An overview of general practices in recruitment and selection: factors and sources to consider in developing a recruitment strategy

Relevance of the Research

It is important to solve the problem of lack of professional and transparent recruitment and selection in all of the organizations but particularly at Marshal Fahim National Defense University (MFNDU) to boost the performance and operation of the organization and for many other reasons. First, this organization is the biggest army training and education facility across Afghanistan. Therefore, it needs to be the center of excellence, but unfortunately because of unprofessional staff this place has faced with many problems and challenges one of which is deficiency in delivering proper training and education for the participant of this University. This problem is caused because the recruitment process for staff and participants is not as transparent and professional as it should be. Most of the personnel have been recruited to this place based on their connection and references that they have in high ranking Afghan officials. As a result, they fail to meet the requirement of the university and are unable to deliver quality training and education for Afghan National Army Officers.

Second, most of Afghan well trained officers are either in reserve or jobless and the reason is that they do not know anyone as a reference to be recruited to this important organization. So, if there is a professional recruitment process and staff is recruited to this place based on their own knowledge and ability, then two major problems can be solved. First, the organization will have professional instructors which will result in quality training and education for the young Afghan Officers which will strengthen army and we will have a very professional and strong army. Second, those professional officers who are in reserve or jobless, they will have jobs as well as the opportunity to use their expertise for the good of this nation.

Recruitment and selection

Recruitment and selection process requires the HR"s efforts to efficiently search through the list of applicants to find an applicant who fulfills the job description requirements and whose qualifications and vision suit that of the position advertised by the firm. As a rule, the entire application process must be transparent and available, from ads to interviewing and selection, without any obstacles that could prevent anyone from applying. When each job description is advertised, it must concentrate on the qualifications and skills required for the role with a language that does not suggest that only certain candidates would be considered. The recruitment must be carried out in evaluation by the selection panel against the set-out requirements with a question that relates to the job requirement and does not require the disclosure of personal information that is irrelevant or insulting to the gender, disability, personal background, ethnicity or disease of someone (Recruitment and Selection, 2016).

This is the duty of the HR that the applicants and candidates are handled equally and within the precepts of all relevant laws in the process, from advertisement to selection. It is important that the assessments and interviews during the process only determine the individual's ability to meet the work requirements based on the criteria set out in advance. HR would maintain the privacy of all applicants and clarify how details and data of the applicant should be dealt with in advance to avoid any loss of confidentiality. This is the ethical duty for the employer to prevent discrimination at all levels of the recruiting process. Furthermore, this stage is perfect for employers not only to recruit the best suited candidate for the job but also to find someone that fits the firm's long-term vision. The HR must know that it is the best time to screen people who disagree with the company's policies or could possibly be a "negligent employee" that would eventually annoy others or cause more damage to the company.

Although the organizations could not begin by informing their employees or chosen applicants that their personal and professional lives would be under constant scrutiny, they should set the organizational policies and code of conduct to which all employees will subscribe.

Recruitment is the method of recruiting persons to apply for employment with an organization in a timely manner, in sufficient numbers and with required qualifications. Recruitment is the process of recruiting people to apply for a position. Recruitment is the process of finding sources for job candidates. When the HR department anticipates the need for extra staff, then there are a range of options for the organizations. It may be the first step in the recruiting and selection process, but hiring new workers often isn't the easiest way to get additional staff. An organization may consider alternatives to recruitment, such as outsourcing or conditional labor, instead of hiring regular employees. If this is a temporary variation in work volume, the easiest solution may be part-time labor or overtime by existing employees. Recruitment and selection costs can be incredible; recruiting new employees will only occur after careful consideration and only when the company anticipates a need for additional staff in the long term. Cost estimates to replace supervisory, technical and management employees vary from 50 percent to several hundred percent of wages for workers. Careful HR preparation has to consider the organization's overall growth outlook and accurate prediction of potential labor needs. Recruitment planning only begins when considering and eliminating other alternatives (Recruitment and Selection, 2016).

Factors affecting Recruitment and Selection

The factors affecting recruitment and selection are grouped into categories of internal and external. The internal factors are reported as follows:

Organization Size - One of the most important factors influencing the recruiting process is the size of the organization. Recruitment preparation is necessary for recruiting more people to expand sector, which will be critical for managing future operations.

Recruiting policy - An organization's recruitment policy involves hiring from the organization's internal or external sources. It's an important element in the recruiting process and is very affective. It defines recruiting goals and offers a basis for hiring programs to be introduced.

