RECRUITMENT SUPPLEMENT

RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION EXERCISE, DEVELOPMENT AND

APPRISAL.
The following have to be noted at both recruitment and selection exercise.
-Recruitment exercise
1. There must be a well-defined recruitment policy in the organization.
2. Such recruitment policy should afford every qualified person equal
opportunity to be selected.
3. All officials involved in the recruitment exercise should have some form
of training.
4. The choice and recruitment technique depends on the round the needed
officer occupies in the organizational structure.
5. The recruitment system show d be as fair consistent valid and objective as
possible.
6. Both JD and PS should be elaborately written out.

The selection exercise

1. Do not select in haste. It is better not to select any than select a wrong
person.
2. Do not compromise competence for objectionable subjective criteria.
3. Costly, good and objective hiring is cheaper in the end.
4. The person to be selected should fit well in the organizational culture, task
and purpose.
5. Performance, skills, trainability, and experience should be preferred to
accumulated paper qualifications.
6. Bench mark the needed employee with similar position holders in similar but
successful organizations.

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The personnel selection process
It should be pointed out that one of the vital activities of the HR Manager is
designing, initiating and maintaining an effective selection process. The primary
aim of selection is to fill the existing vacancies with personnel who meet the
required qualifications, who are most likely going to succeed on the job, who will
find sufficient position- satisfaction to remain in the system, who will be
effective contributors to the unit and system goals, and who will be sufficiently
motivated to achieve a high level of self-development. Consequently, the
emphasis should be on the quality and trainability of the interviewer and not the
over-emphasis on the certificates the person possesses. At selection, more emphasis
should be put on competence, zeal, interest, and skills for the specific job position.

The selection exercise should always be properly planned. The purpose is to

compare information about the job. People involved should be intimately familiar
with the gathering, recording, storing, retrieving and interpreting information
about the applicant.

A great deal of flexibility should be built in the selection process. Candidates who
do not fill one position may be suitable for another. Moreover, candidates
deemed unfit should be rejected in the initial stages of the selection.

Effective selection ensures that qualified applicants are selected for the job in
question. Such employees eventually maintain or even increase productivity and
achieve organizational goals. Such careful selection will result in the elimination of
unnecessary costs that would be incurred through labour turn-over, request training
of new staff and waste of materials due to unskilled personnel.

JOB ANALYSIS (JA)

This is description of the job content in addition to the job holder. Job analysis
is at times referred to as occupation analysis. Therefore it is a systematic

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description of a job focusing on what is done, how it is done and who does it in
order to meet specific objectives.

The objective is very important and critical in determining the level of details
required, the kind of information that is necessary and the appropriate technique
to use in the analysis of the job.

Job analysis is very critical in the recruitment and selection of personnel. This is
because the organization should be in position to know what needs to be done
but is not being done appropriately because of lack of someone who qualifies to
do it. The gap between what needs to be done and what is being done
(appropriately) years for recruitment and selection process to commence so that
the gap is filled. The procurement process does not just get started because the
organization has enough money to employ staff. It is carried out to meet a need.

Uses of job analysis

Job analysis does not start and end at procurement stage. It is used
(a) At promotional stage, (b) At appraisal, (c) At identification in training
needs,
(d) At setting performance targets, (e) in remuneration differentials, (f) in
dealing with

redundancy, (g) during disciplinary or reward decisions.

Factors to consider during job analysis: The following factors should provide a
check list when a job analysis exercise is on. How? Where do you start?
(a)Job analysis can be carried out through observation of the job holder's
activities and behaviors at the job.
(b)Through interviewing the job holder
(c)Through applying a questionnaire on similar job holders.
(d)Through interviewing other staff affected by the job.

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 (e)Through brain storming and mind storming.
(f)It should be applied on the job and not the person; the person may only
provide information about the job whereas it is the job which is
actually analyzed.
(g)It should be non-judgmental. The job analysis should not comment on
how useful, appropriate is dispensable a job is because you are not
making a job review.
(h)It should describe the job as it is not as it was or as it should be.

