Recruitment, selection and training

• Recruitment

  The process of attracting and identifying potential job candidates who are suitable for a particular role
• Recruitment activities

  • Job advertising
  • Job fairs
  • Social media outreach
  • Referrals from existing employees
• Selection

  The process of choosing the best candidate from applications received
• Reasons why vacancies arise

  • The business grows
  • Employees leave
  • The business structure is reorganised
  • Employees are required when a business starts operating
• Internal recruitment

  Promoting or redeploying employees that already work for the business
• External recruitment

  Appointing an employee from outside of the business
• Benefits of internal recruitment

  • The member of staff is already familiar with the business, culture and working practices
  • The business is aware of the employee's strengths and weaknesses
  • No need to induct a new employee
• Drawbacks of internal recruitment

  • There may be resentment amongst employees who are overlooked
  • No new ideas or experience come to the business which could limit creativity
• Benefits of external recruitment

  • Employees can be highly motivated and keen to impress
  • New ideas and experience are brought into the business
• Drawbacks of external recruitment

  • Expensive advertising needed
  • A large number of applicants may be attracted
  • New employees may need support from colleagues and induction training which slows down productivity
• The employee recruitment process

  1. Define the role

  2. Source entry of applicants

  3. Receive applications

  4. Advertise

  5. Create a shortlist

  6. Selection
• Job specification

  Defines the qualifications, skills and personal characteristics required from a candidate for a specific job
• Job description

  Outlines the duties, responsibilities and requirements of a particular job
• Internal recruitment methods

  • Business newsletters
  • Staff noticeboards
  • Internal email
  • Line managers recommending candidates
• External recruitment methods

  • Advertisements in newspapers, industry magazines, specialist recruitment websites, agencies and government-run agencies
  • Existing employees nominating people they know
  • Headhunting
  • Social media platforms
  • Specialist recruitment portals
• Application methods

  • Curriculum Vitae (CV)
  • Covering letter
  • Application form
• Curriculum Vitae (CV)

  A professional document compiled by the applicant detailing their career experience, key skills, qualifications and referees
• Covering letter

  A letter that accompanies the candidate's application form or CV, giving reasons for submitting the application and highlighting the applicant's suitability
• Application form

  A standardised form designed by the recruiter to collect the same details from each candidate in a consistent format
• Selection methods

  • Interviews
  • Skills tests
  • Aptitude tests
  • Intelligence tests
  • Personality tests
• Interviews

  A face to face, telephone or online discussion between a manager and the candidate about their suitability for the role
• Factors used to select the best applicant

  • Experience
  • Qualifications
  • Internal or external candidate
  • Fit with company culture
• Part-time employment is often considered to be between 1 and 30 hours a week
• Full-time employees will usually work 35+ hours a week
• Flexible working

  The development of a culture where workers are able to work in a range of employment patterns (full-time, part-time, zero hours contracts, work from home etc)
• Advantages of full-time contracts

  • Encourage loyalty to the business
  • Provide a stable and consistent workforce
  • Full-time employees are often more motivated, leading to higher levels of productivity
• Disadvantages of full-time contracts

  • Providing benefits and a steady salary is more expensive
  • Full-time employees may be less flexible with working hours
  • Can lead to overstaffing during slow periods
• Advantages of part-time contracts

  • Can help attract and retain staff who value work-life balance
  • Can enhance workforce flexibility
  • Lower business costs
• Disadvantages of part-time contracts

  • Can create challenges in terms of communication and collaboration
  • Monitoring and managing part-time workers can be challenging
  • Part-time employees may be less committed and more likely to leave
• Monitoring and managing part-time workers

  • Can be challenging
• Productivity may improve

  As staff feel valued, having been given the option of working part-time
• Workforce flexibility

  • May be easier to schedule employees to work at busy times
• Low business costs

  • If the worker is only needed for part-time hours
• Part-time employees may be absent from a weekly meeting regularly

  As it is their day off
• Part-time employees

  • May be harder for them to be promoted as they have less opportunity to gain the skills needed
  • May be less committed to the business and may be more likely to leave to get another job
• Training

  The process of increasing the knowledge and skills of the workforce to enable them to perform their jobs effectively
• Businesses need to make sure that new and existing staff are trained and developed appropriately
• Training


  The teaching of new skills
• Development


  The improvement of existing skills
• Reasons why firms train & develop their employees

  • Well-trained staff are likely to be more productive
  • Staff may feel valued if a business invests in training and development
  • Staff are more likely to be flexible and resilient in the face of change
  • Training decreases errors or waste in the production process
  • Improves the opportunities for internal promotion