Attracting Candidates & Screening Applications in Consumer Durables Industry
Attracting Candidates
Recruiting is more complex today than it has ever been (Marie et al, 2010). Every vacancy is different and there are a number of sourcing options available to attract the right pool of candidates. Some roles will attract a large pool of candidates keen to work with the organization, whereas other roles will be more challenging due to specialists skill shortages. In this case, organization may be looking at developing relationships with potential future candidates (University of Otago,2020).
Attracting applicants are central to recruiting as firms establish a pool of applicants who are both attractive to the organizations and attracted to the organization. Companies invest large amounts of time and money to attract applications to their vacant positions. As organizations are extremely selective with candidates, they need to attract a large number of applications at an early stage to ensure a diverse applicant pool (Freeman, C et al, 2007).
Attracting the attention of the people who company want to recruit is vital to the success of a recruitment campaign (University of Otago,2020). Video 1.0 describes the key factors what an employer must consider when attracting candidate to a particular vacancy.
Video 1.0:How to Attract Top Talent
Source - The Excue Search Group, 2016
Screening Applications
Figure 1.0: Screening Process
Source - (Du Plessis & Fredrick, H 2012)
At the screening stage, the role of the search committee is to evaluate the applicant’s qualifications and to subject them to intense scrutiny to determine which applicants are most qualified for the position (Oregon State University, 2020).
As per Oregon State University, 2020, once applicants begin to apply for a position, the search committee members can begin reviewing the applicant pool to determine if the recruitment resulted in a sufficient number of qualified applicants for consideration, and if the pool is sufficiently diverse. If not, the search committee should confer with the hiring manager to determine the next steps in extending the search process and engaging in more additional focused recruiting. If the search committee determines that the applicant pool is acceptable, they proceed with the screening process. The screening process begins with the analysis of materials sent in response to the job posting. This analysis is undertaken to ensure that applicants have all of the qualifications specified in the job posting. Gosh, P 2019 says, Candidate screening is the process of reviewing job applications. This comes in right after candidate sourcing and involves skimming through resumes and cover letters to find the closest applicant-job-description matches keeping in mind qualifications, experience, skill sets, and projected candidate-organization fit.
According to Ghosh, P 2019, there are 03 steps guide to candidate screening process.
Figure 2.0: Three Steps of the Candidate Screening Process
Video 2.0 describes the whole process of screening applications very briefly and what are the main areas that the company have to look for when finding the right fit for the organization.
Video 2.0: Application Screening
Source - Gregg Learnings, 2019
Involvement of Technology for Screening
With the rise of the technology the administrative activities that demand a greater investment of time can now be outsourced to non-human technology (Ghosh, P 2019). What seems clear is that any process with directly quantifiable or distinctly qualifiable input and output mechanisms like screening, now can be automated. Using of AI technology and Robotics are some of the technologies that are programed to use for screening applications (Ghosh, P 2019).
Nowadays, HR managers are also pushing for the whole recruitment system to be re-designed (Cullen,2001). The use of e-recruitment methods has advanced so much that in the future, companies will have to have automated resume screening and searching equipment to remain competitive in their respective industries (Du Plessis & Fredrick, H 2012).
There are advantages as well as disadvantages of using technology for screening purpose. Figure 2.0 will describe more on the advantages and the disadvantages of the screening process done through using of technology.
Figure 2.0: Advantages & Disadvantages Of Technology use in Screening
Advantages | Disadvantages |
|
|
Saves Time | Reluctant To Use |
Reduces Risk | Large Amount Of Data Needed |
Lower Cost | Human Bias Can Be Adopted |
Functions More Strategically | System Malfunctions Can Occur |
High Quality |
|
Standardize |
|
Source - ( William, S 2018 )
With the volume of candidate screening and selection tools in the market, it is easy to often go for enterprise-backed best practices and technology. However, it is important to ask what works for the organization. Best practices may not be the best fit for the organization. With candidate screening and selection processes, it is thus important to devise a structured method that is a balance of human values and AI qualities, that drives the employer brand forward and helps the company start a dialog with top talent (Gosh, P 2019).
Screening Process in Consumer Durable Industry
As described in an earlier blog post (recruitment & selection process in consumer durable industry), the attrition rate is fairly high in consumer durable industry when compared to others. Therefore screening process has to speed-up, otherwise the right fit for the company may loose due to high consumption of time. Currently in my company the screening process was done by humans and it is still not adopted the technology to this exercise. However, due to the high attrition rate in the industry if the company can adopt AI technology along with the human process, a better fit for the company can be chosen in a short period and the right fit for the company will remain with the company without seeking other avenues.