JOB DESCRIPTION (JD)

Job description is the explanation of what the job is, its purpose, duties, activities
attached to it, as well as its position within the organizational chart. If a job has
been properly analyzed a lot of data would be available to use to produce the job
description. The following items are included in job description.

(a) The job title. (b) the tasks involved in the job (c) the performance criteria, (d)
the basic skills required (e) the work practice (f) the work ethics (g) the work
environment (h) the line of management (reporting schedules(s) (i) the special skills
required by the job holder (j)main location (k) grade, remuneration (1) contacts —
communication lines between the immediate supervisor and supervisee(s).

There are basically two styles of presenting job description (1) result- orientated
(2) duty-oriented or task — oriented. Result oriented job description states the
responsibilities of the job holder in terms of behavior or results expected from
him/her as he/she performs his/her roles in the organization. Duty or task oriented
job description states the responsibilities of the job holder as he would perform
them.

What is in vogue (commonly use) is stating job description in result/behavior

style. This is because it enables both the employer and the employee to

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understand what result is expected, which makes performance appraisal and
review feasible, easy and objective.

PERSONS SPECIFICATION (PS)

When job description has been thoroughly carried out, then it becomes appealing
to describe who fits the job description. Person specification refers to the qualities
and attributes required in carrying out a role. Qualities or attributes are used in
combination with job description and job analysis at labor procurement. Some
qualities are very essential while others are desirable for job performance. These
include skills, knowledge, experience, academic qualification, personality
attributes like, reliability, ability / sociality competence age etc. The emphasis on
preference on some of these attributes over others depends on the task/ roles to be
performed at the job duty post. For instance, a receptionist attributes are different
from those expected of a teacher or an air hostess and a soldier. However, skill,
qualification and experience may cut across all job requirements.

SOURCING FOR THE RIGHT PERSON

Recruitment: This is the search for obtaining for potential job applicants in
sufficient quality and quantity so that the organization can select the most
appropriate person to fill the vacancy or job needs. It is the process of announcing
the existence of the vacancy in mass media, and the strategies involved in getting
people register interest to want to fill that vacancy.

This is important because hiring the wrong person can be very expensive in terms
of cost of training, retaining, low productivity, redundancy and possible
separation. The human resource manager should be cost-effective. The overall
aim of recruitment process should be to obtain at the minimum costs, the number
and quality of the employees required to satisfy the organization's goal. E.g you
cannot go to the internet to source for a cleaner, nor can you go on the local
vernacular radio to look for a professor.

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At the recruitment stage, there is a double selling activity between the potential
applicant as well as the advertising authority. The organization attracts the
applicant and vice versa. The applicant sells what the organization need s while
the organization sells what the applicant needs.

Sources and ways of sourcing for attractive personnel

There are mainly two sources; internal and external. The internal source or intra-
institutional source is intended to be filled with internal staff through promotion,
advancement or transfer; laid off staff could be recalled. Many organizations
prefer internal source not only for its reliability but also for extra advantages over
external source system like creating promotional opportunities, rescues layoffs
situation, provide opportunity for growth, guarantees a future in the organization,
and minimizes costs of advertising and interviewing orientation /induction/
familiarization.

The external or inter institutional or extra institutional system of sourcing is when

the existence of a vacancy is publicly announced and both organizational staff
and non-staff are requested to apply and compete on equal terms.

Ways of announcing vacancies.

1. External: use of print media, newspapers, journals, magazines etc.

 Use of professional bodies such as trade unions, chambers of commerce
etc.
 Through use of employment agencies e.g sources agents and consultants.
 Electronic media can be used to announce vacancies e.g. radio, television,
telephone, e-mails and the internet.
 Use of bill boards on buses, streets, taxis, human beings.
2. Internal sourcing include announcements in meetings, notice boards, posters,
newsletters, news bulletins etc.

