Chapter Four

Recruiting Human
Resources

Instructor: Milkiyas Ayele(PH.D.) 04/05/2024 1

 Recruiting Human Resources
• Once the required number and kind of human resources are
determined, management has to find the places where required
human resources are available and also find the means of
attracting them towards the organisation before selecting
suitable candidates for jobs. All this process is generally
known as recruitment.
• Recruiting: any activity carried on by the organization with
the primary purpose of identifying and attracting potential
employees.

Instructor: Milkiyas Ayele(PH.D.) 04/05/2024 2

 Recruiting Human Resources cont’d
• Recruitment is the process by which a job vacancy is
identified and potential employees are notified.

• The role of recruitment is to build a supply of potential new

hires that the organization can draw on if the need arises.

• The nature of the recruitment process is regulated and

subject to employment law.

Instructor: Milkiyas Ayele(PH.D.) 04/05/2024 3

 Recruitment Process
• Decide on the objective for the recruiting process
• Identify the best sources for recruitment
• Craft the recruitment message
• Familiarize oneself with the job duties and requirement

• In small business, managers are involved in all stages. In large

businesses, recruiters take the lead.

Instructor: Milkiyas Ayele(PH.D.) 04/05/2024 4

 Three aspects of
recruiting

Instructor: Milkiyas Ayele(PH.D.) 04/05/2024 5

 Personnel policies
Internal vs external
recruiting Several personnel
policies are especially
Lead the market pay structure relevant to recruitment
:
Employment –at-will policies

Image advertising

Instructor: Milkiyas Ayele(PH.D.) 04/05/2024 6

Image advertising such as
in this campaign to recruit
nurses, promotes a whole
profession or
organization as opposed to a
specific job opening.
• This ad is designed to
create a positive impression
of the
profession, which is
now facing a shortage
of workers
Instructor: Milkiyas Ayele(PH.D.) 04/05/2024 7
 Recruitment Sources: Internal sources
• Gives opportunities for promotion to employees

• Job Posting:
means publicizing the open job to employees through:
– On company bulletin boards
– In employee publications
– On corporate intranets
– Anywhere else the organization communicates with
employees

Instructor: Milkiyas Ayele(PH.D.) 04/05/2024 8

• Rehiring?

“Do you rehire someone who left your employ?”

Instructor: Milkiyas Ayele(PH.D.) 04/05/2024 9

 Recruitment Sources: Internal sources
cont’d
• Employee inventory: a searchable database to identify
employees who meet certain job requirements

• To be effective, a human resource information system (HRIS)

should be kept up to date.

Instructor: Milkiyas Ayele(PH.D.) 04/05/2024 10

 Advantages of Internal sources
• It generates applicants who are well known to the
organization.
• Minimizes the possibility of unrealistic job expectations.
• Generally cheaper and faster than looking outside the
organization.
• Managers have access to applicants’ past performance.

Instructor: Milkiyas Ayele(PH.D.) 04/05/2024 11

 One in Three Positions Are
Filled with Insiders
• In a survey of large, well-
known businesses,
respondents said about one-
third of positions are filled
with people who already
work for the company and
accept a promotion or
transfer

Instructor: Milkiyas Ayele(PH.D.) 04/05/2024 12

 Disadvantages of Internal sources
• Sometimes companies want some new ideas

• Need for diversity

Instructor: Milkiyas Ayele(PH.D.) 04/05/2024 13

Recruitment Sources: External Sources

Direct Applicants
Public employment
agencies

Referrals

Private employment
Advertisement in newspaper &
agencies
magazines

Electronic recruiting Colleges and

universities
Instructor: Milkiyas Ayele(PH.D.) 04/05/2024 14
 External Recruiting Sources –
Percentage of Employees hired
• The largest share (about
one-fourth) of new
employees hired by g
large companies came
from referrals, and the
next largest share (almost
21 percent) came from
direct applications made
at the employer’s Web
site

Instructor: Milkiyas Ayele(PH.D.) 04/05/2024 15

 Educational Institutions
• Sending recruiters to college campuses to attract employees
right out of college
• Recruiters usually have multiple openings
• May speak to student organizations or alumni groups
• Internships: sometimes offered to evaluate performance and
allow student to get to know organization

Instructor: Milkiyas Ayele(PH.D.) 04/05/2024 16

 Employment Agencies & search firms
• May benefit small HR departments to make recruiting process
more efficient
• Public employment agencies ‐ provide career guidance,
testing, training, and placement for free
• Private employment agencies ‐ provide job search Assistance
for a fee, and often select professionals only
• Contingency recruiting agencies ‐ are paid a fee or
percentage of new hire s ’s salary upon completion of search
and place

Instructor: Milkiyas Ayele(PH.D.) 04/05/2024 17

 Employment Agencies and search
firms cont’d
• Retained agencies: paid a retainer by employer to conduct job
search (also called executive search firms or head hunters)

