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5Personnel Planning

and Recruiting

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1. Explain the main techniques used in

employment planning and forecasting.

2. Explain and give examples for the

need for effective recruiting.

3. Name and describe the main internal

sources of candidates.

Learning Objectives

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4. List and discuss the main outside

sources of candidates.

5. Explain how to recruit a more diverse

workforce.

6. Developing and Using Application

Forms: Discuss practical guidelines for

obtaining application information.

Learning Objectives

THE RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION PROCESS

1. Decide what positions to fill through personnel planning and forecasting.

2. Build a candidate pool by recruiting internal or external candidates.

3. Have candidates complete application forms and undergo initial screening interviews.

4. Use selection tools to identify viable candidates.

5. Decide who to make an offer to, by having the supervisor and others interview the candidates.

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FIGURE 5–1 Steps in Recruitment and Selection Process

The recruitment and selection process is a series of hurdles aimed at selecting the best candidate for the job.

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• The basic process of forecasting personnel needs is to forecast revenues first ,then estimate the size of the staff required to support this sales volume.

• Managers must consider other strategic factors (projected turnover,productivity changes and financial resources).

WORKFORCE PLANNING

PLANNING AND FORECASTING

• Employment or Personnel Planning• The process of deciding what

positions the firm will have to fill, and how to fill them.

• Succession Planning• The process of deciding how to fill

the company’s most important executive jobs.

• What to Forecast?• Overall personnel needs• The supply of inside candidates• The supply of outside candidates

FORECASTING PERSONNEL NEEDS( LABOR DEMAND)

Trend analysis

Ratio analysis

Forecasting Tools

Scatter plotting

Computerizedforecast

FORECASTING PERSONNEL NEEDS

• Trend analysis can provide an initial estimate of future staffing needs, but employment levels rarely depend just on the passage of time. Other factors (like changes in sales volume and productivity) also affect staffing needs Definition: it means studying a firm’s employment levels over a period of years to predict future needs.

• Ratio analysis a forecasting technique for determining future staff needs by using ratios between (1) some causal factor (like sales volume) and (2) the number of employees needed(such as number of salespeople).

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• Scatter plot shows graphically how two variables—such as sales and your firm’s staffing levels—are related. If they are, and then if you can forecast the business activity (like sales), you should also be able to estimate your personnel needs.

DRAWBACKS TO TRADITIONAL FORECASTING TECHNIQUES

• 1. They generally focus on historical sales/personnel relationships and assume that

the firms existing activities will continue as is.• 2. They tend to reward managers for adding

employees , irrespective of the company’s strategic needs.

• 3. They tend to institutionalize existing ways of doing things, even in the face of change.

USING COMPUTERS TO FORECAST PERSONNEL REQUIREMENTS

• Computerized Forecasts• Software that estimates and determines

future staffing needs by:• Projecting sales, volume of production,

and personnel required to maintain different volumes of output, using software packages.

COMPUTERIZED FORECASTS- CONT’D

• Enable the manager to build more variables into his or her personnel projections. Newer systems particularly rely on mathematically setting clear goals.

• The use of software programs can enable employers to quickly translate projected productivity and sales levels into forecasts of personnel needs, while estimating how personnel requirements will be affected by various productivity and sales levels.

• Whichever forecasting tool you use, managerial judgment should play a big role. It’s rare that any historical trend, ratio, or relationship will simply continue.

• You will therefore have to modify the forecast based on subjective factors—such as the feeling that more employees will be quitting—you believe will be important.

FORECASTING THE SUPPLY OF INSIDE CANDIDATES

Manual systems and replacement charts

Computerized skills inventories

Qualification Inventories

FORECASTING THE SUPPLY OF INSIDE CANDIDATES

Most firms start with inside candidates.

The main task here is determining which current employees might be qualified for the projected openings.

• Qualifications Inventories: Manual or computerized records listing employees’ education, career and development interests, languages, special skills, and so on, to be used in selecting inside candidates for promotion.

1. Manual Systems and Replacement Charts – Simple manual devices can be used to keep inventories and development records to compile qualifications information on each employee. Personnel replacement charts show the present performance and promotability for each position’s potential replacement. Position replacement cards can also be created for each position to show possible replacements as well as their present performance, promotion potential, and training.

