Staffing - Exam 2

Question 1

What is recruitment?

Answer 1

Recruitment refers to the strategies and practices used by firms to:
i. identify and source desired talent (“source”)
ii. attract the desired talent (“persuade”)
iii. ultimately ensure they accept job offers (“influence”)

Question 2

Why is recruitment strategically valuable?

Answer 2

Recruitment is strategically valuable because it:
- Shapes talent supply chain
- Sets talent potential

Question 3

What is fit?

Answer 3

Fit is a broad term that refers to the match between a person’s talent competencies, interests, values, needs, and wants, with task demands, workgroup values and demands, organizational values and practices, and cultural values.

Question 4

What factors influence fit?

Answer 4

Organization (location/image), Subsidiary (location/image), Job (pay/type of work), Recruiter (personality, competence, demographics), Selection (job-related, candidate experience), and Friends & Family

Question 5

Why is fit important to recruitment?

Answer 5

Fit is important to recruitment because recruitment is about the fit between a person and the broader environment– they both need to match.

Question 6

Distinguish the different types of fit

Answer 6

Supplementary fit: When the individual’s characteristics are similar to those of the broader organizational context.
Complementary fit: When the individual’s characteristics address important gaps or holes in the broader environment.
Demands-abilities fit: Match between the knowledge, skills, and abilities of a person, and the task-related demands of the job
Needs-supplies fit: Match between the person’s preferences and desires and those that the organization needs (social focus)

Question 7

What is attraction-selection-attrition?

Answer 7

ASA provides insight into how fit may be used to transform individual talent into collective talent resources.

Question 8

How does attraction-selection-attrition contribute to homogenous talent?

Answer 8

ASA contributes to homogenous talent because they build a critical mass of employees with similar levels of talent. It moves the focus form a collection of talented individuals to a collective talent resource that can be deployed to achieve competitive.

Question 9

Describe the stages of fit, and the types of information of most interest to organizations and applicants at each stage.

Answer 9

Stage 1: Source & Convince to Apply
Organization: Identify talent pools, Focus on attracting a large number of qualified applicants, Emphasize organizational image, brand/reputation, Emphasize needs-supplies fit
Applicant: Screen/narrow set of potential organizations based on needs

Stage 2: Persuade to Remain
Organization: Test and evaluate applicants based on job-related characteristics, Emphasize job- relatedness, speed, fairness of selection process, Emphasize demands-abilities fit;
Applicant: Focus on performing well in selection assessments, Decide whether to stay active in the selection process

Stage 3: Influence Job Choice
Organization: Provide competitive offer to applicants who pass assessments. Provide reasonable explanation for those who do not pass assessments, Emphasize instrumental/job/compensation information along with company information, Emphasize needs-supplies and demands- abilities fit;
Applicant: Decide whether to accept offer; negotiate offer by focusing mainly on wants

Question 10

Name the Recruitment Steps in order

Answer 10

1. Define the types of talent needed.
2. Locate the desired talent.
3. Identify what the desired talent needs and wants in a job/employer.
4. Develop a recruitment Strategy and message that differentiates your firm.
5. Maintain the desired talent’s interest through the entire recruiting process
6. Influence the desired talent to accept a job offer.
7. Evaluate the effectiveness of the recruitment process.

Question 11

Why do the Recruitment steps go in a certain order?

Answer 11

They must go in this specific order because each steps build off each other, you won’t know what the desired talent’s needs and wants are in a job or company are until you have defined the types of talent needed, you also can’t establish the recruitment message until the types of talent needed and their location is defined. You can’t start at the end and work backwards because you have to first define what the talent needed is and everything else is based on that.

Question 12

How realistic should the information be in a realistic job preview-why?

Answer 12

It should be realistic enough to provide a mix of positive and negative content.
i. Highlight/emphasize the strengths
ii. Identify the negatives in a different framing
iii. Differentiate yourself

Question 13

What are the benefits of RJPs (what do they do/influence)?

Answer 13

i. RPJs help attract the types of candidates we want and discourages unqualified applicants.
ii. If you do RJPs well, it should increase the percentage of people who apply that are going to be a good fit and have the selection KSAOs for the job. (Does more than just increase application volume)
iii. Offer high return, but need to be targeted to the audience we want it to be

Question 14

What are the characteristics of effective RJPs?

