People and Organisations:Principles and Practice in Global Contexts- HMN7181 -E -Recruitment - Blog #1

E-RECRUITMENT: A ROAD MAP TOWARDS E- HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT – Blog # 1

ABSTRACT

The only vital value for an enterprise is the experience, skills, innovativeness and insights of its people. Human resources are the key components in every organization. It represents total knowledge, talent, and attitude, creative ability, aptitude and belief of an individual involved in the affairs of an organization. Management of human resources is an integral part for every concern. It is associated with the people at work and their relationships within and outside the enterprise. Recruitment of efficient staff is one of the important activities as it generates the human capital for the concern. In the recent years, the field of human resource management has undergone numerous technological advancements. Internet has made an impact on the overall functioning of human resource department. HR processes and procedures have been supported by everything from complicated file-folder systems to automation, going from usage multiple systems and databases to a single version of the whole system. It has progressed with frequent innovations viz; Human Resource Information System, Virtual Human Resources and Electronic Human Resource Management (E-HRM) etc. E-HRM means conducting of business transactions by using internet along with other technologies. In other words, E-HRM is a way of implementing HRM strategies, policies and practices in an organization through a directed support of web technology based channels. It influences every area of human resource management. E-Recruitment refers to posting vacancies on the corporate website or on an online recruitment vendors’ website. It allows applicants to send their resumes electronically through an email or in some other electronic format. The e-recruitment methods and systems have helped to reduce much of the routine administrative tasks involved in recruitment. The study tries to identify the overall concept of e-recruitment. It aims at collecting information regarding methods viz; e-mails, corporate websites and commercial job boards etc. of e-recruitment. It includes the general advantages and disadvantages of e-recruitment.  

             

                                                           INTRODUCTION:

 Recruitment includes those practices and activities carried out by the organization with the primary purpose of identifying and attracting potential employees (Breaugh & Starke, 2000). It is an important part of human resource management as it performs the essential function of drawing important resources i.e. human capital into the organization (Barber, 1998). Online recruitment, also known as e-recruitment is one of the worldwide trends for HR functions (Bussler & Davis, 2001). It has evolved into a sophisticated interactive engine with the ability to automate every facet of the hiring process virtually (Joe Dysart, 2006). The internet can ease the selection of employees, especially where long distances are involved (Galanaki, 2005). E-recruitment has grown rapidly over the past ten years and is now widely used by both recruiters and job seekers across the world (Cober & Brown, 2006). The internet has proved to be a powerful tool for the delivery of different kind of services like HR planning, HR evaluation, HR rewards and HR recruitment etc. under the umbrella of E- HRM. 

RECRUITMENT AND E-RECRUITMENT:

 Recruitment includes those practices and activities carried out by the organization with the primary purpose of identifying and attracting potential employees. It is an important part of human resource management as it performs the essential function of drawing human assets into the organization (Barber, 1998). Recruitment is a process of searching candidates to fill vacant staff vacancies in any organization. The recruitment process attracts and secures the services of capable personnel with effective and optimum utilization of human resources. There are so many methods available to recruit the desired staff in any concern viz; recruitment agencies, newspapers advertisements, head hunting etc. All these methods are categorized as traditional methods.  The rapid advances in technology have dramatically changed the way the business is conducted and this increasing use of technology is clearly demonstrated by the number of organizations and individuals who utilize the internet and electronic mail (Erica, 2007). In terms of human resource management, the internet has changed the way of recruitment from both perspectives i.e. organizations and job seekers (Epstein, 2003). One of the most popular non-traditional forms of recruiting practice is e-recruitment (Smith, 2004). E-recruitment has been defined as the use of the internet to identify and attract potential employees (Breaugh & Starke, 2000).  It refers to the practice of advertising job vacancies online, and the formal sourcing of information about the jobs online (Galanaki, 2002). Two trends which make it mandatory for small and medium sized businesses to invest in the tools for a successful e-recruiting strategy are demographic trends and financial scarcity (Abra, 2007). On one hand, better technology and easier access to information produced between workers and firms is increasing the probability of finding the best match for a given opening. On the other, reduced application costs also encouraged increased applications from under qualified job seekers, triggering increased effort by firms to improve screening mechanisms (Freeman & Autor, 2002). The trends in e-recruitment suggest a changing landscape whereby in future the candidate is connected to the central system. Also, there is an involvement of the line manager in the process.

