Human Resource Planning, Recruitment and Selection The main objective of having human resource planning is to have an accurate number of employees required, with matching skill requirements to accomplish organisational goals. Importance of Human Resource Planning 1. Human resource planning meets the organisation need for right type of people in right number at right times. 2. By maintaining a balance between demand for and supply of human resources, human resource planning makes optimum use of human resources, on the one hand, and reduces labour cost substantially, on the other. 3. Careful consideration of likely future events, through human resource planning might lead to the discovery of better means for managing human resources. Thus, foreseeable pitfalls might be avoided. 4. Manpower shortfalls and surpluses may be avoided, to a large extent. 5. Human resource planning helps the organisation create and develop training and succes sion planning for employees and managers. Thus, it provides enough lead time for internal succession of employees to higher positions through promotions. 6. It also provides multiple gains to the employees by way of promotions, increase in emolu ments and other perquisites and fringe benefits. 7. Some of the problems of managing change may be foreseen and their consequences miti gated. Consultations with affected groups and individuals can take place at an early stage in the change process. This may avoid resistance for change. 8. Human resource planning compels management to asses critically the strength and weak nesses of its employees and personnel policies on continuous basis and, in turn, take corrective measures to improve the situation. 9. Through human resource planning, duplication of efforts and conflict among efforts can be avoided, on the one hand, and coordination of worker s efforts can be improved, on the other. 10. Last but no means the least, with increase in skill, knowledge, potentialities, productivity and job satisfaction, organisation becomes the main beneficiary. Organisation is benefitted in terms of increase in prosperity/production, growth, development, profit and, thus, an edge over its competitors in the market.
Benefits of HRP 1. Anticipating future requirement: Thru this process of HRP, the company is able to find out how many people will be required in future. Based on this requirement the company could take further actions. This method also helps the company to identify the number of jobs which will become vacant in the near future. 2. Recruitment and selection process: The recruitment and selection process is a very costly affair for a company. Many companies spend lakhs of rupees on this process. Therefore recruitment and selection must be carried out only if it is extremely necessary. HRP process helps to identify whether recruitment and selection are necessary or not. 3. Placement of personnel: Since the HRP process is conducted for the entire organization, we can identify the requirements for each and every department. Based on the requirement, we can identify existing employees and place them on those jobs which are vacant. 4. Performance appraisal: HRP make performance appraisal more meaningful. Since feedback is provided in performance appraisal and employee is informed about his future chances in same company, the employee is motivated to work better. Information for all this is collected from HRP process. 5. Promotion opportunity: HRP identifies vacancies in the entire organization including all the branches of all the company. Therefore when the company implements promotion policy it can undertake its activities in a very smooth manner. 6. Training: Successful HR planning includes training models and procedures. This training includes new-hire training to teach new employees about the company culture, internal databases, software, and the skill sets necessary for specific positions. The benefit of this type of training is that all employees are taught the same thing in the same manner, which creates consistency and accuracy in daily work. Other training models include information about new company initiatives, new product roll outs, and career progression classes. Recruitment The process of finding and hiring the best-qualified candidate (from within or outside of an organization) for a job opening, in a timely and cost effective manner. The recruitment process includes analyzing the requirements of a job, attracting employees to that job, screening and selecting applicants, hiring, and integrating the new employee to the organization. Sources of Recruitment 1. Internal Sources: These are found within the organization itself. They are classified into: a) Promotions: It refers to promoting or upgrading an employee who is already existed in the pay roll and contributed for organizational performance. It is done by shifting an employee
to a higher position with high responsibilities, facilities, status and pay. Usually, many companies fill higher job vacancies by promoting employees who are considered fit for such positions. This is due to fact that it has a great psychological impact over other employees for their motivation towards better performance. b) Transfers: It is an alternative technique to promotion. Under it, employees are internally recruited through transfer from one work place to another. It means, transfer refers to the process of interchanging the job duties and responsibilities of employees from one place to another or from one department to another. It involves shifting of people from one job to another without any promotion in their position or grade. It is a good source of generating qualified employees from over-staffed departments. 2. External Sources: These are found outside the organization a) Direct Recruitment: Direct recruitment refers to a process of recruiting qualified candidates from external sources by placing a notice of vacancy in an organization's notice board. The detail of the job will be specified on the notice board. this method is useful for the recruitment of blue-collar, white-collar, and technical workers. This method of recruitment is suitable when there is high supply of human resources in the market. b) Casual Callers: This method of recruitment is concerned with using previously applied candidates as a source of recruitment. The applications already available in the employment office are used as sources of prospective candidates. In other words, applications from individuals who are already recorded in the employment list can be referred as new applicants and the best suited candidates are selected for the job. This method avoids the costs of recruiting people from other sources. c) Advertising: Advertising is one of the most common and popular methods of external recruitment under which the job vacancy is announced through different print and electronic media. When the qualified and experienced employees are not obtained from other sources, advertisement method is used to attract the best qualified and experienced personnel. Usually, most of senior positions in organization are filled by this method. The job description and specifications are specified in the advertisement to allow self-screening. d) Employment Agencies (Placement Agencies): Employment agencies run by private, public or government sectors are regarded as an important source of recruitment for unskilled, semi-skilled and skilled jobs. The agencies are likely to have a list of qualified candidates in their records, and they render their service as per the requirement from other organizations for employment.