Organization Image - Companies with a strong positive market picture will quickly recruit professional and skilled workers. Maintaining strong public relations, delivering public services and contributing to the organizations credibility undoubtedly helps an organization boost its image in the market, while attracting the best human capital possible.

Image of the Jobs - The image of jobs play a vital role in recruiting and selection processes much as the organization's image does. Jobs with a positive picture in terms of better wages, promotions, recognition, and sociable working environment with career development opportunities are the characteristics that are considered to create interest and excitement in the workplace

The external factors are listed as follows:

Demographic factors - demographic factors are linked to the characteristics of potential workers, such as their age, ethnicity, educational qualifications, gender, occupation, economic status and location.

Labour market - Labour market exercises control of labour demand and labour supply. For instance, if the availability of individuals with unique skills and abilities is less than the demand, then the hiring process may require more effort. At the other hand, the recruiting cycle would be much more manageable if the demand is smaller than the supply.

Unemployment rate - If the unemployment rate is high in a given region, recruiting human resources would be easy and manageable, as the number of applicants and potential candidates would increase. A significant number of candidates will apply for multiple job openings in all forms of organizations. At the other hand, if the unemployment rate is small, then it appears that the recruiting cycle to be difficult due to less number of resources.

Labour laws - the market's social and political environment is expressed in labor laws established by both central and state governments. Such laws are the pay, work environment, safety and health rules, and employee job responsibilities, for various types of workers. There are changes coming as the governments undergo changes that come about in the labour laws.

Legal considerations - The best examples of legal considerations are work quotas for specific groups, such as Scheduled Tribes, Scheduled Castes and Other Backward Groups. Such requirements that the government passes will either have a positive or negative effect on the organizations 'recruitment policies.

Competitors - As companies in the same market compete for the best available skilled talent, it is important to evaluate the competition and offer the resource packages that are best in terms of industry standards.

Equal opportunity - As workers are hired and chosen, it is important to consider equal opportunity for individuals. Equal opportunity results when all candidates are viewed on an equal basis and regularly at each recruitment stage. There should be no discrimination against anyone, such as caste, sex, color, religion, ethnicity, gender and socio-economic background, against anyone. Justice and fairness is the important principal of recruitment and selection procedures (Klug, 2017).

Sources of Recruitment

There are two sources of recruitment, internal and external.

Internal Sources

Internal source of recruitment means hiring employees from within the current organization, or those applicants that are trying to find a different position in the organization that they are currently employed. The employees that are currently working in the organization should be considered first while recruiting, because they are the main source of recruitment that provides the opportunities for the development and utilization of the existing resources within the organization. Internal sources of recruitment are the best and the easiest way of selecting resources as performance of their work is already known to the organization. Let us now discuss more on the various internal sources of recruitment. The internal sources of the recruitment can be counted as the best and the easiest way of recruitment resource since the performance and appraisals of the employees is already know to the organization (Beardwell, 2004).

Advantages and Disadvantages of Internal Sources of Recruitment

Internal sources of recruitment which means hiring employees from within the organization, has its own set of advantages and disadvantages.

The advantages are as follows:

- It is simple, easy, quick, and cost effective.

- It does not need any additional training and induction, because the employee is already aware of the responsibilities that he/ she might have in the future.

- It is a good reason of motivation for the internal employees to work hard and improve the relationship within the organization.

- It helps to develop employee's loyalty towards the organization.

The disadvantage of hiring candidates through internal sources are as follows:

- It prevents new hiring of potential resources. Sometimes, new resources bring innovative ideas and new thinking onto the table.

- It has limited scope because all the vacant positions cannot be filled.

- There could be issues in between the employees, who are promoted and who are not.

- If an internal resource is promoted or transferred, then that position will remain vacant.

- Employees, who are not promoted, may end up being unhappy and demotivated.

External sources of recruitment

It applies to actively hiring staff outside the organization. In other words, in this situation, the candidates seeking job opportunities are those who are outside the organization. External personnel offer the company flexibility, resourcefulness, ingenuity and new thinking and ideas. Although recruiting from external sources is an expensive and daunting operation, it has great potential to drive the company towards achieving goals and objectives.

Advantages and Disadvantages of External Sources of Recruitment

External sources of recruitment, which means hiring employees outside an organization, has both its benefits and drawbacks. The benefits are as follows:

- Encouragement of new opportunities for job seekers.

- The branding of the organization increases through external sources.

- There will not be any biasing or prejudice between the employees.

- Because of the large number candidates appearing, the scope for selecting the right candidate is more,

The disadvantages of recruiting through external sources are as follows:

- As the selection process is very lengthy, this process consumes more time.

