HRM Module 2

Module 2 Human Resource Planning
Structure of Module:
2.1 Objectives
2.2 Introduction
2.3 Human Resource Planning (HRP)
2.4 Definition of Human Resource Planning
2.5 Nature of HRP
2.6 Objectives of Human Resource Planning
2.7 Need for HRP in Organizations
2.8 Importance of HRP
2.9 Factors Affecting HRP
2.10 HRP Process
2.11 Requisites for Successful HRP
2.12 Barriers to Human HRP
2.13 Summary
2.14 Self Assessment Questions
2.15 Reference Books
2.1 Objectives
After studying this unit, you will be able to:
 Understand the nature and need of HRP
 Able to gain information about different factors that affect HRP
 Realize the importance of human resource planning in current organizational scenario
 Understand the HRP process and the pre requisites for successful HRP process
2.2 Introduction
As told in the last chapter Human resource management has started to play a significant role in the overall
strategic development of the organization. At present HR strategies are designed in tune with the overall
business strategy of the organization. HR strategy should sub serve the interest of the organization, translating
firm’s goals and objectives into a consistent, integrated and complimentary set of programmes and policies
for managing people.
First part of Human resource strategy is HRP – Human Resource Planning. All other HR activities like
employee hiring, training and development, remuneration, appraisal and labour relations are derived from
HRP.HR planning is important in a wide variety of industries and firms. HR planning affects what employers
do when recruiting, selecting, and retaining people, and of course these actions affect organizational results
and success. The challenges caused by changing economic conditions during recent year’s show why HR
workforce planning should occur.
Staffing an organization is an HR activity that is both strategic and operational in nature. As the HR
Headline indicates, HR planning is important in a wide variety of industries and firms. HR planning affects
what employers do when recruiting, selecting, and retaining people, and, of course these actions affect
organizational results and success. Human Resources planning mean different means to different
organizations. To some companies, human resources planning mean management development. It involve
helping executives to make better decisions, communicate more effectively, and know more about the
firm. The purpose of HRP is to make the manager a better equipped for facing the present and future.
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2.3 Human Resource Planning (HRP)
Human resource planning is important for helping both organizations and employees to prepare for the
future. The basic goal of human resource planning is to predict the future and based on these predictions,
implement programmes to avoid anticipated problems. Very briefly humans resource planning is the process
of examining an organization’s or individual’s future human resource needs for instance, what types of
skills will be needed for jobs of the future compared to future human resource capabilities (such as the
types of skilled employees you already have) and developing human resource policies and practices to
address potential problems for example, implementing training programmes to avoid skill deficiencies.
2.4 Definition of Human Resource Planning

According to Vetter, “HRP is the process by which management determines how the organization should
move from its current man power position to desired manpower position. Through planning, management
strives to have the right time, doing things which result in both the organization and individual receiving
maximum long run benefits”.
According to Gordon Mc Beath, “HRP is concerned with two things: Planning of manpower requirements
and Planning of Manpower supplies”.
According to Beach, “HRP is a process of determining and assuming that the organization will have an
adequate number of qualified persons, available at proper times, performing jobs which meet the needs of
the enterprise and which provides satisfaction for the individuals involved”
Simply HRP can be understood as the process of forecasting an organization’s future demands for and
supply of the right type of people in the right number. In other words HRP is the process of determining
manpower needs and formulating plans to meet these needs.
HRP is a Four-Phased Process.
 The first phase involves the gathering and analysis of data through manpower inventories and
forecasts,
 The second phase consists of establishing manpower objectives and policies and gaining top
management approval of these.
 The third phase involves designing and implementing plans and promotions to enable the
organization to achieve its manpower objectives.
 The fourth phase is concerned with control and evaluation of manpower plans to facilitate progress
in order to benefit both the organization and the individual. The long run view means that gains
may be sacrificed in the short run for the future grounds. The planning process enables the
organization to identify what its manpower needs is and what potential manpower problems required
current action. This leads to more effective and efficient performance.
2.5 Nature of HRP

Human resource planning is the process of analyzing and identifying the availability and the need for human
resources so that the organization can meet its objectives. The focus of HR planning is to ensure that the
organization has the right number of human resources, with the right capabilities, at the right times, and in
the right places. In HR planning, an organization must consider the availability and allocation of people to
jobs over long periods of time, not just for the next month or the next year1.
HRP is a sub system in the total organizational planning. Actions may include shifting employees to other
jobs in the organization, laying off employees or otherwise cutting back the number of employees, developing
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present employees, and/or increasing the number of employees in certain areas. Factors to consider
include the current employees’ knowledge, skills, and abilities and the expected vacancies resulting from
retirements, promotions, transfers, and discharges. To do this, HR planning requires efforts by HR
professionals working with executives and managers.
2.6 Objectives of Human Resource Planning

1. To ensure optimum utilization of human resources currently available in the organization.
2. To assess or forecast the future skill requirement of the organization.
3. To provide control measures to ensure that necessary resources are available as and when required.
4. A series of specified reasons are there that attaches importance to manpower planning and
forecasting exercises. They are elaborated below:
 To link manpower planning with the organizational planning
 To determine recruitment levels.
 To anticipate redundancies.
 To determine optimum training levels.
 To provide a basis for management development programs.
 To cost the manpower.
 To assist productivity bargaining.
 To assess future accommodation requirement.
 To study the cost of overheads and value of service functions.
 To decide whether certain activity needs to be subcontracted, etc.
HRP exists as a part of planning process of business. This is the activity that aims to coordinate the
requirements for the availability of the different types of employers. The major activities are the forecasting,
(future requirements), inventorying (present strength), anticipating (comparison of present and future
requirements) and planning (necessary program to meet the requirements).
The HR forecasts are responsible for estimating the number of people and the jobs needed by an organization
to achieve its objectives and realize its plans in the most efficient and effective manner.
HR needs are computed by subtracting HR supplies or number of the employees available from expected
HR demands or number of people required to produce a desired level of outcome. The objective of HR
is to provide right personnel for the right work and optimum utilization of the existing human resources.
The objectives of human resource planning may be summarized as below:
 Forecasting Human Resources Requirements: HRP is essential to determine the future needs
of HR in an organization. In the absence of this plan it is very difficult to provide the right kind of
people at the right time.
 Effective Management of Change: Proper planning is required to cope with changes in the
different aspects which affect the organization. These changes need continuation of allocation/
reallocation and effective utilization of HR in organization.
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 Realizing the Organizational Goals: In order to meet the expansion and other organizational
activities the organizational HR planning is essential.
 Promoting Employees: HRP gives the feedback in the form of employee data which can be
used in decision-making in promotional opportunities to be made available for the organization.
 Effective Utilization of HR: The data base will provide the useful information in identifying
surplus and deficiency in human resources. The objective of HRP is to maintain and improve the
organizational capacity to reach its goals by developing appropriate strategies that will result in the
maximum contribution of HR.
2.7 Need for HRP in Organizations

Major reasons for the emphasis on HRP at the Macro level:
1) Employment-Unemployment Situation: Though in general the number of educated
unemployment is on the rise, there is acute shortage for a variety of skills. This emphasizes on the
need for more effective recruitment and employee retention.
2) Technological Change: The changes in production technologies, marketing methods and
management techniques have been extensive and rapid. Their effect has been profound on the job
contents and job contexts. These changes have caused problems relating to redundancies, retention
and redeployment. All these suggest the need to plan manpower needs intensively and systematically.
3) Demographic Change: The changing profile of the work force in terms of age, sex, literacy,
technical inputs and social background has implications for HRP.
4) Skill Shortage: Unemployment does not mean that the labour market is a buyer’s market.
Organizations generally become more complex and require a wide range of specialist skills that
are rare and scare. A problem arises in an organization when employees with such specialized
skills leave.
5) Governmental Influences: Government control and changes in legislation with regard to

affirmative action for disadvantages groups, working conditions and hours of work, restrictions
on women and child employment, causal and contract labour, etc. have stimulated the organizations
to be become involved in systematic HRP.
6) Legislative Control: The policies of “hire and fire” have gone. Now the legislation makes it
difficult to reduce the size of an organization quickly and cheaply. It is easy to increase but difficult
to shed the fat in terms of the numbers employed because of recent changes in labour law relating
to lay-offs and closures. Those responsible for managing manpower must look far ahead and thus
attempt to foresee manpower problems.
7) Impact of the Pressure Group: Pressure groups such as unions, politicians and persons displaced
from land by location of giant enterprises have been raising contradictory pressure on enterprise
management such as internal recruitment and promotion, preference to employees’ children, displace
person, sons of soil etc.
8) Systems Approach: The spread of system thinking and advent of the macro computer as the
part of the on-going revolution in information technology which emphasis planning and newer
ways of handling voluminous personnel records.
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9) Lead Time: The log lead time is necessary in the selection process and training and deployment
of the employee to handle new knowledge and skills successfully.
2.8 Importance of HRP

