E-recruitment practices - Literature review Example

? E-recruitment practices Introduction Over the past decade, e-recruitment has exploded in the human resource scene of most organisations, as most have increasingly used internet tools to ensure effective and competitive recruitment of the best in the industry. Recruitment is one of the most critical processes within human resource function as it enables an organisation to have access to talent, and also enables effective attraction and selection of employees (Mondy and Noe, 2008; Feldman and Klaas, 2002:32). The Internet explosion and the high trend towards the digital environment have also moved recruitment to the online environment. Poorangi, Razavi and Rahmani (2011:74) define e-recruitment as the use of information technology in the recruitment process, to speed it up, improve it and ensure efficiency in recruitments. Barber (2006:1) refers to it as online recruitment, web-based recruitment or internet recruitment. Currently, a wide array of organizations has e-recruitment portals in their websites, or they conduct online recruitment through online job boards. Research done by institute of Employment studies (Barber, 2006:3) showed that most organisations use some form of online recruiting with most of them allowing applicants to apply for the jobs through corporate career sites. This research also projected that the only form of recruitment in the next decade would be through e-recruitment as more ways of making recruitment more efficient are developed. With increased efficiencies and competitiveness in the way that organisations acquire talented employees, e-recruitment practices between organisations differ in various ways. This is based on the kind of employees sought, the type of organisation and the cultural aspect of the targeted population. Therefore, e -recruitment is a process of hiring employees through internet enabled online electronic systems, such as websites. In order to use e- recruitment, it is important to have a system for administering the hiring process and enable targeted applicants to submit their details electronically (Elkington, 2005). Thus, e- recruitment involves application of various electronic mediums such as websites, internet and online recruitment systems to hire employees in an organization. This study seeks to examine and evaluate the e-recruitment practices in employing customer service staff in Lloyds TSB in the UK and those in employing customer service staff in Bank ICICI in India. The study also seeks to examine the factors that influence e-recruitment practices, the importance of e-recruitment practices, and the role of culture in recruitment practises Factors that influence e-recruitment practices and importance of e-recruitment practices Before investigating factors that influence e-recruitment practices, it is important to examine the effects of the process on new recruitment methods. Conventional recruitment methods apply formal procedures such as job advertisement. The methods begin by determining the required applicants and their location in the job market. Then, the recruiting department embarks on the activities of attracting and persuading applicants to apply the advertised job vacancy through medium such as newspapers, magazines, radio, magazines and TV among others. When the paper applications are received, they are sorted and shortlisted. They are filed and registered to enhance assessment and monitoring during recruitment process. This is followed by communicating to the shortlisted candidates for a formal interview and further assessments. Similarly, formal letters are sent to unsuccessful applicants (Aurelia & Fallery, 2010). E-recruitment comprises of three major steps, namely attracting, sorting and contacting the successful candidates (Elkington, 2005). To attract candidates, the recruiting firm designs web pages, which apply electronic networks to advertise and locate potential applicants on the internet and online databases. Potential applicants enter their details in the web pages and submit them electronically. Then, the information is sorted online. Sorting entails assessing the capabilities and skills of the applicants on the internet using specifically designed online tests. Finally, the successful and unsuccessful candidates are contacted online immediately through an automated system (Elkington, 2005). One of the most outstanding benefits of e recruitment is that it enables automation of communication (Parbudyal and Dale, 2003). E-recruitment has profound impacts on the conventional processes because it has lowered recruitment costs, accelerated communication and enhanced efficiency in addition to provision of better services. This is particularly realised through automated and web-based recruitment process. Thus, the recruitment cycle is shortened, a bigger pool of qualified applicants is reached and the standardized assessment tests ensure the best candidates qualify. E-recruitment has also transformed into a method of marketing the company, where firms promote their reputation to the wider society. In addition, the process has transformed recruitment process from batch mode to a continuous process (Maurer and Liu, 2007). E-recruitment in an organisation is influenced by both internal and external factors. Some of the internal factors within an organisation that impact e-recruitment includes the recruitment policy of the organisation which provides the frameworks upon which recruitment is carried out and