Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Chapter 3
Chapter 3
RECRUITMENT
Scott Hurrell and Dora Scholarios
Introduction
Recruitment is often neglected in the HRM literature. Most accounts combine the dis-
cussion of recruitment with selection, with greater emphasis on selection. However,
the more effective organisations are at identifying and attracting a high-quality pool
of job applicants, the less important the selection stage of hiring becomes. According
to some, recruitment is ‘the most critical human resource function for organisational
survival or success’ (Taylor and Collins, 2000: 304).
Barber (1998: 5) provided one of the first dedicated reviews of recruit-
ment, 1 defining it as ‘practices and activities carried out by the organization
with the primary purpose of identifying and attracting potential employees’.
Emphasis is usually on filling a position from outside a firm (rather than inter-
nal appointments or promotion). An important development is the greater
attention devoted to how individuals become applicants – or the attraction
element. Sometimes referred to as an ‘applicant perspective’ (Billsberry,
2007), this acknowledges a two-way relationship between organisations and
applicants, where applicant decision making becomes an important factor
shaping whether the recruitment process is successful or not. It is not just
the efficiency of the organisation’s procedures in identifying applicants that
will ensure the desired outcome (a good match between the individual and the
job) but also how potential applicants perceive and act on the opportunities
offered.
In this chapter, we use both an organisational and applicant perspective to
understand recruitment. Our approach is represented in Figure 3.1. We begin with a
summary of the context within which recruitment takes place (the external environ-
ment, organisational characteristics, and the nature of the job vacancy to be filled).
We often use the example of the UK for illustrative purposes, although draw widely
on international research to show the pressures impacting organisations globally.
We show how each of these contextual drivers impacts recruitment activities, and
emphasise the reasons why many organisations now pay more attention to the appli-
cant perspective. This is the driving force behind many recent developments such as
the growth in e-recruitment, social media and ‘employer branding’.
1
For other reviews see, for example, Breaugh (2012) and Yu and Cable (2014).
80 CHAPTER 3 RECRUITMENT
= Applicant pools
present/future
Attention
Comprehension
Number/quality Pre-recruitment activities
Interest
of applicants Recruitment methods
Expectations
Diversity of
Intentions
applicants/hires
Decisions/behaviour
(see above)
Retention rate
Job performance
Figure 3.1 Job satisfaction
Recruitment Psychological contract
framework
At one time, it was thought that the aim of recruitment was simply to maximise the size of the
applicant group, which would then be reduced through a rigorous selection procedure. This
assumed an abundant supply of qualified applicants and that those selected would accept
the jobs offered. Although this approach may have sufficed for the job demands and labour
force of the past, these assumptions are more tenuous in today’s employment context. In this
section, we consider how the organisation’s external environment impacts recruitment.
The economy
The wider economy exerts a positive or negative effect on hiring activity through job growth
and contraction. Following the global economic crisis of 2008, for example, employment
levels in most advanced economies have yet to return to pre-recession levels (ILO, 2015).
Southern European countries have fared especially badly, with unemployment in Greece and
Spain around 25 per cent.
Even in economies that have partially recovered, problems remain. Since 2008 there has
been an increase in precarious work such as zero hours, temporary and part-time contracts
throughout Europe (EC, 2011). In the UK, the proportion reporting that they work in such
The external environment 81
jobs involuntarily because they cannot find more stable work has increased significantly
since the recession (TUC, 2015). Even before the recession, writers in the US (Autor et al.,
2006) and UK (Goos and Manning, 2007) described polarised labour markets. Despite much
job creation in ‘lovely’ high skilled/high paid technical and professional work, there was
also an increasing volume of ‘lousy’ low skilled/low paid jobs, with a reduction in interme-
diate skilled jobs. In developing parts of the world, such as some regions of Asia and North
Africa, this polarisation of jobs is starker still (ILO, 2015).
functioning relatively well (such as in the UK) difficulties still arise in certain occupations,
sectors and for certain groups of workers.
Employment legislation
Freedom from discrimination is generally viewed as a fundamental right. All member states
of the International Labour Organization (ILO), a specialist branch of the United Nations,
are obliged to ‘respect, promote and realise’ certain fundamental rights at work, one of
The external environment 83
Headline findings:
•• The top ‘business’ employers were: Google, PricewaterhouseCooper (PwC) and EY (Ernst & Young).
•• In IT/engineering, first again is Google, followed by Microsoft and BMW.
•• Students worldwide expect creative, dynamic work environments.
•• In ‘western’ economies, students prioritise future earnings and leadership opportunities.
•• Indian students prioritise leadership opportunities, high future earnings and rapid promotion, and use by
far the most communication channels to learn about employers (e.g. employer presentations, social net-
working, live webinars with employers).
•• Russian students prioritise earnings and opportunities for performance-related bonuses.
•• Chinese students prioritise ‘softer’ career advancement aspects, such as good references for future
career.
Universum concludes that employers’ attempts to attract talent globally should ‘customize their value prop-
osition more heavily in Asia and Russia’, placing more emphasis on career advancement opportunities and
remuneration in developing markets.
•• Recruit the best with very low selection ratios (number hired divided by number of applicants). Many hire
the top 1 per cent from thousands of applicants.
•• Recruit for person–organisation or person–culture fit not specific positions.
•• Build relationships with potential candidates, e.g. use Internet applications, ties with international univer-
sities and internship programmes.
