e Recruitment Int

8/6/2019 e Recruitment Int

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1.1 IntroductionHuman resource is no longer considered a business requirement; rather it has distinguisheditself as one of the core assets of any organization. The statement by Mr. Narayan Murthy,"My Company's assets walk out of the door every evening," truly captures the dynamics ofnew economy. With such a great emphasis on human capital, it is critical for every

organization to resort to means that offer quality recruitment solutions at competitive costs.This is where the realm of e -Recruitment starts. The Internet is no longer just a rage; ithas now become a very powerful and effective tool at everybody's disposal.Today, the buzzword and the latest trend in recruitment is the "e-recruitment". Also knownas "online recruitment", it is the use of technology or the web based tools to assist therecruitment process. Many big and small organizations are using Internet as a source ofrecruitment. They advertise job vacancies through worldwide web. The job seekers sendtheir applications or curriculum vitae (CV) through an e-mail using the Internet.Alternatively job seekers place their CV's in worldwide web, which can be drawn byprospective employees depending upon their requirements.Online recruitment facilitates just-in-time hiring. When an organization needs a candidate itcan access the database of job portals, screen resumes and send a mass mail. It can alsoshortlist people based on skills, location, salary and availability and move on to theinterview stage. The traditional boundaries that existed between print media owners, jobboards, recruitment advertising agencies, recruitment consultancy and technologycompanies are breaking down. Resume databases have been increasing manifold and theavailability of a database (number of candidates) is much higher than what manualrecruitment modes can offer.Although e-recruitment caters to jobs at all levels, it is largely useful in exploring people atentry and mid-tier levels. As the base of candidates looking for these positions is very huge,the online recruitment process comes in handy for administering standard evaluation testsfor screening and evaluation. For hiring senior professionals, online recruitment processdoes help in seeking the required skill sets and qualification, but the screening andevaluation is not done online.Despite the rapid growth in the use of e-recruitment methods and technologies in recentyears, there has been little research looking at the trends and practices of e-recruitmentfollowed by Indian organizations. This paper focuses on the practices and experiences ofIndian employers, in relation to e-recruitment, and encompasses, in particular, theperspectives of Information Technology industries in India. By gaining an understanding ofthe advantages and challenges associated with the different approaches that are availableand being used, a better understanding can be reached on how to optimize the use of e-recruitment systems in India.The main aims of this research were to:

* establish the overall trends in e-recruitment use and practice in India, particularly withreference to the IT industry* identify what e-recruitment methods are being used, and what the experiences are oforganizations trying to implement e-recruitment* establish how organizations are evaluating their e-recruitment initiatives, and establishthe level of success being experienced.


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In order to establish the extent to which e-recruitment was being used amongst the ITcompanies in India, a survey was conducted to gather more in-depth information on theapproaches implemented and the impact of introducing e-recruitment. The research isaimed at HR practitioners or others involved in implementing e-recruitment, and are likelyto be of interest to practitioners new to the area, as well as those already experienced inusing e-recruitment methods. In addition to highlighting the key trends in the current use of

e-recruitment in India with special reference to IT industries, a discussion of likely futuredevelopments in the area is also provided.1.2 Forms of RecruitmentForms of recruitment can be broadly categorized into two. One is centralizedand the otherisdecentralized. Centralized recruitmentis in action when the organization is having acentralized power structure and the departments are not involved in decision making, it isonly concentrated in one central department. In government Organizations it is visible, likein State Bank of India. Advantages may be Control of the administrative costs,standardization in the process, minimizes biased choices, experts areinvolved. Decentralized recruitmentis having authority to each department to choose their

staff. The companies who are geographically spread, or very big in size will find this formconvenient. But the philosophy and Organization culture determines which to follow; likeBausch & Lomb have centralized recruitment form as well as G.E Opticals have thedecentralized form. Cost benefit analysis will determine the source of recruitment. As theprocess starts by discovering the sources for required manpower, thus the search should berigorous. Internal sources are many times over-ruled by the Organizations. One of thereason is the search is restricted within the company and limited to the suitable existingemployees. External search can be done in various ways. Some of them are- employeereferrals, campus recruitment, placement agencies, and advertisements. Advertisementsare considered to be most effective and common part of recruitment process.Advertisements can take place through several means, like through newspaper, throughmagazines/journals using specifically job advertisement newspaper, through professionalpublication, placing advertisements in windows, through online. On line advertisements for

recruitment is a minute part of e-recruitment.

