Critical Reflection on Recruitment: HR's Role and Multiple Processes

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CRITICAL REFLECTION

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................................. 3
ROLE OF HUMAN RESOURCE IN RECRUITMENT PROCESS.............................................................3
MULTIPLE RECRUITMENT PROCESSES FOR HIRING BEST CANDIDATE...........................................5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................. 7
REFERENCES...................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Human resource is the most important asset of an organization and every operation depends
on the effectiveness of the human resource involved. Industrial automation and technological
advancements have only increased the demand in a more enhanced and skilled form which has
led us to discuss the importance of effectiveness of recruitment and the process for an
organization (Aswathappa, 2013). In this essay, the discussion has been made the recruitment
process and how its effectiveness can be ensured using different HR theories and principles. It
will also include multiple recruitment processes and which of them is suitable to provide best
candidate for employment to an organization, role of human resource department in
recruitment and human relation theory to explain how it all work together to provide the
organization with best available human resources which are also cost-effective and highly
skilled in a relevant discipline.
ROLE OF HUMAN RESOURCE IN RECRUITMENT PROCESS
Human resource department of any organization is responsible for facilitation of effective and
skill relevant human resources to the organization, training and development of the employee
during the tenure and looking out for its welfare in a difficult situation which could be
summarized as employee retention (Rivera, 2012). So in short, the HR department is credited
with hiring, training and development and retaining the employee for the company within the
company's budget. Role of HR is crucial in the overall performance of the organizations since
the individual performance of each employee is what combines to give the representation of
the organization's performance (Kooij et al., 2013). Now, hiring through multiple recruitment
processes is just like adding a filter in the process to get the best-suited candidate for the job
profile. These filters may differ according to job profile and position offered but there are
certain criteria which are needed to be followed by every possible candidate. These criteria are
made according to organisational values and ethics and are essential to be followed to keep
them intact. Now the filters which are used for a hiring effective candidate, there is an initial
need of strategically planned job description which provides all details regarding job profile,

responsibilities which are regular and which are less frequent and may be critical and set of
professional and personal skill requirements which should support the job responsibilities and
overall profile. Usually, for skill and knowledge related requirements, the company rely on
certain educational qualification from reputed institutions while for professional competencies
they require relevant experience in a similar organization.
Human relation theory proposed by Elton Mayo is a remarkable attempt to provide an
understanding with the fact that providing employment or hiring process is not just a business
or a commercial event but it involves many elements of human relationships between
employer and employee (Ramlall, 2004). It is a management theory which developed during the
beginning of the 19th century when the concept of labour welfare and social control and
progress was on peek. This concept can be understood as birth of conflict between Marxian
political economy and neoclassical economics. When the industrial revolution struck the docks
of London in the mid of 19th century the mixed concept gain popularity and employee welfare
became the prime subject of discussion in the light of competition from across the world.
However, the situation changed completely in the advent of Globalisation in its potent form
and employee relation became a real thing which was just a theoretical concept in the early
days of industrialization.
Among other perspectives in a similar context, the Unitarist perspective is also one which gains
popularity and is highly relevant in even today's scenario. In this perspective, the organization
and employee are live and work in a harmonious environment looking after each other's needs
and expectation creating a unitary loyalty culture. In a different and often called opposite
concept in this regard called Pluralist, the organization is a constituent of various groups each of
which is credited with a definite set of responsibilities and commitment towards organisational
goal. In this perspective, the organization loyalty is limited to legal bounding only and there is a
higher level of control is required from the management's end. Finally, the Marxist perspective
is the one which evidently formed the labour economics of a much larger part of the world than
by the other two. This is sometimes also called a radical perspective and is mainly dedicated to
revealing the faults and so-called prejudice of Capitalists paradigm.

From the discussion of these theories it is evident that human relation and philosophical
framework for employment and recruitment process has covered a long journey of debate,
arguments and criticism which ultimately results in more enhanced and better approach to
address all related challenges and find the best employee for the company which would take
care of the responsible operations of the company and company could take care of him as well
in every way possible.
MULTIPLE RECRUITMENT PROCESSES FOR HIRING BEST CANDIDATE
Now, the best recruitment process for hiring the best candidate also require the best strategy
possible and strategies are formed with the help of models and theories which build their
foundation and framework. In today's context, there is a number of recruitment methods are
available ensuring high involvement of digital technology and interactive platforms driven by it
(Kapse et al., 2012). Initially, there were some specific interview processes were used by an
organization which were single staged and used to address only some limited elements of job
discretion. Rest of the requirements are expected to be possessed by the employee and
considered that the employee will learn them during his tenure.
Situations have changed in many respects today and now all these methods have bundled in a
single process of multiple stages working as a filter. These filters are there to moderate
candidates in the event of their shortcomings which may not be workable in their service
tenure (Cascio, 2015). Since there is a huge demand for skilled people in the industry and there
is also a huge availability of unskilled people in the market to hire, the situation is getting
complex to address with each day. This has increased the unemployment rate in the country
and over that there is a problem of immigration from the rest of the world in the UK.
Now, the first step which is usually considered for hiring process after clearing a vacancy is
preparing or improving job description for the position especially if it is some new vacancy
which wasn't there before. The job description is a bundle of statements prepared by the
company's HR department which provide complete details about what exactly is job about. Job
description involves nature of the job, responsibilities in the job, essential skillset, desired