•• Use global branding for name recognition and to understand what appeals to applicants, e.g. professional
freedom, learning opportunities and work–life balance.
which is the ‘elimination of discrimination’ (ILO, 1998). European Union (EU) member
countries must also comply with EU legislation on this matter. One example is UK leg-
islation to comply with the 2000 EU Equal Treatment Directive (EU, 2014), which out-
lawed discrimination on the ‘protected characteristics’ of age, sexual orientation, religion
or belief, as well as updating disability discrimination legislation. These developments are
now included within the 2010 Equality Act alongside protection related to sex, race, gender
reassignment and maternity.
Employers face legal action and employment tribunals if their recruitment practices are not
compliant with legislation. The basic principle of employment legislation related to recruitment
is that all individuals should be considered according to their merits and provided equality of
84 CHAPTER 3 RECRUITMENT
opportunity.2 The general principle of equality in recruitment applies both to direct discrimina-
tion on the basis of a protected characteristic covered by legislation (see above), and indirect
discrimination, where there is no intentional discrimination but the practice disproportionately
impacts members of a particular group. For example, recruiting through events targeted exclu-
sively at all boys’ schools would indirectly discriminate against women (for a more detailed
overview of protected characteristics and types of discrimination see ACAS, 2014).
Of particular importance for recruitment is the concept of ‘positive action’. Positive
discrimination when making hiring decisions is controversial because of its acceptance of
quota systems to redress existing discrimination. Positive discrimination remains illegal in
the UK but is allowed in some countries to redress serious historical imbalances, for exam-
ple in post-Apartheid South Africa. Positive action emphasises ensuring equal access to
opportunity, is legal in the UK and was extended by the Equality Act.
If a group which shares a particular protected characteristic is under-represented in a job
or workplace (e.g. low levels of ethnic minority police officers), or is felt to face a particular
disadvantage then employers can take voluntary positive action to increase this group’s partici-
pation (such as targeted recruitment activity) (ACAS, 2014). Using our earlier example of ICT
occupations, if an employer recognises under-representation of women and can attribute this to
hiring procedures (e.g. recruiting from undergraduate engineering courses where women are
already under-represented), then positive action may be used. This action could take the form of
a recruitment campaign that uses alternative channels to try to increase the number of applica-
tions from women (e.g. recruit from Master’s IT conversion courses). Under the Equality Act,
however, positive action could extend to the selection decision itself and involve deliberately
hiring a woman over a man for the job, but only if they were as qualified for the job as the man.3
Employers may decide to take positive action to avoid legal action or to manage the risk
of costly tribunals. There is some evidence to suggest that employers do act on such legisla-
tion. Woodhams and Corby (2007), for example, showed an increase in the use of monitor-
ing or positive action in recruitment, since the introduction of disability legislation in 1995
and 2003. There are also arguments for a ‘business case’ in reducing discrimination during
recruitment, e.g. to gain access to a wider applicant pool and harness the skills of a more
diverse group of employees. In fact, examples of positive action recruitment efforts are now
prominently publicised on many organisations’ websites, for example Sikh recruitment by
the British Army or female officers in many police forces.
Monitoring job applicants by protected characteristics when used to ensure representa-
tiveness and meritocracy in recruitment is considered good practice. However, equal oppor-
tunities policies and genuine practices to support them tend to be more common in public
sector organisations, large workplaces, and those with HR specialists (Hoque and Noon,
2004). McKay and Avery (2005) recommend caution in simply seeking numerical targets to
satisfy diversity goals if workplace climates are not consistent with the principles of diver-
sity. ‘Otherwise firms will be apt to default on their implied recruitment promises, minority
recruits will feel misled, and some form of backlash will be probable’ (335).
Other regulations affecting recruitment are more about ensuring standards or protecting
the public. These apply to the employment of particular groups, for instance ex-offenders,
and specify procedures, like disclosure of previous convictions, to protect vulnerable people,
e.g. children (the Criminal Records Bureau, for example). High profile cases, such as the
murder of British schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in 2002, have revealed that
if the applicant had been vetted at the recruitment stage, it may have been possible to prevent
2
This is unless it can be objectively justified as legitimate, appropriate and necessary, for example because a
protected characteristic is a genuine occupational requirement for a job (Wadham, et al., 2010). An example of an
occupational requirement may be the need to recruit a female doctor to work in a women’s jail.
3
For positive action to be applied in a selection decision, the Equality Act requires (1) that a candidate with the
protected characteristic is as qualified as other candidates for the post, and (2) that there is evidence that people with
the particular protected characteristic are under-represented or face particular difficulties in the workplace. If these
are not met then any decision that takes a protected characteristic into account will in itself be unlawful. Employers
must always consider the ‘abilities, merits and qualifications of all the candidates (for a job)’ using the protected
characteristic only as a ‘tie-breaker’ (ACAS, 2011: 8).
The organisation 85
a tragedy. A further piece of legislation that impacts upon recruitment practices in the UK is
the 1998 Data Protection Act (DPA), which gives job applicants the right to transparency in
the collection of recruitment data in terms of what is being collected and why (ICO, 2005).