1.3 e-recruitmentUsing internet prospective applicants could search for positions in which they wereinterested. Contact with employers directly is viable. Feasibility of email overruled the use oftelephone, fax or mail and the companies started accepting application through email.Today Organizations have their own sites or job postings are given in the placement sites.Again the candidates can visit the sites, post resume, contact the company directly withoutany delay. All these are just one 'click' away. e-recruitment is a tool for many employers tosearch for job candidates and for applicants to look for job. Recent trend of recruitment is e-recruitment or the internet recruitmentor on-line recruitment, where the process of

recruitment is automated. The automation began in 1980 but was systematized in 1990with the release of Restrac's initial product. e-recruitment simply means the recruitmentprocess through internet. Various methods can be used for it.1.4 e- recruitment MethodsMethods of e-recruitment are many, among those the important ones are:* Job boards: These are the places where the employers post jobs and search forcandidates. Candidates become aware of the vacancies. One of the disadvantages is, it is


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generic in nature. Special skill candidates to be searched by certain job boards.* Employer web sites: These sites can be of the company owned sites, or a site developedby various employers. For an example, Directemployers.com is the first cooperative,employer-owned e-recruiting consortium formed by Direct Employers Association. It is anon profit organization formed by the executives from leading U.S corporations. Pressrelease by Recruiters Network (February 20, 2003) showed the site has 98 members

approximately 45 percent of which are Fortune 500 companies.* Professional websites: These are for specific professions, skills and not general innature. For an example, for HR jobs Human Resource Management sites to be visited likewww.shrm.org. The professional associations will have their own site or society.Online recruitment techniques

* Giving a detailed job description and job specifications in the job postings to attractcandidates with the right skill sets and qualifications at the first stage.* E-recruitment should be incorporated into the overall recruitment strategy of theorganization.* A well defined and structured applicant tracking system should be integrated and thesystem should have a back-end support.* Along with the back-office support a comprehensive website to receive and process jobapplications (through direct or online advertising) should be developed.

1.5Trends in e-recruitmentHuman resource management or managing "people" includes several activities. Todayacquiring and retaining the employees is the biggest challenge. Thus staffing is a vitalactivity. Staffing facilitates the supply of employees. These employees are needed to fulfillthe Organizational goals and objectives by their effective and efficient performance. Andrecruitment is a logical step in this staffing process. Recruitment is the process of creatinghuge pool of potential candidates. It attracts the prospective employees and stimulatesthem to apply for job. The function of it mainly concentrates on two aspects. First is

discovering the sources of manpower to match the job description and job specification.Another is to pull the application of potential candidates to make the selection processsuccessful. The process is generally carried forward by the recruiters. He can be themember or staff of the Organization or can be the employment agency like MAFOI in India.Recruitment before nineteenth century was based on the apprenticeship system.Apprentices were not the employees of the Organization, but after completion ofapprenticeship they were absorbed in the company. Compared to apprentices the skilledand qualified candidates were more desirable. Thus the lack of efficient apprenticeship gavebirth to the trend of recruitment process in the middle of nineteenth century.The recruitment landscape both internationally and in India has changed significantly in

recent years with the internet penetration in India is increasing and showing tremendouspotential. Online recruitment has now become a significant part of the recruitment strategyfor a wide range of organizations world-wide, in addition to becoming an increasinglypopular method for job-seekers in searching and applying for jobs.Conventional recruitmenthas always been a time consuming and paper intensive process. They also tend to stressout your monitory resources.The Internet can be used to facilitate any or all of the main processes of: attraction(advertising/recruiting), selection and assessment (screening and testing), and on-boarding