Answer 14

i. Make it compelling
ii. Show a typical day
iii. Focus on culture and fit
iv. Emphasis doing a lot of work at times (via employee interviews)
v. Use multiple RJPs because they’ll resonate with different people

Question 15

What is the difference between instrumental and symbolic factors? Provide examples of each.

Answer 15

Needs are what a candidate must have to consider a job. - Focus on those instrumental characteristics that a job and firm must offer for the candidate to seriously consider it. More important in recruiting because applicants will weed out jobs that don’t meet their needs right away.
Ex: pay, benefits, nature of the job tasks, where the job is located, organizational size, advancement opportunities, and related factors.

Wants are what a candidate prefers in a job. - Focus on those symbolic characteristics that a job and firm must offer to address candidate preferences.
Ex: company culture, brand, reputation, image, and related factors.

Question 16

What are the pros and cons of internal hiring? When should you use it?

Answer 16

Internal: Promotions, job transfers, job rotations
When to use:
1. the organization has high need for specific knowledge and has created an internal labor market (i.e., entry at the bottom and promotion from within)
2. filling leadership roles where consistency and constancy is desired
3. existing skill sets are adequate or there is sufficient time to retool
4. succession plan identifies the desired slate for a particularly developmental role
5. there are strong time and/or cost pressures reducing the ability to search broadly
6. lack of external talent
7. existing competencies can be developed for future plans
8. strong support network to help facilitate interactions with the local community

Pros: Those hired internally have better job satisfaction, perform better, achieve high performance more quickly, and stay longer than external hires, have more information on candidates, fit organizational culture and strategic direction
Cons: Use of internal hires can produce “sameness” to the organization

Question 17

What are the pros and cons of external hiring? When should you use it?

Answer 17

General labor market outside the firm
When to use:
1. change in vision or culture is desired
2. there are strong supportive elements to integrate the person into the organization
3. variability in performance can be tolerated
4. new markets/products or technologies demand skills unavailable on the internal labor market
5. the jobs are entry-level (and must be filled externally)
6. existing competencies are insufficient for future plans
7. there is no time to develop talent internally
8. trying to deny key talent from competitors

Pros: External hires can provide a change of perspective when needed for innovation or creative solutions are required
Cons: More difficult, time consuming, expensive to hire, have less information on candidates.

Question 18

Know the general types of metrics used for evaluating recruitment.

Answer 18

Efficiency Metrics (cost, time-to-hire, conversion rates)

Effectiveness Metrics (manager reactions, applicant experience, job performance, unit performance, diversity, individual turnover, unit turnover, quality of hire)

Question 19

Know the pros and cons of different recruitment practices.

Answer 19

Referrals
- Pro: Lower costs associated than other sourcing efforts
- Con: Can result in sameness/lack of diversity, nepotism views

Job Boards (Monster, LinkedIn, etc.)
- Pro: Large pool of applicants
- Con: Expensive

Social Media (LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook)
- Pros: Can source active and passive job candidates, increasing talent pool
- Cons: Inconsistent data on success, legality may differ between countries, not everyone has easy access to social media (i.e. lower income/developing areas)

Question 20

What are the major sources applicants attend to, and how can an organization use these to attract the best talent?

Answer 20

Sources: Referrals, job boards, organizational career sites, gamification, third party career websites, social media

No matter which practice you use, HOW you get the best talent is always the same: follow the steps of recruitment. So, you then choose the practices (referrals, social media, whatever) that will best accomplish these steps. But every practice should focus on providing a message that reaches your desired talent, focuses on selection KSAOs, and favorably differentiates your firm.

Question 21

Key Benefits of Realistic Job Preview

Answer 21

Self-selection, candidate experience, commitment, satisfaction, performance, retention

• Increase self-selection (While reducing the number of applicants, the quality of the applicants will increase. People are more informed about the job and motivated to start the job as there is a better fit between the person and the job. Likely caused by lower expectations, a proven effect of being exposed to an RJP)
• Improved candidate experience (Investing time in applying for a job that isn’t a match is a let down, while gaining deeper understanding of a job you like will make candidates more excited. RJP are likely to have a positive impact on candidate experience.)
• Commitment to the organization (Research shows those who had a RJP are more committed to the organization. This is because they know what is happening, have a better understanding of cultural values of the organization, and the issues employees run into)
• Job satisfaction (When expectations meet reality people will be more satisfied. Employee who have had a RJP have better matched expectations about their work, the organization, and as a result will be more satisfied with their work).
• Higher performance (Because of higher satisfaction, commitment to the organization and alignment with the responsibilities of the job, employees are more likely to perform better)
• Lower employee attrition (Because expectations of the job and day to day reality are aligned employee attrition decreases.)