The discussion so far has focused on four aspects of the outer ring presented in Figure 3.1 –
the external environment. We can summarise the effects of these pressures on recruitment
as follows:
The organisation
Size
One feature that, perhaps, has the most significant impact on how an organisation manages
recruitment is its size. Large organisations are more likely to: recruit on a regular basis; use
more recruitment sources; have dedicated HR staff for recruitment; train recruiters; adopt
diversity policies and practices and derive their recruitment strategy from wider organisa-
tional and HR priorities (Barber et al., 1999; Hoque and Noon, 2004). Recruitment strat-
egies in large organisations tend to be more strategically driven and formalised. As noted
above, large public sector organisations are especially likely to adopt diversity policies and
set recruitment targets. However, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) dominate
most countries’ economies. In the UK, 99.3 per cent of enterprises are classified as small
(employing less than 50 employees) and 0.6 per cent as medium (employing between 50 and
249 employees) (BIS, 2014). Much recruitment activity, therefore, is likely to be informal
rather than guided by a formal structure or specialist HR staff.
86 CHAPTER 3 RECRUITMENT
Generally, recruitment presents greater challenges for smaller companies. SMEs have,
on aggregate, a more constrained pool of resources to expand the workforce or dedicate
to recruitment. Unlike larger organisations, small companies are less likely to have the
resources to meet demands for a more diverse workforce in keeping with demographic
changes (Gallagher and O’Leary, 2007). They are also less able to recruit from internal or
national labour markets and are often thought to be disadvantaged by not having the promo-
tional prospects which large firms can offer (Cable and Graham, 2000).
Research evidence confirms that smaller firms tend to rely on less bureaucratic and for-
mal methods of recruitment, such as word of mouth, referrals or networking (Phillips and
Gully, 2015). This can lead to several problems such as restricting the potential supply of
qualified recruits, and/or reliance on unsuitable candidates, simply because they are conven-
ient. Carroll et al. (1999) showed how restricting the pool of recruits for childcare jobs to
mainly young women eventually resulted in problems of high turnover due to disillusion-
ment with the job. Such a restricted pool could also be viewed as discriminatory and illegal.
This same research, however, also showed that informality and the use of trusted recruit-
ment sources were viewed as more cost effective in the short term.
Along the same lines, SMEs may be better placed to use local labour markets and infor-
mal channels to deal with recruitment problems. Lockyer and Scholarios (2004) found that
small hotels could identify and match potential employees with local customer expectations
using informal methods. Large hotels which were part of a chain tended to operate a more
bureaucratic approach, for example relying on advertisements in national newspapers or, as
we explore further in the next section, outsourcing recruitment to agencies. In many cases,
this meant they were less effective at utilising local networks to fill vacancies.
managers. In the case of agency partnerships, this becomes one of setting, agreeing and
monitoring the standard of service provided by the agency, thus removing more routine tasks
from HR. Arguably, these different roles and responsibilities enhance, or at least change, the
role of HR practitioners, requiring them to become active ‘players’ in the business (Ulrich
and Beatty, 2001).
Taking each of these organisational characteristics into account, the importance of the
second layer of the model in Figure 3.1 can be summarised as follows.
The job
We have already noted how the changing nature of jobs affects employer skills demand. For
example, many companies are recruiting for ‘motivation’ or ‘attitude’ across different jobs
(Bates et al., 2008) emphasising the increasing importance of generic, transferable and cus-
tomer-orientated competencies.
Employers must also make a decision about whether the job should be allocated internally
to existing employees or filled using externally resourced staff – full time, subcontracted,
outsourced or temporary. This depends to a large extent on the expected employment rela-
tionship. Lepak and Snell (2002) describe a rational choice process with respect to the level
of human capital required to perform the job. Jobs that require high skill and unique knowl-
edge (hence greater investment in training) are better managed as internal promotions or
transfers, as these have implications for building a committed workforce. Jobs which do not
require costly training, and which can be performed at a lower skill level, can be external-
ised with a view to a more short-term employment relationship.
Short-term employment strategies, of course, also have adverse effects. Employers’
under-investment in temporary employees may affect their future employability (Kellard
et al., 2001) and can result in skills shortages caused by staff turnover. Furthermore, many
jobs that have short tenure (and high turnover) are poor quality, not least in terms of pay, and
are thus potentially unattractive to potential recruits.
The distinction between high and low quality work highlights the distinction between
core and peripheral workers (Boxall and Purcell, 2003). Those viewed as core to long-term
business success usually have commensurate resources dedicated to recruitment. For high-
value graduate positions, for example, large companies tend to have dedicated recruitment
programmes managed by in-house staff. Those of less perceived long-term value may be
outsourced entirely or employed on less secure, short-term contracts. The use of peripheral
(e.g. agency) workers allows the organisation to operate more flexibly in unpredictable and
competitive markets, but at a potential cost to job quality and worker security. Box 3.2 inter-
rogates the use of various types of freelance and temporary workers in the US via the use of
‘on-demand’ technology.
88 CHAPTER 3 RECRUITMENT
Box 3.2 HRM in practice ‘There’s an App for that’: The immediate recruitment
of freelance workers (US)
The US company ‘Handy’ has developed an app whereby householders can request the services of ‘home
helps’ on demand (paid, on average, $18 an hour) to cover duties ranging from cleaning to flat-pack-furniture
assembly. The app provides an extremely responsive way to match labour demand with a supply of free-
lance workers. Handy now covers 29 of the largest US cities as well as Toronto and Vancouver in Canada
and six cities in the UK. Other similar companies provide services such as grocery delivery and laundry.
Opportunities for more highly skilled and creative workers are also being provided through similar tech-
nology. For example, Topcoder matches the services of freelance software coders to clients. Medicast pro-
vides doctors on demand within two hours in Miami, Los Angeles and San Francisco, with patients sending
requests and detailing their symptoms through an app.
