Recruitment and Selection Process Reasons its Importance

In human resource management, “recruitment” can be defined as the process of finding and hiring the most talented and most qualified candidate for a job position, in a timely, fair/unbiased and cost-effective manner. It can also be referred to as the “process of finding contributing employees and stimulating and encouraging them to apply for particular jobs in an organization or company”. It is one entire process, with a full life cycle, that begins with identification of the needs of the company with respect to the job, searching for potential candidates and ends with the candidate becoming a part of the organization.

Selection refers to the process of picking or choosing the right candidate, who is most appropriate for a vacant job position or role in an organization. In others words, selection can also be explained as the process of interviewing the candidates and analyzing their skills and qualities, which are required for a specific job and finally choosing the most suitable candidate for the position. The selection of a right applicant for a vacant position acts as an asset to the organization, which will ultimately help the organization in reaching its objectives and goals. Both recruitment and selection work hand in hand and play a crucial role in the overall growth and success of an organization.

Thus in this article we are going to discuss about recruitment and selection importance.

Importance of Recruitment and Selection

In business, organizations are as good as the people they hire and work with day in and day out. An effective and successful recruitment selection process clearly identifies a company’s needs and matches them with the right candidate, who will contribute and fit into the organization both on paper and in practice. When an organization builds its team with top talented people who are serious about the company and the job, as well as interested in cooperating with others, the overall organization is better set up for growth and success in the marketplace.

Since the success of any company depends on the people they hire, recruiting and selection can literally make or break any business. It costs money and time to search for employees, screen them, hire them, keep them on payroll and offer them benefits as well. If an organization finds the wrong match for the position or role, there are additional expenses incurred in the form of severance pay and repeating the hiring process all over again.

Recruitment and selection importance is a part of HR function which makes a great impact on the revenue growth, the profit margins and the overall success of a company as against to other tasks such as retention, on-boarding, leadership development and managing talent. In addition, recruitment and selection process is also more important than restructuring the organization, work/ life balance and strategic HR, simply because employees and their hard work are the foundation of any successful business.

Recruitment and selection process in an organization is important in order to attract an effective and talented workforce. This is important because it would ultimately determine the success of the business and would affect the whole organization operation. Thus, one of the most valuable assets in an organization is the employees.

Importance of Recruitment in Organizations

Recruitment is defined as the process of attracting individuals on a timely basis in an effective and systematic manner, in sufficient numbers, who have appropriate qualifications and skills, and encouraging them to apply for jobs with an organization. The objective of recruitment is to attain the number and quality of employees that can be chosen to fill a position and help the organization achieve its objectives and goals. Recruitment also helps to create a group of potential employees for the organization in order for the management to select the right candidate for the right job.

Also because the current employees had gone through the training or assessment centre provided by the company, it takes the employee much less time to adapt and become efficient and effective to the new job since the employee is already familiar with their job. In this sense, the current employees is someone who is capable for the vacant job in the company. This causes promotion from within. Besides, online recruitment or e-recruitment is economical. This eliminates the cost of advertising, interviewing, training and development since the current employee is familiar with his/her work.

Also, current employees have worked for the company for some period of time. So they are able to fit in within the #organizational culture. For instance, employees who work hard with their co-workers improve the efficiency and productivity of the organization because a person work in a good and cooperative work environment will improve the productivity of the organization. Besides, this internal recruitment practice could motivate the employees to work for better results and get promoted. The primary advantage of e-recruiting is that it saves cost on promoting company vacancy because it is free since it is placed on their website. Secondly, it is also easy to publish an online advertisement.

Thus the importance of recruitment in a company lies in the reality that how the company recruits will influence who it attracts to apply, which results in either a good hire of a good employee or a bunch of wrong fits. So, what a company is looking for should influence where and how it recruits. For instance, if a company is looking for product innovation in a tech company, it will set up a booth at tech and design school job fairs.

Importance of Selection in Organizations

Selection can be defined as the process of choosing from a group of applicants the candidate best suited for a particular position or role in an organization. The primary goal of selection is to recruit the candidate who is the most suitable for the job tasks and the culture of the organization. Using the right selection methods and delivering them effectively is important to hire good candidates. Human resource managers can ensure good selection by determining effective selection tools with the job when job analysis is carefully done. Proper selection of candidates can reduce the cost of training because qualified and talented candidates can perform well and achieve organizational goals better. Good selection is also important as it reduces employee problems in the organization such as labor turnover, absenteeism and conflicts at work.

Without a good selection process in place, hiring managers might be tempted to hire only the first qualified person who comes along, or to hire the people they like the best but are actually not the best for the job. The importance of selection is not just about finding a person to do the job, but about finding the person who is the best fit for the open position. This person often stands out because of the following characteristics –

1. They are qualified for the job in terms of training and qualifications.
2. They are easy to get along with.
3. They are determined to contribute to the organization.
4. They are knowledgeable in their area of expertise.

These are traits that cannot always be seen by merely looking at a resume. As the selection process progresses, certain candidates connect well on the phone, pass exams very well, and communicate well with hiring managers or excel during a mock day-on-the-job. These candidates who standout help in eliminating those in the candidate pool who are good candidates but who don’t perform quite as well. In other words, the importance of selection to any organization is the fact that it –

1. Saves money in the long run by finding dependable, permanent and hard working employees.
2. Connects the right people to open positions and jobs.
3. Identifies candidates who click with the company and the other employees.
4. Looks for the best suitable person for the job, rather than merely a qualified person.
5. Applicants are required to give a selection test. All the results obtained from the selection test/tests are standardized and uniform. Hence, it is faster to make comparisons between applicants, directly increasing the efficiency of selection process.

Having good hard working employees is the number one goal for any organization. Establishing a job description and advertising in places where the company know it will be able to attract people with the right set of skills is the first important step. It is also important to identify which tasks does the recruit need to complete and whether or not you are capable of training them. Management of any large corporation tells that finding good, loyal and hard working talent is hard.

Hence, enough time should be taken to develop a recruiting process that is constantly looking for people with the skills one needs and the motivation to work. A good recruitment and selection process not only finds great employees but also saves time and money on replacing and training new people all over again. Hence, recruitment and selection importance is a part of every organization.

Most HR departments use a major part of their time, effort and money in just managing employees, and as a result, they are usually unable to adequately deal with and fulfill the organization’s hiring needs and employ good candidates. Inevitably, organizations end up hiring too many or too little employees to fill vacancies, which is clearly not appropriate.

If the number of employees in a department exceeds the need, then the organization will suffer a loss, as the cost of maintaining that department and its employees increases in comparison to its earnings. On the other hand, if a key position is left vacant then that causes losses too as it directly results in reduced corporate revenue and important tasks are left undone. Today, we need a shift from the traditional concept of recruitment and selection that treats all job vacancies equally to one that prioritizes each vacancy.

A perfect balance of employees and work needs to be maintained in all organizations. In addition, an organization needs to ensure that only the most suitable and competent people should be selected for the jobs.