Example research essay topic: Competitive Pressures Discrimination Act - 1,483 words

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The process of staff recruitment and selection is becoming increasingly complex and its integration into organizational and Human Resource (HR) strategies means that the successful outcome of these processes is vital for job performance and organizational success. The intricacy of matching the right applicant to the right job is a perpetual activity for management and HR practitioners considering the organization's economic, social and political contexts. This paper aims to identify the effect the environmental context has towards organizational strategies and the HR system and the subsequent impact on recruitment procedures and selection. Further, an analysis of the importance of staff recruitment and selection within the organization's changing environment and tools used to facilitate the effectiveness of these functions. This will enable an assessment of any changes or strategies needed to avoid failures associated with poor selection and methods to improve recruitment and selection procedures.

Organizations are increasingly becoming focused on being competitive on a national and global level. The importance of the recruitment and selection process is vital for organizational competitiveness and a failure to approach this function effectively will have consequences for future job performance. Numerous authors have emphasised the importance of integrating the recruitment and selection processes into organizational strategies and HR systems as well as the necessity to respond to changes in the organization's environment (e. g. Stone, 2002, p. 174, Nankervis, Compton & McCarthy, 1999, p. 190, Compton, Morrissey & Nankervis, 2002, pp. 16 - 17).

The organization is constantly changing to respond to changes in its environment, for instance, the structure of the organization may change and jobs redesigned to improve efficiency or reduce costs. However, one of the fundamental mistakes made by management is the failure to allocate "the right people to the right jobs" (Stone, 2002, p. 124) once these changes occur. Such "economically" inspired" tactics have been criticised as having a detrimental impact towards the productivity of the workforce and this could be related to the failure in acknowledging the job requirements needed after such fundamental organizational changes have occurred (ACIRRT, 1999, pp. 16 - 17). A further impact on organizational performance is the slow response to increased globalisation resulting in "work intensification" which has consequences for the organization (ACIRRT, 1999, pp. 31 - 33). In conjunction with the impact of the global economy, the high demand for skilled labour has meant a world-wide shortage of skilled staff and this trend continues as organizations seek increased competitiveness resulting in a fundamental change in the labour market (author, 2000, p. 66).

This has led to a need for organizations to develop sound HR policies and an effective recruitment process ensuring that it can acquire the most qualified pool of applicants available. Management must seek to deal with this competition for skilled labour as well as abiding by anti-discrimination legislation, labour laws and a deregulated industrial relations system (Irwin, 2003, pp. 1 - 5). Recruitment and selection is vital to the organization in implementing change and counteracting changes in the environmental context (Stone, 2002, p 174). Jobs change accordingly as organizations respond to economic and technological pressures (Nankervis, Compton & McCarthy, 1999, p. 190). It is common for organizations to disregard this when the recruitment process begins and it will inevitably lead to an unqualified and unskilled workforce and consequently job failure. For instance, it has been stated that corporations no longer have a centralised role in decision making, non-standard forms of employment has risen substantially and outsourcing is increasing for most activities (Drucker, 2001).

Further, tasks are changing constantly, particularly in higher positioned jobs and HR practitioners will have difficulty in assessing job designs (Stone, 2002, p. 124). Therefore if management does not acknowledge internal changes that occur than there will be a misallocation of workers and jobs. In addition to the need for management to evaluate the effect of social, economic and political impacts on the organization, a factor that contributes towards poor performance is the incorrect assessment about the types of jobs that need filling and the skills needed to perform them. In other words, the organization's external environment directly affects the organizational context (Irwin, 2003, pp. 6 - 7).

The main function of recruitment is to ensure that the organization is adequately and effectively staffed at all times (Compton, Morrissey & Nankervis, 2002, p. 17). For example, whilst an organization will restructure and re-engineer work processes to adapt to new technology or comply with legislative requirements, it will also reallocate work and create new jobs. However, if it fails to correctly address its staffing needs, then employees will inevitably fail to perform. It is, then, pertinent to incorporate one of the key factors for successful recruitment - job analysis and job design. Compton, Morrissey & Nankervis acknowledge that this activity should be responsive to "changes in organizational structures and strategies, employee skills, competencies... it is the main source of information about the position to be filled and type of person to fill it" (2002, p. 27).