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The use of online tools for screening and assessing candidates is less prevalent among somecompanies, but there is evidence that this practice is set to grow in the future, and that thisfacility will become increasingly valuable to organizations as greater use of onlineadvertising attracts larger numbers of applications.Table 1, below, summarizes how the survey respondents currently use or plan to use the

internet for a range of recruitment activities.Table 1: Activities/processes undertaken online (n=11)

Does your organization Use Plan toimplement No plans

Describe and advertise vacancies online 91% 0% 9%Post jobs on free internet job boards 55% 9% 36%Have dedicated recruitment website/ page 91% 9% 0%Post jobs on recruitment agency sites 64% 0% 36%Respond to requests for further info online 91% 9% 0%Track sources of online applications

82%

9%

9%

Build database for future vacancies 55% 45% 0%Applications completed online 73% 0% 27%Offer online self selection exercises 18% 18% 64%Initial screen on qualifications online 64% 9% 27%Initial screen competencies online 55% 18% 27%Use personality tests at initial screen 0% 27% 73%Use online test at assessment stage 27% 27% 45%Invite candidates to interview online 18% 27% 55%Notify non-selected candidates online 64% 9% 27%Make job offers online 27% 18% 55%Give feedback to non-selected candidatesonline

36% 18% 45%Report on the diversity profile of candidates 36% 9% 55%Seek candidate feedback online 18% 18% 64%

2.2 Drivers and Benefits for Introducing e-recruitmentIT companies in India that have implemented e-recruitment methodologies have done so fora number of reasons, most notably:

* to reduce costs* increase the efficiency of the process* reduce time to hire* transparency* Internal mobility* provide access to a larger and more diverse candidate pool.The most notable benefits reported by organizations having introduced e-recruitment arethe cost savings, which have mainly been due to reduced advertising costs, a reduction inthe resources required to process applications, and a reduction in recruitment agency costs.


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Other substantial benefits include more efficient management of communication withcandidates, and the ability to easily report on key performance metrics as a result ofInternet-based tracking systems.On the basis of the survey we can therefore say that, manual recruitment process has itsown limitation in terms of time, cost, technology, wider platform and ease of applications.

The costs involved in manual recruiting process include advertising costs, the cost of hiringa placement agency, administrative expenses and the cost of time. Recruiting online wouldideally be more focused, fast paced, effective and gives higher ROI (Return on Investment)on the administrative expense. By breaking geographical boundaries, online recruitmentgives maximum reach. On the contrary, to get similar benefits through manual recruitmentprocess one has devote more resources.Thus, online recruitment offers candidates the advantage of knowing the job profile,responsibilities expected and the nature of the organization, which are well defined at theoutset. Regular communication with potential employees in the manual recruitment processis almost nil, whereas communication with job seekers and within the team is seamless inonline recruitment. "It takes a while for the manual recruitment process to become

operational and yield results whereas in e-recruitment, one can look at the first response toa job advertisement in just a few minutes.An illustrative figure to highlight the operative mechanism of e-recruitment

2.3 Challenges associated with e-recruitmentE-recruitment is no passing fad, but it is no panacea either. It has a number ofdisadvantages, particularly in the Indian context. In spite of its wider accessibility andspeedy delivery, applications that match your requirements are often hard to find. Sinceapplying online is so easy, there is a glut of unsuitable candidates who apply for every post.As one recruiter puts it, `recruiting online offers cost and time-savings but requires morescreening'.Another drawback of e-recruitment is the disclosure of information. The candidates profileand company details are available to public. The applicants do not want their employer to