References
Cullen, B 2001, E-recruiting is a driving HR systems integration, Human Resource Department Management Report.
Du Plessis, A & Frederick, H 2012, Effectiveness of e-recruiting, Science Journal of Business Management, Science Journal Publication.
Freeman, C, Vinnicombe, S & Terjesan, S 2007, Attracting generation Y graduates, Organizational Attributes.
Ghosh, P 2019, Candidate screening & Selection process, HR Technologist.
Marie A Delany T 2010, Attracting candidates to organizations, Handbook of employee selection, Routledge/Taylor & Francis group.
OregonStateUniversity,2020,<https://hr.oregonstate.edu/search-excellence/screening-applicants#:~:text=At%20the%20screening%20stage%2C%20the,most%20qualified%20for%20the%20position>,accessed on 03rd Dec 2020.
TheExcueSearchGroup, 2106, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UXx87a6X4c> viewed 3/12/2020.
UniversityofOtago,2020,<https://www.otago.ac.nz/humanresources/toolkit/recruiting/attracting-candidates/index.html>,Accessed on 02nd Dec 2020.
Hi Kanishka, Screening is often associated with pre-employment assessments which are usually standardized devices designed to measure skills, intelligence, personality or other characteristics with providing scores, ratings, descriptions, or categories and SHRM's 2016 survey found that 43 percent of organizations are using social media for using to screen applicants (SHRM, 2020).
ReplyDeleteAgree with you Eranga. Du Plessis & Fredrick, H (2012 ) states that the use of e-recruitment methods has advanced so much that in the future, companies will have to have automated resume screening and searching equipment to remain competitive in their respective industries.
DeleteAccording to Alyssa (2020) to attract employee from the beginning employee what to expect on the job, both for the short-term and the long-term: It should inform candidates what they will be able to achieve, what skills they will need, and what skills they will have the opportunity to develop. And it should discuss compensation and benefits—at least in general terms and it develops relationships with potential future candidates.
ReplyDeleteAgreed Isuru. Organizations are using branding as a strategic tool in today’s business environment with increasing regularity. Branding is often used to differentiate products and companies in order to build economic value for both the consumer and the company. It is concerned with the attraction, engagement and retention initiatives targeted at enhancing a company’s employer brand (Evans, S 2012).
DeleteEmployer branding is a relatively new approach toward recruiting and retaining the best possible human talent within a recruiting environment that is becoming increasingly competitive. The term is often used to describe how organizations market their offerings to potential and existing employees, communicate with them and maintain their loyalty “promoting both within and outside the firm, a clear view of what makes a firm different and desirable as an employer” (Backaus & Tikoo, 2004).
I have gone through your blog and the contents are noted. I would like to add that while human resource (HR) activities have traditionally been performed internally, the outsourcing of HR practices is a rapidly increasing phenomenon. The accelerated rate of HR outsourcing also corresponds to a sweeping change in which non-transactional activities, such as recruitment, selection and training, are among the most outsourced HR practices (Ordanini, 2018).
ReplyDeleteYes Malika, I agree with you. Armstrong (2017), says the advantages of RPO are that it can save time, bring outside expertise to bear on recruitment problems and free up HR for more value-adding activities where this will be a emerging change in future.
DeleteAn effective approach to recruitment and selection can help an organization to maximize the competitive advantages by choosing the best pool of candidates quickly and cost efficiently (Kleiman, 2005). But successful recruitment and selection can be costly and time consuming. Still, recruitment and selection are crucial for a business, because unsuccessful recruitment and selection can be responsible for the failure of the business (Ahmed, Tabassum & Hossain, 2006). According to the International Monthly Refereed Journal of Research In Management & Technology (2014), the selection is the process of picking individuals who have relevant qualifications to fill jobs in an organization. Selection is much more than just choosing the best candidate, where it is an attempt to strike a happy balance between what the applicant can and wants to do and what the organization requires. Out outsourcing is also option you could consider.
ReplyDeleteAgree with you Surendra, for a company to stay competitive it must recruit, select and retain an efficient and effective team of employees (Taylor, 2002).
DeleteOutsourcing is a good option to consider, but the disadvantage of outsourcing is the perception by some HR people and line managers that the provider is too remote to deal with the real issues and that there is a danger of losing control (Armstrong .2017).