Department managers or owners of smaller firms often use manual devices to track employee qualifications. Thus a personnel inventory and development record form compiles qualifications information on each employee.

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FIGURE 5–4 Management Replacement Chart Showing Development Needs of Potential Future Divisional Vice Presidents

- CONT’D

2. Computerized Information Systems: are used to track the qualifications of hundreds or thousands of employees. The system can provide managers with a listing of candidates with specified qualifications after scanning the database.

Computerized skills inventory data typically include items like work experience codes, product knowledge, the employee’s level of familiarity with the employer’s product lines or services, the person’s industry experience, and formal education.

KEEPING THE INFORMATION PRIVATE

• Ensuring the Security of HR Information• Control of HR information through access matrices• Access to records and employee privacy• Employers must balance an individual’s right to

privacy while making HR information legitimately available to those in the firm who need it.

• The employer should secure all its employee data. Much of the data is personal (such as Social Security numbers and illnesses). Legislation gives employees legal rights regarding who has access to information about them.

FORECASTING OUTSIDE CANDIDATE SUPPLY

• Factors In Supply of Outside Candidates• General economic conditions• Expected unemployment rate

DEVELOPING AN ACTION PLAN TO MATCH PROJECTEDLABOR SUPPLY AND LABOR DEMAND

• Workforce planning should logically culminate in a workforce action plan. This lays out the employer s projected workforce demand supply gaps. The staffing plan should identify the positions to be filled, potential internal and external sources for these positions, the required training, development, and promotional activities moving people into the positions will entail, and the resources that implementing the staffing plan will require. Resources might include, for instance, advertising costs, recruiter fees, relocation costs, and travel and

interview expenses.

THE RECRUITING YIELD PYRAMID

is used by some employers to calculate the number of applicants they must generate to hire the required number of new employees.

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FIGURE 5–6 Recruiting Yield Pyramid

16% ● ● ● ● ● ●

75% ● ● ● ●

67% ● ● ●

50% ● ●

●

EFFECTIVE RECRUITING

Employee Recruiting: Finding and/or attracting applicants for the employer’s

open positions. Why Recruiting is Important?

• Recruiting is a more complex activity than most managers think it is.

• Effective recruiting is increasingly important. • With the dramatic changes, recruiting is becoming

more challenging , and there will soon be an undersupply of workers.

What Makes Recruiting a Challenge?• First, some recruiting methods are superior to

others, depending on the type of job for which you are recruiting.

• Second, the success you have recruiting depends on nonrecruitment issues and policies.

• Third, employment law prescribes what you can and cannot do when recruiting.

• Hiring better talent than your competitors more quickly will make important inroads in your marketplace.

• The challenges to effective recruiting include the type of recruiting methods used, your company’s policies and employment law.

• Finally, being organized and using experience and tracking systems to aid your decision-making will enable you to use the internet more effectively.

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education

INTERNAL SOURCES OF CANDIDATES

• Using internal sources

• Finding internal candidates

• Rehiring

• Foreknowledge of candidates’ strengths and weaknesses

• More accurate view of candidate’s skills

• Candidates have a stronger commitment to the company

• Increases employee morale

• Less training and orientation required

• Failed applicants become discontented

• Time wasted interviewing inside candidates who will not be considered

• Inbreeding strengthens tendency to maintain the status quo

Advantages Disadvantages

FINDING INTERNAL CANDIDATES

Posting open job positions

Rehiring former employees

Hiring-from-Within Tasks

Succession planning (HRIS)

FINDING INTERNAL CANDIDATES- CONT’D

Job posting: means publicizing the open job to employees (usually by literally posting it on company intranets or bulletin boards). These postings list the job’s attributes, like qualifications, supervisor, work schedule, and pay rate.

Qualifications skills banks: also play a role. For example, the database may reveal persons who have potential for further training or who have the right background for the open job.

Rehiring: Rehiring former employees has its pros and cons. On the positive side, they are known quantities and are already familiar with the organization. But former employees may return with negative attitudes. Current employees may perceive that the way to get ahead is to leave and come back.

