. Opinion,2003) Using the Internet for recruitment instead of traditional methods can have multiple benefits for organizations like lower costs, saving time, more information about applicants, and reaching a broader audience. Therefore many organizations use the Internet for the recruitment process, but different methods are used. The recruitment process starts with establishing recruitment objectives, and ends with comparing the recruitment outcomes to the objectives. It is likely that the use of Internet has a positive influence on the performance of the recruitment process. The goal of this research is to find out how Internet changed the recruitment process, and how these changes can effect the performance of the recruitment process. The main research question will be: How is the Internet being used in the recruitment process, and what impact does this have on the performance of the recruitment process? ASIAN JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT RESEARCH 330
4. Internet Recruitment The process of recruiting has changed enormously by using the Internet. It is increasingly being used by both large and small organizations and is becoming a favored medium of both employers and job seekers (Daft RL, 2000; Kuhn, PK 2000).Table 1 shows that the Internet was responsible for 22.3 percent of the external hires in large US organizations in 2009 (Crispin, G, Mehler, M,2009 10). The term Internet recruitment is defined in many different ways. Hausdorf and Duncan state that Internet recruitment involves the use of the Internet as a channel trough which jobs are posted and information is provided with respect to the application process (Hausdorf, PA, Duncan D,2004).Kuhn defines Internet recruitment as taking advantage of Internet technology to fill vacancies of an organization.(kuhn, PK,2003).The definition of Internet recruitment of Lievens and Harris best reflects the view of this research and therefore will be used in this paper: any method of attracting applicants to apply for a job that relies heavily on the Internet.(Lievens, F, Harris, MM, 2003). Table 1: Sources of External Hires Sources 2009 2008 2007 Referrals 26.7 27.3 28.2 Corp.Web 22.3 20.1 14 Job Boards 13.2 12.3 11.7 Others 10.1 10.1 12.5 Dir. Sourcing 6.9 7.8 9.4 College 6.3 3.6 3.8 Print 2.5 3.4 4.6 Career Fairs 2.3 3.2 2.3 Walk ins 2.5 0.8 0.8 Agency 2.3 2.7 3.3 Temp to hire 1.6 3.1 3 4.1 Literature Overview Harris makes a distinction with respect to Internet recruitment methods between we find you approaches and you find us approaches as shown in table 2. We find you approaches refer to methods where the organizational recruiter searches for applicants, you find us approaches refer to methods where the organization placed a job ad and the initiative to apply lies with the potential job applicant.(harris, MM, 2004).This distinction is used to categorize the methods that are identified in literature. The we find you approaches are also referred to as e recruiting.(lievens, F, Harris, MM, 2003). ASIAN JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT RESEARCH 331
30 25 20 15 10 5 0 2009 2008 2006 Referrals Corp.Web Job Boards Others Dir. Sourcing College Print Career Fairs Walk ins Agency Temp to hire Chart 1: Sources of External Hires Table 2: Recruitment approaches First, almost all relevant literature distinguishes the use of job boards to recruit, also referred to as career enhancement sites (Hausdorf PA, Duncan D,2004 ; Harris, MM 2004; Kuhn, PK 2003; Yakubovich V,Lup D,2005). Job boards are similar to job ads in newspapers: they contain a listing of job opportunities, and resumes of job applicants. Therefore job boards can be used twofold by recruiters: To post jobs, but also to search for resumes that are posted by potential job applicants; so using job boards can be categorized as respectively a you find us and a we findyou approach. People can post their resumes from all over the world 24 hours a day, while search mechanisms are used so recruiters can search for applicants with relevant skills and experience.(lievens F, Harris MM, 2003).Examples of some effective job boards are monster.com, career builder, and hotjobs.com; these three job boards produced 22.3 percent of all Internet hires by large US organizations in 2009 (Crispin, G, Mehler, M, 2009 10). ASIAN JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT RESEARCH 332
Second, almost all relevant literature also distinguishes the use of organizational career websites, also referred to as company websites or professional organization websites. (Hausdorf PA, Duncan D,2004 ; Harris, MM 2004; Kuhn, PK 2003; Yakubovich V,Lup D,2005; Rooy, DL Van, Alonso A, Fairchild, Z 2003). Using organizational career websites is similar to using job boards. They can be used to post jobs and to search for resumes; so using organizational websites is also a you find us and a we find you approach. Organizations can extend the functionality of posting jobs on their career websites by setting up an online application procedure. The methods that are identified in literature can be used next to each other in the recruitment process. The actors that are involved in all methods are the organizational recruiters and the potential job applicants. In some methods a third party is part of the recruitment process, for example the jobs board organization and the name generation firms. 4.2 Internet Recruitment Performance As the Internet makes business and communication cheaper, faster, and easier, many of these advantages naturally extend to corporate recruiting. Companies have their own Web sites where they post openings, which is cheaper than traditional ads. Applicants and employers e mail responses and resumes, accelerating communication. Modifying postings by a mouse click makes updating information easier. Additionally, the Internet enables wider geographic reach, round the clock information access, and an attractive means of projecting a good multimedia public image. While offering significant advantages to corporate recruiting, however, the Internet is no panacea for the complicated process of hiring the right employees. Because of the wide use of Internet for recruiting, it must have benefits over traditional methods.. Online recruitment uses the power of the internet to match people to jobs. Fundamentally, it is about advertising vacancies on either job sites or corporate websites. At this very basic level it is particularly effective at getting a high level of response. While it may generate hundreds more applications than traditional print advertising, simply attracting more candidates is only part of the job. Although many benefits of Internet recruiting may exist, they are specific for organizations because each organization has its own strategy and goals; recruitment goals have to be aligned with the organizational strategy to create a competitive organization and so the meaning of effectiveness differs between organizations. The organizational strategy is translated into recruitment objectives in the first step of the model of the organizational recruitment process of Breaugh and Starke; in the fifth and last step, the result of the recruitment activities is evaluated.