skillset, essential educational qualification, age and health requirements, medical fitness
requirements and job timings and professional requirements etc. These all requirements
mentioned in the description are judged and measured on predefined criteria and evaluation
matrix (Kumari, 2012). This matrix is prepared by the people who are already working in that
relevant function where vacancy has created. After preparing an effective job description the
vacancy is posted on popular channels where targeted candidate could reach it like the
company's official website, popular job portals, newspaper etc.
The recruitment process begins with receiving a successfully filled application of candidates by
the HR department of the company and the first filter begins to work. Now it has been noticed
that these filters are very strict and rigid which many times causes the company loss of talented
candidates in the process, so there is a need of flexibility in it (Noe et al., 2017). After selecting
the candidate for proceeding with the interview process, preplanned steps of the interview
begins which often start with a common skill test to evaluate the logic and reasoning
capabilities of the candidates. These tests are becoming more and more popular since they are
capable to provide quite better results than other filter processes. These tests may involve a
skill-based test, logical reasoning test, language test, psychometric test. All these tests have
their relevance to the job requirements for example employment in job profiles as defence and
armed forces of different categories, the importance is given mainly on logical reasoning and
psychometric tests. In other job categories such as management and customer-centric profiles,
communication skills are also considered highly on a standard scale. This step of tests and
evaluation jointly called Screening. Nowadays, screening process involves the use of digital
technology like video conferencing, Skype interview and telephonic interviews etc. however,
these all processes are done before face to face interview by the HR head of the company
(Kumari, 2012).
The final step which is usually divided into many subsets is called face to face interview where a
penal of experts from the relevant field and the HR's of the company interacts with the
candidates to know their personality and behaviour and does it suits organisational culture and
values or not. This step is significantly important and usually conducted in a different step

which may involve skill-based interview where candidates are asked practical questions
regarding their skill proficiencies and how would they handle a situation which may require
high precision and challenging tasks (Cascio, 2015). In other parts, there may be language test,
to judge the linguistic skills and proficiency of the candidate and are they suitable for the job
requirement and the scenarios which might have to be dealt by the candidate. Another part of
the personal interview is usually about the personal information and to know the background
of the candidate with some questions on future plans and candidate's views about the
company are asked. There may be a group discussion stage in the process to evaluate the
leadership qualities of the employee which is generally conducted for the positions of a higher
level.
Discussing the advantages of the steps and techniques mentioned above, there are different
advantages of each of the method used and they all support the evaluation of candidate on the
job description prepared. A perfect candidate for the job would be the one which satisfies all
the criteria and also provide some additional benefits to the company for its skills and
competencies (Cascio, 2015). So, companies are usually looking for these added benefits and
skills which make an employee stand out of the crowd in the line of hundreds, maybe
thousands. Every step in the recruitment process is a stage where the candidate is evaluated on
basis of his skills and at the end of the process, the extract abstract of the candidate remains
which needs to be matching with job description perfectly and then the candidate gets a job
(Kemelgor and Meek, 2008).
Although every effort made by the employee in order to get the job makes him prepared for
the next interview and in this way, every interview process is a learning step.
CONCLUSION
In this essay, we have discussed various arguments and concepts on how to find a better
candidate for an organization which can provide the company with competitive advantages in
the market since a team of best employees makes the company best in the market. In today's

perspective, the recruitment process is highly selected and targeting in order to get the best
possible candidate since the competition in the job market is huge. This report has discussed
how HR policies and philosophy helps the company in hiring the best candidates and how
different HR theories and concepts have built the recruitment philosophy and employee-
employer relations.
Although there has been a critical discussion made of many philosophical theories in employee
relation and welfare, it has evolved in so many ways that the relevance of these theories have
reduced significantly if we are to understand the recruitment process on the basis of them. In
the process, various steps and method employed by companies in selecting the best candidate
available out of a crowd of thousands have been explained with the underlying reason for
opting them. The conclusion can be drawn from this essay report to hire the best candidate in
the market by an organization, the interview and selection process must be formed according
to all the needs and demands mentioned in the job description and the description should be
able to address the gravitas of the position efficiently.

REFERENCES
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