HRP is the subsystem in the total organizational planning. Organizational planning includes managerial
activities that set the company’s objective for the future and determines the appropriate means for achieving
those objectives. The importance of HRP is elaborated on the basis of the key roles that it is playing in the
organization.
1. Future Personnel Needs: Human resource planning is significant because it helps to determine
the future personnel needs of the organization. If an organization is facing the problem of either
surplus or deficiency in staff strength, then it is the result of the absence of effecting HR planning.
All public sector enterprises find themselves overstaffed now as they never had any planning for
personnel requirement and went of recruitment spree till late 1980’s. The problem of excess staff
has become such a prominent problem that many private sector units are resorting to VRS ‘voluntary
retirement scheme’. The excess of labor problem would have been there if the organization had
good HRP system. Effective HRP system will also enable the organization to have good succession
planning.
2. Part of Strategic Planning: HRP has become an integral part of strategic planning of strategic
planning. HRP provides inputs in strategy formulation process in terms of deciding whether the
organization has got the right kind of human resources to carry out the given strategy. HRP is also
necessary during the implementation stage in the form of deciding to make resource allocation
decisions related to organization structure, process and human resources. In some organizations
HRP play as significant role as strategic planning and HR issues are perceived as inherent in
business management.
3. Creating Highly Talented Personnel: Even though India has a great pool of educated
unemployed, it is the discretion of HR manager that will enable the company to recruit the right
person with right skills to the organization. Even the existing staff hope the job so frequently that
organization face frequent shortage of manpower. Manpower planning in the form of skill
development is required to help the organization in dealing with this problem of skilled manpower
shortage
4. International Strategies: An international expansion strategy of an organization is facilitated to
a great extent by HR planning. The HR department’s ability to fill key jobs with foreign nationals
and reassignment of employees from within or across national borders is a major challenge that is
being faced by international business. With the growing trend towards global operation, the need
for HRP will as well will be the need to integrate HRP more closely with the organizations strategic
plans. Without effective HRP and subsequent attention to employee recruitment, selection,
placement, development, and career planning, the growing competition for foreign executives
may lead to expensive and strategically descriptive turnover among key decision makers.
5. Foundation for Personnel Functions: HRP provides essential information for designing and
implementing personnel functions, such as recruitment, selection, training and development,
personnel movement like transfers, promotions and layoffs.
6. Increasing Investments in Human Resources: Organizations are making increasing investments
in human resource development compelling the increased need for HRP. Organizations are realizing
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that human assets can increase in value more than the physical assets. An employee who gradually
develops his/ her skills and abilities become a valuable asset for the organization. Organizations
can make investments in its personnel either through direct training or job assignment and the
rupee value of such a trained, flexible, motivated productive workforce is difficult to determine.
Top officials have started acknowledging that quality of work force is responsible for both short
term and long term performance of the organization.
7. Resistance to Change: Employees are always reluctant whenever they hear about change and
even about job rotation. Organizations cannot shift one employee from one department to another
without any specific planning. Even for carrying out job rotation (shifting one employee from one
department to another) there is a need to plan well ahead and match the skills required and
existing skills of the employees.
8. Uniting the Viewpoint of Line and Staff Managers: HRP helps to unite the viewpoints of line
and staff managers. Though HRP is initiated and executed by the corporate staff, it requires the
input and cooperation of all managers within an organization. Each department manager knows
about the issues faced by his department more than anyone else. So communication between HR
staff and line managers is essential for the success of HR Planning and development.
9. Succession Planning: Human Resource Planning prepares people for future challenges. The
‘stars’ are picked up, trained, assessed and assisted continuously so that when the time comes
such trained employees can quickly take the responsibilities and position of their boss or seniors
as and when situation arrives.
10. Other Benefits: (a) HRP helps in judging the effectiveness of manpower policies and programmes
of management. (b) It develops awareness on effective utilization of human resources for the
overall development of organization. (c) It facilitates selection and training of employees with
adequate knowledge, experience and aptitudes so as to carry on and achieve the organizational
objectives (d) HRP encourages the company to review and modify its human resource policies
and practices and to examine the way of utilizing the human resources for better utilization.
2.9 Factors Affecting HRP

HRP is influenced by several factors. The most important of the factors that affect HRP are (1) type and
strategy of organization (2) organizational growth cycles and planning (3) environmental uncertainties (4)
time horizons (5) type and quality of forecasting information (4) nature of jobs being filled and (5) off
loading the work.
1. Type and Strategy of the Organization: Type of the organization determines the production processes
involve, number and type of staff needed and the supervisory and managerial personnel required. HR
need is also defined by the strategic plan of organization. If the organization has a plan for organic growth
then organization need to hire additional employees. On the other hand If the organization is going for
mergers and acquisition, then organization need to plan for layoffs, as mergers can create, duplicate or
overlap positions that can be handled more efficiently with fewer employees.
Organization first decides whether to be reactive or proactive in HRP. Organizations either carefully
anticipate the needs and systematically plan to fill the need in advance (proactive) or can simply react to
the needs as they arise (reactive). Likewise, the organization must determine the width of the HR plan.
Organization can choose a narrow focus by planning in only one or two HR areas like recruitment and
selection or can have a broad perspective by planning in all areas including training and remuneration.
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The nature of HR plan is also decides upon the formality of the plan. It can decides to have an informal
plan that lies mostly in the minds of the managers and personnel staff or can have a formal plan which is
properly documented in writing
The nature of HR plan is also depended upon the flexibility that is practiced in the organization. HR plan
should have the ability to anticipate and deal with contingencies. Organizations frame HRP in such a way
that it can contain many contingencies, which reflect different scenarios thereby assuring that the plan is
flexible and adaptable.
Organizational
Growth cycle
and Planning
Type and
Strategy o f Environmental
Uncertainties
Organization.
HRP
Time horizons Outsourcing
Type and
quality of
forecasting N ature of jobs
information being filled
Figure 2.1 : Factors Affecting HRP.

Figure 2.1 summarizes the five factors that influence an organization while framing its strategic HRP.
2. Organizational Growth Cycles and Planning: All organizations pass through different stages of
growth from the day of its inception. The stage of growth in which an organization is determines the nature
and extends of HRP. Small organizations in the earlier stages of growth may not have well defined personnel
planning. But as the organization enters the growth stage they feel the need to plan its human resource. At
this stage organization gives emphasis upon employee development. But as the organization reaches the
mature stage it experience less flexibility and variability resulting in low growth rate. HR planning becomes
more formalized and less flexible and less innovative and problem like retirement and possible retrenchment
dominate planning.
During the declining stage of the organization HRP takes a different focus like planning to do the layoff,
retrenchment and retirement. In declining situation planning always becomes reactive in nature towards
the financial and sales distress faced by the company.
3. Environmental Uncertainties: Political, social and economic changes affect all organizations and the
fluctuations that are happening in these environments affect organizations drastically. Personnel planners
deal with such environmental uncertainties by carefully formulating recruitment, selection, training and
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development policies and programmes. The balance in the organization is achieved through careful succession
planning, promotion channels, layoffs, flexi time, job sharing, retirement, VRS and other personnel related
arrangements.
4. Time Horizons: HR plans can be short term or long term. Short term plans spans from six months to
one year, while long term plans spread over three to twenty years. The extent of time period depends
upon the degree of uncertainty that is prevailing in an organizations environment. Greater the uncertainty,
shorter the plan time horizon and vice versa.
Table 2.1 : Degree of Uncertainty and Length of Planning Period
Short Planning period- uncertainty/ Long planning period- certainty/ stability

instability
Many new competitors Strong competitive position
Rapid changes in social and economic Evolutionary, rather than rapid social,
conditions political and technological chan ge
Unstable product/ service demand patterns Stable demand patterns
Small organizational size, poor management Strong management practices.
practices (crisis Management)
Source: Elmer H. Burack and Nicholas J. Mathis, Human Resource Planning- A Pragmatic approach
to manpower Staffing and development, Illinosis, Brace- Park Press, 1987, p. 129.
5. Type and Quality of information: The information used to forecast personnel needs originates from
a multitude of sources. The forecast depends to a large extent upon the type of information and the quality
of data that is available to personnel planners. The quality and accuracy of information depend upon the
clarity with which the organizational decision makers have defined their strategy, structure, budgets,
production schedule and so on.
Table 2.2 : Levels of HRP Information
Strategic Information General Organizational Specific Information

Information Necessary for HRP
Product m ix Organizational structure Job analysis
Customer mix Information flows Skills inventories
Competitive emphasis Operating and capital Management inventories
budgets
Functional area objectives
Geographic limits of Production schedules Available training and
market Distribution channels developm ent programmes
Sales territories Recruitment sources
Production processes
Level of technology Labour market analysis
Planning horizons Compensation programm es
Constitutional provisions
and labour laws
Retirement plans
Turnover data.
Source: Leap& Crino, Personnel/ Human Resource Management, p. 161.

6. Nature of Jobs Being Filled: Personnel planners need to be really careful with respect to the nature
of the jobs being filled in the organization. Employees belonging to lower level who need very limited skills
can be recruited hastily but, while hiring employees for higher posts, selection and recruitment need to be
carried out with high discretion. Organization need to anticipate vacancies far in advance as possible, to
provide sufficient time to recruit suitable candidate.
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7. Outsourcing: Several organizations outsource part of their work to outside parties in the form of
subcontract. Outsourcing is a regular feature both in the public sector as well as in the private sector
companies. Many of the organizations have surplus labour and hence instead of hiring more people they
go for outsourcing. Outsourcing is usually done for non critical activities. Outsourcing of non- critical
activities through subcontracting determines HRP.
2.10 HRP Process

HRP effectively involves forecasting personnel needs, assessing personnel supply and matching demand –
supply factors through personnel related programmes. The HR planning process is influenced by overall
organizational objectives and environment of business.
Figure 2.2 : The HRP Process