• Succession Planning: the ongoing process of systematically identifying , assessing, and developing organizational leadership to enhance performance.

Succession planning entails three steps: 1- identify key needs.2- develop inside candidates.3- assess and choose those who will fill the key positions.

OUTSIDE SOURCES OF CANDIDATES

1

2

3

4

5

Advertising

Recruiting via the Internet

Employment Agencies

Temp Agencies and Alternative Staffing

Offshoring/Outsourcing

6

7

8

9

On Demand Recruiting Services (ODRS)

Executive Recruiters

College Recruiting

Referrals and Walk-ins

Locating Outside Candidates

RECRUITING VIA THE INTERNET• Advantages

• Cost- efficient way to publicize job openings• More applicants attracted over a longer period ,

generating more responses more quickly. • Providing exposure for a longer time at less cost• Immediate applicant responses• Online prescreening of applicants• Automation of applicant tracking and evaluation

• Disadvantages• Exclusion of older and minority workers• Unqualified applicants overload the system• Personal information privacy concerns of applicants

ADVERTISING FOR OUTSIDE CANDIDATES

• The Media Choice• Selection of the best medium depends on the positions

for which the firm is recruiting. • Newspapers: local and specific labor markets• Trade and professional journals: specialized employees• Internet job sites: global labor markets

• Constructing (Writing) Effective AdsMany experienced advertisers use a four-point guide called

AIDA (attention, interest, desire, action) to construct their ads.

EMPLOYMENT AGENCIES

Public agencies

Private agencies

Types of Employment

Agencies

Nonprofit agencies

- CONT’D

1. Public and Nonprofit Agencies – Every state has a public, state-run employment service agency supported by the Department of Labor, in part through grants and other assistance, such as a nationwide computerized job bank. Many professional and technical societies, and public welfare agencies have units that try to help their members or people in special categories find jobs.

2. Private Agencies- charge fees for each applicant they place. Typically, market conditions determine whether the candidate or employer pays the fee.

WHY USE A PRIVATE EMPLOYMENT AGENCY?

• No HR department: firm lacks recruiting and screening capabilities to attract a pool of qualified applicants.

• To fill a particular opening quickly.• To attract more minority or female applicants.• To reach currently employed individuals who

are more comfortable dealing with agencies than competing companies.

• To reduce internal time devoted to recruiting.

TEMP AGENCIES AND ALTERNATIVE STAFFING

• Employers increasingly supplement their permanent workforces by hiring contingent or temporary workers, often through temporary help employment agencies. Also known as part-time or just-in-time workers, the contingent workforce is big and growing.

• The contingent workforce isn’t limited to clerical or maintenance staff. It includes thousands of engineering, science, or management support occupations, such as temporary chief financial officers, human resource managers, and CEOs.

• Employers can hire temp workers either through direct hires or through temporary staff agencies.

TEMP AGENCIES AND ALTERNATIVE STAFFING

• Alternative Staffing• In-house contingent (casual, seasonal, or

temporary) workers employed by the company, but on an explicit short-term basis.

• The Use of nontraditional recruitment resources.

Know your Employment LawTemporary workers like all workers have important

legal rights. Temp workers can cause legal risks to the employer.

TEMP AGENCIES AND ALTERNATIVE STAFFING

• Benefits of Temps / Advantages• Increased productivity—paid only when working.

(Therefore, desire for ever-higher productivity also contributes to temp workers’ growing popularity.)

• Allows “trial run” for prospective employees before hiring them as regular employees.

• No recruitment, screening, and payroll administration costs. As a result , time and expenses are saved.

• Costs of Temps / Disadvantages

• Increased labor costs due to fees paid to temp agencies• Temp employees’ lack of commitment to the firm

OFFSHORING AND OUTSOURCING JOBSOutsourcing means having outside vendors supply services (such

as benefits management, market research, or manufacturing) that the firm’s own employees previously did in-house.

Offshoring is a narrower term. It means having outside vendors abroad supply services that the firm’s own employees previously did in-house.

• Outsourcing and offshoring are perhaps the most extreme examples of alternative staffing. Rather than bringing people in to do the firm’s jobs, outsourcing and offshoring send the jobs out.