E-RECRUITMENT REVOLUTION:

 The internet first emerged as a recruiting tool in the mid-1990s and was hailed by the popular media as the driver behind a “recruiting revolution” due to the benefits it could bring to recruiters (Boydell, 2002).  It was predicted that the recruitment industries’ “future is on the net” (Edgeley, 1995) and that the internet had brought radical change to corporate recruiting (Cappelli, 2001). The buzzword and the latest trends in recruitment is the “E-Recruitment”. Also known as “Online recruitment”, it is the use of technology or the web based tools to assist the recruitment process. Online recruitment and the use of new emerging technologies have many advantages for the modern recruiter. It makes the process of finding candidates and new business opportunities quicker, cheaper and more efficient.  The internet has caused the largest change to the recruitment process in the past decade acting as a link between employers and job seekers. Technology has enabled corporate websites, suppliers and job seekers to become more sophisticated and interactive (Harris, 2007).   

HRIS AND E-RECRUITMENT: A LINKAGE:

 Human Resource Information System (HRIS) is one of the most important Management Information Systems. It contributes to the administrative activities related to human resources of an organisation. HRIS provides vital information on how many people work for (and with) a concern, where they are and what do they do so that one can manage them. Noe (2007) stated that HRIS is used as a computer system that acquires stores, manipulates, analyses, retrieves, and distributes the information regarding human resources. It has become an important tool as it collects, manages and reports information to make decisions. HRIS help organisations to organize most of the HR planning functions including recruitment of employees in an organisation. Recruitment and selection represents one of the core HR activities that need to be planned and conducted in an efficient and effective manner organizations to attain success (Darrag, 2010). Darrag (2010) identified recruitment as a linking pin between the potential candidates and vacant positions in an organization. The use of job centers, employment agencies and databases is done by the concerns to fill the gap. El-Kot & Leat (2008), mentioned a wide range of selection practices which can be used for recruitment i.e. applications forms, psychometric testing, assessment centers, job specific aptitude or knowledge tests, group-based activities etc. Although many researchers have studied recruitment methods in detail yet they have not focused their attention on how new technology, especially HRIS which can enhance and strengthen the recruitment process of an organisation. Selden (2000) focused on evaluating the effectiveness of human resource information system by offering a framework and methodology. It can be termed as an imperative tool for the organisations to offer good results in recruiting of employees. 

E-RECRUITMENT MARKET:

 E-recruitment market is one of the vital aspects in the process of recruiting the talent. Internet has completely changed the role of the traditional recruiter. An iLogos survey in 2002 found that 91 percent of the global 500 companies were using their corporate websites for recruiting as compared to 60 percent and 29 percent  in 1999 and 1998 respectively (McManus & Ferguson,2003) Earlier, cold calling and candidate networking were the only options available for identifying the new potential candidates. But now it is possible to search one desired resume out of thousands, placed on the websites. E-recruitment enhances the effectiveness of the recruitment process (Stone, 2005). In a candidate-starved market, organizations are facing a continuous challenge to bridge the gap between the recruitment processes and decrease in the numbers of resources to administer the recruitment process. The e-recruitment has come up with valuable method for finding potential candidates who are not necessarily looking for a change in their current jobs but would be open to the right opportunity. The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) has published a report entitled Workplace Trends during 2007-2008 which states that there is a high demand for e-recruitment tools and skilled workers. “The total Indian recruitment market is approximately around Rs 500- 600Crores. The decade old online recruitment industry in India seems to be flooded with different jobsites, each of them promising a better job to candidates and better candidates to employers. The Indian market for e-recruitment is still at least five years behind than other countries” (Source: http://sidplanet.blogspot.com/2010/04/online-recruitment-sector.html, accessed on 26th August, 2011). 

