Personnel Requirements for Job Vacancies - Essay Example

? Topic: Lecturer: Presentation: Section Personnel Requirements for Job Vacancies Human resource planning is crucial in all organisations that wish to a gain competitive advantage. It ensures that human resource requirements of an organisation are identified and that plans are made for satisfying the requirements (Armstrong, 2010, p.190). Organisations should align their HR planning with the business plans thus ensuring a better control over staffing, costs and the number of workers employed. The importance of planning is that it ensures the equal opportunity principle is adhered to in recruitment and selection. The process of recruitment begins with job analysis which entails collecting information about the job through tools such as questionnaires and interviews to ensure the right employees are hired for right jobs (Mullins, 2010). The results of job analysis are then used to design a job description and person specification. The job description shows the activities, duties or tasks to be undertaken while the person specification shows the requirements of the job holder and is the basis for selection (Searle, 2003). The job at hand is that of a social worker in the healthcare sector. The job description entails: providing care and interventions to promote health, conducting patient education, making patient referrals, organising support groups and counselling family members and also collaborating with other professionals so as to evaluate the condition of patients. They are also entrusted with disease prevention and ensuring access to healthcare. The person is expected to collect and record information in written and electronic form concerning patients, analyse information and interpret results and ensuring it complies with standards. The person to be recruited as social worker needs to have at least a bachelor’s degree in social sciences and possess the following skills: good negotiation skills, be an active listener, be good at written and oral communication, and good in making decisions and judgements and good time management skills. The person should have knowledge in psychology, proficiency in the English language, knowledge of the law and government regulations as well as agency rules, knowledge in therapy and counselling, and good interpersonal skills. The knowledge of clerical duties such as keeping records and designing forms is an added advantage. The person should also be of high integrity and have great concern for others. He/she should be able to exercise self-control, be cooperative and be able to work under stress. Section 2: How Employment Legislation Affects Recruitment While recruiting potential candidates, it is important to take into consideration the employment laws in place to avoid unlawful discrimination. The current employment law under Equality Act 2010 enforced by Equal Employment Opportunity Commission prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender, sex, race, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation and nationality (EHRC, 2013). This is aimed at ensuring equal opportunity in employment for all. It is very essential for the healthcare organisation to follow these laws while designing application forms or advertising jobs to attract potential candidates to avoid litigations which may destroy the reputation of the company as well as cause additional costs such as intervention fee to the company (HSE, 2013). For example, while putting an advert for a social worker, an age limit should not be stipulated unless it is objectively justifiable. The Equality and Human Rights Commission added new provisions to the Equality Act 2010 extending a ban on age discrimination to cover services, and this has implication for social care workers. They cannot differentiate in treatment of service users in different age groups unless it is objectively justified (EHRC, 2013). Organisations are liable to third party offenders; hence, they must make sure to recruit individuals who can obey the law. In most cases, social work is considered to be appropriate for female gender, but this does not mean that men cannot do the job. Putting an advert indicating that only females are required is against the law, and any male has a right to apply for discrimination. So is any clause that tries to discriminate people of particular races, sexual orientation or religion (DTI, 2013). Even though the organisation may not do it intentionally, putting unnecessary recruitment or selection criteria that prevent people from applying for a job is prohibited (ACAS, 2013). This amounts to indirect discrimination, and as such, an organisation should be careful in designing its recruitment policies. The employment legislation also affects the structure of the interview or the questions asked. According to the law, asking personal questions during an interview amounts to discrimination (Marchington and Wilkinson, 2005). Such questions, for purposes of records or for purposes of allocating benefits, should be asked in privacy after the selection process, otherwise the candidate has a right to claim discrimination to the ACAS. Confidentiality of information is also protected under the Data Protection Act 1998. For example, asking a potential social worker about marital status or sexual orientation during selection interviews amounts to discrimination. Section 3: Participation in Recruitment and Selection Activities This is a very crucial stage since if the wrong people are selected; this could lead to poor performance and reputation for the company (Mathis and Jackson, 2010). The selection interview for a social worker begins by preparing interview documentation. The documentation includes job description, application forms and resumes, references, questions, selection criteria and details of scoring system to be used. The job