- In comparison to recruiting through internal sources, the cost incurred is very high.

- External candidates demand more remuneration and benefits (Thomas, n.d).

Recruitment Process at MFNDU

Like many other things in my country Afghanistan, the recruitment process which is used for many of the organizations is not a standard and professional process. In other words, the recruitment process of our organization is a mixture of all the methods used for the recruitment. But particularly, most of the recruitment is done based on nepotism, referrals and Transfers which is accepted as internal sources of recruitment. Here is a brief explanation of these three types of recruitment.

A. Nepotism- By fact nepotism is the recruiting of relatives. Before one of your employees asks you about recruiting a member of his or her family, make sure you know your organization's policy on nepotism. When you employ relatives of workers (or if you don't), be careful about violations of civil rights, as in many states it is illegal to discriminate on the basis of a person's marital status. And when your administrative assistant asks you to hire her husband, refusing to hire him only because he is married to her could be an unethical and unlawful decision for employment. Most companies have policies on nepotism, so find out where the employer stands on the matter. When recruiting relatives, most employers allow family members to work in different areas of the company to prevent favoritism issues and other potential moral problems among employees. Family members should not be in supervisory roles where they are expected to handle their own relatives. On the other hand, nepotism in most of the organization in Afghanistan means hiring relatives regardless of their qualification, skills, and education.

B. Transfers - In reality, transfers applies to the method of interchanging from one position to another without altering the workers 'status and obligations. This can also be the transfer of staff from one department to another or from one place to another, depending on the job requirement. Transfers are typically based on the employee's job requirements and competencies. If the company has two branches, then there could be changing from one branch to other branch. The employee's internal change from one division to the next is known as transfer.

C. Employee referrals - Employee referrals are a low cost way of recruiting the right applicants. It's the method of recruiting new workers via employee referrals, who are already working within the company. The current employees will refer their friends and relatives to fill out the vacant positions in this process. Organizations encourage employee referrals the reason is lucrative and saves time compared to recruiting outsourced candidates. In most situations, by giving them benefits, bonuses and promotions for their success, workers are empowered and motivated towards the performance of duties.

These are the most common sources of recruitment that are used in the organization that I work which to some extent blocked the ways of improving the organization. The suggestion that I would recommend is to hire and recruit professional staff by using the external sources of recruitment and to bring new and professional staff to the workplace. I have provided and investigated in different sources of recruitment, and for many organizations it is important to use different sources of recruitment than only suing one or two sources. For example, to boost the performance of the organization one of the best sources that I recommend is hiring through professional associations. Professional associations may be effective in recruiting skilled, technical and administrative workers for the organizations; however, they concentrate on recruiting mid-level and top-level employees. There are many specialist groups doing the facilitator tasks between the organizations and job seekers. There are many other sources that we can for recruiting professional staff (Klug, 2017).

Conclusion

Human resources are considered essential to every organization. Competent and professional personnel will perform the jobs, roles, duties, and operations appropriately. Therefore, it is important to incorporate successful recruitment practices and selection procedures within the organizational framework. When the organization's members are aware of proper recruiting and selection procedures, then they are able to make sufficient selection of human capital. There are various tasks and functions within the company and efficiency of all forms of tasks and operations that involve expertise and abilities that can be enhanced by making adequate provision training to the personnel. Hired employees may be experienced and professional, but they undergo changes and transitions within organizations with respect to different factors such as working environment conditions, performance of employers" job duties, employer attitudes and behavioral characteristics, methods of maximizing efficiency, use of creative techniques and methods, and so on. When selecting the employees, it is critical to have them loyal and committed to the organizations. We should be committed to carrying out job duties and possess the qualities of resourcefulness, dedication and conscientiousness. Finally, it can be said that organizations need to bring recruitment and selection processes into action with consistency, precision and truthfulness.

REFERENCES

1. Beardwell J., Holden L. & Clayton T. 2004. Human Resource Management: A Con-temporary Approach. 4th ed. Pearson Education Ltd.

2. Bratton, J. & Gold, J. 2012. Human Resource Management theory & practice. 5th ed. Palgrave Macmillan. Hampshire.

3. Recruitment and Selection. (2016). Tutorials Point. Retrieved November 21, 2017 from www.tutorialspoint.com

4. Klug, D. (2017). Recruitment and Selection Handbook for University Staff Positions.

5. Thomas R. (n.d) Employees recruitment and Selection: How to Hire the Right People: NY Cornell University