Effectiveness of Recruitment and Selection Process in TfL

The study found that the majority of respondents (40%) strongly agreed that the recruitment and selection process of TfL helped in selecting the right person for the right job. The findings suggest that the effective recruitment and selection process has contributed to reducing employee turnover rates and enhancing business operations efficiently.

RESEARCH
PROJECT

Table of Contents
RESEARCH PROJECT ..................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
Research project outline specification....................................................................................1
Factors contributing in research project selection..................................................................1
Critical literature review.........................................................................................................2
Research project specification ...............................................................................................6
Plan and procedure for research specification........................................................................6
TASK 2 ...........................................................................................................................................7
Matching the resources...........................................................................................................7
Research investigation as per agreed specification and procedures.......................................7
Data collection analysis..........................................................................................................9
TASK 3..........................................................................................................................................11
Research evaluation technique.............................................................................................11
Data interpretation and analysis of result.............................................................................11
Recommendations and justification ....................................................................................16
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................18
Importance of Effective Recruitment & Selection. 2015. [Online]. Available through:
<http://smallbusiness.chron.com/importance-effective-recruitment-selection-55782.html>.
[Accessed on 21st September 2015]. ............................................................................................18
Illustration Index
Illustration 1: Recruitment and selection process ...........................................................................3
Illustration 2: Sources of recruitment..............................................................................................4
Illustration 3: Role of recruitment and selection process.................................................................5

TASK 1
To analyse the effectiveness of recruitment and selection process in TfL
Research project outline specification
Employing right person in an enterprise is a major challenge for every business unit.
Employees strengthen the internal business environment and helps in making it competent within
the market (Branine, 2008). Present competition in global market has imposed high risk in
retaining skilled staff for managing organisational operations. Recruitment is the process of
attracting maximum competent applicants for current vacancies within an entity. Selection is the
process which deals with choosing the best individual for the current job post. Transport for
London (TfL) is governed by central authority and deals with most facet of transportation system
in Greater London, England (Catano and et.al., 2009).
Major role of the company is to manage transport services across London. This statutory
organisation was established in the year 2000 and is successfully operating services then on. It
has employed more than 28000 people within the organisation. It operates is a wide range of
transportation activities which deals in different modes such as underground railways, London
rails, water transport etc (Chien and Chen, 2008). They help in developing business operations
and managing its activities efficiently to helps the residents with effective transportation
services. Current study will focus on developing an in-depth study about role of recruitment and
selection for successive business growth. It will analyse various tools and techniques that the
organisation uses in order to develop effective recruitment and selection of employees. Research
objectives for the study are:
 To examine role of recruitment and selection in attaining right person for right job in TfL
 To identify tools and techniques used for recruitment and selection process in TfL
 To recommend different methods for enhancing recruitment and selection process for
TfL
Factors contributing in research project selection
Transportation is a basic need of every individual. It is significantly enhancing its
operations within various countries in different parts of the world. Analysing recruitment and
selection process helps in evaluating its significance in success of business operations. Present
research focuses on analysing various tools and techniques used by TfL in developing its
1

business operations. This helps in developing a deep insight about process of recruitment and
selection used by the organization. Research topic will analyse effective measures adopted by
the company in order to attain set organizational objectives within this competitive market.
Research can be used for further research by various researchers interested in the topic. It will
help in enhancing academic knowledge about the topic as well. This will also help in attracting
large number of applicants towards the entity in order to enhance changes of employment within
the industry. Exploratory research measures will helps in seeking new prospects for research to
attain research objectives.
Critical literature review
Overview
Compton and et.al., 2009 states that recruitment and selection process is critically
significant for the effectiveness of an organization. This helps a business in acquiring competent
and skilled employees for enhancing overall organizational performance (Compton and et.al.,
2009). According to Ordanini and Silvestri, 2008 recruitments and selection process helps a
business unit in filling the gap of employee requirement with actual availability of the staff while
managing internal cost of business (Ordanini and Silvestri, 2008). Cot of recruiting staff of
replacing employee is a very costly measures for an organization thus companies focuses on
choosing an effective measures of finding right person for right job (Keep and James, 2010).
This help in developing a strong and committed team of employees while maintaining employee
retention power for the business unit.
Tools and techniques for recruitment and selection
2