Environmental Scanning:
It refers to the systematic monitoring of the external forces influencing the organization. The following
forces are essential for pertinent HRP.
 Economic factors, including general and regional conditions.
 Technological changes
 Demographic changes including age, composition and literacy,
 Political and legislative issues, including laws and administrative rulings
 Social concerns, including child care, educational facilities and priorities.
By scanning the environment for changes that will affect an organization, managers can anticipate their
impact and make adjustments early.
Organizational Objectives and Policies: HR plan is usually derived from the organizational objectives.
Specific requirements in terms of number and characteristics of employees should be derived from
organizational objectives
Once the organizational objectives are specified, communicated and understood by all concerned, the HR
department must specify its objective with regard to HR utilization in the organization.
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HR Demand Forecast:
Demand forecasting is the process of estimating the future quantity and quality of people required to meet
the future needs of the organization. Annual budget and long-term corporate plan when translated into
activity into activity form the basis for HR forecast.
For eg: in the case of a manufacturing company, the sales budget will form the basis for production plan
giving the number and type of products to be produced in each period. This will form the basis upon which
the organization will decide the number of hours to be worked by each skilled category of workers. Once
the number hours required is available organization can determine the quality and quantity of personnel
required for the task.
Demand forecasting is influenced by both internal factors and external factors: external factors include-
competition, economic climate, laws and regulatory bodies, changes in technology and social factors
whereas internal factors are budget constraints, production level, new products and services, organizational
structure and employee separations.
Demand forecasting is essential because it helps the organization to 1. Quantify the jobs, necessary for
producing a given number of goods, 2. To determine the nature of staff mix required in the future, 3. To
assess appropriate levels in different parts of organization so as to avoid unnecessary costs to the organization,
4. To prevent shortages of personnel where and when, they are needed by the organization. 5. To monitor
compliances with legal requirements with regard to reservation of jobs.
Techniques like managerial judgment, ratio- trend analysis, regression analysis, work study techniques,
Delphi techniques are some of the major methods used by the organization for demand forecasting.
HR Supply Forecast:
Supply forecast determines whether the HR department will be able to procure the required number of
workers. Supply forecast measures the number of people likely to be available from within and outside an
organization, after making allowance for absenteeism, internal movements and promotions, wastage and
changes in hours, and other conditions of work.
Supply forecast is required because it is needed as it 1. Helps to quantify the number of people and
positions expected to be available in future to help the organization realize its plans and meet its objectives
2. Helps to clarify the staff mixes that will arise in future 3. It assesses existing staffing in different parts of
the organization. 4. It will enable the organization to prevent shortage of people where and when they are
most needed. 5. It also helps to monitor future compliance with legal requirements of job reservations.
Supply analysis covers the existing human resources, internal sources of supply and external sources of
supply.
HR Programming:
Once an organization’s personnel demand and supply are forecasted the demand and supply need to be
balanced in order that the vacancies can be filled by the right employees at the right time.
HR Plan Implementation:
HR implementation requires converting an HR plan into action. A series of action are initiated as a part of
HR plan implementation. Programmes such as recruitment, selection and placement, training and
development, retraining and redeployment, retention plan, succession plan etc when clubbed together
form the implementation part of the HR plan.
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Control and Evaluation:
Control and evaluation represent the final phase of the HRP process. All HR plan include budgets, targets
and standards. The achievement of the organization will be evaluated and monitored against the plan.
During this final phase organization will be evaluating on the number of people employed against the
established (both those who are in the post and those who are in pipe line) and on the number recruited
against the recruitment targets. Evaluation is also done with respect to employment cost against the
budget and wastage accrued so that corrective action can be taken in future.
2.11 Requisites for Successful HRP

1. HRP must be recognized as an integral part of corporate planning
2. Support of top management is essential
3. There should be some centralization with respect to HRP responsibilities in order to have
co-ordination between different levels of management.
4. Organization records must be complete, up to date and readily available.
5. Techniques used for HR planning should be those best suited to the data available and
degree of accuracy required.
6. Data collection, analysis, techniques of planning and the plan themselves need to be constantly
revised and improved in the light of experience.
2.12 Barriers to HRP

Human Resource Planners face significant barriers while formulating an HRP. The major barriers are
elaborated below:
1) HR practitioners are perceived as experts in handling personnel matters, but are not experts in
managing business. The personnel plan conceived and formulated by the HR practitioners when
enmeshed with organizational plan, might make the overall strategic plan of the organization
ineffective.
2) HR information often is incompatible with other information used in strategy formulation. Strategic
planning efforts have long been oriented towards financial forecasting, often to the exclusion of
other types of information. Financial forecasting takes precedence over HRP.
4) Conflict may exist between short term and long term HR needs. For example, there can be a
conflict between the pressure to get the work done on time and long term needs, such as preparing
people for assuming greater responsibilities. Many managers are of the belief that HR needs can
be met immediately because skills are available on the market as long as wages and salaries are
competitive. Therefore, long times plans are not required, short planning are only needed.
5) There is conflict between quantitative and qualitative approaches to HRP. Some people view
HRP as a number game designed to track the flow of people across the department. Others take
a qualitative approach and focus on individual employee concerns such as promotion and career
development. Best result can be achieved if there is a balance between the quantitative and
qualitative approaches.
6) Non-involvement of operating managers renders HRP ineffective. HRP is not strictly an HR
department function. Successful planning needs a co-ordinated effort on the part of operating
managers and HR personnel.
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2.13 Summary
Today, human resource planning is viewed as the way management comes to grasp the ill-defined and
tough-to-solve human resource problems facing an organization. Human resource planning is the process
of determining the human resources required by the organization to achieve its goals. Human resource
planning also looks at broader issues relating to the ways in which people are employed and developed,
in order to improve organizational effectiveness. HRP is a decision making process that combines activities
such as identifying and acquiring the right number of people with the proper skills, motivating them to
achieve high performance and creating interactive links between business objectives are resource planning
activities. HRP sets out requirements in both quantitative and qualitative terms. Accurate manpower plan
is a dream. A common error of many managers is to focus on the organization’s short term replacement
needs. Any human resource plan, if it is to be effective, must be derived from the long term plans and
strategies of the organization. The various approaches to human resource planning under which a number
of major issues and trends in today’s work plan that will affect organization and employees are (1) Examine
external and internal issues, (2) Determining future organizations capabilities, (3) Determining future
organizational needs, and (4) Implementing human resources programmes to address anticipated problems.
Although change is occurring very rapidly in the work world it is important for both organizations and
employees to monitor issues and events continuously and consider their potential effects.

1. Explain the role of HR professional in human resource planning process in organizations.
2 Describe the various forecasting techniques and how these techniques are being used in
human resource planning.
3 Explain the barriers to HRP. Bring out the requisites for effective planning.

- Lloyd L. Byars and Leslie W. Rue (1997), Human Resource Management (5th edition), The
McGraw-Hill Companies, USA.
- Michael Armstrong (1999), A Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice (7th
edition), Kogan Page Limited, 120 Pentonvelle Road, London.
- Biswajeet Pattanayak (2001), Human Resource Management, Prentice Hall of India Pvt. Ltd.,
New Delhi.
- K. Aswathappa (1999), Human Resource and Personnel Management (2nd edition), Tata
McGraw-Hill Publishing Company Ltd., New Delhi.
- P. Subba Rao (2004), Management and Organisational Behaviour (First edition), Himalaya
Publishing House.
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Module 2 Recruitment
4.0 Objectives
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Recruitment: Meaning and Definition
4.3 Process of Recruitment
4.4 Recruitment Policy
4.5 Factor Affecting Recruitment
4.6 Sources of Recruitment
4.7 Methods of Recruitment
4.8 Philosophies of Recruitment
4.9 Summary
4.0 Objectives
After completing this unit, you will be able to:
 Define recruitment.
 Cite the steps in recruitment process.
 Understand the prerequisites of a good recruitment policy.
 Describe the various sources of recruitment.
 Understand the methods through which prospective candidates may be recruited.
 Point out the various factors affecting recruitment.
4.1 Introduction
Successful human resource planning should identify our human resource needs. Once we know these
needs, we will want to do something about meeting them. The next step in the acquisition function, therefore,
is recruitment. This activity makes it possible for us to acquire the number and types of people necessary
to ensure the continued operation of the organization.
Hallett says, “It is with people that quality performance really begins and ends.” Robert Heller also says,
“If people of poor calibre are hired, nothing much else can be accomplished and Gresham’s law will work:
the bad people will drive out the good or cause them to deteriorate.”
Recruiting is the discovering of potential candidates for actual or anticipated organizational vacancies. Or,
from another perspective, it is a linking activity-bringing together those with jobs to fill and those seeking
jobs.
4.2 Recruitment: Meaning and Definition

Recruitment forms a step in the process which continues with selection and ceases with the placement of
the candidate. It is the next step in the procurement function, the first being the manpower planning.
Recruiting makes it possible to acquire the number and types of people necessary to ensure the continued
operation of the organisation. Recruiting is the discovering of potential applicants for actual or anticipated
organisational vacancies.
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According to Edwin B. Flippo, “Recruitment is the process of searching for prospective employees and
stimulating them to apply for jobs in the organisation.”
According to Lord, “Recruitment is a form of competition. Just as corporations compete to develop,
manufacture, and market the best product or service, so they must also compete to identify, attract and
hire the most qualified people. Recruitment is a business, and it is a big business.”
In the words of Dale Yoder, “ Recruiting is a process to discover the sources of manpower to meet the
requirements of the staffing schedule and to employ effective measures for attracting that manpower in
adequate numbers to facilitate effective selection of an efficient working force.”
Human Resource
Planning
Job Analysis
Recruitment
Selection
Placement
Figure 4.1: Recruitment to Human Resource Acquisition Process

According to Werther and Davis, “Recruitment is the process of finding and attracting capable
applicants for employment. The process begins when new recruits are sought and ends when their applications
are submitted. The result is a pool of applicants form which new employees are selected.”
Dales S. Beach writes, “Recruitment is the development and maintenance of adequate manpower
resources. It involves the creation of a pool of available labour upon whom the organisation can depend
when it needs additional employees.”
Thus, recruitment process is concerned with the identification of possible sources of human resource
supply and tapping those sources. In the total process of acquiring and placing human resources in the
organisation, recruitment falls in between different sub-processes as shown in Figure 4.2.
According to Scott, Clothier and Spriegel the need for recruitment arises out of the following situations:
 Vacancies created due to expansion, diversification, and growth of business.
 An increase in the competitive advantage of certain concerns, enabling them to get more of the
available business than formerly.
 An increase in business arising from an upswing during the recovery period of a business cycle.
 Vacancies created due to transfer, promotion, retirement, termination, permanent disability or
death.
 The normal population growth, which requires increased goods and services to meet the needs of
the people.
 A rising standard of living, which requires more of the same goods and services as well as the
creation of new wants to be satisfied.
47
4.3 Process of Recruitment
Recruitment process passes through the following stages:
 Recruitment process begins when the personnel department receives requisitions for recruitment
from any department of the company, The personnel requisitions contain details about the position
to be filled, number of persons to be recruited, the duties to be performed, qualifications expected
from the candidates, terms and conditions of employment and the time by which the persons
should be available for appointment etc.
 Locating and developing the sources of required number and type of employees.
 Identifying the prospective employees with required characteristics.
 Developing the techniques to attract the desired candidates. The goodwill of an organisation in the
market may be one technique. The publicity about the company being a good employer may also
help in stimulating candidates to apply. There may be others of attractive salaries, proper facilities
for development etc.
 Evaluating the effectiveness of recruitment process.
According to Famularo, personnel recruitment process involves five elements, viz., a recruitment policy,
a recruitment organisation, a forecast of manpower, the development of sources of recruitment, and different
techniques used for utilising these sources, and a method of assessing the recruitment programme. The
explanation of these is described below:
1. Recruitment Policy: It specifies the objectives of recruitment and provides a framework for the
implementation of the recruitment programme. It also involves the employer’s commitment to some
principles as to find and employ the best qualified persons for each job, to retain the most promising of
those hired, etc. It should be based on the goals, needs and environment of the organisation.
Human
Resource Recruitment Selection Placement
Planning
Search for Evaluating