description notes the tasks related to the job, as indicated in Section 1. From the job description the selection criterion is determined showing the important knowledge, skills, abilities and experience (Mullins, 2010; Price, 2007). In this case, the applicants will be judged based on their ability to exercise self-control, work under stress, interpersonal skills, problem solving skills, attention to details, the ability to collect, analyse and interpret data, communication skills and knowledge of the employment law since the company is liable for their actions. The interview may be structured or unstructured, but according to Gatewood et al. (2011), a structured interview is most appropriate since it covers most of the content, and since it has standard questions for all interviewees, it eliminates possibility for discrimination. The questions are predetermined and job-related, aimed at assessing knowledge, skills, abilities and experience and comprise direct, probing, hypothetical and reflective questions such as below: What prompted you to apply for this job? Why do you want to leave your current employer? Tell me about your greatest achievements? What are the most important skills you would bring to the organisation? How do your current skills contribute to the attainment of company goals? Tell me about time when you had to overcome a major obstacle that inhibited accomplishment of goals and how you overcame the situation. Those are just but a few questions to be asked during the interview. The person who scores the highest is selected. The interview for the position of social worker began with introductions to know each other better. The candidate was taken through the documents presented to clarify the contents before proceeding with the structured questions. Prior to that, the interviewers and interviewees were informed of the date, time and venue, and the venue had to be appropriate for all including those with disabilities (McNamara, 2013). The candidates were asked the questions by panelists and given a chance to ask the questions too to clarify issues or to seek further information. Ryan and Tippins (2009) view probing as essential in the interview process to get in-depth information; thus, it was part of the interview. The interviewers assessed the candidates’ aptitude, experience, personality, motivation and skills (Hurst, 2013). For example, they were asked how they could handle a patient suffering from trauma or stress to assess their counselling and communication skills. During the interview, personal questions such as those concerning disability, age, sex or marital status were avoided not to attract discrimination allegations. Section 4: Improving Recruitment and Selection Processes The healthcare sector has found the need to improve its recruitment and selection practices to match the millennial generation which is technology-compliant. New trends in hiring are emerging such as use of Facebook, mobile phones, video messaging, and YouTube (Fitz-Enz, 2010; Meister and Willyerd, 2010; Stanton, 2013). Boudreau (2010) notes that organisations are adapting the tools used by marketers to deal with human resources in a process he calls retooling. This makes it easier for the public and private sector as well as human resource professionals and non-professionals to understand how to deal with human capital in the workplace. According to Fitz.Enz (2010) and Hurst (2013), organisations care less if they are delivering value from their human capital, and as such, most HRM do not deliver strategic value. However, the development of HR analytics has revolutionalised the HRM and ensures that recruitment process delivers returns on human capital investments. The human capital model of management is thus crucial to healthcare organizations. This framework is used to “gather , organize and interpret data and knowledge for the purpose of assessing probality of upcoming events instead of relying on past data and obsolete experience” (Fitz-Enz, 2010, p.5). It is conducted in phases which include scanning, planning, producing and predicting. According to Boudreau (2010), the recruitment process can also be improved by the use of a consistent, logical framework that analyses where to invest, maintain or cut resources. This requires the use of proven business tools such as the scorecard. If the recruitment and selection process does not result to business performance in terms of productivity, increased returns or profits, reduced turnover and absenteeism and increased retention rates, there is a problem that needs addressing (CIPD, 2004). The process should also not result in litigations due to a breach of employment laws unless it is flawed and needs revising. For example, in the health care sector, the social workers should be effective in reducing client complaints and ensuring prevention of diseases. The use of social media can enhance the provision of services, and as such, social workers can be recruited to work from any part of the country; they do not necessarily have to be at a specific location. Meister and Willyerd (2010, p.63) acknowledge that the new generation will integrate work to personal life; hence, the organiasation needs to understand the needs, values and expectations of generations. This, according to Davies and Kourdi (2010), will ensure the best talent and a dynamic workforce leading to sustained competitive advantage. Bibliography ACAS. 2013. Available at: [Accessed 24 Jan, 2013] Armstrong, M. 2010. Armstrong's Essential Human Resource Management Practice: A Guide to People Management. London: Kogan Page Boudreau, JW. 2010. Retooling HR: Using Proven Business Tools to Make Better Decisions about Talent. Boston: Harvard Business School Press. CIPD. 2004. Recruitment, Retention and Turnover: A Survey of UK and Ireland. London: CIPD. 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