These arrangements have benefits for highly skilled freelancers who seek portfolio careers, moonlighters
and/or students who wish to fit work around studies. However, ethical and welfare issues arise, including the
precarity of work for the individual employee, (especially if this is their main source of income), and the exclu-
sion of freelance workers from certain legal protections (Hurrell, 2015).
Source: The Economist, 3rd January, 2015.
Pre-recruitment activities
The previous sections illustrate the diverse recruitment conditions which organisations face.
It is hard, therefore, to imagine a single, ‘best practice’ approach to recruitment that would
be appropriate for all situations. However, there are some generalisations that can be made
about how organisations should prepare for recruitment. Detailed accounts of these activities
can be found in other texts (see, for example, Lees and Cordery, 2000). Here, we provide
a brief review of two of the most fundamental pre-recruitment activities – producing job
descriptions and person specifications.
Job descriptions
Filling a vacancy begins with job analysis. This should be ‘a purposeful, systematic process for
collecting information on the important work-related aspects of a job’ (Gatewood and Feild,
1998: 245), and should define what is required to perform the job successfully. Data collection
methods may include: interviews/surveys with job incumbents or supervisors; observation; past
job descriptions and/or databases about occupational classifications. For example, a firefighter’s
job may involve the task of ‘applying water or chemical agents to extinguish flames’ but we
need to know the essential worker attributes, such as situational awareness or confidence and
resilience in the face of pressure, to recruit the right person to carry out this task (Department for
Communities and Local Government, 2009).
Campion’s (1988) multidimensional model of job analysis and design attempted to draw
together many approaches to job analysis to provide the most comprehensive description possi-
ble of what a job entails. This proposed that jobs should be described using all of the following
dimensions: tasks; worker characteristics (knowledge, skills, abilities, personality, motivation,
perceptual–motor requirements); job context (tools/equipment; degree of social interaction); the
reward structure (benefits accruing to teamwork or autonomy) and job demands (problem solv-
ing, intensity, speed).
There are at least two notable points about current thinking on describing jobs. The first is
that the components of a job, whether the tasks or worker characteristics, cannot be separated
from the organisational setting in which they take place; hence the position of the job at the cen-
tre of the concentric circles in Figure 3.1. The notion of skill, for example, may reflect specific
Pre-recruitment activities 89
product markets or organisational strategies. For example, two hotel workers may possess sim-
ilar interpersonal communication skills. Different job and organisational settings, however,
mean that one uses these in the context of tightly prescribed standards and a script to guide cus-
tomer interactions, while the other may have more scope to use their discretion (Hurrell et al.,
2013). These findings have implications for job analysis methods, which some suggest should
be refocused around broader work analysis rather than specific job tasks (Gatewood and Feild,
1998). There are also implications regarding matching work contexts with the preferences of
potential applicant groups. Workers seeking short-term employment may be targeted for low
discretion jobs, and workers seeking long-term positions for high discretion jobs.
A second key point is that job descriptions should not be static or too narrow. Descrip-
tions should take into account how jobs may change as a result of environmental drivers
(e.g. technological advances or competitive pressures), and consider the interconnections
between specific jobs and other organisational roles (Sanchez, 1994). Future-orientated
(or strategic) job analysis (Schneider and Konz, 1989) should intentionally include those
involved in planning change in the organisation rather than relying on existing job incum-
bents as a source of information.
Team Spirited
The way we pull together in an environment, which recognises and celebrates each other’s
strengths and contribution.
and negative indicators (see Table 3.1 for an example related to the competency ‘team spir-
ited’). As with future-orientated job analysis, the competencies that organisations specify as
the basis for recruitment and selection should be continually reviewed so that they can antic-
ipate emerging and declining competency requirements (Robinson et al., 2005).
Competency frameworks are evident in growing numbers of organisations. In 2010, two
thirds of 168 UK organisations used a competency framework to target their recruitment
(Suff, 2010); by 2013, 82 per cent of 462 organisations reported using competency-based
interviews in selection (CIPD, 2013b). Many companies identify ‘core competencies’ which
are applied to all employees – for instance ‘customer focus’ and ‘communication’ – as well
as specific competencies that may apply to different occupational groups. Typical compe-
tencies used are teamworking, people management, results-orientation and problem solving
(ibid.). These examples indicate further that organisations are interested in recruiting for
personal qualities as well as for specific technical skills and qualifications.
Returning again to Figure 3.1, we can now add further detail to how job requirements are
likely to shape recruitment, as follows:
Recruitment methods
As a result of the challenges discussed so far, organisations seem to be using more creative
solutions to communicate with potential applicants and targeting diverse applicant groups.
Internet (e-) recruitment has become the method of choice. Table 3.2 shows the popularity
of various recruitment methods in UK organisations and how this differs between sectors.
In this section, we summarise the most popular methods, moving from those which pro-
vide advantages in terms of the efficiency of recruitment (agencies, e-recruitment) to those
which are directed more at attracting the attention of candidates such as social media or
informal processes (referrals, networks). We conclude with a strategy borrowed from mar-
keting which aims to solve recruitment difficulties by directly targeting applicant percep-
tions – employer branding.