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know that they are looking for a change. Phone number, address information has lead tomany security problems. Again the companies do not want their competitors always to knowthe current scenario.A traditional concern with e-recruitment is in relation to its acceptability to a broad range ofapplicants. This appears to be becoming much less of an issue, as more and more

applicants are using the Internet as part of their job search process. In fact, there issignificant evidence to suggest that the Internet is the preferred application method for alarge majority of candidates. Nevertheless, many organizations involved in this researchshowed concern in relation to candidate access and perceptions, and are designing theironline processes to be as candidate-friendly as possible, in addition to acceptingapplications, in some cases, by other methods. In spite of these drawbacks, the advantagesof speed, flexibility and a user-friendly character have made e-recruitment a practical andpopular hiring option.2.4The future of e-recruitmentThe research clearly shows that online recruitment has established itself as a significant part

of the recruitment strategy and practices of a wide range of IT companies operating inIndia. In an increasingly competitive recruitment market, it is critical that organizationsmaximize their use of the Internet in the recruitment process, or risk losing out on qualityapplicants as the Internet becomes the standard job search and application medium for jobseekers.The research identifies a growth in the use of online systems to track and manage candidateapplications, especially for larger organizations, where there will be significant benefits interms of efficiency, cost, and capability to monitor and report on recruitment activities. Italso identifies significant potential for relevant and objective online screening andassessment tools to add value in terms of matching the competencies and skills of the jobapplicant with the requirements of the organization in an efficient and cost-effectivemanner.The findings of the research suggest that organizations need to examine and challenge theirexisting processes and strategy in an effort to identify the barriers to attracting andrecruiting the best talent in a timely, customer-friendly and resource-efficient manner.The paper highlights a number of key areas that organizations should consider to ensuresuccessful implementation of an e-recruitment strategy, including:

* building knowledge and understanding of the technology options available* ensuring candidate- and user-friendly interfaces on their systems* understanding Internet access and proficiency levels amongst target groups* the importance of integrating online and offline systems.This paper provides a new benchmark on practices and trends in e-recruitment in the ITcompanies in Indian market. It provides organizations with an indication of howadvanced/developed their e-recruitment practices are in relation to other organizations, andwill help identify where their e-recruitment strategy needs to be further developed to enablethem to attract and recruit the best candidates in the most efficient manner possible.


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ConclusionUsing the power of Internet to achieve HR goals not only increases productivity but alsosaves time and money to give a competitive advantage. The pluses are many: Posting jobsonline can cost less than half as much as Sunday newspaper postings and far less thanemployment agency fees. Online ads can be longer, more descriptive, written any time of

the day or night, and posted almost immediately. For employers, online recruiting allows farbetter targeting of candidates than does advertising in general newspapers, resulting in agreater percentage of qualified applicants. In addition, because 24/7 online job hunting isprivate and convenient, your company's Internet presence is more likely to draw in "passivejob seekers" high-quality candidates who may be curious to know what's out there butwho have not launched all -out campaigns.As online recruitment sites continue to multiply in numbers these 'value -added' servicesmay well prove crucial to their long time survival. Although e -Recruitment addresses theinitial phase of job hunting and applications the challenge is to go beyond the virtual value,and prove the value of the initial contact.In summary, people will continue to be one of the most valuable assets for everyorganization. The benefits mentioned in the above study will improve the accuracy of hiringand reduce hiring lead- time and cost, thereby increasing the overall competitiveness of theorganization in today's marketplace.Hence , it can be said that e-recruitment is the "Evolving face of recruitment."References

* Human resource management, Dessler Gary, 9th edition, Pearson Education, 2005* Armstrong Michael, HRM practice, Kogan , 9th edition* Galanaki, E 2002, "The Decision to Recruit Online: A Descriptive Study", CareerDevelopment International, Vol. 7, No. 4, pp. 243-251.* E-Recruitment, the right way, The Hindu, Wed Mar09, 2005.* For IT firms, e-recruitment can save time, money12 Aug 2001, Times of India* http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1480890233.cms* http://www.minfosystems.com/erecruitment-solution-india/recruitement-software-india.htm* E-recruitment is here to stay http://www.onrec.com/newsstories/7126.asp* "E-Recruitment: The Changing Face of Recruitment Landscape" by N R Aravamudhan,Source ICFAI University Press* "Recruiting @ Web 2.0" by Amybeth Hale, source : www.ere.net* "Job Search Engines A One Stop Shop?" source: www.onrec.com* "2005 Online Screening and Assessment Survey Results" by Charles A Handler and Mark C

Healy, source www.ere.net

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