Van den Brink, 2010 stated that recruitment and selection process is an integral and most
crucial part of human resource management. This helps a business in maintaining the internal
cost while enhancing organizational productivity by attracting talented applicants for vacancies
within company and selecting right person for the same (Van den Brink, 2010). Business units
uses different tools and technique to perform overall process and attain internal objecting of the
company. In words of Gatewood, Feild and Barrick, 2010 recruitment is a process of attracting,
selecting and appointing the most suitable candidate for job within an organization while
selection is the process of choosing right person for right job from pool of different candidates
who applied (Gatewood, Feild and Barrick, 2010). TfL adopts an effective measures to manage
and maintain employees within the organization and enhancing their productivity of the
organization and providing quality of services to the residents of London and travellers as well.
3
Il
lustration 1: Recruitment and selection process
(Source: Self attempted)

Recruitment uses a range of tools and techniques which helps the company in attaining
the set objective f business. These tools and techniques range from conventional and time-tested
methods such as newspaper advertisements to fairly recent developments such as social media
networking. According to Kluemper and Rosen, 2009 internal recruitment sources such as
employee referrals, former employees and previous applicants is a cost effective and time saving
method for an organization as it saves the cost of advertisements, job posting and process of
screening as well (Kluemper and Rosen, 2009). However this source limits the pool of talent
thus companies refers this source as per the policies and needs (Kumari, 2012). On contrary to
this Van den Brink, 2010 states that external sources such as employment exchange,
advertisement, campus recruitment, deputation etc. demands high investment in terms of time
and funds but is effective for acquiring innovative and talented team of workers. Hence it is
evident that tools and techniques for recruitment and selection are chosen on the basis of
organizational constraints of time and funds but it is a very significant part of laying the
foundation of internal organizational strength.
Role of recruitment and selection process
4
Illustration 2: Sources of recruitment
(Source:)

Illustration 3: Role of recruitment and selection process
(Source:)
Various researches and theories has contributed in understanding the roles of given
process of recruitment and selection in the success of a business. Recruitment helps in
developing pool of talented and qualified applicants for the company which helps in acquiring
strong and committed team of employees develops a positive organizational culture for the
business It results the companies in gaining a competitive edge within the market. Moreover
Kumari, 2012 contributed to the subject that An effective process of selection helps an
organization in managing a balance between an organisational requirements with skills and
qualifications of applicants thus helping in gaining huge success in competitive market. Hence it
is evident that the process helps company in gaining an edge within the market and creates
required measures for managing organizational activities. TfL has closely examined the same
and has developed a strong process of recruitment and selection (Importance of Effective
Recruitment & Selection. 2015). This has helped the company in creating a strong organizational
culture thus creating an effective measures of providing transportation services to majority of the
population.
5

Project specification
Research questions which will help in developing a clear understanding about the topic
and its impact on business operations of TfL are:
 What are the roles of recruitment and selection process in TfL?
 What tools and techniques are adopted by TfL for the process of recruitment and
selection?
Plan and procedure for research specification
In order to conduct this research, descriptive design will be implemented which will help
in gaining in-depth knowledge about strategies used by TfL in analysing the study and achieving
the set objectives. For data collection both primary and secondary sources of data will be used.
Primary data will be collected by developing a questionnaire and asking employees of the
organization to fill the same. For secondary data source the researcher will use various books
journals news articles and old researches to gain in-depth knowledge about the topic. A sample
size of 50 employees will be selected for this purpose. Data analysis will be conducted by using
qualitative and qualitative method and thematic method will be incorporated to attain the set
objectives. Various themes will help in analysing different objectives of TfL thus will help in
achieving the objectives of research.
However, to complete this research, following plan will be followed:
Activity/Week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Proposal for research
Data mining and research
Objectives finalization
Literature review development
Secondary data collection
Secondary data analysis
Analyzing research approach
Research methodology
Questionnaire formulation
Interview preparation
Conducting interview
6