Table 3.2 Most effective methods to attract applicants, by industry sector (%)
Sector (2013)
Private Voluntary,
All Manuf. and Sector Public Community, All
2013 Production Services Sector Not-For-Profit 2010
Own corporate website 62 50 56 78 70 63
Recruitment agencies 49 69 56 29 35 60
Commercial job boards 38 27 47 33 33 33
Employee referral scheme 33 41 49 7 17 35
Professional networking 31 35 43 15 17 14
(e.g. LinkedIn)
Local newspaper 29 29 20 33 49 36
advertisements
Specialist journals/trade 24 14 13 47 33 31
press
Speculative applications/ 23 29 25 13 20 24
word of mouth
Apprenticeships 20 21 19 26 16 12
Jobcentre Plus 19 21 18 13 29 23
Search consultants 17 22 18 16 12 22
Links with schools/ 14 12 16 15 10 18
colleges/universities
Secondments 12 4 11 23 10 11
National newspaper ads 12 3 4 32 16 16
Social networking sites 9 0 13 7 10 3
(e.g. Facebook)
Alumni (previous employees) 6 8 7 5 1 5
Links with local organisations 6 9 6 6 1 —
making redundancies*
Local employment 4 0 4 7 3 6
partnerships
Other 6 8 3 8 7 5
Source: CIPD (2013b).
Base: 457 (2013); 464 (2010).
*New item introduced after 2010.
the development of close relationships between the agency, the client and potential job seek-
ers (Finlay and Coverdill, 2000). For senior-level appointments, where both parties require
discretion, headhunters are likely to remain the preferred route of recruitment.
corporate websites as the most effective method for attracting applicants, especially in the
public and non-profit sectors, surpassing more traditional methods. The most commonly
reported benefits of e-recruitment are cost effectiveness, the generation of a larger candidate
pool, ease of use and speed of hiring (Parry and Tyson, 2008). There are, inevitably, some
drawbacks for employers. The primary problem is the time taken to filter out large numbers
of potentially unsuitable applicants (ibid.), although more effective targeting may reduce
this. Other problems include concern that certain applicant groups may not be reached, and
the impersonal nature of e-recruitment.
For applicants, the Internet allows easier access to try and match their skills with employer
needs. Employer websites are popular communication channels across countries (although
less so in China, Russia and Brazil) as shown by Universum’s 2014 survey of business and
engineering graduates (Box 3.1), and for many graduates, the Internet may be the only job
search medium. There are concerns, however, about accessibility for some groups, such
as the unemployed, less IT-literate or older applicants (Searle, 2006). E-recruitment may
also not be fully compliant with disability discrimination legislation. Organisations should,
therefore, also use traditional methods, such as application forms and print media, to ensure
equality of access to information.
Employer branding
Taking the applicant perspective further, there has been a surge of interest in the image
of the employer and, in particular, ‘branding’ as a competitive attraction strategy (Collins
and Kanar, 2014). In this vein, large graduate employers in the UK cited improving stu-
dents’ perceptions of their organisation as their biggest recruitment challenge in 2014 to
2015 (High Fliers, 2015). Branding was a feature of recruitment strategy for the top global
employers we highlighted in Box 3.1.
94 CHAPTER 3 RECRUITMENT
The concept implies that organisations should think beyond recruitment for specific
job vacancies, and focus on communicating information about their image and the whole
employment package. This is especially important when there is competition for skilled
labour, as applicant decision making may be influenced by other job offers or informal
information about a company, for example negative comments on blogs. It has also been
found that graduates’ misperceptions of the quality of opportunities available in particular
sectors may lead to recruitment difficulties. Hurrell et al. (2011) found such a case when
examining recruitment to paid jobs in the voluntary sector.
Various sources of information such as corporate websites, word of mouth, university
sponsorship or publicity events can contribute to perceptions of a brand. High profile publi-
cations are also influential. For example, more job applications are submitted to companies
ranked high in US business publications, such as Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work
For (Cable and Turban, 2003) or the UK’s Sunday Times’ Best Companies to Work For.
Many recruitment researchers now focus on the symbolic attributes of organisations (such
as corporate values) as being more relevant indicators of applicant attraction than instru-
mental attributes (such as salary or location), especially during the early stages of recruit-
ment. Lievens and Highhouse (2003) developed the instrumental–symbolic framework for
recruitment, building on marketing concepts describing how consumers assign meaning to
products to enhance self-identity. Where such attraction occurs, positive identification with
an organisation’s symbolic attributes can help align employees’ skills with organisational
requirements (Hurrell and Scholarios, 2014).
The ‘war for talent’, when demand for applicants exceeds supply (which may become more
of a concern as the economic climate improves), and the search for more engaged and com-
mitted employees has meant that an approach based purely on matching job and person
characteristics is often inadequate. As examined further in the next chapter, staffing may
be viewed as an interactive social process where the applicant also has power. This places
greater importance on the perceptions of applicants. In some situations companies will have
to work harder to attract qualified applicants, maintain their interest, and convince them that
they should accept an offer of employment.
Applicant ‘attraction’ to organisations implies getting applicants to view the organisa-
tion as a positive place to work. A considerable amount of research has been generated on
just how applicant views are formed; for instance, how applicants are affected by recruiter
behaviour; what draws their attention to corporate websites and how they process and then
use information to make decisions about the attractiveness of the organisation (Ehrhart and
Ziegert, 2005). This has provided information on the effectiveness of alternative recruitment
sources, as well as investigating which sources provide the best employees in terms of post-
hire outcomes like better job performance and lower turnover. We have reviewed some of
this research in our consideration of each recruitment method above. Case study 3.3 consid-
ers the issue of ‘fit’ between applicants and the brand.