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 Look for the means accessible to all the potential applicants.

Advertising: This is making the public aware that a vacancy exists and wishes to
be filled. It is used for both the internal and external sourcing. Focused adverts
reach the right peop1e.Some organizations first advertise internally in order to
give staff priority and go out only when none qualifies. This method is good
because it is a strategy to motivate and retain the existing staff.

Advertisements also intrinsically state the caliber of the organization to the public
and reflect the philosophy of the organization. Thus such advertisements should
not be subjective, or other sentimental factors unless absolutely necessary. Some
advertisements first advertise the company before reaching out to candidates.

Statements of the kind create favorable impression in the minds of reader,

encourage them to apply for a job in such a successful, caring and efficient
organizations. Advertisements need to be written in language good use of
communication. They should be properly edited. The following should be noted.

a) They should be comprehensive enough.

b) Must state the job description (preferably in result oriented form), person
specification and remuneration.
c) Must not be superlatively elaborate.
d) Must not be false.
e) Should state address for further contact.
f) Sources of application forms (if used)should be indicated
g) Should state whether there is need for reference, how many and who
qualifies to be the referee.
h) Must specify the latest date for submission of applications
i) Can state the category of people most sought e.g Ugandans, qualification,
experience, age etc.
j) Must state all other job's organizational hierarchy.
k) State the nature of the position e.g constant travel or un announced transfer.

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The above details are basically for external advertising since internal staff usually
knows. Special people with certain cost effective advantages may be recruited the
retired people, retrenched people, students, consultants.

Shortlisting, interviewing, placement. The placement process is a process of

promoting the effective team which will produce results for the organization. The
first few days or weeks of the employee in the organization are very crucial for
integrating the new person in the organization. The integration process is called
induction or orientation or socialization and it involves the introduction of the
new employee to the enterprise, its functions, tasks and people. Well run
organizations usually have formal orientation programs, for new personnel which
explains the history, production, performance, service, general policies and
practices of the organization, departments and location benefits (insurance,
retirement, vacation) requirement for confidentiality and secrecy, safety and other
regulations. The socialization can be explained in three aspects, acquisition of
work skills and abilities, adoption of appropriate role behavior and adjustment to
the norms and values of the group.

Employee retention

Having selected best qualified personnel, at times it becomes a more difficult task
to retain them for long. The duration an employee remains in the organization
work force is the retention capacity of that organization on that particular
employee.

The duration cannot be confused with contentment; it may be due to lack of

alternatives.

Organizations should endeavor to have retention plans, which should be based on

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- Why employees leave the organization. Exit interviews may provide some
useful information but they would be unreliable since employees leaving
rarely state truly the reasons of their separation.

Some common practices that can determine the rate of retention (RR) or labor
turnover (LTO) in an organization include the following (Job satisfaction).

1. The reward system. (Wage theory). This consists of an organization integrated

policies processes, and practices for rewarding its employees in accordance
with the contribution skill and competence and their market worth.
When rewarding consider the following;
 Be congruent with and support corporate values and beliefs that emanate from
organization strategies and goals, be linked to organizational performance,
support desired behavior at all levels, fit the desired management style, provide
the competitive wage needed to attract and retain the high level of skills the
organization needs, and be anchored to the dictates of the labor market. Most
employees expect the following
 A fair reward system a cross the organization (equity theory of motivation).
 Fair day's work for a fair day's pay.
- Some relationship between the individual's contribution to the organization and
the reward received.
- Rewards consistent with those who are paid to do similar jobs in other
successful organization.
- Some form of progression in pay especially in managerial and
professional frosts.
- Certain minimum benefits from the organization which are outside the
standard or conventional pay package e.g., position and gratuity, vehicle,
welfare, medical insurance allowances (transfer or disturbance), housing,
children education and welfare, training leave, professional subscription,
belonging to trade unions, sports and social amenities, telephone, internet
etc.