information Gathering
Findings
Data Evaluation
Finalizing other chapters
Findings chapter Drafting
Submission to tutor
Revising the final draft
Printing and binding
Submission
TASK 2
Matching the resources
The study focuses on achieving research aim which entails “To analyse the effectiveness
of recruitment and selection process in TfL”. It focuses on exploring and identifying various
methods used for recruitment and selection within the company. This helps in analysing the
strength of business operations and various factors that helps it in enhancing employee
productivity and retention power within the company. To attain the stated aim following
objectives have been developed:
 To examine role of recruitment and selection in attaining right person for right job in TfL
 To identify tools and techniques used for recruitment and selection process in TfL
 To recommend different methods for enhancing recruitment and selection process for
TfL
The research questions that helped in attaining the research objectives are:
 What are the roles of recruitment and selection process in TfL?
 What tools and techniques are adopted by TfL for the process of recruitment and
selection?
Research investigation as per agreed specification and procedures
Research methodology is a sequential measure that helps the researcher in attaining
research objectives by adopting a structured way for approaching research questions. This
7

enhances data relevancy and reliability for research. Research design adopted for the current
study is as follows:
Research philosophy
This is a crucial part of research methodology. It helps the researcher in predicting about
effective strategies which helps in attaining the set objectives of study. Research philosophy
which are commonly used in the process are positivism and interpretivism (Creswell, 2013).
Present research will adopt interpretive approach as this will help in representing in-depth
understanding about various theories and practices adopted by TfL and analyse the impact of the
same on operations of the company.
Research approach
Inductive research approach will be adopted for the given study as this will help the
researcher in seeking specific concepts and measures for recruitments and selection process in
TfL and evaluate the impact of it on overall efficiency of organizational operations and
productivity as well (What is research methodology? definition and meaning. 2015). This
approach will help in making the research flexible and interesting for further reference.
Research type
To achieve the research aim both qualitative and qualitative measures will be implied by
the researcher as this will enable in creating a better understanding about human behaviour in
TfL and create effective analysis of data collection for the same. Qualitative research will help in
developing an in-depth understanding of human behaviour while quantitative measures will help
in representing the collected data efficiently (Forzano, 2011).
Data collection
Data collection methods used for the research will be primary and secondary sources of
data collection. For primary method questionnaire will be used which will help in collecting the
fresh and relevant data for the research. On the other hand secondary research method will
implement various sources such as past researches, books, journals and newspapers articles as
well.
Sampling
This is a very critical and crucial part of the study. Relevance of data and reliability of the
research is highly dependent on this factor. To acquire the effective results random sampling
method will implemented for the study. This will helps researcher in developing unbiased sample
8

while providing an equal probability to every unit of the population (Goddard and Melville,
2004).
Sample size
Sample size of the research will be 50 employees of TfL. This will help in developing a
clear and effective research study while considering human behavioural aspects for the
organization.
Data Analysis
Qualitative and quantitative tools of data analysis will be used for the current study.
Qualitative measure will help in analysing human behaviour of the employees within an
organization efficiently while qualitative measure will help in developing authentic and reliable
results for the study.
Research limitation
Limitations of the study are:
 Limited time-frame constraints study due to lack of time and vast scope of research.
 Study has adopted the limited sample size of 50 employees which may result in limited
data and may also create biasness of respondents due to human behavioural constraints.
Data collection analysis
Questionnaire
Personal information
Name:
Age:
Gender: Male Female
Specific information
Your tenure of working with Tfl.
10-15 years
5-10 years
3-5 years
Less that 3 years
9

What mode helps you in informing about job vacancy?
Existing employee
Walk in Interview
Friend
Newspaper
Job portal
How was your expirience with recruitment and selection process of Tfl?
Non satisfactory
Below Average
Average
Good
Excellent
Are you satisfied working with TfL?
Yes
No
Working in TfL has helped in developing your skills and attributes.
Strongly disagree
Disagree
Neutral
Agree
Strongly agree
How will you rate the training and development program of TfL?
Non satisfactory
Below Average
Average
Good
10