Prospective Recruiting
Employees Effectiveness
Upgrading in
Same Position
Personnel
Research
Internal Transferring
Sources to New Job
Job Posting
Prompting
to Higher
Responsibilities
Employee
Referrals
External Advertising Evaluating

Sources for Selection
Scouting
Figure 4.2 : Place of Recruitment in Selection System

48
2. Recruitment Organisation: The recruitment may be centralised like public sector banks or
decentralised. Both practices have their own merits. The choice between the two will depend on the
managerial philosophy and the particular needs of the organisation.
3. Sources of Recruitment: Various sources of recruitment may be classified as internal and external.
These have their own merits and demerits.
4. Methods of Recruitment: Recruitment techniques are the means to make contact with potential
candidates, to provide them necessary information and to encourage them to apply for jobs.
5. Evaluation of Recruitment Programme: The recruitment process must be evaluated periodically.
The criteria for evaluation may consist of cost per applicant, the hiring ratio, performance appraisal, tenure
of stay, etc. After evaluation, necessary improvements should be made in the recruitment programme.
4.4 Recruitment Policy

As Yoder et al observe recruitment policy spells out the objectives of the recruitment and provides a
framework for implementations of the recruitment programme in the form of procedures. It may involve a
commitment to broad principles such as filling vacancies with the best qualified individuals. The recruitment
policy may embrace several issues such as the extent of promotion from within, attitudes of enterprise in
recruiting old, handicapped, and minor individuals, minority group members, part-time employees and
relatives of present employees. In addition, the recruitment policy may also involve the organisation system
to be developed for implementing the recruitment programme and procedures to be employed. Explicitly,
an organisational system is a function of the size of an enterprise. In smaller enterprises, there may be
merely informal recruiting procedures and the line official may be responsible to handle this function along
with their usual responsibilities. On the other hand, in larger organisations, there is usually a staff unit
attached with personnel or an industrial relations department designated as employment or recruitment
office. This specialisation of recruitment enables staff personnel to become highly skilled in recruitment
techniques and their evaluation. However, recruitment remains the line responsibility as far as the personnel
requisition forms are originated by the line personnel, who have also the final word in the acceptance or
rejection of a particular applicant. Despite this, the staff personnel have adequate freedom in respect of
sources of manpower to be tapped and the procedure to be followed for this purpose.
Recruitment policy covers the following areas:
 To prescribe the degree of emphasis. Inside the organisation or outside the organisation.
 To provide the weightage that would be given to certain categories of people such as local
population, physically-handicapped personnel, personnel from scheduled castes/tribes and other
backward classes.
 To prescribe whether the recruitment would be centralised or decentralised at unit levels.
 To specify the degree of flexibility with regard to age, qualifications, compensation structure and
other service conditions.
 To prescribe the personnel who would be involved in recruitment process and the role of human
resource department in this regard.
 To specify the budget for meeting the expenditures incurred in completing the recruitment process.
According to Yoder, “the recruitment policy is concerned with quantity and qualifications of manpower.”
It establishes broad guidelines for the staffing process. Generally, the following factors are involved in a
recruitment policy:
49
 To provide each employee with an open road and encouragement in the continuing development
of his talents and skills;
 To provide individual employees with the maximum of employment security, avoiding, frequent
lay-off or lost time;
 To avoid cliques which may develop when several members of the same household or community
are employed in the organisation;
 To carefully observe the letter and spirit of the relevant public policy on hiring and, on the whole,
employment relationship;
 To assure each employee of the organisation interest in his personal goals and employment objective;
 To assure employees of fairness in all employment relationships, including promotions and transfers;
 To provide employment in jobs which are engineered to meet the qualifications of handicapped
workers and minority sections; and
 To encourage one or more strong, effective, responsible trade unions among the employees.
Prerequisites of a Good Recruitment Policy: The recruitment policy of an organisation must satisfy
the following conditions:
 It should be in conformity with its general personnel policies;
 It should be flexible enough to meet the changing needs of an organisation;
 It should be so designed as to ensure employment opportunities for its employees on a long-term
basis so that the goals of the organisation should be achievable; and it should develop the potentialities
of employees;
 It should match the qualities of employees with the requirements of the work for which they are
employed; and
 It should highlight the necessity of establishing job analysis.
4.5 Factor Affecting Recruitment

The factors affecting recruitment can be classified as internal and external factors.
The internal factors are:
 Wage and salary policies;
 The age composition of existing working force;
 Promotion and retirement policies;
 Turnover rates;
 The nature of operations involved the kind of personnel required;
 The level and seasonality of operations in question;
 Future expansion and reduction programmes;
 Recruiting policy of the organisation;
 Human resource planning strategy of the company;
 Size of the organisation and the number of employees employed;
50
 Cost involved in recruiting employees, and finally;
 Growth and expansion plans of the organisation.
The external factors are:
 Supply and demand of specific skills in the labour market;
 Company’s image perception of the job seekers about the company.
 External cultural factors: Obviously, the culture may exert considerable check on recruitment. For
example, women may not be recruited in certain jobs in industry.
 Economic factors: such as a tight or loose labour market, the reputation of the enterprise in the
community as a good pay master or otherwise and such allied issues which determine the quality
and quantity of manpower submitting itself for recruitment.
 Political and legal factors also exert restraints in respect of nature and hours of work for women
and children, and allied employment practices in the enterprise, reservation of Job for SC, ST and
so on.
4.6 Sources of Recruitment

After the finalisation of recruitment plan indicating the number and type of prospective candidates, they
must be attracted to offer themselves for consideration to their employment. This necessitates the
identification of sources from which these candidates can be attracted. Some companies try to develop
new sources, while most only try to tackle the existing sources they have. These sources, accordingly, may
be termed as internal and external.
Internal Sources
It would be desirable to utilise the internal sources before going outside to attract the candidates. Yoder
and others suggest two categories of internal sources including a review of the present employees and
nomination of candidates by employees. Effective utilisation of internal sources necessitates an understanding
of their skills and information regarding relationships of jobs. This will provide possibilities for horizontal
and vertical transfers within the enterprise eliminating simultaneous attempts to lay off employees in one
department and recruitment of employees with similar qualification for another department in the company.
Promotion and transfers within the plant where an employee is best suitable improves the morale along
with solving recruitment problems. These measures can be taken effectively if the company has established
job families through job analysis programmes combining together similar jobs demanding similar employee
characteristics. Again, employees can be requested to suggest promising candidates. Sometimes, employees
are given prizes for recommending a candidate who has been recruited. Despite the usefulness of this
system in the form of loyalty and its wide practice, it has been pointed out that it gives rise to cliques posing
difficulty to management. Therefore, before utilising this system attempts should be made to determine
through research whether or not employees thus recruited are effective on particular jobs. Usually, internal
sources can be used effectively if the numbers of vacancies are not very large, adequate, employee records
are maintained, jobs do not demand originality lacking in the internal sources, and employees have prepared
themselves for promotions.
Merits of Internal Sources: The following are the merits of internal sources of recruitment:
 It creates a sense of security among employees when they are assured that they would be preferred
in filling up vacancies.
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 It improves the morale of employees, for they are assured of the fact that they would be preferred
over outsiders when vacancies occur.
 It promotes loyalty and commitment among employees due to sense of job security and opportunities
for advancement.
 The employer is in a better position to evaluate those presently employed than outside candidates.
This is because the company maintains a record of the progress, experience and service of its
employees.
 Time and costs of training will be low because employees remain familiar with the organisation and
its policies.
 Relations with trade unions remain good. Labour turnover is reduced.
· As the persons in the employment of the company are fully aware of, and well acquainted wit, its
policies and know its operating procedures, they require little training, and the chances are that
they would stay longer in the employment of the organisation than a new outsider would.
 It encourages self-development among the employees. It encourages good individuals who are
ambitious.
 It encourages stability from continuity of employment.
 It can also act as a training device for developing middle and top-level managers.
Demerits of Internal Sources: However, this system suffers from certain defects as:
 There are possibilities that internal sources may “dry up”, and it may be difficult to find the requisite
personnel from within an organisation.
 It often leads to inbreeding, and discourages new blood from entering and organisation.
 As promotion is based on seniority, the danger is that really capable hands may not be chosen.
The likes and dislikes of the management may also play an important role in the selection of
personnel.
 Since the learner does not know more than the lecturer, no innovations worth the name can be
made. Therefore, on jobs which require original thinking (such as advertising, style, designing and
basic research), this practice is not followed.
This source is used by many organisations; but a surprisingly large number ignore this source, especially
for middle management jobs.
External Sources
DeCenzo and Robbins remark, “Occasionally, it may be necessary to bring in some ‘new blood’ to
broaden the present ideas, knowledge, and enthusiasm.” Thus, all organisations have to depend on external
sources of recruitment. Among these sources are included:
 Employment agencies.
 Educational and technical institutes. and
 Casual labour or “applicants at the gate” and nail applicants.
Public and private employment agencies play a vital role in making available suitable employees for different
positions in the organisations. Besides public agencies, private agencies have developed markedly in large
cities in the form of consultancy services. Usually, these agencies facilitate recruitment of technical and
professional personnel. Because of their specialisation, they effectively assess the needs of their clients
and aptitudes and skills of the specialised personnel. They do not merely bring an employer and an
employee together but computerise lists of available talents, utilising testing to classify and assess applicants
and use advanced techniques of vocational guidance for effective placement purposes.
52
Educational and technical institutes also form an effective source of manpower supply. There is an increasing
emphasis on recruiting student from different management institutes and universities commerce and
management departments by recruiters for positions in sales, accounting, finance, personnel and production.
These students are recruited as management trainees and then placed in special company training
programmes. They are not recruited for particular positions but for development as future supervisors and
executives. Indeed, this source provides a constant flow of new personnel with leadership potentialities.
Frequently, this source is tapped through on-campus interview with promising students. In addition, vocational
schools and industrial training institutes provide specialised employees, apprentices, and trainees for
semiskilled and skilled jobs. Persons trained in these schools and institutes can be placed on operative and
similar jobs with a minimum of in-plant training. However, recruitment of these candidates must be based
on realistic and differential standards established through research reducing turnover and enhancing
productivity.
Frequently, numerous enterprises depend to some extent upon casual labour or “applicants at the gate”
and nail applicants. The candidates may appear personally at the company’s employment office or send
their applications for possible vacancies. Explicitly, as Yoder and others observe, the quality and quantity
of such candidates depend on the image of the company in community. Prompt response to these applicants
proves very useful for the company. However, it may be noted that this source is uncertain, and the
applicants reveal a wide range of abilities necessitating a careful screening. Despite these limitations, it
forms a highly inexpensive source as the candidates themselves come to the gate of the company. Again,
it provides measures for good public relations and accordingly, all the candidates visiting the company
must be received cordially.
Table 4.1 : Recruiting Sources Used by Skill and Level
Skill/Level Recruiting Source Percentage of Use