Conclusions
There is no ‘best practice’ recruitment approach, although methods that comply with equal-
ity legislation are a requirement. The model shown in Figure 3.1 demonstrates the factors
which will impact recruitment outcomes, and hence the range of activities which organi-
sations may adopt. The scarcity and criticality of the skills sought, decisions concerning
Conclusions 95
the permanency of jobs, and the impact on particular applicant groups are just a few of the
issues discussed in this chapter, which determine how employers choose to attract job appli-
cants. For some organisations, recruitment is planned, integrated into wider organisational
and HR strategies, and a key concern of senior managers who wish to attract and retain
committed people. For others, it remains low priority with ad hoc arrangements, sometimes
through recruitment agencies. HR practitioners still have a role to play, but that role might
range from one of simply sending out instructions in a service centre, to one of major strate-
gic importance where specific expertise is required, as in the design and/or implementation
of behavioural competency frameworks.
The ‘applicant perspective’ considers all recruitment methods as part of the developing
relationship between applicants and organisations which take place in a changing external
context. Recent interest in this approach has added considerably to earlier research and has
recognised that all recruitment channels send relevant messages to potential applicants,
which will affect their perceptions of the job/organisation and their intentions to apply. As
well as trying to address objective recruitment goals (such as cost and diversity targets),
organisations will also therefore gain from using methods that communicate attractive yet
accurate images of the job and organisation to applicants. Taking all these factors into
account should mean a greater chance of successful recruitment, in the short term and, in the
longer term, with respect to the performance and attitudes of future employees.
96 CHAPTER 3 RECRUITMENT
Hospitality and tourism are important sources of eco- working in the army or in rural areas (Blanchard, 2011).
nomic growth for many countries. Increased labour Because of its Confucian routes, China remains a hier-
mobility and migration have created more numerous archical country both within families and the workplace
and diverse employment opportunities. Yet, the indus- with cultural differences also apparent between urban/
try often struggles to find suitable recruits, suffering coastal and rural areas (Child and Warner, 2003). Young
from reputational issues, for example, related to sta- people in coastal regions, especially in cities, have
tus, pay, working patterns, and the precarity of work, been more exposed to outside influences, seeing them-
especially for migrants. Some workers may tolerate selves as more cosmopolitan than the ‘local’ C hinese
these issues in the short term, such as students work- in other areas (ibid.: 22). The notion of preserving ‘face’
ing part time, migrants from deprived areas or travelling (or mianzi) is also central to Chinese cultural principles.
transient workers. However, they can inhibit long-term A graduate may feel that taking an ‘inferior’ job causes
recruitment goals and especially the recruitment of top them to lose face with their family and peers, especially
talent (Zhang and Wu, 2004). Baum (2015) states that if moving from an urban to rural area.
tourism, as an industry, has been slow to react to the The general issues highlighted above with hospitality
leadership deficit that it faces and has fallen behind and tourism employment were noted by Zhang and Wu
other sectors as a result. (2004) in their roundtable discussion of issues affecting
A country in which there appears to be a particular the industry in China. This study involved 17 senior hotel
opportunity for the attraction of highly skilled applicants and travel agency managers as well as four academic
who could fill leadership deficits is China. As noted representatives who taught students majoring in hospi-
in the text, China faces an over-supply of graduates tality and tourism. Their findings are summarised below.
and graduate unemployment following rapid expan-
•• Hotel managers noted that positions were becoming
sion of the university sector. The ILO (2015) reported
increasingly difficult to fill. They attributed this firstly to
that the majority of Chinese graduates in a 2013 sur-
increased competition, as more and more hospitality
vey expressed discontent with their jobs. This ‘rising
establishments opened in China. They also believed
joblessness’ of Chinese graduates (Sharma, 2014)
that changes in the expectations and perceptions of
has been a concern for a number of years, attracting
young, well-educated potential job applicants were
attention from around the world. In June 2014 the BBC
a key barrier to recruitment. As China has become
asked the question: ‘What do you do with millions of
increasingly subject to globalisation, higher-pay-
extra graduates?’ specifically concerning India and
ing sectors such as IT and banking have increased
China (ibid.). The BBC’s report states that the official
graduates’ salary expectations. Hotel managers felt
graduate unemployment rate in China was 15 per cent
that they could not match these raised expectations.
six months after graduation. However, experts in China
Recruitment issues were exacerbated further by the
believe that the real unemployment rate may be as high
poor reputation of the sector and the view that such
as 30 per cent (ibid.).
jobs were a platform to something better. Managers
The Chinese authorities are reportedly worried
reported that they would like to pay graduates more
about the potential for unrest and have even released
but are often on short-term contracts themselves and
proclamations that graduates should lower their initial
under pressure to keep costs down, and so have little
expectations away from ‘the big cities and the best
authority to raise wages.
