Issues with the Current Recruitment and Selection Policy

Discuss about the Human Resource Management for Internal and External Issues.

In the fast-changing and competitive environment, human resources are one of the most important sources to take competitive advantages. Human resource systems can facilitate sustained and continuous competitive advantages by developing the core competencies of an organization. Strategic human resource management related to the identification and establishment of the link between the strategic objectives of the business and human resource management, strategy and its implementation (Shipton, et al., 2017). For proper management of human resources, it is necessary to manage them from the very beginning stages of employment. In this report, I am going to develop a recruitment and selection plan for a well-known retail sector company of Australia, “Wesfarmers”. I always keen to work with the company like Wesfarmers. It is providing its services since 1914 and is one of the largest listed companies in Australia (Wesfarmers, 2017).

The company has a strong and effective recruitment and selection policy for the selection of potential and highly skilled employees and workers. All functions of the policy are related to the functions of HRM department and Strategic management of the company. On the basis of my analysis, some issues can be considered which demands the formulation of new policy for the recruitment and selection of employees in Wesfarmers (Hamid, et al., 2017). The major issues occurred in the analysis can be defined as follows:

Although the company is well known in the retail sector, in present business environment, there are many competing companies that are also providing good job opportunities to the skilled and potential workforce. The Wesfarmers, therefore, should alternate its policies and stages of the recruitment so the best applicants can be selected from them. The company is also facing problems regarding the diversification of its workforce. Therefore, the requirement of considering important legislation related to the equal treatment of workforce (University, 2017).

The main issues that should be considered of highest priority include the role of Human Resource Department in the process of appointing new employees. In existing policy, the role of HRM is limited and their responsibility is also limited up to an extent. In the present scenario, the main responsibility of HR department begins with the recruitment and selection process. HR department of Wesfarmers should be primarily concerned with the efficiency of recruitment and selection process (Wesfarmers, 2017). Another high priority factor that is needed to be included in the recruitment policy is the code of conduct for applicants. The existing policy of Wesfarmers includes the code of conduct for the existing employees. But, in order to get an effective process of recruitment, a code of conduct for the applicants should also be included in the recruitment and selection policy. It also ensures nonoccurrence of any unwanted or unauthorized activity during the process of selection and recruitment (College, 2017).

Proposed Recruitment and Selection Policy for Wesfarmers

The current recruitment and selection policy of Wesfarmers is based on the old procedures of hiring like offline hiring and no online selection and interviews. The present conditions of the environment demand the selection of employees via personal interviews as well as via online interviews. The new policy should include all the mediums through which interviews can be conducted and recruitment can be done (Karthiga, et al., 2015).

On the basis of above issues, I have introduced a new policy with some alterations that covers the issues presented in existing policy. Policy:

A new suggested recruitment and selection policy of Audit Scotland can be summarized as follows:

The company aims to select and recruit best and competent candidates in a cost-effective and timely manner. This also contributes to the company’s strategic aims and helps to ensure positive and continuous improvement in capability and standards. The recruitment and selection policy provides a structure and framework for all the staff as well as for human resource department to carry out the process of recruitment and selection. The policy also aims to ensure that all the process are carried out in accordance with the applicable legislation that is required to follow the organization (Nabi & Wei, 2010).

This policy applies to the recruitment and selection of candidates to continuing the fixed term positions. It also applies to the candidates hired by labor-hire agencies and external recruitment programmes. The human resource department must approve in case of any exceptions related to the formal appointment. The ethical issues related to the different religions of the employees must be brought to the attention for the relevant external and internal approval from regulatory bodies. The principle of good policy is also outlined in the policy to employ temporary staff for the short term. A record of the process of selection and recruitment must be kept safe by HR team. Before the commencement of the recruitment process, approval must be obtained from the financial department for the establishment of the new post and expenses to be incurred to fill that post. Recruitment and HRM department, therefore, should consult with the concerned section of finance division (Posey, et al., 2012).

The company recognizes that its employees are central to its success. The company, therefore, aims to attract and retain highly skilled and competent employees having a professional, strategic approach to select and recruit in order to achieve the organizational objectives. The company also commits to the equality of opportunity in the employment and considering all the individuals on the basis of their skills and merits instead of their religion, sex, and other bases of diversity (Ekwoaba, et al., 2015). 

Main Accountabilities for Recruitment and Selection Process

The company ensures that their recruitment and selection processes are fairly designed to provide respectful, equitable. Consistent, transparent and confidential employment. Additionally, it ensures that the company is aligned with the objectives, goals, and values mentioned in the Company’s Corporate Plan and Strategy  (Bech & Edwards, 2013).

When recruiting the employees, it is important to confirm that the process of recruitment id free from biases and discriminations. The decimations practices are ensured on the basis of Equality Act 2010 (on the basis of race, sex, age, disability, marriage, gender orientation, pregnancy, religion civil partnership). Both type of staff is treated in the same manner, whether it is part time or full time. Permanent staff should not be given preference in comparison to other short-term staff members. Equal opportunities of women candidates is provides the recruitment process and this is governed by Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Act 1999. All the documents related to the applicants will be kept safe and confidential in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998. Under this act, candidates will have all the rights related to the assessment to any document related and held on them (Wesfarmers, 2015). The company is will work in accordance with the following main legislations:

• Equality Act 2010
• Data Protection Act 1998
• Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Act 1999
• Equal Pay Act, 1970 (includes its amendments)
• Fair Work Act, 2009
• Sex Discrimination Act
• Racial Discrimination Act

The above diagram shows that form the preparation of recruitment to the appointment of employees, all stages and functions are clear structures in a manner that at the end of one process, the obtained results are automatically linked with another one. Preparation of recruitment, advertising, selection, and employment all aspects are covered in this policy. The medium of recruitment also involves the use of print media and online portal that may result in more job applications and thus it there will be a number of candidates available for selecting the best to provide employment (Nikolaou & Oostrom, 2015).