Further, intensified competitive pressures, changing technology and market uncertainty has made the employment decision more complex (Allan, 2000, p. 189). The belief that the job analysis tool is vital in staff recruitment has been commonly adhered to, especially by larger organizations. However its importance in smaller organizations is questionable, for example, research showed job descriptions were vague and not updated regularly in cases concerning smaller organizations (Carroll, March ington, Earnshaw, 1999, p. 239). Difficulties faced by organizations and management also include what Nankervis, Compton & McCarthy describe as 'mechanical and political inaccuracies' about the job by exaggerating the difficulty of performing the job due to job loss fears (1999, p. 203). In addition, the methods for gathering information are crucial for the accuracy of the job analysis (Compton, Morrissey & Nankervis, 2002, p. 30).

One subsequent outcome that may emanate form the job analysis and job design process is the decision to use non-standard forms of employment including the use of part-time and agency labour. Economic and social influences such as intensified competitive pressures and a more deregulated labour market has resulted in organizations attempting to become more efficient and cost-effective. This is usually done by creating a flexible workforce through restructuring either through downsizing or using non-standard employment (Allan, 2000, p. 189). For instance, the use of casual employment has risen from 10. 8 percent in 1982 to 24. 1 percent in 1994 (Allan, 2000, p. 188).

However, studies have shown that the use of non-standard employment has resulted in poor relations with full-time staff actively opposing to the agency labour and casuals. Low experience and training led to less commitment, skill retention problems and a decrease in quality standards have also been evident (Allan, 2000, p. 195). Management may further experience failure in effectively sourcing potential candidates during the recruitment process and this may impact on the competitive advantage because of the inability to acquire skilled workers. One reason for this may be attributed to a failure in integrating a dynamic job analysis and recruitment procedure into the organization's strategy (source).

Recruiting is affected when management make fundamental strategic changes to the organizations structure or design and this will impact upon job requirements and may result in poor job performance if incorrect selection has occurred (Stone, 2002, pp. 174 - 175). There must be a comprehensive knowledge of the organization's mission and objectives as well as job requirements and person specifications (Compton, Morrissey & Nankervis, 2002, pp. 31 - 33). In addition, HR management and staff must have a comprehensive understanding of the legal and industrial obligations associated with the recruiting process (Irwin, 2003, p. 27). Federal legislation that directly affects recruiting include Racial Discrimination Act 1975, Sexual Discrimination Act 1984, Disability Discrimination Act 1992, Workplace Relations Act 1996 and the Privacy Act 1988. While the organization may have a thorough understanding of the job requirements, HR management will need to evaluate the most effective recruitment methods, internally and externally, otherwise HR practitioners may fail in acquiring the most suitable pool of applicants (Compton, Morrissey & Nankervis, 2002, pp. 52 - 57). The main decision facing HR and line management may be whether the most suitable applicants can be sourced using internal or external recruitment methods and which will provide the best pool of applicants (Irwin, 2003, p. 21).

It is common perception by management that internal recruitment methods are beneficial because of the cost advantages and knowledge of applicants. However, it should be acknowledged that there may be discontent from rejected applicants and the belief that internal recruitment reduces creativity because if 'inbreeding' and limited pools of applicants may appear discriminatory (Stone, 2002, p. 178; Compton, Morrissey & Nankervis, 2002, p. 52). Further, if certain jobs require particular skills or competencies which are not available within the organization, applicants must be sourced externally (Nankervis, Compton & McCarthy, 1999, p. 232; Schuler et al, 1992, p. 165). Management must additionally consider methods used to attract...

Research essay sample on Competitive Pressures Discrimination Act