work positions’ to consider less prestigious jobs that
•• Hotel managers also believed that where graduate
can nevertheless help develop the country, such as
trainees from hotel schools did take jobs within the
Case study 3.1 97
sector they quickly became dissatisfied with condi- attracted players from 99 countries. The game is effec-
tions, work relations, supervision and the fact that tively a simulation similar to other Facebook games
they did not immediately start in managerial roles. such as Farmville and gives potential job applicants
New recruits often left soon after joining. There was the opportunity to ‘manage’ their own hotel, starting
also a perception that young graduate entrants may off with the kitchen and moving to other areas. Partic-
feel undermined by their initial supervisors; with ipants have budgets to spend and can hire and train
supervisors valuing experience and the young grad- employees. Points are won or lost depending on levels
uates valuing the knowledge they have gained from of customer satisfaction and, eventually, virtual profit
education (potentially an issue related to mianzi). levels. Marriott also developed a Facebook career page
•• Travel agency managers reported that it was becom- to run in tandem with the game and interested players
ing more difficult to attract graduates to international could click on a link which took them to the compa-
tour guide positions. They attributed this to falling ny’s careers website. The game is used for recruitment
wages and the increased attractiveness of sectors purposes only, with performance on the game not
that could pay considerably more, such as IT and used for selection decisions. Susan Strayer, Marri-
banking. The work was seen as ‘low status’ – rou- ott’s Senior Director for Global Employer Brand and
tine and lacking development opportunities (even Marketing, reported that particular recruitment issues
for managers) – and as a ‘stepping stone to some- were reported in Asia and especially China. She said,
thing else’, inhibiting the retention of young gradu- ‘In China we struggle in the hospitality industry. People
ates into management positions. Managers also there want their kids working in a prestigious job. They
believed that graduates feared the sector was dying don’t realise that hospitality can be prestigious.’ The
out (for example, because of online travel agencies). need to appeal to China was explicitly recognised in
•• University representatives affirmed that students often developing the game, which was available in Mandarin
did not want employment in the sector once they had as well as English, Spanish, French and Arabic.
learned more about it. Students reportedly often ini- Marriott’s actions are consistent with Baum’s (2015)
tially viewed the subject as easy and providing good recommendation that tourism organisations use social
job prospects in ‘nice’ environments. In some cases media as a recruitment tool. Efforts to do so have, in
university representatives reported that students’ part, led to global mobility and migration within the
parents may have also wished them to study the sector. The question arises as to how successful this
subject. However, many experienced ‘reality shock’, approach could be in addressing China’s skills short-
especially when they learned that they would initially ages in hospitality and tourism.
start in operative roles as trainees before progress-
ing to management. University lecturers believed that Exercise
it was often unnecessary to start graduates in such You are the group HR manager of a national hotel chain
junior positions and that hotels should do more to in China, employing approximately 1,000 people. You
aid the transition of young graduates into the work- have 100 vacancies for trainee graduate managers and a
place by providing better training and empowerment further 150 vacancies for operative roles across a num-
opportunities. In turn, the hotel managers believed ber of functions in both urban and rural areas. You have
that universities should better orientate students and noticed the same recruitment issues within your organ-
that current internships offered by universities in the isation as hotel managers in Zhang and Wu’s (2004)
industry were not fit for purpose. The managers rec- study and employ a similar progression route for trainee
ommended that universities develop better links with graduate managers as reported within their study. Your
hospitality and tourism organisations. boss, the company HR Director, has heard about Marri-
ott’s approach to recruitment and wishes you to assess
One international hotel brand, which tried to rectify
how effective such an approach may prove within your
the kinds of staff shortages noted above, is Marriott
own chain and why it may work. She has asked you to
(Siedsma, 2011).4 In 2011 Marriott needed to fill 50,000
prepare a report to cover the following points:
jobs worldwide by the end of the year and launched a
Facebook game, ‘My Marriott Hotel’, to aid the process. 1. What is the theoretical basis underlying an approach
This targeted people under the age of 35. The game like the Marriot’s?
took 10 months to develop at an undisclosed cost. 2. What factors would you have to take into account
The chain wished to recruit in a variety of jobs – chefs, in designing such an approach for our organisation?
lifeguards, sales and marketing staff and resort and 3. How successful do you think such an approach
housekeeping staff. After three weeks the game had would be within our organisation?
4
We first became aware of this example through Nickson (2013).
98 CHAPTER 3 RECRUITMENT
4. Do you think that Marriott’s approach may prove 7. What role can we reasonably expect universities
more successful for some positions rather than with hospitality and tourism degree programmes to
others and/or in attracting certain kinds of play in improving the image of the sector?
candidates? 8. Given the external environment, is it possible for us
5. Are there any other approaches to recruitment (or any Chinese hotel employer) to improve the rep-
that our organisation could potentially use to allevi- utation of the sector?
ate the recruitment issues? Explain why these could
work. Another issue to consider …
6. Are there any particular factors (such as those Given graduate employment issues in China, how rea-
related to our organisation and/or the national con- sonable do you think it is that the Chinese Govern-
text) that may hinder any of the approaches that you ment has urged graduates to lower their employment
have suggested to improve recruitment? expectations?
This case highlights the issues of recruitment outsourc- Liz’s enquiries have shown that Globalchip has a
ing and methods used to recruit for scarce skills. three-year contract with Succuro, which is due for
Blueberry is a subsidiary of a multinational IT com- renewal soon. A ‘service-level agreement’ was pro-
pany based in the US, Globalchip, and provides duced by the company, which clearly indicated what
Globalchip’s European technical helpdesk. Currently, level of performance was expected of the agency, for
the helpdesk employs 40 staff, and recruits new instance time to fill vacancies.
employees directly. New recruits need to be fluent in a Succoro is finding it increasingly difficult to recruit
European language other than English and have techni- suitable people within the budget constraints. How-
cal competence (computer skills, some product knowl- ever, it is an important contract which it wants to
edge) and customer service skills. Finding individuals retain. The agency has been performing well and
with this skills mix has been very difficult. Currently, exceeding the service-level agreement in some indi-
the Customer Service Unit includes fluent speakers of cators. Succoro uses an online application form, and
Spanish, French, Italian, Finnish, Dutch, German and then screens applicants in a telephone interview.