• On‐demand recruiting services: charge based on time spent

on recruiting rather than per hire

Instructor: Milkiyas Ayele(PH.D.) 04/05/2024 18

 Other Recruitment Sources
• Professional Associations: often provide placement services
or job listings as a service to members

• Temporary Employees: may often become permanent

employee (temp to hire)

• Employee Referrals: employees can receive a bonus if their

referral is hired and many referrals tend to have lower turnover
and greater job satisfaction

Instructor: Milkiyas Ayele(PH.D.) 04/05/2024 19

 Other Recruitment Sources
• Sourcing Applicants: process of finding passive job
candidates (not in the job market)
– Social networking sites such as LinkedIn.com

• Resume spidering: process of tracking down passive job

applicants by searching the Web for resumes

• Re‐recruiting: entice former employees to return

Instructor: Milkiyas Ayele(PH.D.) 04/05/2024 20

Pros and Cons of External Recruitment
Cons: Pros:
• More costly than internal • Give firm opportunity to
recruitment bring in employees with
fresh perspective
• May upset existing • Allows company to target
employees if internal specific competencies that
applicants don’t get the job current employees may not
possess

Instructor: Milkiyas Ayele(PH.D.) 04/05/2024 21

Recruitment Effectiveness
• A number of factors influence the effectiveness of a firm s ’s
recruitment efforts

• Need a guidance on how these factors and related activities

should be managed

Instructor: Milkiyas Ayele(PH.D.) 04/05/2024 22

Preparing Recruitment Advertisements
• Major impact on the success of a firm’s recruitment effort

• Successful recruitment ads attract potential applicants and

compel them to apply for the job

Instructor: Milkiyas Ayele(PH.D.) 04/05/2024 23

 Recruiter traits and Behaviors

Characteristics of the Recruiter

Behavior of the Recruiter

Enhancing the recruiter’s Impact

Instructor: Milkiyas Ayele(PH.D.) 04/05/2024 24

 Enhancing Recruiter’s
Impact
• Recruiters should avoid offensive behavior.
• Recruiters should provide timely feedback.
• They should avoid behaving in ways that might convey the
wrong impression about the organization.
• The organization can recruit with teams rather than individual
recruiters

Instructor: Milkiyas Ayele(PH.D.) 04/05/2024 25

 Recruiter Characteristics and Behavior
(True or False)
• Applicants respond more positively when the recruiter is an
HR specialist than line managers or incumbents.
• Applicants respond positively to recruiters whom are warm
and informative
• Personnel policies are more important than the recruiter when
deciding whether or not to take a job.
• Realistic job previews should highlight the positive rather than
the negative

Instructor: Milkiyas Ayele(PH.D.) 04/05/2024 26

 Realistic job Preview
• Balanced recruitment message will have the best long‐term
results

• Realistic job preview (RJP) will enable applicants to screen

themselves out of application process

• RJP will help decrease turnover and increase satisfaction

Instructor: Milkiyas Ayele(PH.D.) 04/05/2024 27

 Recruitment follow up
• Maintaining communication with prospective employees
conveys your company’s interest in them

• Let each applicant know their status by sending them a

personalized letter

Instructor: Milkiyas Ayele(PH.D.) 04/05/2024 28

 Recruitment Effectiveness
• Yield ratios – the ratio of number selected to number applied
• Cost‐per‐hire – the sum of all recruiting costs (e.g.
advertising, travel, etc) divided by the number of new hires
• Time‐to‐fill – a measure of the length of time it takes from
the time a job opening is announced until someone begins to
work in the job

Instructor: Milkiyas Ayele(PH.D.) 04/05/2024 29

 Results of a Hypothetical Recruiting
Effort

Instructor: Milkiyas Ayele(PH.D.) 04/05/2024 30

 Evaluating the quality of a source
Yield Ratios Cost per Hire
• A ratio that expresses • Find the cost of using a
percentage of applicants who particular recruitment
successfully move from one source for a particular type
stage of recruitment & of vacancy
selection to the next.
• Divide the cost by the
• By comparing the yield ratios
number of people hired to
of different recruitment
fill that type of vacancy
sources, we can determine
which source is best or most • A low cost per hire means
efficient for the type of that the recruitment source
vacancy. is efficient

Instructor: Milkiyas Ayele(PH.D.) 04/05/2024 31

 Summary
• Internal recruiting generally makes job vacancies more
attractive because candidates see opportunities for growth and
advancement.

• Internal sources are usually not sufficient for all of an

organization’s labor needs.

• Through their behavior and other characteristics, recruiters

influence the nature of the job vacancy and the kinds of
applicants generated

Instructor: Milkiyas Ayele(PH.D.) 04/05/2024 32

Instructor: Milkiyas Ayele(PH.D.) 04/05/2024 33