What is recruitment? What are the major channels through which the recruitment to industries in India is done in modern days?

Recruitment refers to the process of finding possible candidates for a job or function. It may be undertaken by an employment agency or a member of staff at the business or organisation looking for recruits. Either way it may involve advertising, commonly in the recruitment section of a newspaper or in a newspaper dedicated to job adverts. Employment agencies will often advertise jobs in their windows. Posts can also be advertised at a job centre if they are targeting the unemployed.

Recruitment is an activity in which the organization attempts to identify and attract candidates to meet the requirements of anticipated or actual job openings Recruitment is the process whereby a firm attracts or finds capable individuals to apply for employment. Of course, the objective is to find these applicants at the lowest possible cost. This process begins when new recruits are sought, and ends when applicants have submitted application forms or resumes. The result is a pool of job-seekers from which the firms can then the select the most qualified. Smart companies recruit employees they can retain, and retention depends on getting the right people in the right job in the first place. So, while getting large pool applicants is important, getting the right type of applicant is even more important.

Methods of workers recruitments:

The recruitment to industry in India today is made through certain well- defines channels. The recruitment in these days is quite systematic thought it is still not wholly scientific. Today the industrialists is quite alive to the problems of recruitments and tries to adopt a systematic and scientific industrialist is quite alive to the problems of recruitment and tries to adopt a systematic and scientific approach to this problem.

Following are the channels of recruitments employed today in India.

Employee Referrals:

Another common recruitment methodology is the employee referral. To fill job vacancies, present employees refer jobseekers to the HR department as potential employees. There are some clear advantages to using employee referrals.

First, there is a good chance that a firm's current employees know others in the same line of work. Further, if the recruits are acquainted with the referring employee, there is also a good chance that the recruits already know something about the firm. In many cases, the present employee also takes an active interest in helping the new employee become successful. Finally, this method of recruitment is quick and inexpensive.

Conversely, the disadvantages of employee referrals include inbreeding, nepotism, and maintaining the "old boys network". Also, firms using this methodology may tend to maintain the racial, religious, or sex features of the current group of employees.

Job Posting:

One of the most common means of filling open positions within a firm is by using internal job postings. Job postings have all of the advantages of internal recruitment, discussed above. Further, job postings help employees feel they have some control over their future in the organization, insofar as they can decide when to apply for job openings (and which ones). By permitting employees to choose which jobs to apply for, the employer avoids being put into the awkward position of promoting an employee into a job they never wanted. Here are some guidelines for job postings:

1. Procedure should be clearly explained to all employees

 • Procedure must be consistent to avoid employee suspicion 

2. Job specifications must be clear

 • Results in fewer and better applicants 

3. Must be specific with respect to the length of time the positions will be open

4. Application procedure must be made clear

 • ensure that applicants get adequate feedback once a selection is made 

  o  reasons for no acceptance 

  o  suggested remedial measures 

  o  information concerning possible future openings 

  o  assistance in the posting process

External Recruitment

The opposite of internal recruitment is external recruitment. The most obvious advantage of external recruitment is the availability of a greater pool of applicants. Thus, only those applicants who have the exact qualifications will apply and be selected. This has consequences for the organization's training budget. Whereas external recruits will require orientation upon being hired, they will not require any extra training (assuming they were selected for their capabilities).

External recruits also bring new ideas and external contacts to the firm hiring them. Also, if political infighting over a promotion might be a possibility, then external recruitment is one way of eliminating that occurrence. Finally, with external recruitment, a firm does not have to worry about the Peter Principle.

Internal Recruitment

There is nothing inherently better about either internal or external recruitment. However, there are some advantages to internal recruitment. First, internal recruitment may lead to increased morale for employees; the organization is perceived to reward good performance or loyalty. Often, one promotion leads to another vacant position and this chain effect contributes further to increased morale.

Another advantage to the firm is that Human Resource data is immediately available for any employee recruited internally. Further, the employee's work habits are known and previous performance appraisals are on record. Similarly, an internal recruit will be familiar with the firm. This employee will be familiar with the firm's products, clients, organizational policies, and corporate culture. Therefore, the firm might be able to save money insofar as orientation sessions for such an employee may not be necessary. Whereas the firm saves money by eliminating orientation sessions for employees recruited internally, other training costs may go up. If company policies mandate internal recruitment, then employees promoted from within may not have all the requisite skills required for the job. In such cases, employees will have to be trained for their new jobs.

This can be a costly process. It becomes even more costly if the chain-effect of successive internal promotions requires a series of training sessions to be implemented. A succession of internal recruitments may, in fact, result in the Peter Principle ("In a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence." --The Peter Principle by Laurence Peter and Raymond Hull, 1969).

This can be avoided by initially promoting internal recruits on a temporary basis. Demotions for incompetence can have a demoralizing effect on the organization. To avoid such disappointments, the temporary appointment ("acting manager") serves to give the internal employee an opportunity to show their worth. However, it also provides the employer with an opportunity to replace that employee with a more qualified individual if necessary. Another unintended negative consequence of internal recruitment might be organizational politics.

 This may occur when more than one employee aspires to the job vacancy. Those not getting the promotion will be disappointed and may be unwilling to grant the new job-holder the authority required to do the job. Further, the unsuccessful applicants' co-workers may also resent the successful candidate and demonstrate that resentment through less than satisfactory work output

Finding well-qualified applicants quickly at the lowest possible cost is a primary goal for recruiters. Recent trends indicate that, if you're looking for a job in the technical field or to fill a technical job, you need consider using the Internet. The same may well be true for non-technical jobs in the near future.

Advantages

A majority of firms that have actually used the Internet for recruiting consider the Internet more cost-effective than most recruitment methods. Other advantages include:

• Access to more people and a broader selection of applicants 

• The ability to target the type of people needed 

• Access to people with a technical background who know computers 

• Convenience 

• Quicker response and turnaround 

• ease of use 

Disadvantages

Using the Internet to recruit poses a dilemma with respect to attracting the 'passive job seeker' -- the person who is not actively searching on the Internet, but may nonetheless be interested in openings in your organization.. To find these passive job seekers, companies might consider setting up their own Web sites which welcome applicants. An increased volume of applicants may also become a problem if Internet recruiting is used. An organization must ensure that it uses an adequate tracking mechanism to deal with this increased volume. A further disadvantage is that not everyone has access to or uses the Internet