e) Schools, Colleges and Universities: It is also known as campus recruitment. Under this method of external recruitment, educational institutions such as schools, colleges and universities offer opportunities for recruiting fresh candidates. Most educational institutions provide placement services where the prospective recruiters can review credentials and interview the interested graduates. f) Labor Contractors: Labor contractors are an important source of recruitment under which workers are recruited through contractors. However, this method of recruitment is not used by many business firms and organizations. g) Recommendations: It is closely concerned with employee referrals. Under this method of external recruitment, applicants are introduced by friends and relatives. In fact, many employers, operating at a small-scale operation, prefer to take such persons as they are acquainted with backgrounds and credentials of prospective employees. h) Web Publishing: This is a popular way to publish jobs online using various websites. This allows the business to reach a larger population and saves on cost. Even a small business can use this because of the savings in cost. i) Telecasting: This is done by way of advertising on television. Although it is an expensive way to advertise for recruitment, some networks are able to offer these services at a reasonable price. Selection Process Selection is the process of picking up individuals (out of the pool of job applicants) with requisite qualifications and competence to fill jobs in the organization. A formal definition of Selection is as under Steps in Selection Process 1. Preliminary Interview: The purpose of preliminary interviews is basically to eliminate unqualified applications based on information supplied in application forms. The basic objective is to reject misfits. On the other hands preliminary interviews is often called a courtesy interview and is a good public relations exercise. 2. Selection Tests: Jobseekers who past the preliminary interviews are called for tests. There are various types of tests conducted depending upon the jobs and the company. These tests can be Aptitude Tests, Personality Tests, and Ability Tests and are conducted to judge how well an individual can perform tasks related to the job. Besides this there are some other tests also like Interest Tests (activity preferences), Graphology Test (Handwriting), Medical Tests, Psychometric Tests etc.
3. Employment Interview: The next step in selection is employment interview. Here interview is a formal and in-depth conversation between applicant s acceptability. It is considered to be an excellent selection device. Interviews can be One-to-One, Panel Interview, or Sequential Interviews. Besides there can be Structured and Unstructured interviews, Behavioral Interviews, Stress Interviews. 4. Reference & Background Checks: Reference checks and background checks are conducted to verify the information provided by the candidates. Reference checks can be through formal letters, telephone conversations. However it is merely a formality and selections decisions are seldom affected by it. 5. Selection Decision: After obtaining all the information, the most critical step is the selection decision is to be made. The final decision has to be made out of applicants who have passed preliminary interviews, tests, final interviews and reference checks. The views of line managers are considered generally because it is the line manager who is responsible for the performance of the new employee. 6. Physical Examination: After the selection decision is made, the candidate is required to undergo a physical fitness test. A job offer is often contingent upon the candidate passing the physical examination. 7. Job Offer: The next step in selection process is job offer to those applicants who have crossed all the previous hurdles. It is made by way of letter of appointment. 8. Contract of employment: This is also known as offer letter. The candidate is given details of date of reporting, salary, location of work, and other rules the candidate must follow at the work place