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2.Performance: employees should feel adequate, have clear responsibilities
and standards of performance get feedback.

3.Prospects: A healthy career; have a reliable and challenging position

with visible progression.

4.Job design: Job should be rewarding in itself, should produce maximum skill
variety opportunities for learning, challenge, autonomy, task significance,
provide feedback etc.

5.Expectations: expectations are raised about progress or potential reward and

they should be met.

6.Conflicts and dissatisfactions with colleagues and or supervisors: This

may lead to resignation.
7. Training and growth opportunities: Good or proper training satisfies an
employee. Opportunities for growth are a motivator.

8.Selection and promotion: Appoint people who are ready with the demands of
the job. Promotions should be as at and when is due.

9.Commitment: The organizations aim should be explained to gain the

commitment of employees. They should own the organization, demonstrate
having the stake-managers should be examples.

10.Group cohesion: Isolation is unhealthy. Team spirit should be built.

11. Supervision/management: When these are poor, employees behave like
caged animals looking for the slightest moment to escape.

- In all, a manager should manage employees for job satisfaction, high

commitment and peak performance. Retirement benefit schemes can retain
employees as they wait for opportunity to earn them. These should therefore be
attractive (for job satisfaction refers to satisfiers of Prof. Frederick Herzberg of
the University of Utah).

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Staff development

This is allowing working members attain higher skills so as to be more

efficient/effective the aim of training is maintaining , and improving current job
performance, and developing skills for future jobs; both managers and non-
managers may receive help from training and development.

Non managers are much more likely to be trained in the technical skills required for
the current jobs while managers frequently receive assistance in developing the
skills particular to human relations.

Training

Employees learn new skills. This is itself is a motivator. There are four
procedures used to determine the training needs.

1.Performance appraisal. Employee's work is measured against the

performance standards or objectives established for his or her job.
2.Analysis of job requirements. The skills or knowledge specified in the
appropriate job description are examined and those employees without
necessary skills or knowledge become candidates for training programs.
3. Organisational analysis. The effectiveness of the organization and its
success in meeting its goals are analyzed, to determine where differences exists
e.g. departments with high labour turn-over rate or low performance record
may need additional training.

4.Survey of human resources. Workers are asked to describe what

problem they are experiencing in their work and what actions they
believe are necessary to solve them.
-Training approaches can be on-the-job training methods like job rotation;
internship in which job training is combined with job related classroom
instruction or apprenticeship in which the employee is trained under the
guidance of a highly skilled co-worker.

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 - Or off-the-job training which takes place outside the work place but
attempts to simulate actual working conditions.

Managership development
This improves overall effectiveness of managers in their present position. It
prepares them for greater responsibility when they are promoted. Develop
programs for manages. Managers have become more prevalent recently because of
increasingly complex demands being made on them and because training managers
through experience alone is a time consuming and unreliable process. The
programs today are more manager centered, tailored to fit the unique developmental
requirements of the managers attending. The needs analysis is first made identify
the particular needs and problems of the manager or group of managers. Then the
appropriate training activities are recommended. As in any training, there are on-
the- job approaches and of the job approaches on-the-job methods may include
coaching alone by immediate superior, job rotation, training position where the
manager is given a higher position under a manager with the title "Assistant..." or
planned work activities like giving trainee managers important work assignments to
develop their experience and ability.

Off-the-job methods may include classroom instruction from specialists. This can
be from within or outside the organization. This removes stress created by ongoing
demands of the workplace, counteracts possible passivity and boredom. Managers
are exposed to fully new ideas, and managers have a chance to interact with other
people.

Appraisal

Performance appraisal is a management technique used in assessing the performance

and behavior of personnel in an organization. It is the name given to the regular,

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formulated and recorded view of the way in which an individual is performing and
it is carried out by the job holder and the immediate boss.
This approach to management is aimed at achieving more productivity and
efficiency in an organization. It equally ensures accountability and corrections
for improvement. Performance appraisal is a process of arriving at judgments
about an individual's past and present performance, against the background of
work environment and about the appraisee’s future potentials for an organization.
It is a system of measuring workout put or productivity or efficiency either
quantitatively or qualitatively.