Excellent
Recruitment and selection program of TfL helps in selecting 'right person for right job'.
Strongly disagree
Disagree
Neutral
Agree
Strongly agree
TASK 3
Research evaluation technique
Research evaluation techniques is crucial for effective analysis of data and developing
correct results for the study. This helps in minimizing the gap between research analysis and
interpretation of results. Research techniques adopted in the current study are:
Questionnaire: This helped in collecting fresh and useful information form direct sources
associated with the organization. It helped the researcher in gaining valid, reliable and authentic
data for research (Goddard and Melville, 2004).
Thematic analysis: This method helped in developing specific idea about every aspect of
research study. It creates a direct link between research objectives and data collected thus
helping researcher in effective interpretation of data.
Random sampling: sampling helps in enhancing authenticity of the research. Random sampling
for current research helped the researcher in creating unbiased and reliable method for data
collection to gain required results for the study (Sondargaared, 2015). Data collected is
considered highly reliable as random sampling is a probabilistic approach which reduces chances
of error for the research.
Data interpretation and analysis of result
Theme 1:Time-span of employees working in Tfl
11

How many years have you dedicated to TfL? Frequency Percentage
Less that 3 years 9 18
3-5 years 13 26
5-10 years 18 36
10-15 years 10 20
Findings: 9 respondents are working for less that 3 years in TfL, 13 respondents have spent 3-5
years in the company, 36% of them have been working for more that 5 years but less that 10
years while 10 respondents have been working for more than 10 years in the organization
Analysis: Above figure clearly reflects that TfL has managed effective employee retention within
the organization as 36% of respondents has been working in the company from 5-10 years while
20% of them has given more than 10years to the company.
Theme 2: External recruitment sources is widely used by TfL
How did you get the information about job vacancy in TfL Frequency Percentage
Newspaper 18 36
Job portal 12 24
Friend 3 6
12
Less that 3 years 3-5 years 5-10 years 10-15 years
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
18
26
36
20
Time-span of employees working in Tfl
Column C
Time-span
Employees (percentage)

Existing employee 10 20
Advertisements 7 14
Findings: 18 employees said that they came to know about job opening in TfL through
newspaper, 12 of them said that job portals were their source of information, 3 respondents said
that their friends told them about the job vacancy while only 10 said that existing employees was
their source of information.
Analysis:Figure clearly reflects that majority of employees was informed about the job
availability through external source of recruitment. 36% of respondents came to know about
vacancy through newspaper, 24% used job portals while 14% got the information through
advertisements. On contrary to this only 20% respondents said that internal recruitment helped
them finding about vacancy in the organization.
Theme 3: Employees are satisfied with recruitment and selection process of TfL
How will you rate the recruitment and selection process of
the company Frequency Percentage
Excellent 15 30
13
36%
24%
6%
20%
14%
External recruitment sources is widely used by TfL
Newspaper
Job portal
Friend
Existing employee
Advertisements

Good 19 38
Average 7 14
Below Average 6 12
Non satisfactory 3 6
Findings: 15 respondents said that recruitments and selection process of TfL is excellent while
19 said that it was good. 7 found the process average, 6 fount it below average while 3 were non
satisfied with process.
Analysis: 30% of respondents finds the process of recruitment and selection excellent while
38%finds it to be good, rest of respondents said that it was average and below average. Thus it is
evident that employees are satisfied with recruitment and selection process of TfL.
Theme 4: Employees are satisfied working with TfL
Are you satisfied working with TfL Frequency Percentage
Yes 37 74
No 13 26
14
Excellent
Good
Average
Below Average
Non satisfactory
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
Employees are satisfied with recruitment and selection process
of TfL
Column C

Findings: 37 respondents agreed that they are satisfied working with TfL while 13 disagreed
with the same.
Analysis: Figure clearly represents that majority of employees are satisfied working with TfL
thus the company is able to maintain high rate of employee retention.
Theme 5: Employees of TfL strongly agree that recruitment and selection process helps in
selecting 'Right person fro right job'
Recruitment and selection program of TfL helps in
selecting 'right person for right job'. Frequency Percentage
Strongly agree 20 40
Agree 13 26
Neutral 10 20
Disagree 5 10
Strongly disagree 2 4
15
74%
26%
Employees are satisfied working with TfL
Yes
No