PLAYERS IN THE RECRUITMENT MARKET:

 1. Job Seeker: The job seeker is the person who desires for a job. There are two kinds of job seekers which are explained ahead (Fig.-2) a) Active Job Seekers: The candidates who frequently search for a job because of one reason other, viz; better opportunity for growth, personal reasons to change and professional reasons etc. Commercial job boards/portals have truly complimented with their needs. b) Passive Job Seekers: Passive candidates are those workers who are not currently planning to change their jobs but still they regularly surf the internet for any one of million reasons during their normal routine. Such candidates may come across new job opportunities and simply drop their resumes on internet. Corporate websites is the most preferred destination for passive job seekers.

2. Recruitment Market: The recruitment market can be explained in three ways i.e. the traditional way which constitutes all the traditional methods of recruiting the candidates through newspaper ads, head hunters and temporary recruitment agencies etc. The second way is the new look of the traditional way which include old wine in new bottle like online news papers ads, online headhunters and online temporary recruitment agencies. The third and the most used way in the current scenario is the e-way. It holds purely online methods of recruiting talent, viz; commercial job boards/portals, corporate websites and e-mails

3. Potential Employers (Firms/Companies): The final destination of the every job seeker is to reach the potential employer. It means the companies/ firms who employ them on the basis of their capabilities and job requirements. 

REVIEW OF LITERATURE:

 The words e-recruitment, online recruitment, cyberuiting, or internet recruiting are synonymous. They imply formal sourcing of jobs online (Ganalaki, 2002). It is a complete process which includes job advertisements, receiving resumes and building human resource database with candidates and incumbents. Vidot (2000), suggested that e-recruitment is the use of internet to attract high quality candidates, screening of suitable profiles, streamlining the application and selection process. Internet has made an impact on the human resource field (Bussler & Davis, 2002). Organizational recruitment efforts have increasingly relied on computer technology and one area that has evolved in recruiting via the internet, otherwise known as e-recruitment ( Mottl, 1998). From the relevant literature, there is an argument that e-recruitment is needed to be used in conjunction with other techniques. It has been argued by Caggiano(1999) & Borck (2000) that internet-based recruiting will not replace traditional practices in recruiting but a well- implemented e-recruitment strategy can help the recruitment process become more successful. Hogler (1998) give the idea that employers can electronically advertise jobs, scan and store resumes, conduct test, and contact qualified applicants by using the power of the internet to match people to jobs. Cullen (2001) also supports that e-recruitment is not treated as a stand-alone tool but is integrated into an overall recruiting and selection strategy.   

E-RECRUITMENT: HIRING PROCESS:

The Hiring Process means carrying out a full series of functions in addition to simple recruitment. It means making a choice and deciding if the company feels that any of the candidates meet the requirements of the specific job and, if so, hiring that person. The next step is closing the deal and having the new employee join the company and fit in within the existing company culture. This means that once the company’s hiring policies have been clearly defined, there is a process, which we call the “Hiring Process” that may be broken down into the following stages: 

METHODS OF E-RECRUITMENT:

1. Commercial Job Boards:

 Commercial job boards most common form of online recruiting. Job boards work like classified ads in the newspaper. These are global and allow a larger reach into the candidate pool. The job board’s greatest strength is the sheer numbers of job applicants listing resumes, it has been estimated that they contain five million unique resumes (Gutmacher, 2000). In addition, they enable recruiters to operate 24 hours a day, examine candidates from around the world, and are generally quite inexpensive (Boehle, 2000). A major advantage of the job board approach for an organization is that many people post resumes and that most job boards provide a search mechanism so that recruiters can search for applicants with the relevant skills and experience. A second advantage is that an organization can provide extensive information, as well as a link to the company’s web site for further information on both i.e. the job as well as the organizations. The dedicated recruitment websites can take a form of job listing websites, that are very similar to printed classified advertisements, work wanted sites, which emphasize the prospective employees’ side and finally online recruiters who make use of other websites as a resource for finding clients and customers (Rudich, 2000; Taylor,2001. 