The main accountabilities applying to the recruitment and selection process of the company are as follows:

Accountability for sustaining and implementing the recruitment and selection policy lies in the hands of management and are particular with the Memorandum of Association of the company.

Accountability for facilitating, administering and coordinating the various processes lies with the management and discipline of Human Resources.

Accountability of checking and monitoring the compliance of recruitment and selection policy is held responsible for the Human Resource Management (Bondarouk, et al., 2017). 

• Evaluation of the effectiveness of the new policy is done on the basis of the completion of the objectives of recruitment and selection process. The policy is assumed to be successful when it eliminates all the internal and external issues presented in the previous policy.
• Evaluation is also done through feedback of the successful and unsuccessful candidates. For this purpose, feedback option is available in the employment form and on the official website of the company. The company, therefore, uses satisfaction of applicants and employees to evaluate the effectiveness of its recruitment policy.
• Evaluation of cost-effectiveness is carried out by applying the quality, speed and cost matrices. This matrix helps to identify cost included in the process of recruitment and the future estimation of outcome from the selected employees.
• Accountability is also ensured by the measurement of the code of conduct rules for applicants. The introduction of the code of conduct for the applicants ensures a fairness in the process of recruitment by the applicants(Guo, et al., 2016).

• The principle of Wesfarmers that helps in the recruitment of employees can be defined as follows:
• Act with integrity, honesty, fairness and to account for the decisions of the company.
• Appoint employees according to the guidelines provided by MOA and the requirement of stakeholders.
• Maintain and respect the privacy and confidentiality of the information of candidates and prevent any misuse of the available information of not selected, selected and existing employees.
• Identify and manage conflicts among recruitment and HR department.
• Ensure that the resources and information systems of Wesfarmers are not being used in any wrong manner(Goldstein, et al., 2017).

Conclusion:

On the basis of above study, it can be concluded that recruitment and selection policies are the main important aspect to be discussed while discussing the management of human resources because such human resources are being hired by the company through this process. The effectiveness of this policy depends upon the coordination of various departments. The above study also shows that issues and shortcomings in the recruitment and selection policy are required to be eliminated on a high priority basis because it may result in hiring the inappropriate applicant for the job which may also result in the loss to the business. Various authors have different approaches to frame e-recruitment policy and its application, after studying them, most important points have been considered in the above report to provide an understanding about the need and importance of an effective recruitment policy. 

References

Bech, S. & Edwards, M. R., 2013. Managing Human Resources: Human Resource Management in Transition. New York City: John Wiley & Sons.

Bondarouk, T., Ruel, H. & Parry, E., 2017. Electronic HRM in the Smart Era. New Delhi: Emerald Group Publishing.

College, A. P. I., 2017. Recruitment and Selection Policy. [Online]
Available at: https://www.apicollege.edu.au/policies/Recruitment_and_Selection_Policy.pdf
[Accessed 25 May 2018].

Ekwoaba, J. O., Ikeije, U. U. & Ufoma, N., 2015. The impact of recruitment and selection criteria on organizational performance. Global Journal of Human Resource Management, 3(2), pp. 22-23.

Goldstein, H. W., Pulakos, E. D., Passmore, J. & Semedo, C., 2017. The Wiley Blackwell Handbook of the Psychology of Recruitment, Selection and Employee Retention. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons.

Guo, Y., Rammal, H. G. & Dowling, P. J., 2016. Global Talent Management and Staffing in MNEs. New Delhi: Emerald Group Publishing.

Hamid, M., Maheen, S., Cheem, A. & Yaseen, R., 2017. Impact of Human Resource Management on Organizational Performance. Journal of Accounting & Marketing, 6(1), pp. 1-7.

Karthiga, G., Karthi, R. & Balaishwarya, P., 2015. Recruitment and Selection Process. International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, 5(4), pp. 1-4.

Nabi, G. & Wei, S., 2010. Effective Recruitment and Selection Procedures: an Analytical Study Based on Public Sector Universities of Pakistan. Public Policy and Administration Research, 4(10), pp. 12-20.

Nikolaou, I. & Oostrom, j. K., 2015. Employee Recruitment, Selection, and Assessment: Contemporary Issues for Theory and Practice. London: Psychology Press.

Posey, L., Wong, D. & Perrin, K., 2012. Current Trends in Recruitment and Selection. The Journal of Business Education, 49(7), pp. 285-286.

Shipton, H., Budhwar, P., Sparrow, P. & Brown, A., 2017. HRM and Innovation. Human Resource Management Journal, 27(2), pp. 203-317.

University, A. C., 2017. Staff Recruitment and Selection Policy. [Online]
Available at: https://www.acu.edu.au/policies/hr/recruitment_and_selection/recruitment_and_selection/recruitment_and_selection_policy
[Accessed 25 May 2018].

Wesfarmers, 2015. Cod of Conduct. [Online]
Available at: https://www.wesfarmers.com.au/docs/default-source/corporate-governance/code-of-conduct—may-2015.pdf?sfvrsn=10
[Accessed 26 May 2018].

Wesfarmers, 2017. Governance policies. [Online]
Available at: https://sustainability.wesfarmers.com.au/our-principles/governance/robust-governance/governance-policies/
[Accessed 22 May 2018].

Wesfarmers, 2017. Our Material Issues. [Online]
Available at: https://sustainability.wesfarmers.com.au/our-report/about-this-report/our-material-issues/
[Accessed 22 May 2018].