Greek. The majority are non-UK nationals. There is a Globalchip managers are involved in the final selec-
very tight budget for salaries. tion decision.
In the US, Globalchip operates a similar help desk Liz is a member of a local network of HR practi-
for Asia. When this Help Desk was established the tioners from a number of organisations. One of the
strategy adopted, after much discussion and delib- other members, Jim Gray, works for an agency that
eration, was to outsource recruitment to an agency runs a similar recruitment process for a mobile phone
(Succuro). The HR Director of Globalchip asked the HR company elsewhere in the UK. Jim shared his experi-
partner responsible for liaising with the European Help ence of recruiting those with language and technical
Desk, Liz McDonald, to identify whether she could put skills:
a similar outsourced recruitment process in place. She
The main difficulty is trying to attract applicants
was also asked to collaborate with her US colleague to
to jobs that pay a little below the average. Our
determine the difficulties that Succoro currently face in
agency cannot afford to use some of the more
recruiting suitable individuals.
Case study 3.3 99
popular websites because they are expensive. example, Dutch and Finnish to come to work in
We need to use other ways of targeting people the UK.
who might be willing to live and work in the UK –
It takes about eight weeks to fill a vacancy,
almost to sell the experience. We try to use net-
though for some of the more common languages
works like websites for those who want to travel
there is sometimes a pool of applicants in our
and work abroad as well as advertising on our
skills bank.
agency’s overseas websites. We target social
networking sites like Facebook and Gumtree. We Liz is still investigating the implications of outsourcing
are having real difficulties getting speakers of, for for Blueberry.
Questions
1 How would outsourcing change the role of HR in the recruitment process?
2 What is a service-level agreement?
3 Which methods would you use to attract applicants to the international call centre in the UK?
4 To what extent is Jim’s experience an example of ‘viral’ recruitment? What are the potential advantages
and drawbacks of such an approach?
Fontainebleau and Oxygen are two leading multinational through regular training. Employees were expected to
hotel chains with a strong focus on customer service. interact with customers in a highly formal manner and
Two of their UK outlets, however, reveal contrasting for- be ‘polite’, ‘clean’ and ‘tidy’. Fontainebleau provided an
tunes in terms of workers’ customer service skills. industry-standard uniform and had strict staff appearance
The exact nature of the hotels’ service brands dif- guidelines.
fers considerably. Oxygen staff described the hotel as Managers in one branch of Fontainebleau reported
‘young’, ‘fresh’ and ‘stylish’. The building itself had won that a number of current staff were not fully proficient
design awards and had a minimalist interior comple- in customer service skills (known as skills gaps). Man-
mented by modern art prints. There was an emphasis agers reported such gaps in approximately 25 per
on informality when serving customers with employees cent to 30 per cent of front-line service staff; rising
allowed discretion over service encounters and their to 60 per cent on the reception desk (although many
appearance at work, to supplement their designer uni- receptionists were new). In Oxygen, no customer
form. Oxygen employees were required to be ‘funky’ service skills gaps were reported. Fontainebleau had
‘friendly’ and ‘individual’. a staff turnover rate of 75 per cent in the previous
Fontainebleau’s service brand was much more for- year and Oxygen 42 per cent.
mal, and characterised as ‘traditional’ and ‘professional’. Both hotels used a variety of recruitment methods.
The hotel had opulent décor, with antique-style fur- Oxygen, however, relied more heavily on recruiting
niture complemented by classical art prints. Employ- from university campuses and was also slightly more
ees had to adhere to rigid brand standards, reinforced reliant on recommendations from current employees.
100 CHAPTER 3 RECRUITMENT
The rationale for staff recommendations also differed ‘distinctive’, ‘unmistakable’, and ‘unique’ before add-
between the hotels. In Fontainebleau the HR manager ing ‘but enough about you’ and then describing what
believed that recruiting through employee recommen- Oxygen offered to employees. This advert mirrored
dations fostered a happy team environment, whilst in a customer advertising campaign, with near identi-
Oxygen there was more emphasis on the fit between cal wording. Oxygen (unlike Fontainebleau) also took
people and the establishment. applicants on an establishment tour as part of the
Fo r m a l j o b a d v e r t s a l s o d i f f e r e d . W h i l s t recruitment process. The reception manager reported
Fontainebleau tended to emphasise details about the that he found the tour especially useful to allow can-
job and benefits of working for the company, Oxygen didates to assess the reality of their expectations of
emphasised the brand. One advert, for example, gave the hotel.
a picture of the inside of the hotel alongside the words Source: Adapted from Hurrell and Scholarios, 2014
Questions
1 What factors could potentially have led to Fontainebleau experiencing higher levels of customer service
skills gaps than Oxygen?
2 What perspectives on recruitment discussed in the chapter can be used to analyse Oxygen’s superior
performance in terms of skills gaps and staff turnover?
3 Are there any apparent contradictions in terms of the recruitment approaches of Fontainebleau and their
subsequent experiences with turnover and skills gaps?
4 Are there any potential drawbacks with Oxygen’s approach to recruitment?
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