Question 22

Factors to think about when creating a Realistic Job Preview

Answer 22

Org vision, org mission, job description, rewards and benefits, promotion system, training opportunities, and development opportunities.

• Organizational vision (Vision represents where the company wants to go. Aligning all employees on vision is crucial to reaching it. This is about the long term. )
• Org mission (Mission is about the company’s objectives and how it plans to reach them. This is about short term activities that help the organization advance.)
• Job description (Maybe the most important part of the RJP as painting a realistic picture of the job and its responsibilities is crucial to retaining employees.)
• Rewards and benefits (A fair overview of total rewards, work-life balance, development opportunities and recognition is key. Some people will fit better with certain types of jobs so the appreciation, visibility, rewards, etc. should be communicated.)
• Promotion system (Showing potential career rewards prevents disappointments down the line. If someone is ambitious they may not be a good fit for a stable job with little promotional opportunities.)
• Training opportunities (If a job provides a rich array of training, this should be featured. If difficult job with little formal training, that should be communicated because different personalities may hate or love formalized mandatory training.)
• Development opportunities (When a job provides opportunities for learning that great but if it doesn’t that should be communicated. Some people are happy with stable, stagnant jobs wile others will )be looking elsewhere in a few months.

Question 23

Understand the key differences between diversity, inclusion, and equity

Answer 23

Diversity (the what): characteristics, experiences and other distinctions that make one person different from another. Can mean different races, ethnicities, gender identities, or sexual orientations, but can also represent a broad range of experiences including socioeconomic background, upbringing, religion, marital status, education, neurodiversity, disability and life experiences.

Inclusion (the how): creating environments where people regardless of surface or hidden differences feel welcome and valued. Means no individual is denied access to resources, opportunities, or any other treatment based on the qualities that make them unique, whether intentionally or inadvertently.
- Inclusion is the secret sauce that makes a diverse workplace more innovative, profitable, and engaging
- Inclusive environment requires thoughtfulness and intention

Equity: the unbiased practices and policies that ensure all members can thrive. Being equitable means addressing inequalities that advantage some and disadvantage others. Equity means people with equal selection KSAOs have equal employment opportunities

Question 24

The main types of inclusive recruitment practices

Answer 24

• Ensure organizational image is inclusive
• Use structured formal practices
• Look at how the job is presented
• Use inclusive job previews
• Be explicit in job description

Question 25

Understand how recruiting sources may produce different effects (i.e. impacts between informal vs formal recruiting sources)

Answer 25

Formal attempts can be well-intentioned but fail; informal sources tend to be more effective. Informal sources are those NOT controlled by the organization (such as word of mouth, friend networks, etc).
When applicants learn about a job and hiring process from informal sources, they tend to be more likely to do well in the process, score better on prehire tests, and get job offers. So informal recruitment sources are more effective in terms of applicant quality and attraction.
People do not have equal access to informal recruitment sources. Therefore, organizations should try to ensure informal sources are accessible to all groups, and especially underrepresented groups. In the company described in the online reading, the organization found that formal sources (recruiters) helped increase applicants from underrepresented groups, but many of those applicants withdrew from the process before being hired.
Thus, whenever possible, ensure access to informal sources.

Question 26

Understand the nature of the candidate experience, the three main influences on the candidate experience (social, structural, & physical)

Answer 26

Candidate experience: how applicants think and feel across their candidate journey

Social – hiring manager, recruiter, employees, other applicants
- Any of the human element that you interact with; also influenced by the customers of the organization and the reception of other candidates

Structural- recruitment and hiring process and practices
- Process has to appropriate for the nature of the job

Physical- physical and online environments
- Both the in-person and online experience shape the candidate experience

Question 27

What the candidate experience influence?

Answer 27

• engagement
• customer satisfaction
• retention
• applicant retention
• the quality of new hires