Sources - Advantages and Disadvantages

Recruitment Sources "Best Practices" Advertisements

Exhibit 6.2 is a list of the most commonly used sources for candidate recruitment along with the advantages and disadvantages of each of them. As can be seen from the list, the number and kind of sources are varied. There is a need for companies to experiment with those that make the most sense in terms of their circumstances. As well, reliance should not be placed on only one source as opposed to using a number in combination. Over time, most organizations will find a combination of recruitment approaches that work for them. The challenge when this happens is not to become complacent and lose sight of the objective.

Use a combination of recruitment sources to improve your candidate pool.

Some of the relevant concepts and terms covered in Exhibit 6.2 are:

Realistic Job Preview (RJP)

This is a technique research has shown to be effective in improving the recruitment process. As the name implies, the RJP gives the potential candidate a realistic preview of what is actually involved in the job. It has been found with motor carrier passenger companies that this has improved the effectiveness of the recruitment particularly when dealing with candidates who are relatively new to the workforce. The RJP can take a number of forms:

• a written description of some of the realities of the job,
• a short presentation by an experienced driver,
• a video,
• an event or a simulation of an incident.

RJP’s allow potential candidates to “self-select” (see note below on Self-Selection) as to whether they really want to continue with the process based on what they have learned about the job.

Blind Advertisements

These are advertisements that do not contain the name of the organization. There are various reasons why a company would want to place blind advertisements and retain anonymity. The drawback with placing a blind advertisement is proportionally fewer applications are received when compared to an advertisement where the company name is included, particularly if it is a company with a good public image as an employer.

Sweet Self-Selection

Researchers in the field of recruitment and selection have found using methods allowing candidates to determine themselves whether they have the qualifications for a job yields a much better candidate pool because unqualified individuals have pre-selected or removed themselves prior to the full selection process getting underway. Not only is this a highly cost effective method, but it also means the candidates, who are in the pool, have a much better appreciation for the requirements of the job because they have the necessary qualifications. There is also value in self-selection because they have, in effect, made a conscious decision that they want to be in the pool. In addition to the use of Realistic Job Previews, selfselection can be done through the completion of a pre-application questionnaire or alternately a self-rating form.

“Halo” Bias

Selection decisions are often influenced by characteristics unrelated to the job.

Research has shown selection decisions can be strongly influenced by characteristics the candidate possesses that are not relevant to the knowledge and ability needed to perform the job. Job candidates can possess “halos” because of their looks, athletic accomplishments or membership in a particular social group.

“Attribution” Bias

Again, research has shown that selection decisions are sometimes influenced by attributions we ascribe to the candidate based upon their knowledge and ability in an area unrelated to the job of being a bus operator. Does the fact the candidate is a grand master bridge player mean he/she is going to be good at fare calculations?

Stereotyping Bias

In Praise of Older Workers

Diane Arthurs, in her book Recruiting, Interviewing, Selection and Orientation (AMCOM, 1998,pp. 7), makes the following comments about older workers:

“In spite of the belief that older people have more accidents on the job, poorer attendance, and lower productivity…and are less able or willing to learn new ideas or skills…, older workers have far fewer on-the-job accidents…fewer avoidable absences than younger workers …with the exception of jobs requiring great physical exertion, perform just as well and in many instances better…have experienced a great deal of change and are familiar with the necessity of change and exhibit less stress on the job and have lower rates of illegal drug use.”

Stereotyping (where certain personal characteristics are attributed to a person based upon their race, colour, age, sex, etc.) can work both in terms of negative, whereby undesirable personal characteristics are attributed to an individual due to race, colour, age, etc. or positive whereby the person is seen as having desirable attributes due to race, colour, age etc. Stereotyping does not just apply to those attributes identified in Human Rights Legislation. There are many other ways in which we stereotype individuals and diminish the effectiveness of the recruitment process.

Alliances

This concept refers to working cooperatively with another organization whose business fits in terms of volume and workforce/staffing requirements. An example would be certain retail operations or call centres where business volumes peak at different hours from those of urban transit and school bus operations. The alliance allows the two organizations to work together in “packaging” employment opportunities better than if they worked on their own.

Pre-screening

If the company is recruiting from an alliance partner, e.g. the police, military or fire protection services, then the candidates have been effectively pre-screened by those organizations and represents a significant benefit to the recruiting organization.

Exhibit 6.3 is a listing of best practices of advertising.