specifies the objectives if recruiting within the organisation (Kapse, Patil, & Patil, 2012:84). Another factor is the human resource planning within an organisation, which is critical in identifying critical employee needs in the organisation. In addition, the design of the virtual recruiting environment is also critical since how simple or complicated the career websites or recruitment portals are would determine whether employee get to submit their application or not (Maurer & Liu, 2007:306-308). The external factors that affect e-recruitment practises include the supply and demand of specific job roles and tasks within the labour market, competition in the labour market, and the employment conditions in the labour market. For instance if an organisation has a higher demand for specific professional skills and there is a lack of such skills in the labour market, then an organisation can adopt a recruitment practise of scouting talented people within the organisation and developing their skills (Tyangi, 2012; Kapse, Patil, & Patil, 2012:84). The extent to which the internet is used is a very critical factor that affects the effectiveness of e-recruitment. In areas where internet penetration is low, e-recruitment would not be highly effective in reaching out to a greater percentage of the talented workforce. The high penetration of the internet in most developed nations though influences e-recruitment positively as most people go online in search of jobs. Human resource functions need to be flexible, strategic, customer oriented and efficient all at the same time (Martin, Reddington, Kneafsey, and Sloman, 2008; Aurelia & Fallery, 2010:1-2). The use of technology within the human resource function has been noted to be able to achieve these goals. Since recruitment process, which involves the attraction and selection of candidates and eventual management of the candidates, is critical for enhancing organisational success and survival, understanding strategic e-recruitment processes in order to even further elevate these human resource goals (Parbudyal and Dale, 2003). In essence, e-recruitment attracts and encourages various potential job seekers to apply for the advertised jobs. In addition, it also enables the organisation to have a wide pool of talent to select from. The characteristic of online recruitment where various organisations develop online forms that need be filled by candidates enables aligning the organisations needs to the candidates’ qualifications and skills and hence increase the success rate in the selection of candidates (Kapse, Patil, & Patil, 2012:83-84). E-recruitment practices in employing customer service staff in Lloyds TSB in the UK Lloyd TBS’ e-recruitment practises are unique to each of the job positions that are being applied for. The recruitment for a customer service staff is different from that of an executive graduate trainee or associate. The recruitment practises includes the attraction process, selection and candidate development and management. The recruitment policy is based on equality and diversity on religion, age, race, gender, sexual orientation, disability, and ensures work life balance and dignity at the workplace (Lloyd TSB, 2012). Attraction Attraction is important in the recruitment process as it enables the company to tap into the potential market of qualified candidates. Use of online advertising media is one of the most effective attraction methods currently (Parbudyal and Dale, 2003). There are no constraints when it comes to online advertising, as companies are able to develop comprehensive advertisement with links to job specifications and descriptions (Elkington, 2005). Lloyd uses both commercial job boards and its website to advertise for its customer service vacancies. In attracting suitable candidates, the company mainly posts the job adverts both on its career web page and in the industry specific job boards, which enables identifying of suitable candidates since such job, boards tap into self-defining markets of people with a passion and experience for customer service (Elkington, 2005). All of the applications received are restricted to online application where the interested candidates fill out the organisations online application form rather than accepting covering letters and CVs (Lloyd TBS, 2012). Research by Barber (2006:5) and Elkington (2005) showed that about two thirds of companies in the UK require applicants to complete online application forms with most organisations preferring them due to their structured formats. This is ideal for uniformity during assessment and it enhances application of software screening (Barber, 2006:5; Elkington, 2005). Along with the application forms, applicants also fill out the randomised test questions called the Infinity Series Numerical Reasoning Test. The test which has been seamlessly integrated with application process has unique questions for all candidates generate by the PSL system which sends the information to the bank’s management system (Onrec, 2004; Advorto, 2010) For customer service job positions, Lloyd TSB informs the successful candidates through email, and schedules for a phone interview (Lloyd TSB, 2012b). Selection While selecting job applicants, each selection process is tailored to fit the job applicant for. For the customer service position, first the candidates will carry out online tests that have been seamlessly integrated within the application form: the randomised test questions called the Infinity