Findings: 20 respondents strongly agreed that recruitment and selection process of TfL helped
in selecting right person for right job, 13 respondent agreed with the same, 10 respondents rated
process as neutral while rest of respondents did not agreed with the statement
Analysis:On the basis of above figure it is clearly visible that majority of respondents agreed that
the process of recruitment and selection helps TfL in getting right person for right job. 40%
strongly agreed with the statement, 26% respondent agreed, 20% were neutral with the situation
while rest of the respondent disagreed with the given statement.
Recommendations and justification
Effective recruitment and selection process helps in reducing rate of employee turnover.
This process focuses on acquiring right person for right job which in turn enhances the growth
and development of an enterprise. Above study helped in gaining in-depth knowledge about the
process and its impact on the business operations and service quality. Research reflected that TfL
has adopted an effective method of recruitment and selection as retention rate of the company is
considerably high. Majority of employees are working form long period of time within the unit
which has helped it in enhancing business operations efficiently. Moreover research results
reflected that external recruitment process is widely adopted by TfL which has helped the
organization in attracting qualified and talented pool of applicants. Well structured selection
16
40%
26%
20%
10%
4%
Employees of TfL strongly agree that recruitment and selection
process
helps in selecting 'Right person fro right job'
Strongly agree
Agree
Neutral
Disagree
Strongly disagree

process has strengthened internal organizational strength. Hence it is evident that recruitment and
selection process of TfL has helped it in developing a strong team of committed employees
which is because the company has managed to select right person for right job.
17

REFERENCES
Branine, M., 2008. Graduate recruitment and selection in the UK: A study of the recent changes
in methods and expectations. Career Development International. 13(6). pp. 497-513.
Catano, V. M. and et.al., 2009. Recruitment and selection in Canada. Cengage Learning.
Chien, C. F. and Chen, L. F., 2008. Data mining to improve personnel selection and enhance
human capital: A case study in high-technology industry. Expert Systems with
applications, 34(1). pp. 280-290.
Compton, R. L. and et.al., 2009. Effective recruitment and selection practices. CCH Australia
Limited.
Creswell, J. W., 2013. Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches. 4th ed. SAGE
Publications, Inc.
Forzano, L.B., 2011. Research Methods for the Behavioral Sciences. Cengage Learning. pp. 158.
Gatewood, R., Feild, H. and Barrick, M., 2010. Human resource selection. Cengage Learning.
Goddard, W. and Melville, S., 2004. Research Methodology: An Introduction. Juta and Company
Ltd.
Keep, E. and James, S., 2010. Recruitment and selection–the great neglected topic. SKOPE
Research Paper. pp. 88.
Kluemper, D. H. and Rosen, P. A., 2009. Future employment selection methods: evaluating
social networking web sites. Journal of managerial Psychology, 24(6). pp. 567-580.
Kumari, N ., 2012. A Study of the Recruitment and Selection process: SMC Global. Industrial
Engineering Letters. 2(1). pp. 34-43.
Ordanini, A. and Silvestri, G ., 2008. Recruitment and selection services: Efficiency and
competitive reasons in the outsourcing of HR practices. The International Journal of
Human Resource Management. 19(2). pp. 372-391.
Van den Brink, M., 2010. Behind the scenes of science: Gender practices in the recruitment and
selection of professors in the Netherlands. Amsterdam University Press.
Online
Importance of Effective Recruitment & Selection. 2015. [Online]. Available through:
<http://smallbusiness.chron.com/importance-effective-recruitment-selection-
55782.html>. [Accessed on 21st September 2015].
Sondargaared, P., 2015. Research methodology. [Online]. Available through:
<http://www.gartner.com/technology/research/methodologies/>. [Accessed on 21st
September 2015].
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<http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/research-methodology.html>. [Accessed
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