Unskilled and Semiskilled Informal contacts 85
Walk-ins 74
Public Employment Agencies 66
Want Ads 52
Skilled Informal Contacts 88
Walk-ins 66
Want Ads 55
Professional Employees Internal Search 94
Informal Contacts 92
Walk-ins 71
Want Ads 48
Private Employment Agencies 22
Managerial Level Internal Search 100
Informal Contacts 71
Walk-ins 31
Private Employment Agencies 20
Want Ads 17
Source: Adapted from Stephen L. Mangum, “Recruitment and job Search: The Recruitment Tactics of
Employers. “Personnel Administrator, June 1982, p. 102.
53
As Jucius observes, trade unions are playing an increasingly important role in labour supply. In several
trades, they supply skilled labour in sufficient numbers. They also determine the order in which employees
are to be recruited in the organisation. In industries where they do not take active part in recruitment, they
make it a point that employees laid off are given preference in recruitment.
Application files also forms a useful source of supply of work force. Attempts may be made to review the
application to determine jobs for which the candidates filed for future use when there are openings in these
jobs. The candidates may be requested to renew their cards as many times as they desire. All the renewed
cards may be placed in “active” files and those not renewed for considerable time may be placed in
“inactive” file or destroyed. Indeed, a well-indexed application file provides utmost economy from the
standpoint of a recruiting budget.
Efficacy of alternative sources of supply of human resources should be determined through research.
Attempts may be made to relate the factor of success on the job with a specific source of supply. Alternative
sources can also be evaluated in terms of turnover, grievances and disciplinary action. Those sources
which are significantly positively related with job performance and significantly negatively related with
turnover, grievances and disciplinary action, can be effectively used in recruitment programmes. The
assessment should be periodically performed in terms of occupations. It may be that source “A” is most
effective for technical workers, while source “B” for semiskilled workers.
Advantages of External Recruitment: External sources of recruitment are suitable for the following
reasons:
 It will help in bringing new ideas, better techniques and improved methods to the organisation.
 The cost of employees will be minimised because candidates selected in this method will be
placed in the minimum pay scale.
 The existing employees will also broaden their personality.
 The entry of qualitative persons from outside will be in the interest of the organisation in the long
run.
 The suitable candidates with skill, talent, knowledge are available from external sources.
 The entry of new persons with varied expansion and talent will help in human resource mix.
Disadvantages of External Sources:
 Orientation and training are required as the employees remain unfamiliar with the organisation.
 It is more expensive and time-consuming. Detailed screening is necessary as very little is known
about the candidate.
 If new entrant fails to adjust himself to the working in the enterprise, it means yet more expenditure
on looking for his replacement.
 Motivation, morale and loyalty of existing staff are affected, if higher level jobs are filled from
external sources. It becomes a source of heart-burning and demoralisation among existing
employees.
4.7 Methods of Recruitment

Methods of recruitment are different from the sources of recruitment. Sources are the locations where
prospective employees are available. On the other hand, methods are way of establishing links with the
prospective employees. Various methods employed for recruiting employees may be classified into the
following categories:
54
1. Direct Methods:
These include sending recruiters to educational and professional institutions, employees, contacts with
public, and manned exhibits. One of the widely used direct methods is that of sending of recruiters to
colleges and technical schools. Most college recruiting is done in co-operation with the placement office
of a college. The placement office usually provides help in attracting students, arranging interviews, furnishing
space, and providing student resumes.
For managerial, professional and sales personnel campus recruiting is an extensive operation. Persons
reading for MBA or other technical diplomas are picked up in this manner. For this purpose, carefully
prepared brochures, describing the organisation and the jobs it offers, are distributed among students,
before the interviewer arrives. Sometimes, firms directly solicit information from the concerned professors
about students with an outstanding record. Many companies have found employees contact with the
public a very effective method. Other direct methods include sending recruiters to conventions and seminars,
setting up exhibits at fairs, and using mobile offices to go to the desired centres.
Table 4.2: Methods of Contacting Prospective Candidates
Based on personnel to be recruited

Managerial/technical personnel Operative personnel
Advertisement Public employment exchanges
Internet Labour unions
Walk-ins Employee referrals
Campus recruitments Gate hiring
Job fairs Labour contractors
Consultancy firms
Personnel contacts
Poaching and raiding
Based on the movement of the organisation
Direct methods Third party method
Advertisement Consultancy firms
Internet recruiting Public employment exchanges
Campus recruitment Labour unions
Job fairs Employee referrals
Personnel contacts Labour contractors
Gate hiring
2. Indirect Methods:
The most frequently used indirect method of recruitment is advertisement in newspapers, journals, and on
the radio and television. Advertisement enables candidates to assess their suitability. It is appropriate
when the organisation wants to reach out to a large target group scattered nationwide. When a firm wants
to conceal its identity, it can give blind advertisement in which only box number is given. Considerable
details about jobs and qualifications can be given in the advertisements. Another method of advertising is
a notice-board placed at the gate of the company.
3. Third-Party Methods:
The most frequently used third-party methods are public and private employment agencies. Public
employment exchanges have been largely concerned with factory workers and clerical jobs. They also
provide help in recruiting professional employees. Private agencies provide consultancy services and
charge a fee. They are usually specialised for different categories of operatives, office workers, salesmen,
55
supervisory and management personnel. Other third-party methods include the use of trade unions. Labour-
management committees have usually demonstrated the effectiveness of trade unions as methods of
recruitment.
Several criteria discussed in the preceding section for evaluating sources of applicants can also be used for
assessing recruiting methods. Attempts should be made to identify how the candidate was attracted to the
company. To accomplish this, the application may consist of an item as to how the applicant came to learn
about the vacancy. Then, attempts should be made to determine the method which consistently attracts
good candidates. Thus, the most effective method should be utilised to improve the recruitment programme.
4.8 Philosophies of Recruitment

There are basically two philosophies of recruitment:
 Traditional
 Realistic
The traditional philosophy is to get as many people as possible to apply for the job. As a result of this, a
large number of job seekers apply for the job, which makes the final selection process difficult and can
often result in the selection of wrong candidates. Wrong selection can, in turn, lead to employee dissatisfaction
and turnover in the long run.
In realistic philosophy, the needs of the organisation are matched with the needs of the applicants, which
enhance the effectiveness of the recruitment process. In realistic approach, the employees who are recruited
will stay in the organisation for a longer period of time and will perform at higher level of effectiveness.
Table 4.3 : Difference between Traditional and Realistic Job Preview
Traditional Job Preview Realistic Job Preview

Setting unrealistic and high job expectations. Setting realistic job expectations.
Job is viewed by the candidates as highly attractive Attractiveness of job is evaluated in the
light of realistic job expectations
High rate of acceptance of job offers. Some accept and some reject job
offers.
High expectation belied by actual job experience Expectations are confirmed by job
experience.
Creations of dissatisfaction, frustration and Creation of satisfaction in the light of
thoughts for leaving the job job expectations.
High rate of personnel turnover and lower rate of High rate of personnel retention and
job survival high rate of job survival
4.9 Summary
Recruitment forms a step in the process which continues with selection and ceases with the placement of
the candidate. It is the next step in the procurement function, the first being the manpower planning.
Recruiting makes it possible to acquire the number and types of people necessary to ensure the continued
operation of the organisation. Thus, recruitment process is concerned with the identification of possible
sources of human resource supply and tapping those sources.
Recruitment process involves five elements, viz., a recruitment policy, a recruitment organisation, the
development of sources of recruitment, and different techniques used for utilising these sources, and a
method of assessing the recruitment programme. After the finalisation of recruitment plan indicating the
56
number and type of prospective candidates, they must be attracted to offer themselves for consideration
to their employment. This necessitates the identification of sources from which these candidates can be
attracted. Some companies try to develop new sources, while most only try to tackle the existing sources
they have. These sources, accordingly, may be termed as internal and external.
Methods of recruitment are different from the sources of recruitment. Sources are the locations where
prospective employees are available. On the other hand, methods are way of establishing links with the
prospective employees. Various methods employed for recruiting employees may be classified into direct
methods, indirect methods and third party methods.