Series Numerical Reasoning Test. The online application forms and tests enables the country to filter out unsuitable applicants based on the self administered tests and focuses on matching the remaining candidates with the criteria of the position of customer service vacancy (Barber, 2006:6). From this the candidates carry out a telephone interview where the key criteria is such interviews include a clear confident voice, experience and competency based interview questions where the candidates have to express their skills and have they have successfully and uniquely used it before (Lloyd TSB , 2012a). Those who are successful are informed through email, and asked to schedule an event for one on interviews which is competency based and role plays which require actual customer service on a desk (Lloyd TSB, 2012; The Student Room, 2012). After interviews, the suitable candidates are selected, referencing and vetting is carried out using the company’s recruitment management process and recruitment team and the final candidate with required skills is chosen. Candidate management and on boarding After the selection of the suitable candidate, most of the customer service staff despite the experience they have are still trained to fit well with Lloyd TSB’s needs and customer service goals. They also conduct on boarding of new employees through orientations and encouraging team based work environment (Hewitt, 2003:41; Barber, 2006:7). As for the candidates who have not succeeded, they can also create and maintain their personal profiles within the organisation’s website to attach to future job applications. E-recruitment practices in employing customer service staff in bank ICICI in India ICICI Bank is the second largest Bank in India with assets worth more than $91 billion as at March 2011, with a wide array of network both in India and 18 other countries. The bank offers a wide range of financial products and services to various of its client base, which is retail banking customers and corporate banking customers. The bank also has other subsidiaries which offer asset management services, life and non life insurance, and investment banking (ICICI Bank, 2012). Customer service provision is very important and a critical aspect of the bank’s strategy as it is a way through which customers get to connect with the clients thereby building relationship with the company as the clients would tend to build closer relationships with the customer executives (ICICI Bank, 2012a). Therefore hiring the right executive who pushes the company’s agenda is critical for the bank, as it is good customer service that would ensure customers view the bank as the ultimate bank of choice based on how it cares for the customers. E-recruitment practises for bank ICICI in India is slightly different from Lloyd’s e-recruitment practises. The recruitment policy and the manner in which ICICI bank recruits its customer service staff takes into account the tendency of relating the service provided by the customer service to the person delivering it, who may be viewed as the face of the company (Chan, Yim & Lam, 2010:52; ICICI Bank, 2012c; Sujansky, 2011). In e-recruitment, the recruitment practises includes the attraction process, selection and candidate development and management. As noted before, attraction of potential employees is critical in the recruitment process as it allows the company to have access to the talented people. ICICI Bank uses online job boards and staffing agencies to advertise for its customer service vacant positions (ICICI Bank, 2012b). In attracting suitable candidates, the company posts the job adverts on a wide array of online job sites through various recruitment agencies which provision of a wider pool of enables applicants that increase the chance of identifying suitable candidates. The company also advertises for the job within its website, where the website has links from other pages, which connect the advertisement from the online job boards to the company’s web address which shows in detail the job description and specifications for various positions. Unlike Lloyd’s which require experience in customer service, in ICICI, no to two years experience for the customer service position is desirable, with strong communication skills (ICICI Bank, 2012c) that do not necessarily have to be confident as required by Lloyd TSB. ICICI requires online application for the positions, with candidates filling the online application form provided by the company and submitting their own resume’s online (ICICI Bank, 2012d). Selection process at ICICI places great value in the customer service skills of all its employees regardless of whether they are customer or service employees. This is due to the high reliability the company’s success is linked with their ability to build stronger ties and connections with their clients. The selection process keeps these skills among the high priority lists, and mainly looks at an individual’s personality. For instance, they would tend to prefer people who are modest, polite, and thoughtful, this is unlike Lloyd’s which though they prefer polite customer service; they also prefer one who is confident, open and direct. In the selection process, the applicants go through the aptitude tests to test logical reasoning, verbal comprehension, and numerical abilities. Those who are successful proceed to group discussions to gauge personality, interactive skills, and hypothetical solutions to various business scenarios. Psychometric