The Importance of Employee Referrals for Human Resource Management

The method of recruiting has significantly changed over time. Today, there is less reading through stacks of resumes and more interacting with potential employees on a casual and formal basis. The method of job recruiting can include many different channels and practices. These methods can consist of practices such as attending job fairs, promoting from within, online and college recruiting, and referrals. Most recruiting methods are face-to-face interactions between the employer and potential employee. This gives the employers a chance to see the candidate in person, how they present themselves, and what they can bring to their company.

In a way it gives these employees an unfair advantage compared to employees being recruited in other ways. If managers are making it a goal to find qualified new hires, it is best if they use kiosks or staffing agencies rather than a method of relying on referrals.

Organizations can use internal recruitment and external recruitment activities to find the best employees for a position. Describe these two approaches and provide one advantage for using each approach. (4 Marks)

Internal recruitment methods include Job posting, Job Bidding, and employee referrals. One internal recruitment method that JetBlue used was Employee referrals. JetBlue figured that satisfied pilots would be a great source for recruiting their friends from competing airlines. The advantages of this method are that it could attract potential employees who are already aware of the company’s operations through word of mouth. The disadvantages are that the potential employee who was referred may not be as happy as the current employee once with the organization.

According to Wright et al (2011) recruitment and selection are part of the human resource practices common within organizations in an effort to develop human capital, which is necessary for better production. Numerous scholars have discussed the issue in different contexts. Pramila (2010) discussed the issue of recruitment and selection in an Indian- based company. The article presents effective recruitment practices, which are valuable for organizations. Among the identified practices include internal recruitment, interviews, personality tests, employer references, succession planning, and newspaper recruitment. According to Najafi (2011) the most important aim is to achieve an improvement in their recruitment and selection. With information provided in this article, the researcher is able to advance a thorough understanding of the different issues on improving recruitment and selection processes within organizations.

Employee referral is a bonus incentive scheme that encourages personal recommendation from a current employee for candidates to fill roles. The scheme is in an indirect way to start the initial screening for candidates as they have been vouched for and might be a better cultural fit for the organisation.

Now that the definition of recruitment is clear it time to explore the different strategies that are used in the recruitment process. Kevin Ryan, successful CEO of Guilt Goupe, states, “Recruiting is so important that we intentionally overinvest in it” (Ryan, 2012, p.45). This statement shows how important recruitment is. Being a recent college graduate that landed a job fresh out of college within my field and now seeking work, I can say first hand that the recruitment process is not done in one certain way, but in a variety of ways. One of the most common ways to get recruited is by referral. Referrals take place when current workers of an organization inform their associates about job openings and recommend they apply. In certain instances, when there is an extreme

Many different avenues exist that can be utilized in the recruitment process. While traditional methods of recruitment such as newspaper advertisements employee referral programs are still be used, many companies, including Fortune 500 companies, are moving towards more technologically advanced avenues such as career opportunity pages on the company website, online job boards, social media, etc. The way an organization presents itself using any of these avenues is essential to the recruitment process as it is the only opportunity for the organization to attract

If internal recruitment is not an option / has been unsuccessful, companies will the need to advertise to a wider audience. An employer will need to decide which method of recruitment is most suitable for the role and organisation. Common recruitment methods include advertising on the company’s own corporate website, using internet based jobsites, recruitment agencies, local or national press, job centre plus or employee referral schemes. The CIPD resourcing and talent planning survey (2013) lists the top 5 methods of recruitment as,

Internal sources come from internal company that conducts the recruitment. Recruitment using these sources is relatively quick and inexpensive. Company does not need any advertisement, head hunter or any other form of recruitment that is costly.

The requirements of HR Recruitment within an organization have undergone major changes in the last several decades. Knowing the importance of the system, the process now exists in all the organization for better efficiency.

The problem is that utilizing technology based recruiting (including Social Networking Sites and Applicant Tracking Software) for selection of candidates may result in a detrimental fit between employee and organization. When considering organizational fit; “The concept Person-Organization Fit (POF) deals with the congruence between the employee’s own personal values and the values of the organization, according to the employee’s perception” (Farooqui & Nagendra, 2014, p. 123). These limitations could culminate into a poor fit, resulting in diminished job satisfaction as well as poor job performance (Farooqui & Nagendra, 2014). The population that is affected by this problem is Human Resource (HR) management. The research will specifically focus on talent acquisition that will reduce problems through strategic recruitment.

Selecting the right employee to fill a position is one of the most challenging decision making processes a company has to make. The ultimate goal of employee selection is to hire the candidate who is most compatible not only with the organization but for the position that they are trying to fill. In order for the candidate to be successful in a particular position, their talents and personal goals must be taken into consideration and objectives need to be utilized in order to retain qualified individuals. The most common forms of selection methods are resumes and applications but testing, interviews, reference checks, honesty tests, medical exam and drug

In addition, the employment process requires effective communication in terms of the messages to post via advertisements. This is because potential candidates will be attracted by the content of the messages displayed through the adverts. In light of the current technological advancements such as the Internet and social networks, human resource managers would want to utilize such channels to reach many potential candidates across the globe (Lugonja, 2011: 2). This calls for flexibility and willingness to invest in technology where adequate efforts have not been made. However, a multidimensional approach would work better since not all people can access the Internet. In a nutshell, the process of selection and recruitment involves looking for and motivating prospective employees to apply for available job posts. Being a negative process, selection entails scrutinizing the qualifications of candidates that have applied in order to choose only the best applicants for various jobs (Sharma, Khurana, & Khurana, 2009: 17).

The recruitment and selection process refers to where organisations use various methods in order to generate a pool of candidates that are suited to the job at hand and align with the organisations goals. With technology being used and relied on by many in the business world, it is important that organisations stay relevant by implementing both web-based applications methods and scientific tests to attract the best possible people for the job. These both have their benefits and negatives when used in the recruitment and selection process, but with some modifications, they would further aid organisations to attract the best possible employees to fit into the job.