Recruitment

Why businesses recruit

• Recruitment is the process of attracting and identifying potential job candidates who are suitable for a particular role

  • The goal of recruitment is to create a pool of qualified candidates who can be considered for the role

• Businesses recruit employees for a range of reasons

Replace employees who leave

• Employees may leave a business permanently to take on a new role, retire or be dismissed

• Some employees leave a business temporarily to take parental leave, take a sabbatical or require time off due to illness

Business growth or reorganisation

• A new business start-up needs to recruit workers for the first time

• During periods of business growth, more employees are needed as the business expands its operations

• Businesses often reorganise their organisational structure, which may result in the need for additional staff

Fill skill gaps

• A skills gap occurs when there is a difference between the skills an employer requires of staff and the skills employees actually possess

• Skills gaps often occur when:

  • Production methods change

  • New technology is introduced

  • Businesses expand

  • Education outcomes fail to match business needs

    • E.g. There is a shortage of medicine graduates in the UK, requiring many hospitals to recruit suitably-qualified staff from abroad

• Businesses may look to fill skills gaps by :

  • Recruiting employees from other countries

  • Headhunting skilled employees from other firms

  • Using specialist agencies that have a pool of suitably-skilled workers from which to recruit

Recruitment documents

• Before a business can recruit new workers, it needs to determine the nature of the vacancy and the characteristics of ideal candidates

• The job description details the features of the job, including:

  • Duties

  • Hours and location of the job

  • Managerial or supervisory responsibilities

  • Pay and conditions

• The person specification details the essential and desirable characteristics of the person suitable for the job, including:

  • Qualifications

  • Experience

  • Skills such as the ability to drive or IT capabilities

  • Personal characteristics and attributes