Performance appraisal enables the manager to check if the established standards

are met. It is also used to find how workers are generally conforming to and
understanding the established rules and regulations governing the organization.
Performance appraisal is an important managerial responsibility, a responsibility
to be recognized, accepted and carried out in a manner which will be of real benefit
to those concerned.

Performance appraisal is a continuous process which is used to facilitate decisions

about salaries and other records, to identify promotable or demote prone workers to
guide the growth and self-development of individuals, and to determine the
training needs of workers. This appraisal is used in planning, job changes, rewards
and

punishments, assignments, training and development, and compensation.

Types of performance appraisal

There are mainly two types, informal evaluation and formal evaluation. Formal
appraisal deals with use of annual evaluation forms in assessing a worker. In this
method, the superior officer appraises the sub-ordinate by filling a standardized
and structured form in agreement with the subordinate and submits this form to top

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managers for further action. This method is criticized for being subjective and
instinctive as unscrupulous super ordinates use it to settle personal scores against
their subordinates. Informal appraisal is a system in which the subordinates go
into informal discussions with the super ordinate's, with the good aim of assessing the
habit or qualities of subordinates. Through this method, the management can
collect a lot of information that is useful for purposes of promotion, advancements,
transfers, termination or layoffs or training and development of the staff.

Performance appraisal of managers

Managers also need to be appraised. The system of measuring performance against

process accepted objectives should be supplemented by an appraisal of the manager.
The primary purpose for which a manager is hired, and against which he/she should
be measured, is the performance as a manager. They should be appraised on the
basis of how they will understand and practice the managerial functions of
POSDCORBE (planning, organizing, staffing, directing, coordinating, reporting,
budgeting and evaluating). Therefore, all managers should not and cannot escape
appraisal. They should be appraised against obvious objectives by top super ordinate
and or subordinates. For example, lecturers can appraise the vice-chancellor and
lecturers in turn can be appraised by students.

Bottlenecks encountered in appraising.

Appraisal is easy to understand but difficult to implement. There are so many problems
that come up during implementation. What has to be involved out are the criteria of
using performance measures, the human factor, personal interests, the work
environment, the person to be appraised, the employer-employee relationship and the
outcome of the entire process.

Despite every effort to design an effective measure of performance, the appraisal

system involves one human being judging another by using mixture of objective

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measures and a good deal of subjective judgment. There are therefore ethical
dilemmas in appraisal and these include:

 The use of subjective criteria

 Problems in defining performance standards and measurement of indicators.
 The use of different performance appraisal systems within the same
organization
 The uses to which information gained at an appraisal will be put.
 The one to determine the objective standards to measure performance.
However as long as performance appraisal procedure is fair, is consistent
and is evenly applied to different strata of staff, the performance appraisal can
be justified. It is very the process and not system itself that can be in doubt. It
is usual for managers to inflate or deflate the ratings of their subordinates
deliberately and intentionally.

Managers inflate ratings because;

 The belief that low ratings damage subordinates' motivation and
performance.

 Increase the subordinate's eligibility for merit.

 The desire to make the department shine in the eyes of others who might
read appraisal reports.
 To avoid giving the subordinate a negative record which might affect
him/her in future.
 To protect good performers living through a bad patch as a result of personal
problems.
To reward employees who were making an effort even though their
performance is poor. To avoid confrontation where appraised reports may
not be favorable to the appraised.
 The desire to promote a poor or skilled employee out of the
department less frequently.

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 managers deflate rating for the following reasons;

- To scare the employee into performing better.

To punish a difficult or rebellions employee.

- To encourage a problem employee to leave.

- To justify a planned firing.

To minimize the amount of merit-pay a subordinate would claim.

To comply with an organizational edict which discourages managers

from giving high ratings.

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