Determining human resources service report effectiveness

¶ … HR Service Report

Analysis of the Recruitment Process Including Attracting Employees Internally and Externally

The continual challenge of recruiting, retaining and training employees to continually improve their levels of performance and mastery of tasks is one of the most urgent strategic issues facing companies today. The intent of this analysis is to evaluate how companies can tailor their recruitment process to succeed at attracting employees internally and externally. The continual challenge of attracting, growing and retaining qualifies employees in the most critical skill areas of an enterprises is for many companies the greatest strategic weakness they face in the 21st century (Ferris, Berkson, Harris, 2002). Implicit in the ability of any enterprise to compete for talent today and retain internal qualified candidates is the brand promise and ability to continually meet and exceed expectations both inside and outside the organization (Auger, Devinney, Dowling, Eckert, Lin, 2013). Highly effective recruitment processes take into account the internal aspects of an organization while combining the branding (Auger, Devinney, Dowling, Eckert, Lin, 2013), reputation management and the ability to meet and exceed expectations of all stakeholders including employees (Ferris, Berkson, Harris, 2002). The recruitment process is far beyond the tactical aspects that many companies in the past have ascribed its value to (Taylor, Schmidt, 1983). Instead, it is one of the most value strategic initiatives that companies have today, exuberated by the quickening pace of social media as a recruitment platform (Henderson, Bowley, 2010).

Best Practices In Managing The Internal Recruitment Process

For many enterprises the most constrained resources aren't necessarily just time or costs, they are the human resources necessary to compete in an increasingly challenging economic and technological environment. Paradoxically the more advanced an organization the less focused they tend to be on the exceptional velocity and pace of change in hiring best practices (Vokey, 2008). The role of social media in supporting and strengthening the trustworthiness of a brand continues to be a critical success factor in all recruiting strategies, regardless of the industry (Henderson, Bowley, 2010). Based on an analysis of the challenges faced by enterprises in hiring the most difficult-to-recruit employees including programmers and software engineers, it is apparent that the traditional, highly static approach to recruiting internally and externally is not working. No longer can enterprises afford to move slowly through a static, serially-based process that lacks interactive feedback and continual engagement with the applicant (Luszcz, Kleiner, 2000). And this applies even more to internal candidates who often are weighing future career options outside the company. This further underscores the urgency for breaking through traditional and often broken serial processes for internal recruitment that frequently frustrate qualified candidates who are in high demand. What is needed is a more lifecycle-oriented approach where the relationship with the applicant is continually reinforced and solidified over time. Every organization knows there is a definite lifecycle of relationships with employees, one that must be nurtured over time and continually reinforced (Taylor, Schmidt, 1983). The approaches innovative companies take in managing this lifecycle are what's changing the most in the last few years of the 21st century, with social media being one of the most potent accelerators of attracting and evaluating new employees both within and outside an organization (Henderson, Bowley, 2010).

Based on a thorough literature review of the area of internal and external recruitment, the effectiveness of creating a lifecycle-based approach shows significant improvement over the more static and serial-based approaches used in the past (Taylor, Schmidt, 1983). Getting beyond the steps of challenge, review, plan, advertise, short list, select, offer and validate, and monitor and induct to a more agile approach to recruitment and retention that aligns to the needs of the employee is essential if any company is going to be able to compete for talent over time (Welty, 2009). The static approach exemplified by the steps of challenge through monitor and induct completely misses the point of aligning recruitment messaging and job definitions to the specific needs of each type of position that needs to be filled.

A lifecycle-based approach to defining recruitment strategies needs to take into account relevant job design, requirements definitions, skill sets both today and in the future, and the nascent skill set of virtual tam collaboration. As more enterprises seek out the most qualified candidate regardless of their physical location, virtual collaboration becomes increasingly important and for many enterprises, is the cornerstone of their best practice methodology (Welty, 2009). Ten years ago recruiters would scoff at social networks and see them as a waste of time, yet today organizations the most successful at recruiting both internally and externally are using them to create and sustain conversations with prospects (both inside and outside their companies) while at the same time using them to infuse authenticity and transparency into every prospective employee interaction (Henderson, Bowley, 2010).

Best practices in recruitment processes seek to get beyond the requirements of a position and see if there is a strong cultural fit with an employee as well. This is essential for a high growth organization to continually reinforce a highly effective, transparent and trustworthy culture and attract the best possible candidates for open position (Ferris, Berkson, Harris, 2002). Only through the use of a lifecycle-based approach to recruitment internally and externally can the unique strengths of a corporate culture be sustained and promulgated through the base of new hires on a continual basis (Welty, 2009). As organizations shift the focus of business models over time, there must be a corresponding shift in how the relationships with prospects change as well. The lifecycle-based implications of managing Baby Boomers bored between 1946 and 1964, where authority figures and strong commitment to organizations are common place are often diametrically opposed to Gen Y employees who were born after 1979 and often openly question authority (Welty, 2009). For Baby Boomers the greatest compliment they can get through the recruitment and retention process over the lifecycles in a given organization is that they worked hard and deserved financial rewards that bought them freedom while the Gen Y worker values intelligence and quickness of execution through ingenious, brilliant means over pure hard work (Welty, 2009). These are just two of the myriad of factors that make managing the recruitment and retention process of employees across these two generations so difficult from a purely static workflow standpoint. Add in the differences of baby Boomers relative to genera5ion X (born between 1965 and 1978) and the challenges become even more significant. Clearly taking a lifecycle-based approach to recruitment and retention is more agile, customizable to the specific needs of each applicant from a generational, contextual and even nationalistic standpoint if necessary (Welty, 2009).

Analysis Of Advantages & Disadvantages of Internal & External Recruiting

The more fast-moving and technology-driven companies have the greatest need for very specific skill sets and often face the greatest opportunity costs in recruiting and retaining talent. High tech companies face the challenge of retaining and growing employees and immediately getting their expertise reflected in new products, which is the single greatest strategy for generating revenue and profits (Vokey, 2008). The Return on Investment (ROI) of recruitment processes internally and externally is amplified in high tech, fast-moving companies. Using insights gained from research into these companies specifically, the following advantages and disadvantages of recruiting internally vs. externally.