1. Define recruitment and identify the various factors which affect recruitment.
2. Discuss the steps of recruitment process. How will you reconcile the internal and external sources
of recruitment?
3. Discuss various sources of recruitment.
4. What is realistic job preview? How does it differ from traditional job preview?
5. What do you mean by recruitment policy? Explain the prerequisites of a good recruitment policy.
6. Write short notes on following.
(i) Advantages and disadvantages of internal sources of recruitment.
(ii) Advantages and disadvantages of external source of recruitment.
7. Explain the direct, indirect and third party methods of recruitment.

- Mamoria C.B., Gankar S.V., (2006), “A Textbook of Human Resource Management”, Himalaya
Publishing House, New Delhi.
- Dwivedi R.S., (1997), “Personnel Management in Indian Enterprises”, Galgotia Publising Company,
New Delhi.
- Devid A. DeCENZO, STEPHEN P. ROBBINS (2002), “Personnel/Human Resource
Management”, Prentice Hall of India, New Delhi.
- Prasad L.M., (2005), Human Resource Management,” Sultan Chand & Sons, New Delhi.
- Dessler Gary (2010), “Personnel Management”, Prentice Hall International Editions, New Jersey.
- Carrell Michael R., Elbert Norbert F., Hatfield Robert D. (1999), “Human Resource Management,”
Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.
57
Module 2 Selection
5.0 Objectives
5.1 Introduction: Selection
5.2 Selection Procedure
5.3 Selection Decision Outcomes
5.4 Placement – Orientation - Socialization
5.5 Summary
5.7 Reference Books
5.0 Objectives
After completing this unit, you will be able to:
 Understand and define selection and its process.
 Understand the selection process so as to make it effective.
 Explain how the final selection decision is made.
 Point out the outcomes of selection decision.
 Understand in brief about placement and orientation.
 Develop a selection decision process.
5.1 Introduction: Selection

Human resource selection is the process of choosing qualified individuals who are available to fillpositions
in an organization. In the ideal personnel situation, selection involves choosing the best applicant to fill a
position. Selection is the process of choosing people by obtaining and assessing information about the
applicants with a view to matching these with the job requirements. It involves a careful screening and
testing of candidates who have put in their applications for any job in the enterprise. It is the process of
choosing the most suitable persons out of all the applicants. The purpose of selection is to pick up the right
person for every job.
It can be conceptualised in terms of either choosing the fit candidates, or rejecting the unfit candidates, or
a combination of both. Selection involves both because it picks up the fits and rejects the unfits. In fact, in
Indian context, there are more candidates who are rejected than those who are selected in most of the
selection processes. Therefore, sometimes, it is called a negative process in contrast to positive programme
of recruitment.
According to Dale Yoder, “Selection is the process in which candidates for employment are divided into
two classes-those who are to be offered employment and those who are not”.
According to Thomas Stone, “Selection is the process of differentiating between applicants in order to
identify (and hire) those with a greater likelihood of success in a job”.
In the words of Michael Jucius, “The selection procedure is the system of functions and devices
adopted in a given company for the purpose of ascertaining whether or not candidates possess the
qualifications called for by a specific job or for progression through a series of jobs.”
According to Keith Davis, “Selection is the process by which an organisation chooses from a list of
screened applicants, the person or persons who best meet the selection criteria for the position available.”
58
Thus, the selection process is a tool in the hands of management to differentiate between the qualified and
unqualified applicants by applying various techniques such as interviews, tests etc. The cost incurred in
recruiting and selecting any new employee is expensive. The cost of selecting people who are inadequate
performers or who leave the organisation before contributing to profits proves a major cost of doing
business. Decenzo and Robbins write, “Proper selection of personnel is obviously an area where
effectiveness - choosing competent workers who perform well in their position-can result in large saving.”
According to them, selection has two objectives: (1) to predict which job applicants would be successful
if hired and (2) to inform and sell the candidate on the job and the organization. Satisfaction of employee
needs and wants as well as the fullest development of his potential are important objectives of selection.
Dale Yoder says, “Selection has long held a high rank in the priority of problem areas in management.
Investments in good people produce a very high rate of return. A good choice of people can provide a
basis for long, sustained contributions.”
Difference between Recruitment and Selection: Difference between recruitment and selection has
been described by Flippo as, “Recruitment is a process of searching for prospective employees and
stimulating and encouraging them to apply for jobs in an organisation. It is often termed positive as is
stimulates people to apply for jobs, selection on the other hand tends to be negative because it rejects a
good number of those who apply, leaving only the best to be hired.” Recruitment and selection differs in
following manner:
1. Difference in Objective: The basic objective of recruitment is to attract maximum number of candidates
so that more options are available. The basic objective of selection is to choose best out of the available
candidates.
2. Difference is Process: Recruitment adopts the process of creating application pool as large as possible
and therefore. It is known as positive process. Selection adopts the process through which more and
more candidates are rejected and fewer candidates are selected or sometimes even not a single candidate
is selected. Therefore, it is known as negative process or rejection process.
3. Technical Differences: Recruitment techniques are not very intensive, and not require high skills. As
against this, in selection process, highly specialised techniques are required. Therefore, in the selection
process, only personnel with specific skills like expertise in using selection tests, conducting interviews,
etc., are involved.
4. Difference in Outcomes: The outcome of recruitment is application pool which becomes input for
selection process. The outcome of selection process is in the form of finalising candidates who will be
offered jobs.
5.2 Selection Procedure

The selection procedure is concerned with securing relevant information about an applicant. This information
is secured in a number of steps or stages. The objective of selection process is to determine whether an
applicant meets the qualification for a specific job and to choose the applicant who is most likely to
perform well in that job. Selection is a long process, commencing from the preliminary interview of the
applicants and ending with the contract of employment (sometimes).
The selection procedure consists of a series of steps. Each step must be successfully cleared before the
applicant proceeds to the next. The selection process is a series of successive hurdles or barriers which an
applicant must cross. These hurdles are designed to eliminate an unqualified candidate at any point in the
selection process. Thus, this technique is called “Successive Hurdles Technique”. In practice, the process
differs among organisations and between two different jobs within the same organisation. Selection procedure
59
for the senior managers will be long drawn and rigorous, but it is simple and short while hiring lower level
employees.
The major factors which determine the steps involved in a selection process are as follows:
 Selection process depends on the number of candidates that are available for selection.
 Selection process depends on the sources of recruitment and the method that is adopted for
making contact with the prospective candidates.
 Various steps involved in as selection process depend on the type of personnel to be selected.
All the above factors are not mutually exclusive, rather these operate simultaneously. In any case, the basic
objective of a selection process is to collect as much relevant information about the candidates as is
possible so that the most suitable candidates are selected. A comprehensive selection process involves the
various steps as shown in Figure 5.1.
Application pool from “

recruitment process
Primary screening Eliminate those who does not

& interview fulfil job requirement.
Application Unfavourable personnel data

Blank
Selection tests Eliminate those who obtain

unfavourable test score
Eliminate those not meeting job

Interviews and organisational requirements
Background Eliminate those with adverse remarks

investigations
Physical examination Eliminate those not meeting physical standards
Approval by appropriate
Adopt objectivity
authority
Final Employment Congratulate

