CHAPTER 5: HUMAN RESOURCES PLANNING AND RECRUITMENT

The HR planning process

The HR recruitment process

To meet business objectives and gain a competitive advantage over competitors

Goal Setting and Strategic Planning

Forecasting: Attempts to determine supply and demand for various types of HR to predict areas within the organization where there will be labor shortages or surpluses

Determine Labor Demand

Determine Labor Supply

Determine Labor Surplus or Shortage

Trend Analysis: Constructing and applying statistical models that predict labor demand for next year, given relatively objective statistics from previous year.

Leading indicator: Objective measures that accurately predict future labor demand.

Transitional matrix: a chart that lists job categories held in one period and shows proportion of employees in each of those job categories in a future period.

It answers two questions: “Where did people in each job category go?” and “Where did people now in each job category come from?”

Based on forecasts for labor demand and supply, planner can compare figures to determine whether there will be a shortage or surplus of labor for each job category.

Determining expected shortages and surpluses allows the organization to plan how to address these challenges.

Purpose of setting specific numerical goals is to focus attention on the problem and provide a basis for measuring the organization’s success in addressing labor shortages and surpluses.

Downsizing

Reduce Costs

Mergers and Acquisitions

Move to More Economical Location

Replace Labor with Technology

Employing Temporary and Contract Workers and Outsourcing

The most widespread methods for eliminating a labor shortage are hiring temporary and contract workers and outsourcing work.

Outsourcing

Contracting with another organization to perform a broad set of services.

Implement and Evaluate HR Plan

When implementing the HR strategy, organizations must hold individuals accountable for achieving goals.

They must also have authority and resources needed to accomplish those goals.

Regular progress reports should be issued.

Evaluation of results should look at tactual numbers and identify which parts of planning process contributed to success or failure.

Personnel policies

Recruiting: any activity carried on by the organization with the primary purpose of identifying and attracting potential employees.

Role of HR recruitment is to build a supply of potential new hires that the organization can draw on if need arises.

Internal versus external recruiting: job security

Employment-at-will policies

Lead-the-market pay strategies

Image advertising

Recruitment Sources

Internal Sources

Recruiter Traits and Behaviors

External Sources

Job Posting: process of communicating information about a job vacancy

In employee publications

On corporate intranets

On company bulletin boards

Anywhere else organization communicates with employees

Advantages of Internal Sources

These applicants are relatively knowledgeable about the organization’s vacancies, which minimizes the possibility of unrealistic job expectations.

Filling vacancies through internal recruiting is generally cheaper and faster than looking outside the organization.

It generates applicants who are well known to the organization.

Referrals

Private employment agencies

Advertisements in newspapers and magazines

Direct applicants

Public employment agencies

Electronic recruiting

Colleges and universities

Recruiter’s Functional Area

Recruiter’s Traits

Recruiter’s Realism

Enhancing Recruiter Impact

Applicants respond more positively when the recruiter is an HR specialist than line managers or incumbents.

Applicants respond positively to recruiters whom are warm and informative

Realistic job previews should highlight the positive characteristics of the job rather than the negative.

Recruiters should provide timely feedback and avoid offensive behavior.

They should avoid behaving in ways that might convey the wrong impression about the organization.

Organization can recruit with teams rather than individual recruiters.