profiling is then done through a questionnaire to determine the preferred behaviours of the employees based on company needs. Finally, the personal interview, which is the final selection step, is conducted, employees selected, and their references checked (ICICI Bank, 2012e). After selection of suitable candidates, they are trained to understand the products offered by the company intricately, and on customer service, though this is expected to come naturally out of them. ICICI bank, choose customer service staff who are able to naturally build relationships with clients (ICICI Bank, 2012c). Role of culture in recruitment practices The culture within a geographic region is critical in determining the kind of recruitment practises that are developed by a company in such a country. For effective attraction and recruiting of sales personnel, cultures which influences people’s perceptions and the way they communicate needs to be taken into account (Rao, 2009; Milikic, 2009:97). The UK citizens come from an individualistic culture and therefore tend to freely express their opinions directly, and take a direct approach to most things. Indians on the other hand are generally not confrontational and rarely engage in disagreements so as they do not lose face. Indians find it hard to say no as it is considered to offensive and may strain relationships. They rather prefer to be vague or no committal on matter than directly refuse. Therefore, responses that are non-committal are generally viewed as a refusal. Indian should not be forced to be forthright than they are comfortable to be, as this would aggravate that matter by pushing them away. They are family oriented and may ask questions about other’s family members in conversations, and tend to value closer relationships even in business (Kwintessential, 2011). The UK culture is often forthright, values politeness and confidence, and the employee of a company is viewed differently from the company. This is different with India, where closer ties with the customer representatives would imply closer ties to the company. While analysing the e-recruitment practices of both ICICI bank in India, and Lloyd TSB in the UK, it can be noted that though they adopt almost similar practices, there are some different cultural aspects between these two. For instance, during recruitment of the customer service staff, while Lloyd emphasizes on experience, ICICI bank emphasizes on personality and communication abilities rather than experience where the candidate need be able to form strong bonds with the clients (ICIC, 2012c; Advorto, 2010). In addition, Lloyd first begins with tests during the application procedure followed by a phone interview to gauge how confident the applicants are, then followed by role-plays and one on one interview. This is unlike ICICI banks, which require a personalised CV along with the application process, to get a personal feel of the applicant. These are then followed by aptitude and psychometric tests, and through group discussions rather than role-plays, which focus on gauging interpersonal skills. Finally, personal interviews are carried out. Culture influences assessment procedures, applications, and interviews. For instance during interviews, eye contact may be used very differently between the UK and India. While direct eye contact during interviews may depict honesty, confidence and build trust between two people in the UK, it is not the same in India where people may avoid direct eye contact especially with more superior individuals. In-group collectivism defines the kind of relationships in India, and these highly determine the close relationship based recruitment practice (Rao, 2009). Areas of improvement in recruitment practices for both companies With the analysis of the above e-recruitment practises for the both Lloyd TSB and ICICI bank in India, it can be noted that though all the companies have well streamlined e-recruitment practises, they can further be improved to reduce their inefficiencies. For starters, both could incorporate peer interviews within their recruitment practise. This would not only be able to gauge stronger customer service skills, but is also permissible in both cultures, where being around peers; a person may tend to be more of themselves. As for ICICI Bank, it would be imperative to develop a more behaviour based interviewing where customer service skills are tested. Having people who not only have the personality to serve but also exhibit enthusiasm, motivation and propensity for service, would enable the organisation to indentify appropriate customer service candidates (Purdue, 2011:3-4). Conclusion This study sought to examine and evaluate the e-recruitment practices in employing customer service staff in Lloyds TSB in the UK and those in employing customer service staff in Bank ICICI in India and to examine the factors that influence e-recruitment practices, the importance of e-recruitment practices, and the role of culture in recruitment practises. In conclusion it can be noted that while the e-recruitment practises were almost similar, they differed slightly based on cultural aspects that shape recruitment practise. While the UK e-recruitment practises for the customer service representatives were more based on experience, India’s was one based on the ability to develop strong close ties and bonds with clients. Each of these practises was effective and strategic to each of the areas studied. However, both e-recruitment practises can