decision
Check the reliability and validity

Evaluation
Figure 5.1 Steps in Selection Process

60
1. Application Pool: Application pool built-up through recruitment process is the base for selection
process. The basic objective at the recruitment level is to attract as much worthwhile applications as
possible so that there are more options available at the selection stage.
2. Preliminary Screening and Interview: It is highly noneconomic to administer and handle all the
applicants. It is advantageous to sort out unsuitable applicants before using the further selection steps. For
this purpose, usually, preliminary interviews, application blank lists and short test can be used. All applications
received are scrutinised by the personnel department in order to eliminate those applicants who do not
fulfil required qualifications or work experience or technical skill, his application will not be entertained.
Such candidate will be informed of his rejection.
Preliminary interview is a sorting process in which the prospective candidates are given the necessary
information about the nature of the job and the organisation. Necessary information is obtained from the
candidates about their education, skills, experience, expected salary etc. If the candidate is found suitable,
he is elected for further screening. This courtesy interview; as it is often called helps the department screen
out obvious misfits. Preliminary interview saves time and efforts of both the company and the candidate. It
avoids unnecessary waiting for the rejected candidates and waste of money on further processing of an
unsuitable candidate. Since rejection rate is high at preliminary interview, the interviewer should be kind,
courteous, receptive and informal.
3. Application Blank or Application Form: An application blank is a traditional widely accepted device
for getting information from a prospective applicant which will enable the management to make a proper
selection. The blank provides preliminary information as well as aid in the interview by indicating areas of
interest and discussion. It is a good means of quickly collecting verifiable (and therefore fairly accurate)
basic historical data from the candidate. It also serves as a convenient device for circulating information
about the applicant to appropriate members of management and as a useful device for storing information
for, later reference. Many types of application forms, sometimes very long and comprehensive and
sometimes brief, are used. Information is generally taken on the following items:
(a) Biographical Data: Name, father’s name, data and place of birth, age, sex, nationality,
height, weight, identification marks, physical disability, if any, marital status, and number of
dependants.
(b) Educational Attainment: Education (subjects offered and grades secured), training acquired
in special fields and knowledge gained from professional/technical institutes or through
correspondence courses.
(c) Work Experience: Previous experience, the number of jobs held with the same or other
employers, including the nature of duties, and responsibilities and the duration of various assignments,
salary received, grades, and reasons for leaving the present employer.
(d) Salary and Benefits: Present and expected.
(e) Other Items: Names and addresses of previous employers, references, etc. An application
blank is a brief history sheet of an employee’s background and can be used for future reference,
in case needed.
The application blank must be designed from the viewpoint of the applicant as well as with the company’s
purpose in mind. It should be relatively easy to handle in the employment office. Application form helps to
serve many functions like:
61
 Its main usefulness is to provide information for reference checking, good interviewing, and
correlation with testing data.
 It helps to weed out candidates who are lacking in education, experience or some other eligibility
traits.
 It helps in formulating questions to be asked in the interview.
 Data contained in application form can be stored for future reference.
 It also tests the candidate’s ability to write, to organize his thoughts, and to present facts clearly
and succinctly.
 It indicates further whether the applicant has consistently progressed to better jobs. It provides
factual information.
Weighted Application Blanks
Some organisations assign numeric values or weights to the responses provided by the applicants. This
makes the application form more job related. Generally, the items that have a strong relationship to job
performance are given higher scores. For example, for a sales representative’s position, items such as
previous selling experience, area of specialisation, commission earned, religion, language etc. The total
score of each applicant is then obtained by adding the weights of the individual item responses. The
resulting scores are then used in the final selection. WAB is best suited for jobs where there are many
employees especially for sales and technical jobs. It can help in reducing the employee turnover later on.
However, there are several problems associated with WAB e.g.
 It takes time to develop such a form.
 The WAB would have to be updated every few years to ensure that the factors previously identified
are still valid products of job success.
 The organisation should be careful not to depend on weights of a few items while finally selecting
the employee.
4. Selection Tests: Many organisations hold different kinds of selection tests to know more about the
candidates or to reject the candidates who cannot be called for interview etc. Selection tests normally
supplement the information provided in the application forms. Such forms may contain factual information
about candidates. Selection tests may give information about their aptitude, interest, personality, which
cannot be known by application forms. Types of tests and rules of good of testing have been discussed in
brief below:
A. Aptitude Tests: These measure whether an individual has the capacity or talent ability to learn a
given job if given adequate training. These are more useful for clerical and trade positions.
B. Personality Tests: At times, personality affects job performance. These determine personality
traits of the candidate such as cooperativeness, emotional balance etc. These seek to assess an
individual’s motivation, adjustment to the stresses of everyday life, capacity for interpersonal relations
and self-image.
C. Interest Tests: These determine the applicant’s interests. The applicant is asked whether he
likes, dislikes, or is indifferent to many examples of school subjects, occupations, amusements,
peculiarities of people, and particular activities.
62
D. Performance Tests: In this test the applicant is asked to demonstrate his ability to do the job. For
example, prospective typists are asked to type several pages with speed and accuracy.
E. Intelligence Tests: This aim at testing the mental capacity of a person with respect to reasoning,
word fluency, numbers, memory, comprehension, picture arrangement, etc. It measures the ability
to grasp, understand and to make judgement.
F. Knowledge Tests: These are devised to measure the depth of the knowledge and proficiency in
certain skills already achieved by the applicants such as engineering, accounting etc.
G. Achievement Tests: Whereas aptitude is a capacity to learn in the future, achievement is concerned
with what one has accomplished. When applicants claim to know something, an achievement test
is given to measure how well they know it.
H. Projective Tests: In these tests the applicant projects his personality into free responses about
pictures shown to him which are ambiguous.
Rules of Good Testing
 Norms should be developed for each test. Their validity and reliability for a given purpose should
be established before they are used.
 Adequate time and resources must be provided to design, validate, and check tests.
 Tests should be designed and administered only by trained and competent persons.
 The user of tests must be extremely sensitive to the feelings of people about tests.
 Tests are to be uses as a screening device.
 Reliance should not be placed solely upon tests in reaching decisions.
 Tests should minimize the probabilities of getting distorted results. They must be ‘race-free’.
 Tests scores are not precise measures. They must be assigned a proper weightage.
5. Interview: An interview is a procedure designed to get information from a person and to assess his
potential for the job he is being considered on the basis of oral responses by the applicant to oral inquiries
by the interviewer. Interviewer does a formal in-depth conversation with the applicant, to evaluate his
suitability. It is one of the most important tools in the selection process. This tool is used when interviewing
skilled, technical, professional and even managerial employees. It involves two-way exchange of information.
The interviewer learns about the applicant and the candidate learns about the employer.
Objectives of Interviews: Interview helps:
 To obtain additional information from the candidate.
 Facilitates giving to the candidate information about the job, company, its policies, products etc.
 To assess the basic suitability of the candidate.
The selection interview can be:
 One to one between the candidate and the interviewer:
 Two or more interviewers by employers representatives-sequential;
 By a panel of selections, i.e., by more than representative of the employer.
The sequential interview involves a series of interviews; each interviewer meeting the candidate separately.
The panel interview consists of two or more interviews meeting the candidate together.
Types of interviews: Interviews can be classified in various ways according to:
(A) Degree of Structure
(B) Purpose of Interview
(C) Content of Interview
63
(A) Degree of Structure:
(1) Unstructured or non directive: in which you ask questions as they come to mind. There is
no set format to follow.
(2) Structured or directive: in which the questions and acceptable responses are specified in
advance. The responses are rated for appropriateness of content.
Structured and non-structured interviews have their pros and cons. In structured interviews all applicants
are generally asked all required questions by all interviewers. Structured interviews are generally more
valid. However structured interviews do not allow the flexibility to pursue points of interests as they
develop.
(B) Purpose of Interview: A selection interview is a type of interview designed to predict future job
performance, on the basis of applicant’s responses to the oral questions asked to him.
A stress interview is a special type of selection interview in which the applicant is made
uncomfortable by series of awkward and rude questions. The aim of stress interview is supposedly
to identify applicant’s low or high stress tolerance. In such an interview the applicant is made
uncomfortable by throwing him on the defensive by series of frank and often discourteous questions
by the interviewer.
(C) Content of Interview: The content of interview can be of a type in which individual’s ability to
project a situation is tested. This is a situation type interview. In job-related interview, interviewer
attempts to assess the applicant’s past behaviours for job related information, but most questions
are not considered situational.
In a behaviour interview a situation in described and candidates are asked how they behaved
in the past in such a situation. While in situational interviews candidates are asked to describe
how they would react to situation today or tomorrow. In the behavioural interview they are asked
to describe how they did react to the situation in the past.
Principles of Interviewing
To make it effective, an interview should be properly planned and conducted on certain principles; Edwin
B. Flippo has described certain rules and principles of good interviewing to this end:
 Provide proper surroundings. The physical setting for the interview should be both private and
comfortable.
 The mental setting should be one of rapport. The interviewer must be aware of non-verbal behaviour.
 Plan for the interview by thoroughly reviewing job specifications and job descriptions.
 Determine the specific objectives and the method of the interviewing.
 Inform yourself as much as possible concerning the known information about the interviewee.
 The interviewer should possess and demonstrate a basic liking and respect for people.
 Questions should be asked in a manner that encourages the interviewee to talk. Put the applicant
at ease.
 Make a decision only when all the data and information are available. Avoid decisions that are
based on first impressions.
 Conclude the interview tactfully, making sure that the candidate leaves feeling neither too elated
nor frustrated.
 Maintain some written record of the interview during or immediately after it.
 Listen attentively and, if possible, protectively.
64
 Questions must be stated clearly to avoid confusion and ambiguity. Maintain a balance between
open and overtly structured questions.
 ‘Body language’ must not be ignored.
 The interviewer should make some overt sign to indicate the end of the interview.
Interviewing is largely an art, the application of which can be improved through practice.
6. Background Investigation: The next step in the selection process is to undertake an investigation of
those applicants who appear to offer potential as employees. This may include contacting former employers
to confirm the candidate’s work record and to obtain their appraisal of his or her performance/ contacting
other job-related and personal references, and verifying the educational accomplishments shown on the
application.
The background investigation has major implications. Every personnel administrator has the responsibility
to investigate each potential applicant. In some organization, failure to do so could result in the loss of his
or her job. But many managers consider the background investigation data highly biased. Who would
actually list a reference that would not give anything but the best possible recommendation? The seasoned
personnel administrator expects this and delves deeper into the candidate’s background, but that, too,
may not prove to be beneficial. Many past employers are reluctant to give any information to another
company other than factual information (e.g., date of employment).
Even though there is some reluctance to give this information, there are ways in which personnel
administrators can obtain it. Sometimes, for instance information can be obtained from references once
removed. For example, the personnel administrator can ask a reference whose name has been provided
on the application form to give another reference, someone who has knowledge of the candidate’s work
experience. By doing this, the administrator can eliminate the possibility of accepting an individual based
on the employee’s current employer’s glowing recommendation when the motivation for such a positive
recommendation was to get rid of the employee.
7. Physical Examination: After the selection decision and before the job offer is made, the candidate is
required to undergo physical fitness test. Candidates are sent for physical examination either to the
company’s physician or to a medical officer approved for the purpose. Such physical examination provides
the following information.
 Whether the candidate’s physical measurements are in accordance with job requirements or not?
 Whether the candidate suffers from bad health which should be corrected?
 Whether the candidate has health problems or psychological attitudes likely to interfere with work
efficiency or future attendance?
 Whether the candidate is physically fit for the specific job or not?
Policy on these physical exams has changed today. Dale Yoder writes, “Modem policy used the physical
examination not to eliminate applicants, but to discover what jobs they are qualified to fill. The examination
should disclose the physical characteristics of the individual that are significant from the standpoint of his
efficient performance of the job he may enter or of those jobs to which he may reasonably expect to be
transferred or promoted. It should note deficiencies, not as a basis for rejection, but as indicating restrictions
on his transfer to various positions also.”
8. Approval by Appropriate Authority: On the basis of the above steps, suitable candidates are
recommended for selection by the selection committee or personnel department. Though such a committee
or personnel department may have authority to select the candidates finally, often it has staff authority to
recommend the candidates for selection to the appropriate authority. Organisations may designate the
65
various authorities for approval of final selection of candidates for different categories of candidates. Thus,
for top level managers, board of directors may be approving authority; for lower levels, even functional
heads concerned may be approving authority.
9. Final Employment Decision: After a candidate is finally selected, the human resource department
recommends his name for employment. The management or board of the company offers employment in
the form of an appointment letter mentioning the post, the rank, the salary grade, the date by which the
candidate should join and other terms and conditions of employment. Some firms make a contract of
service on judicial paper. Usually an appointment is made on probation in the beginning. The probation
period may range from three months to two years. When the work and conduct of the employee is found
satisfactory, he may be confirmed. The personnel department prepare a waiting list and informs the
candidates. In case a person does not join after being selected, the company calls next person on the
waiting list.
10. Evaluation: The selection process, if properly performed, will ensure availability of competent and
committed personnel. A period audit, conducted by people who work independently of the human resource
department, will evaluate the effectiveness of the selection process. The auditors will do a thorough and
the intensive analysis and evaluate the employment programme.
5.3 Selection Decision Outcomes

