Business studies

• Recruitment is the employment of new workers within a business or other

  organisation
• When a business decides to enter the recruitment process, they need to carry out a needs analysis to identify what skills and qualifications are required, how many new employees are needed, the type of position (permanent or temporary), and when the new employee will be needed to start
• The typical stages of the recruitment process include:

  • Drawing up a job description
  • Designing a person specification
  • Advertising the post and inviting applicants
  • Sorting applications and creating a shortlist of acceptable applicants
  • Conducting a method of selection (interview, presentation, etc)
  • Selecting the successful applicant and offering them the job
  • Completing a final contract of employment
  • Beginning training for the new employee
• Three additional documents required in the recruitment procedure are:

  • Job Description
  • Person Specification
  • Contract of Employment
• Job Description:

  • Defines the main duties and responsibilities of the post
  • Used as a reference document or in case of disputes between employer and employee
  • Should be available for all posts to clarify requirements
  • Key information outlined in the job description includes:
  • Job title
  • Location of the job
  • Conditions and hours of work
  • List of main duties and responsibilities
  • Line manager (boss) of the individual
  • Names of employees who report to the job holder
  • Date of first issue of the job description and any updates
• Person Specification
• Contract of Employment
• Purpose of a person specification:

  • Drawn up after a job description
  • Identifies the ideal applicant based on essential and desirable criteria
  • Essential criteria are needed to progress to the next stage
  • Desirable criteria help with shortlisting if there are many applicants
• Components of a person specification:

  • Personal qualities
  • Qualifications
  • Skills
  • Previous work experience
• Use of a person specification:

  • Used by a business when selecting an applicant
  • Often sent out with the job description to inform applicants of expectations
• The main purpose of the contract of employment is to set out the rights and duties of both the employee and the employer
• It is an agreement between the two parties and can be enforced by law
• The contract provides protection and security to both the employee and the employer
• A contract of employment begins when the employer makes an offer of work with payment of money and the employee accepts the offer at that rate and agrees to work
• By law, a full-time employee must be given a contract of employment within eight weeks of starting to work for that employer
• Details that must appear on the contract of employment:

  • Names of the employer and the employee
  • Name of line-manager
  • Date of commencement of the job
  • Title and description of the job
  • Hours of work
  • Agreed rates and methods of payment or overtime payment
  • Details of any pension schemes, bonuses
  • Arrangements for the payment of any commission, bonuses, or overtime
  • Length of paid holiday entitlement
  • Level and duration of sickness, injury and maternity pay entitlement
  • Length and period of notice to be given
  • Details of grievance and disciplinary procedures
• • Name, job title and location of the business’s grievance officer
• Recruitment can be carried out internally or externally
• Internal recruitment uses the existing pool of employees within the business
• Internal recruitment is often used for promotion-related roles such as supervisors
• Methods of internal recruitment include notice boards, posters, memos, and emails
• Advantages of internal recruitment:

  • Applicants are familiar with the business
  • Existing employees can gain promotion
  • Helps improve morale
  • Cheaper
  • Faster
• Disadvantages of internal recruitment:

  • Limited range of applicants
  • No new skills or ideas brought into the business
  • Existing staff might not be suitable
  • Conflict choosing one employee over another
  • The existing employee's job will need to be filled
• This is when a business is hoping to fill a position with a new member of staff from

  outside of the organisation’s existing pool of employees.

  External Recruitment

  Methods

  o Using external agencies

  (recruiters or job sites)

  o Job centre

  o Media

  (papers, TV, magazines)

  o Internet / social media

  Advantages

  o Wider range of applicants

  o New skills and ideas get brought to the business

  o No other vacancies are created

  Disadvantages

  o Applicants don’t know the business

  o Induction training required

  o Existing staff might feel undervalued

  o Can be expensive

  o Usually takes a longer period of time
• Legal controls aim to prevent discrimination in the workplace, protecting minority groups such as women, the disabled, and individuals from different countries, religions, and cultures
• Legal controls fall into 4 pre-determined groups: race, religion, disability, and gender
• Additional sub-groups to consider:

  • Race: includes people of differing race, nationality, colour, or ethnic origin, must be treated fairly in recruitment, selection, and training, with exceptions for specific job requirements or employment in private households or small businesses with less than 6 partners
• Religion: individuals must be employed regardless of their religious belief or political opinion, with exceptions for occupations like ministers or political roles
• Disability: equal opportunities must be provided for individuals with disabilities in employment, reasonable adjustments must be made to premises to enable those with disabilities to work, such as ramps, disabled toilets, and suitable parking facilities
• Gender: both men and women should have equal employment opportunities, including in promotion, working conditions, pay, maternity, paternity, and marital status, employers are liable if employees discriminate against colleagues
• Marital status: it is unlawful to discriminate based on being single, married, divorced, separated, or in a same-sex partnership or marriage, individuals must be given equal opportunities in recruitment, selection, training, pay, and conditions
• Sexual orientation: it is unlawful to discriminate based on being in a same-sex marriage or relationship, or in a heterosexual relationship or marriage, individuals must be given equal opportunities in recruitment, selection, training, pay, and conditions
• The Equality Commission was established under the Northern Ireland Act 1998
• Its aim is to help build a more equal society in Northern Ireland
• It is an independent organisation that oversees equality and discrimination law in Northern Ireland
• Mission statement: To value and promote respect for diversity, eliminate unlawful discrimination, and achieve equality of opportunity for all
• Main roles of the Equality Commission:
• Advise and assist people who believe they have been discriminated against
• Arrange legal representation for individuals
• Ensure that the law is enforced