(breaugh, JA, Starke, 2000).To evaluate the performance of the recruitment process, the recruitment objectives have to be measured. But how can organizations develop recruitment performance measures that support their strategy? The following section will explain & review a strategic performance measurement approach for the recruitment process. 4.3 Recruitment process performance measurement The Human Resources scorecard is a strategic performance measurement approach that matches business strategy against HR deliverables and objectives, to provide a statistical basis by which HR efficiency and contribution to strategy implementation can be measured. (Summaries.com, 2001).The HR scorecard is a management tool which allows a business to: Manage HR as a strategic asset and a source of competitive advantage; ASIAN JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT RESEARCH 333
Quantitatively demonstrate HR s contribution to the organization s financial and bottom line profitability; results Create and measure the degree of alignment between the strategy of the business and its HR architecture. The HR Scorecard makes it possible for HR to enhance its role as a strategic business asset; therefore the HR Scorecard includes a seven step model for using HR as a strategic business asset. The seven steps are listed in table 3. (Summaries.com, 2001). Table 3: Seven step model of the HR Scorecard approach Seven Steps of Model 1. Clarification & articulation of the organizational strategy 2. Develop the business case for HR as a strategic asset 3. Creation of strategy map for the organization 4. Identify HR deliverables within the strategy map 5. Align the HR architecture with HR deliverables : HR function HR system Strategic employee behaviors 6. Design the strategic measurement system : The HR Scorecard Results measurements : Tangible and intangible 7. Executive management by measurement The measures in the business case are useful if they capture both the amount of something and the cause, if they have context, if they are unambiguous, if they are simple, and if they contribute in meaningful ways to overall performance evaluation After finishing the business case, a strategy map has to be created which shows how the organization creates value, and details which organizational processes and capabilities drive organizational performance. This is the third step in the model. The strategy map should outline how the six core HR competencies are integrated and measured, these are: Knowledge of the organization, delivery of human resource services, management of culture, management of change, personal credibility, and strategic HR performance management. The result of this third step are leading and lagging business indicators. With this strategy map, HR managers should identify all HR performance drivers and HR enablers or deliverables that exist in it. This is the fourth step in the model. By identifying those drivers and enablers, HR policies that enhance those factors can then be developed. The fifth step includes aligning the HR architecture with HR deliverables. To align the HR system with the organizational strategy implementation system, a competency model and development program will be needed to generate the requisite HR deliverables. With respect to recruiting, an ASIAN JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT RESEARCH 334
HR deliverable could be an applicant pool or an online application system. After alignment, the HR strategic measurement system has to be designed which includes the HR scorecard. A HR scorecard has four basic dimensions: HR deliverables; The high performance work system consisting of HR Policies, processes, and practices; External HR system alignment measures; HR efficiency measures. The last step comprises the implementation and use of the HR scorecard. The use of the HR scorecard is a continuous process in which HR managers monitor their input into the organizational results on an ongoing basis, and with these making periodic adjustments to ensure the HR architecture remains aligned with the evolving strategy. 5. Conclusion and Discussions Based on quantitative research as well as findings from existing literature, we showed the increasing importance of information technology for recruitment processes. While traditional recruitment may not require any particular technology, online recruitment is reliant on a wide range of information and communication technologies and access to them by the general public. Viewing technology just as contingency will limit research to establishing economic rationality of automating recruitment tasks and changes in routines, while technology in this case plays a wider societal role, and may affect livelihoods of individuals and organizations. A better understanding of the organizational concept of e recruitment might be achieved by studying how external environment and a society in general affect organization of e recruitment and it utilization, and an institutional perspective can be potentially beneficial. Also more studies of how different elements of organizing of e recruitment add to efficiency and effectiveness of the recruitment process can shed light on which elements are more crucial than others. Therefore research should be done on if, how, and why the Internet increases performance for organizational recruiting, and how specific Internet recruitment methods attribute to this performance. References 1. Breaugh, JA, Starke.(2000)M. Research on employee recruitment: So many studies, so many remaining questions. Journal of management,vol. 26, no. 3, pp 405 434. 2. Crispin, G, Mehler, M. CareerXRoads 4 annual Sources of hire 2004. 2005, http://www.careerxroads.com/news/sourcesofhire04.pdf 3. Crispin, G, Mehler, M. CareerXRoads 4 annual Sources of hire 2010. 2009, http://www.careerxroads.com/news/sourcesofhire10.pdf 4. Daft, RL (2000). Management, Fifth edition, The Dryden Press. ASIAN JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT RESEARCH 335
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