Consider, for a moment, that any selection decision can result in four possible outcomes. As shown in
Figure 5.2, two of these outcomes would indicate correct decisions, but two would indicate errors.
Correct decisions are those where the applicant was predicted to be successful and later did prove to be
successful on the job, or where the applicant was predicted to be unsuccessful and would have performed
accordingly if hired. In the former case, we have successfully accepted; in the latter case, we have successfully
rejected. Thus the purpose of selection activities is to develop outcomes shown as “correct decisions” in
Figure 5.2.
Problems occur when we make errors-by rejecting candidates who would later perform successfully on
the job (reject errors) or accepting those individuals who subsequently perform poorly on the job (accept
errors). These problems are, unfortunately far from insignificant. Reject errors historically meant that the
costs in performing selection activities would be increased. Accept errors, on the other hand, have very
obvious costs to the organization including the cost of training the employee, the costs generated (or
profits forgone) due to the employee’s incompetence, the cost of severance and the subsequent costs of
further recruiting and selection screening. The major thrust of any selection activity, therefore, is to reduce
the probability of making reject or accept errors while increasing the probability of making reject or
accept errors while increasing the probability of making correct decisions.
Accept Reject
Correct Reject
Later Job Pertormance
Successful decision error
Unsuccessful Accept Correct

error decision
Figure 5.2: Selection Decision Outcomes

66
In summary, selection have two objectives: (1) to predict which job applicants would be successful if hired
and (2) to inform and sell the candidate on the job and the organization. Unfortunately, these two objectives
are not always compatible Putting a job candidate through hours of filling out forms, taking tests, and
completing interviews rarely endears the organization to the candidate. These are tiresome and often
stressful activities. Yet if the selection activities place too great an emphasis on public relations, obtaining
the information needed to make successful selection decisions may be subordinated. Hence a manager’s
dilemma in selection is how to balance the desire to attract people with the desire to gather relevant
selection data.
5.4 Placement – Orientation - Socialization

After an employee has been recruited he is provided with basic background information about the employer,
working conditions and the information necessary to perform his job satisfactorily. The new employee’s
initial orientation helps him perform better by providing him information of the company rules, and practices.
According to Pigors and Myers, “Placement consists in matching what the supervisor has reason to
think the new employee can do with what the job demands (job requirements), imposes (in strain, working
conditions, etc.), and offers (in the form of pay rate, interest, companionship with other, promotional
possibilities, etc.)” They further state that it is not easy to match all these factors for a new worker who is
still in many ways an unknown quantity. For this reason, the first placement usually carries with it the status
of probationer.
A few basic principles should be followed at the time of placement of an employee on the job.
These may be enumerated as below:
 The job should be offered to the man according to his qualifications. The placement should neither
be higher nor lower than the qualifications.
 While introducing the job to the new employee, an effort should be made to develop a sense of
loyalty and cooperation in him so that he may realise his responsibilities better towards the job and
the organisation.
 The employee should be made conversant with the working conditions prevailing in the industry
and all things relating to the job. He should also be made aware of the penalties if he commits a
wrong.
 Man should be placed on the job according to the requirements of the job. The job should not be
adjusted according to the qualifications or requirements of the man. Job first; man next, should be
the principle of placement.
 The placement should be ready before the joining date of the newly selected person.
 The placement in the initial period may be temporary as changes are likely after the completion of
training. The employee may be later transferred to the job where he can do better justice.
In the words of John M. Ivancevich, “Orientation orients, directs, and guides employees to understand
the work, firm, colleagues, and mission. It introduces new employees to the organisation, and to his new
tasks, managers, and work groups.”
According to John Bernardin, “Orientation is a term used for the organizationally sponsored, formalized
activities associated with an employee’s socialisation into the organisation.”
67
Billimoria has defined orientation as, “Induction (orientation) is a technique by which a new employee
is rehabilitated into the changed surroundings and introduced to the practices, policies, and purposes of
the organisation.”
Orientation is one component of the new employee socialization process. Socialization is the ongoing
process of instilling in all new employees prevailing attitudes, standards, values, patterns of behaviour that
are expected by the organisation and its departments.
Thus, orientation is a process through which a new employee is introduced to the organisation. It is the
process wherein an employee is made to feel comfortable and at home in the organisation. The new
employee is handed over a rulebook, company booklets, policy manuals, progress reports and documents
containing company information which are informational in nature. It is responsibility of the human resource
department to execute the orientation programme.
5.5 Summary
 Selection is the process of picking up individuals out of the pool of the job applicants with requisite
qualifications and competence to fill jobs in the organisation. Proper selection can minimize the
costs of replacement and training, reduce legal challenges, and result in a more productive work
force.
 The discrete selection process would include the following.
a. Application Pool,
b. Preliminary Screening and Interview,
c. Application Blank or Application Form,
d. Selection Tests,
e. Interview
f. Background Investigation,
g. Physical Examination,
h. Approval by Appropriate Authority,
i. Final Employment Decision,
j. Evaluation
 Selection process involves mutual decision making. The organisation decides whether or not to
make a job offer and how attractive the job offer should be. The candidate decides whether or
not the organisation and the job offer is according to his goals and needs. Selection of proper
personnel helps the management in getting the work done by the people effectively.
 To be an effective predictor, a selection device should be
a. Reliable
b. Valid
c. Predict a relevant criterion
 In India the selection process on hiring skilled and managerial personnel are fairly well defined and
systematically practical.

1. What do you understand by selection process? Discuss various steps involved in it.
2. What is application blank? What purpose does it serve? Explain the contents of an application
blank.
68
3. Discuss the characteristics of a good test. Explain various types of tests used in the selection process.
4. What is an interview? What purpose does it serve? Discuss various types of interviews.
5. Discuss various guidelines to be followed for an interview.
6. Explain various steps involved in the selection of personnel.
7. What do you understand by placement and orientation?
5.7 Reference Books

- Mamoria C.B., Gankar S.V., (2006), “A Textbook of Human Resource Management”, Himalaya
Publishing House, New Delhi.
- Dwivedi R.S., (1997), “Personnel Management in Indian Enterprises”, Galgotia Publising Company,
New Delhi.
- Devid A. DeCENZO, STEPHEN P. ROBBINS (2002), “Personnel/Human Resource
Management”, Prentice Hall of India, New Delhi.
- Prasad L.M., (2005), Human Resource Management,” Sultan Chand & Sons, New Delhi.
- Dessler Gary (2001), “Personnel Management”, Prentice Hall International Editions, New Jersey.
- Carrell Michael R., Elbert Norbert F., Hatfield Robert D. (1999), “Human Resource Management,”
Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.
- Mamoria C.B., Rao, VSP (2012) Personnal Management (Text and cases), Himalays Publishing,
Mumbai.
69

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Module 2 Human Resource Planning

2.4 Definition of Human Resource Planning

2.5 Nature of HRP

2.6 Objectives of Human Resource Planning

2.7 Need for HRP in Organizations

5) Governmental Influences: Government control and changes in legislation with regard to

2.8 Importance of HRP

2.9 Factors Affecting HRP

Figure 2.1 : Factors Affecting HRP.

Table 2.1 : Degree of Uncertainty and Length of Planning Period

Short Planning period- uncertainty/ Long planning period- certainty/ stability

Table 2.2 : Levels of HRP Information

Strategic Information General Organizational Specific Information

Source: Leap& Crino, Personnel/ Human Resource Management, p. 161.

2.10 HRP Process

Figure 2.2 : The HRP Process

2.11 Requisites for Successful HRP

2.12 Barriers to HRP

2.14 Self Assessment Questions

2.15 Reference Books

4.2 Recruitment: Meaning and Definition

Figure 4.1: Recruitment to Human Resource Acquisition Process

Search for Evaluating

External Advertising Evaluating

Figure 4.2 : Place of Recruitment in Selection System

4.4 Recruitment Policy

4.5 Factor Affecting Recruitment

4.6 Sources of Recruitment

Skill/Level Recruiting Source Percentage of Use

Disadvantages of External Sources:

4.7 Methods of Recruitment

Based on personnel to be recruited

4.8 Philosophies of Recruitment

Traditional Job Preview Realistic Job Preview

4.10 Self Assessment Questions

4.11 Reference Books

5.1 Introduction: Selection

5.2 Selection Procedure

Application pool from “

Primary screening Eliminate those who does not

Application Unfavourable personnel data

Selection tests Eliminate those who obtain

Eliminate those not meeting job

Background Eliminate those with adverse remarks

Physical examination Eliminate those not meeting physical standards

Final Employment Congratulate

Check the reliability and validity

Figure 5.1 Steps in Selection Process

5.3 Selection Decision Outcomes

Successful decision error

Unsuccessful Accept Correct

Figure 5.2: Selection Decision Outcomes

5.4 Placement – Orientation - Socialization

5.6 Self Assessment Questions

5.7 Reference Books

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