• Offshoring/Outsourcing White Collar and Other Jobs – Hiring workers abroad is becoming more and more common. There are several specific issues that the HR manager should keep in mind when considering this option.

EXECUTIVE RECRUITMENT Executive Recruiters (Headhunters) They are special employment agencies retained by

employers to seek out top-management talent for their clients. For executive positions, headhunters may be your only source of candidates. The employer always pays the fees.

Advantages and Disadvantages: Recruiters can be useful and can save a

manager’s time, but they can be more interested in persuading you to hire a candidate than in finding the one who will really do the job.

ON DEMAND RECRUITING SERVICES (ODRS)

This service provides short-term specialized recruiting to support specific projects without the expense of retaining traditional search firms. Basically, recruiters get paid by the hour or project.

SOURCES OF OUTSIDE APPLICANTS

College Recruiting

Employeereferrals Walk-ins

Other Sources of Outside Applicants

COLLEGE RECRUITING• Process : it involves sending

employers’ representatives to college campuses to prescreen applicants and create an applicant pool of management trainees, promotable candidates, and professional and technical employees.

• On-campus recruiting goals• To determine if the

candidate is worthy of further consideration

• To attract good candidates

• On-site visits (They are usually extended to good

candidates.)• Invitation letters• Assigned hosts• Information packages• Planned interviews• Timely employment offer• Follow-up

• InternshipsThey are a recruiting approach that can be a

win-win situation for the employer and the student. For employers, interns can make useful contributions while being evaluated for possible full-time employment. Students, are able to work on business skills, check out potential employers, and learn more about their likes and dislikes.

EMPLOYEE REFERRALS AND WALK-INS

• Employee ReferralsThey are alternatives for identifying potential candidates.

Referrals tend to generate high quality candidates. • Referring employees become stakeholders.• Referral is a cost-effective recruitment program.• Referral can speed up diversifying the workforce.• Relying on referrals may be discriminatory.

• Walk-insWalk-in candidates may be attracted by posting a “Help Wanted”

sign.• Seek employment through a personal direct approach to the

employer.

RECRUITING A MORE DIVERSE WORKFORCE

Single parents

Older workers

Welfare-to-work

Minorities and women

The disabled

RECRUITING A MORE DIVERSE WORKFORCEA. Single Parents – Formulating an intelligent program for

attracting single parents should begin with understanding the considerable problems they often encounter in balancing work and family life.

B. Older Workers – With the entire population aging, many employers are encouraging retirement-age employees not to leave, or are actively recruiting employees who are at or beyond retirement age by making their companies an attractive place in which older workers can work. An image of older worker-friendliness and flexibility in scheduling are vital.

C. Recruiting Minorities and Women – requires employers to tailor their way of thinking and to design HR practices that make their firms attractive to them.

- CONT’D

D. Welfare-to-Work – The Federal Personal Responsibility and Welfare Reconciliation Act prompted many employers to implement programs to attract and assimilate former welfare recipients.

E. The Disabled – Employers can do several things to tap into this huge potential workforce. The Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy offers several programs, and all states have local agencies that provide placement services and other recruitment and training tools. 

DEVELOPING AND USING APPLICATION FORMS

• Purpose of Applications Forms – Application forms are a good way to quickly collect verifiable and fairly accurate historical data from the candidate.

• Using Application Forms to Predict Job Performance – Some firms use application forms to predict which candidates will be successful and which will not by conducting statistical studies to find the relationship between (1) responses on the application form and (2) measures of success on the job.

 

DEVELOPING AND USING APPLICATION FORMS

Applicant’s education and

experience

Applicant’s prior progress

and growth

Applicant’s employment

stability

Uses of Application Form Information

Applicant’s likelihood of

success

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K E Y T E R M Semployment (or personnel) planningtrend analysisratio analysisscatter plotqualifications (or skills) inventoriespersonnel replacement chartsposition replacement cardemployee recruitingrecruiting yield pyramidjob postingsuccession planningapplicant tracking systemsalternative staffingon-demand recruiting services (ODRS) college recruitingapplication form