be improved further to enhance the results through incorporation of peer interviews, which are viewed as good practise across all cultures. References Advorto 2010, ‘Lloyd Banking Group Advorto to streamline its online recruitment,’ Advorto Talent Recruitment Systems, viewed 1 June 2012, at: Aurelia, G & Fallery, B 2010, ‘E-recruitment: new practises, new issues. An exploratory Study,’ CREGOR, Case Courrier 028, University of Montpellier 2, 34000 Montpellier, France, viewed 1 June 2012 at: < http://www.cregor.net/membres/fallery/travaux/pdfs/C-Documents%20and%20Settings-Flo-Mes%20documents-Bernard-Travaux-2009HRISfinal.pdf> Barber, L 2006, ‘e-recruitment Developments,’ viewed 1 June 2012, at: < http://www.employment-studies.co.uk/pdflibrary/mp63.pdf> Chan, K, Yim, C, & Lam, S 2010, 'Is Customer Participation in Value Creation a Double-Edged Sword? Evidence from Professional Financial Services Across Cultures', Journal Of Marketing, 74, 3, pp. 48-64, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 1 June 2012. Elkington, T 2005, ‘Bright Future for Online Recruitment,’ Personnel Today, 18, p.9 Feldman, D C and Klaas, S B 2002, "Internet job hunting: A field study of applicant experiences with on-line recruiting," Human Resource Management. Hewitt, P 2003, ‘Flexible Working, The business Case: 50 success stories,’ viewed 1 June 2012, at: < http://www.femtech.at/fileadmin/downloads/Wissen/Themen/Vereinbarkeit/The_Business_Case_50_success_stories.pdf> ICIC 2012c, ‘Phone Banking Officers – Domestics and International Process,’ viewed 1 June 2012, at: < https://www.icicicareers.com/icici_career/walkindrives-phone-banking.html> ICICI Bank 2012, ‘About Us,’ viewed 1 June 2012, at: < http://www.icicibank.com/aboutus/about-us.html> ICICI Bank 2012a, ‘Khayaal aapka – Some moments,’ 1 June 2012, at: < http://www.icicibank.com/campaigns/khayal-aapka/khayal-aapka.html?utm_source=GA&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=Khayaal-Aapka-Aboutus> ICICI Bank 2012b, ‘Staffing Agencies,’ viewed 1 June 2012, at: < https://www.icicicareers.com/icici_career/staffing-introduction.aspx> ICICI Bank 2012d, ‘Profile Sheet,’ viewed 1 June 2012, at: < https://www.icicicareers.com/icici_career/requirementapply.aspx?ReqID=CIJ/XALHhtU6IRyPNGaO0gBOrGD+Kk4wOGSp9j5D9ZAhXHbV86zPQydis14TOTpHUJALJ+A3D8BGkB/Uowuq7RfF0hZbuHCbWM9gsutt2G3wP2Oh9fRAFkO2BhGT8JEWh5qDhtTsoYcBJH1AMaQzIZVwx0Zaw6ML5LBbQaXrndA=&Stype=0&ExtAcadDetails=dAIG+ckWhd/DF5GnZbRgWWsQH0VICGvugsXcMyxrZbb2riYxpIxA9flKKI2HLNfAtnlVps6fiuBlgT9TGvZV+ILNQV1nVia3lCSoew1UGkeBu5RUK9xEN3oPCbHlCImoc7e5u5Pm9aRZZ7NM1iec5MBgWoMWOorn9qUVb2Abx6Q=> ICICI Bank, 2010e, ‘Selection Process,’ viewed 1 June 2012, at: Kapse, AS, Patil, VS, & Patil, NV 2012, ‘E-recruitment,’ International Journal of Engineering and Advanced Technology, 1, 4, pp. 2249-8958. Kwintessential (2011). India – Language, Culture, Customs and etiquette. Retrieved from http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/global-etiquette/india-country-profile.html Lloyd TBS 2012, ‘How to Apply,’ viewed 1 June 2012 at: < http://www.lloydstsb-careers.com/view/147/how-to-apply.html> Lloyd TSB 2012, ‘Equality and Diversity,’ viewed 1 June 2012, at: < http://www.lloydstsb.com/about_ltsb/equality_and_diversity_page.asp> Lloyd TSB 2012a, ‘The Selection Process,’ viewed 1 June 2012, at < http://www.lloydstsb-careers.com/view/298/the-selection-process.html> Martin G, Reddington M, Kneafsey M B and Sloman M 2008, ‘Web 2.0 and HRM: A Discussion Document,’ CIPD Maurer, S D, and Liu, Y 2007, ‘Developing effective e-recruiting websites: Insights for managers from marketers,’ Business Horizons, 50, pp. 305-314. Milikic, B 2009, 'The Influence Of Culture On Human Resource Management Processes And Practices: The Propositions For Serbia', Ekonomski Anali / Economic Annals, 54, 181, Pp. 93-118, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 2 June 2012. Mondy, R.W., and Noe, R.M., (2008), Human Resource Management, 10th Edition, New Jersey, Prentice-Hall Onrec 2004, ‘Lloyds TSB use online testing from PSL sift graduate applicants,’ The Global Online Recruitment Resource, viewed 1 June 2012, at: < http://www.onrec.com/news/news-archive/lloyds-tsb-use-online-testing-from-psl-to-sift-graduate-applicants> Parbudyal, S, and Dale, F 2003, ‘The Effects of Information Technology on Recruitment,’ Journal of Labor Research, 24, pp. 395-408. Poorangi, MM, Razavi, S, & Rahmani, N 2011, ‘An Evaluation of the Effectiveness of E-Recruitment Practises for SMEs in Malaysia,’ 2011 International conference on Innovation, Management and Service, IPEDR, 14, pp. 74-78 Purdue 2011, ‘Improving Frontline Recruitment Hiring: Raising the Bar – Identifying Candidate potential and fit, ' viewed 1 June 2012, at: < http://www.cfs.purdue.edu/richardfeinberg/callcenterpapers/HiringWP.pdf> Rao, P 2009, ‘Chapter XIII: The Role of National Culture on E-recruitment in India and Mexico,’ Mary Mount University, viewed 1 June 2012, at: < http://www.irma-international.org/viewtitle/20063/> Sujansky, C 2011, 'It Only Takes a Moment to Win - or Lose - a Customer', New Equipment Digest, 76, 11, pp. F-J, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 1 June 2012. The Student Room 2012, ‘Lloyds TSB Recruitment Process,’ viewed 1 June 2012, at: < http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1546597> Tyangi, A 2012, ‘Effective Talent Acquisition Through E-recruitment: A Study,’ International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research, 2, 3, pp. 301-3011 Read More