2. Corporate websites:

 Company’s websites represent one of the first web based approaches to recruiting. Many of these websites alsoprovide useful information about an organization, as well as the mechanism to apply for these jobs. Almost all North American Global 500 companies (93%) have a company’s own e-recruitment site. It is a very common practice to add recruitment pages to the existing organization site. Its major advantage is the minimal cost associated with the developing a page on the corporate site, puts it forward as the smartest way to recruit on the internet (Scheyer & McCarter, 1998). Most applicants would consider a medium to large size company without a recruitment web site to be somewhat strange. One report indicated that of 62,000 hires at nine large companies, 16% were initiated at the company’s corporate website (Maher and Silverman, 2002). With an good list of benefits, it would result foolish for any organisation who does not have a company’s corporate website. 

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF E-RECRUITMENT:

In using internet rather than more traditional recruitment channels, employers and applicants will face certain advantages and disadvantages (Tong & Sivanand; Bartram 2006). The general advantages of e-recruitment include shorter recruiting cycle time(Workforce, 2000a), attracts the passive job-seeker(Hays, 1999), provides global coverage at a constant basis(Baillie, 1996; McDougall, 2001; Mohamed, 2002), opportunity to address specific labour market niches(Greengard & Thaler-Carter,1998), reaches a wider range of applicants(CIPD,1999; Workforce, 2000a), gives the company a more up-to-date image(CIPD, 1999), better quality of response(Welch,1999), low cost(Williams & Klau, 1997; CIPD,1999; Workforce, 2000a), easier to apply for job(Kaydo& Cohen, 1999), reduction of unqualified candidates(Pin, 2001), more opportunities for smaller companies(Pin, 2001),less intrusive( Kuczynski, 1999), candidates are young, educated andcomputer literate, thereby, showing some interest in the recruitment company ( Zall, 2000; Ganalaki, 2002).

 However, some general disadvantages of e-recruitment include discrimination between internet user and internet non-user ( Hogler, Henle & Bemus, 1998; Flynn, 2000),  disparate impact on ethnic minorities groups leading to limited demographic scope (Hogler, Henle & Bemus, 1998), not appropriate and suitable for top management profiles( Ferrero & Vidal, 2001), proves more effective for the company already known ( Greengard, 1998), huge volume of unqualified and low quality candidates (Ganalaki, 2002; Pearce & Tuten, 2001), outdated resumes ( Sullivan, 1998), transparency of data ( Pin, 2001), user-unfriendly tools ( Feldman & Klaas, 2002), lack of personal touch ( Milman, 1998; Pin, 2001; CIPD, 2005; IRS Employment Review, 2005).

CONCLUSION:

The aims of this paper were to examine the overall concept of e-recruitment. It has been rightly said that recruitment is not only hiring the best amongst those who applied for a particular post   rather it’s the question to enroll the right candidate in ones human capital. The topic of e-recruitment, if considered as a stem of a tree, it covers so many other aspects which can be called as its branches i.e. e-recruitment revolution, linkage between HRIS and e-recruitment, e-recruitment market and its players, hiring process in e-recruitment, methods of e-recruitment, difference between traditional recruitment and e-recruitment and lastly the advantages and disadvantages of e-recruitment. E-recruitment has come out to be a significant part of the recruitment strategy. It can be used to track and manage candidate applications, particularly among larger organizations. E- recruitment can provide some remarkable benefits in terms of efficiency and cost. In the wake of above discussion, a continuous improvement in understanding the technological issues   related to e-recruitment is highly recommended. Future research should focus on verifying the identified advantages and disadvantages by using empirical tools such as time-studies and document reviews.

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