5. Effective Employee Recruitment and Selection Strategy

The selection and recruitment of workers best suited to meeting the needs of the organization ought to form a core activity upon which most other HRM policies geared towards development and motivation could be built (Armstrong, 2011).

Psychometric tests have a history that, although not long, goes back further than is often realized. They originated in work related to education in the latter part of the 19th century, for example by the American Cattell (1890) and the Frenchmen Binet and Henri (1895), with the first published test being produced by Binet and another associate, Simon, in 1905 (Edenborough, 2005).

According to Pritchard (2007) following strategies are highlighted.

• The Operational Audit Before meaningful change can be planned and implemented, we must understand the existing state of affairs. A comprehensive audit of recruiting policies, procedures, tools, and personnel should be undertaken to determine departmental strengths and weaknesses (Pritchard, 2007).
• The Importance of Planning ‘‘when you fail to plan, you plan to fail.’’ Recruiting is too often a reactive rather than a proactive process. In many organizations, recruiters do not have a seat at the planning table. Whenever this is the case, a recruiter’s ability to proactively anticipate client needs is unnecessarily and unwisely compromised (Pritchard, 2007).
• Training and Development We trust that our doctors, our lawyers, our tax accountants, and our commercial airline pilots invest appropriate time and effort to ensure that their professional skills remain sharp and up-to-date. We expect this of virtually every professional we encounter. Indeed, an ongoing commitment to training and development is an essential characteristic of anyone appropriately called a professional. Oddly, we are often remiss in our commitment to training and development within our recruitment departments (Pritchard, 2007).
• Simplify I believe in following the KISS rule: Keep It Simple, Stupid! It is foolish indeed to make things unnecessarily complicated. The recruiting professional’s world has its fair share of complexity. We do not have the luxury of simply finding and hiring the best available candidate. We must also be sensitive to the demands of legal compliance and litigation-avoidance concerns (Pritchard, 2007).
• Make the Most of Metrics add up the cost of recruiters’ compensation (pay and benefits) plus all advertising costs, agency fees, employee-referral fees, candidate travel, lodging, entertainment, relocation costs, and any/all additional costs associated with your hiring process. This may then be used as a benchmark against which to reduce cost-per-hire overtime (Pritchard, 2007).
• Organization Charts Knowing ‘‘who does what’’ and ‘‘who reports to whom’’ within our own organizations is an important aspect of recruiting success. Complex organizational structures demand road maps to help us achieve an adequate understanding of the lay of the land (Pritchard, 2007).

Reference

• Armstrong, M., (2011). Armstrong's handbook of strategic human resource management: 5th. ed.. 5th ed. London: Kogan Page.
• Armstrong, M. and Taylor, S. (2014) Armstrong’s Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice. 13th ed. Ashford Colour press Ltd. London.
• Edenborough, R., 2005. Assessment methods in recruitment, selection & performance. 1st ed. London: Kogan Page.
• Pritchard, C., (2007). 101 strategies for recruiting success. 1st ed. New York: American Management Association.